Bethel Pentecostal Church Victoria
117 Highway East A0A4G0 Victoria, NL, Canada

Year 8; Day 329 "Contact Tracing" We have had new words and phrases come into our vocabulary and culture with COVID-19 (including COVID!) this past year. New... normal. Social distancing. Non-medical masks. Essential workers. Contact tracing. The Atlantic bubble has burst and we can no longer move freely among the four Atlantic provinces ... at least for now. COVID numbers are on the rise with several small clusters in different parts of Newfoundland. And that is where contact tracing comes into play. When a person tests positive for the virus, officials go over all their contacts to see if that person exposed others or if that person was exposed to the virus by someone else. A network of tracing goes on to arrive at the source and to alert those exposed. Much of Newfoundland's spread is travel related ... people are originally exposed somewhere else and bring it back. For various reasons others may be exposed through them and it grows from there. I was thinking about the phrase "contact tracing" yesterday. I wonder if there will be contact tracing in heaven? Each of us who follow Christ did so with a choice or decision at some point in our lives. How did we get there? I know the Holy Spirit has to draw a person to Christ but God has chosen us to do the telling ... to be a contact person ... to expose or explain or exemplify Christ to those who don't know Him. Will there be anyone in heaven who could trace their decision to serve God back to me ... or you? Will any of us be the main source or contact for someone else's decision to accept Christ as their Saviour? Many of us have been walking a life of faith for years. Have we spiritually self-quarantined? Kept to ourselves? Kept our faith isolated? Or are we a spreader (in a good way)? Do we share our faith, taking advantage of every opportunity, living a life that shares joy and hope and encouragement despite our circumstances? What influences will be traced back to us? Will they be positive or negative? Reflective of Christ or refractive? Pastor used the reflective/refractive example last Sunday. I don't remember hearing it before. Would my contact tracing show that I have been a reflector of Christ or a refractor? Do people see Christ clearly or is my witness distorted? When it comes to COVID, no one wants to have contact tracing leading back to them. No one wants to be the source. But when it comes to Christ, it is the opposite. How wonderful to be the source, the contact person that directs someone to Christ. Today is Tuesday. "My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." (James 5:19,20) See more

Dont forget to register for prayer meeting tonight. Call Lavine 589.6636

Year 8; Day 328 "What We Won't See in Heaven" Yesterday in church our pastor asked a question that stuck with me. "What won't we see in heaven?" He had an a...nswer but the question stayed with me and I jotted down some thoughts. A verse in Revelation came to mind, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4). I am not sure what all is included in "the old order or things". Maybe time, sunrise and sunset, aging?? Certainly pain and sorrow and tears and all that cause those things. We won't see any of that in heaven. Something else we won't see in heaven are second chances. Our choices on earth have eternal consequences and they will send us to heaven or hell. Once there ... that's it. No second chances to change the outcome, do more for Christ, or do things differently. What is done is truly done. Another thing we won't see in heaven is diversity divided. Rather, we will see diversity united. "After this I looked up and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." (7:9,10) Diversity united in worship. No divisions, no cliques or classes of people, no rich or poor. No middle class. No fashion statements. Another thing we won't see in heaven are those who didn't finish the race, who didn't persevere, who didn't overcome. How well you started doesn't really matter. What matters is persevering and enduring to the end. Finishing the fight. Completing the course. There will be no credit given for good starts, good intentions, or good wishes. And while all these things came to mind, none of them are the most important thing missing in heaven. The point of the pastor's message was that the irresistible church connects with souls. There will be no lost souls in heaven. Only those who have accepted Christ while here on earth. There will be no altar call in heaven, no second chance, no do-overs. That is a sobering thought. And it should matter to us here on earth. It should intensify our desire, our mandate to connect with souls ... to share the love of Christ, the certainty of judgment, the finality of eternity. Now is the time to speak and do and reconcile and witness and choose. Now. Today is Monday. "He who overcomes will be like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels." (3:5) See more

So pleased to be able to announce that Pastor Dylan Abbot will be joining the team here at Bethel Victoria starting in January 2021. His fiance Raeanne will be joining him after their June 2021 wedding. We are looking forward to their Ministry here in Victoria. Welcome aboard!!!

Year 8; Day 327 "Re-visioning the Vision" Back in New Testament days Jesus taught using parables and stories. I find myself being taught the same way today. ... Lessons can be learned and teachable moments illustrated using the everyday. The Holy Spirit can teach us right where we are at doing what we do. For two days I have been working on the crazy quilt bed scarf (see yesterday's post). For months those blocks stared at me. The quilt blocks I started with excitement and a plan had fizzled into an unfinished project that sat there (hung there) reminding me every day that my plan wasn't going to translate into reality ... at least not the way I envisioned it. I kept it visible because I didn't want to have another UFO (Un-Finished Object) weighing on my mind. I don't know why it took me so long to revise my vision, to rethink my plan, to adapt. But it did. It was like I had this idea and I just didn't want to let it go. It is not unbiblical to change plans, to let reality revise your thinking, to allow God to drop a new direction (or a variation) into your heart. David had all kinds of plans to build a permanent temple for the worshiping of the Lord. His motive was pure. He loved the Lord and wanted to do this. He drew up plans and gathered materials. But God said otherwise. David was not to be the one to build the temple but his son Solomon was. And so David took what he had accumulated and gave it to Solomon who did go on and build the temple. On one of Paul's missionary journeys he tried to enter a place to preach the gospel and was stopped by the Holy Spirit. He changed direction and was stopped again. Finally he had a vision of a man begging him to come to their area and preach the good news to them. Paul's plans got revised several times before he knew what he was to do. My bed scarf certainly doesn't rank up there with building the temple or preaching the gospel but it is where I was at ... what I was doing ... what needed to get finished. I was stuck because I couldn't get past my original idea. After weeks of looking at the blocks and dreading the process of finishing the quilt, I realized it didn't have to be a quilt. I could enjoy my crazy quilt concept with a strip of blocks across the foot of the bed. It sounds so easy, just take what I already have and finish it. What a mental relief. And what a simple lesson for an important principle. Sometimes we need to revise, to re-vision our vision, to alter, adapt, or change our plans. And that may be just fine. The Lord can guide us and help us through that process, as well. Today is Sunday. "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed ... In his heart a man plans his course but the Lord determines his steps." (Proverbs 16:3,9) See more