Gathering at the Den...

Hello all! This Saturday we should try to meet at 4 again... This time we will do things a little bit differently (but not too different) We will still have a potluck (because those are sooooo fun!) I think the potluck will work out better if we actually know who's bringing what... Sooooo post it here! Yall can bring your instruments again if you want... (I'm still not sure if I want to consider a cell phone an instrument....) It would be really nice to hear Davey play his violin! Jay can play the guitar again.... ahhhhh ♪♪♪ the hills come alive ♪♪♪ with the sound of music...♪♪♪ AAAHHHHHH!!!!!♪♪♪ Ok I know that some of you are actually laughing! If you're not... you are totally deprived! lol That movie ROCKED! (yup, there's my girlie side...)

This week we will begin to study the book of Galatians (like I said, different format. I think someone requested studying books.... well here you have it! This one will be good) Let me know if you have a preference of which book to study or topic or whatever...

Gal 1
1:1 Paul, an apostle-sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead- 2 and all the brothers with me,

To the churches in Galatia:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel- 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles-only James, the Lord's brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. 21 Later I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." 24 And they praised God because of me.
NIV

Let me know if you have a prayer request. It would be nice to post them here so that we can all pray for them. If you want your prayer kept anonymous, email it to the Lion's Den intothelionsden@hotmail.com . We also would like to start sending out a newsletter that will have the prayer requests and soooooooo much more! We can email that so if you want "in" let us know...

Ok I realize this is long (but isn't it always? lol) Let me know if you're coming on Saturday...

What is going on with the time...just passing us by!

WOW how fast time flies! It's Halloween tomorrow (did you go out and dress up?)and November already! You know that Jay and I actually saw Christmas trees for sale at Fortinos this Saturday! And then on Sunday we went into Carlton Cards and Hallmark and they didn't even have Halloween stuff!!! It was all Christmas! IN OCTOBER!!!! Ok, usually I would be the first to be excited at the thought of Christmas but this is a little early for the stores to be bombarding us with their manipulative sales tactics reinforcing the pagan version of the holiday... On the other hand.... IT'S AWESOME to be able to start thinking of Jesus' birthday this early! Maybe all this extra thinking about Christmas will give us more opportunity to think of what God would really have us do this Christmas. Should we celebrate it as usual? Is there a family that we can sponsor? Someone's life that we can touch? Hmmmm, so many things to contemplate...

POTLUCK!!!! (of course!)

I still haven't heard as to who is bringing what for the potluck??? I am writing this super big so that you will see that I added this to the post. Comment and let me know. By posting a comment to the blog, everyone else will be able to see what you are bringing too and therefore not bring the same thing...


So when we get together on Saturday I expect a feast! lol Let me know what you can bring... If you can play an instrument... bring that too! (ummm, I think a bunch of us would ACTUALLY love to hear the BANJO!!!!!) Ahem...um, you know who you are.... "Bring it" dawg!!! ha ha ha ok, this really is beginning to be a ummm, well a silly post!

See yall Saturday!

The Lion's Den Ministries Meets

So once again no study this Saturday the 21st BUT on Saturday the 28th, bring your guitars, bass, violin, whatever... Lets hang out and play some music. We realize however that some of us (well most of us) are beginners but that's ok! We can have fun learning together. Let's meet at 4:00pm and we'll eat dinner together. If anyone wants to bring anything, let me know... We can make it a potluck... (I'd make the whole dinner but I know how much we all like to eat!!! lol) What should we have??? Let me know what you think.... We have a whole week to plan!!! ha ha ha... (I really hope that we don't just end up with chips...lol we need to fill our bellies with more than that for supper!!! lol) OK so anyhoooooo.... ya 4:00pm and um.... we'll actually have a wonderful time with God and maybe we can throw in a hockey game or two... (well I don't know if anyone but Wayne can handle more than one game!)

Let me know if you have any ideas of what you would like to study over the next couple of weeks/months.... Give us ideas... What's on your heart?

Not Gonna Be There

Not gonna be there for the next 2 weeks. We have a Thankgiving dinner to go to this saturday at Jessica's Mom's place and we will be in Ottawa next weekend.

Jesus read's the scroll...Luke 4:18-19

Luke 4:18-19
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." NIV

1. Who are the poor that the scroll refers to?
2. Who are the prisoners that the scroll refers to?
3. Who are the blind that the scroll refers to?
4. Who are the oppressed that the scroll refers to?
5. How is God calling us to directly affect the people referred to in the scroll?


And then we'll watch the ♪♪♪Good Old Hockey Game!♪♪♪

SHOE BOXES

Hannah commented that the age group for the oldest boys category for the shoe boxes has the least amount donated to them. Perhaps we should all consider doing a shoe box for the older boys...

Thanksgiving Weekend!

Oh yeah... It's time to enjoy the last long weekend for 2006! (unless of course you're counting Christmas, but that's not really a weekend... OH WAIT! It is this year isn't it! Hmmmm, less days off...) Anyway, Rockton Fair tonight, (gotta get myself a candy apple, I just NEED to).

Having thanksgiving dinner with mom, mom in law and then probably dad in law.... Hey! Where does my dad fit in? Anyhoo... Sat (thanksgiving with mom) we will be celebrating with the newest member of our family..... (NO, AGAIN I'M NOT PREGNANT! lol) Jessika!!!! You're it girl! I can't wait! I love having you be a part of our family.... You are so fun and talented, creative, ummm, and I love the way that you write, (your thoughts are so deep and intriguing, I love that!) and you're always up to having a giggle.... (luv ya Jess.... seriously... from anonymous! lol) Anyhoo again... not sure about having time for the bible study this Saturday... I haven't even prepared one yet...

Enjoy your thanksgiving dinners and the time that you get to spend with your family. (we really don't do enough of that).

Check yall later!

MORE BOXES!!!!

Well believe it or not I actually have 7 more boxes... I hear that there's potential for more boxes too! hmm... I'm wondering if we should start collecting all of these clothes for the Christmas party at the townhouse complex close to the church? Maybe we should be looking for toy donations too! Hmmm I'll see what I can do... Maybe we should try to bring a couple of canned goods that relate to what someone would use to make a Christmas dinner each week. Stuffing is on sale at Fortino's right now because of Thanksgiving. That way we can also make baskets for Christmas dinner! HEY WAYNE! Do you think that we could ask Frank for some Turkey vouchers again from Fortino's? This could be pretty cool you know!

Let me know what you all think... Seriously, I don't want Jay and I to be the only ones motivated to do this and that we be forcing it on you. If you have other ideas, let me know.

Thanks for helping

Thanks for helping with the process of preparing the gift boxes for the less fortunate. Some of you looked pretty hilarious trying on those little wee girlie clothes...lol I can't wait to see the pictures!

Ok, this is what we need...

This Saturday we will have a Bible study (can you believe it???? How long has it been?) Anyhow, I thought that it would also be nice to get in on some gift preparations for the poor. We will need someone to iron, someone to assemble ensembles, someone to wrap boxes (empty ones... they need to stay that way so that the church can ensure that there is only good stuff in there)Some to sing and dance and entertain us... (Dan, I think that will have to be you... lol) Someone to make sure the coffee is topped up (Ummm, Jay and Dave???), someone to play Christmas music (ok, that's optional but who better than ME!)

There's still lots of stuff that we need...

* empty shoe boxes (or boxes that are similar in size, ya like gift boxes! lol)
* tissue paper (someone can get that at the dollar store. I have some blue sheets but there's only about 20. Red ones or white ones might be nice)
* tape (real sticky stuff.... I keep using the dollar store stuff and frankly it just doesn't stick!)
* If you have any old stuff that you don't need anymore that you would like to have wrapped and given away to less fortunate people, bring it along.
***FOOD*** um, lets bring some munchies and perhaps something healthy too!

If everyone tells me what they can bring before tomorrow, Jay and I can make sure that we have most of what we need... (so that the night's not a bust) Can't wait to hear from you all!

Yayeeeee for Anonymous!!!!

Hey there everyone! Jess (I mean anonynous) is bringing a special video for us to watch on Saturday night!!!!!! I can't wait!!! We need some people to bring food and stuff! It's just not the same without it!!! Sorry for blowing your cover Jess... :-)

NEW JOB!!!

I started my new job today @ Revenue Canada. Finally!!! I have my own laptop and security clearance that took about 3hrs to set up. Security in this place is strict! Even the washroom doors wont open unless u have a security card. All in all it was a good day. Happy to be working again!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Congrats Ian and Joanne on your pregnancy!!!!! I am sooooo happy for you! Our prayers will be with you and we will miss you at Rymal. Keep in touch and make sure to come visit at Christmas time. (Gotta see that baby belly!) Perhaps you could contribute your progress to the blog! I know I'm interested!

Hockey Night Bible Studies...

As per request from a hockey fanatic (yes, it's Wayne) we will be watching the hockey games on Saturday nights and integrating a Bible study throughout them. This will be a great time to bring friends and to obviously bring food.... lol I can't remember if it starts this week or next (or whatever) maybe Wayne can fill us in... Anyhow, it will be fun... ♪♪♪♪The Good Old Hockey Game....♪♪♪♪

A moving thought that brought me to tears...

This morning when I woke up I was feeling a little down. Life just doesn't always dish out all that we hope for; life just isn't easy. I tried doing little things like making coffee and taking time to watch a little tv to make me relax a little and hopefully forget my sadness so that I could move on with my day... Hmmm, that never works. I then looked at the stack of boxes that my mom left in my living room last night... filled with baby clothes! (No I'm not pregnant!) My mom's intention was to give it to the poor and then she suggested that she wanted to wrap them up to give to the less fortunate at Christmas time. I thought it was a great idea and I volunteered our small group to do the sorting and the wrapping... So that will be one of our projects over the coming weeks...

So anyhow, when I saw those boxes, they inspired me and I began wrapping empty boxes in Christmas paper to be filled with joy for those who seldom feel or see joy. While I was wrapping the gift boxes I began to think how many people think about giving at Christmas time but not during any other time of the year? Why is that? Couldn't we or shouldn't we do something to change that? Isn't it our duty as Christians? Duty is not the right word... if we are truly trying to be Christ like, these feelings and DESIRES (now there's the right word) to give should be spilling out from us all year round! Isn't that what Jesus would do?

I put on some Christmas music while wrapping those boxes to help me stay in the mood... (plus, anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE CHRISTMAS! Not for the gifts but for the joy that I see on peoples faces, the love that is shared among family members that is sometimes lacking throughout the rest of the year and simply for the priviledge of being able to celebrate the birth of our Saviour! Whenever I'm down, I usually turn to a Christmas CD or movie... I don't care what you think! lol) After wrapping just one box I started to think about my childhood and how every so often a box would be left at our doorstep filled with goodies... I remember telling my mom that the church must have gotten the wrong address because this box was for poor people and we weren't poor! That shows how oblivious my brother and I were to our poverty... lol (we were so cute!) I also remembered a Christmas when I was about 8 years old (Wayne would have been almost 7) when we got up Christmas morning and of course my brother and I were really excited about finally getting to open presents!!!! Well my mother seemed really down and didn't want to get on with our Christmas morning traditions... Finally we proceeded to go through our stockings and I remember my mom apologizing that there wasn't more. We didn't really care because we still got to open our present (I realize that there's no s on the word present). One each, they were from our uncle Doug... (I think that's when I realized that we really were poor... My mom was so sad...)I got a NKOTB tape and Wayne got a Def Lepard tape (I think that's what it was)... I'm sure we must have said "that's it???" My poor mother.... We were quite happy with our tapes though... (Don't worry mom, it was obviously a very memorable Christmas if 20 years later I am still thinking about it!) I'm pretty sure that after realizing that there was nothing under the tree for my mom (that was about a foot and a half tall and fake of course... there were 2 of them... We still have them kickin' around somewhere...lol) I went up to my room and got my only NKOTB card and one of those little plastic bubbles that you get from a bubble gum machine and filled it with pennies... I was so proud of myself when I went up to my mom and told her that there was something under the tree for her too! (I still remember her telling me to keep those gifts because they were mine.... She thanked me anyway.... How I wish she would have just kept them. I felt so bad for her because she seemed so sad...)

Wow.... thinking back to that time in our lives and how hard that must have truly been for my mother just broke my heart! Of course I was crying.... So much for getting away from my sad feelings.... but I didn't lose my motivation... It made me want to inspire everyone to keep a heart for others all throughout the year... I want to show Jesus to everyone I meet by simply showing love and kindness... Isn't that what God wants us to do anyways?

I realize that this is a long blog entry but I really just needed to spill my thoughts out... Thanks for reading! Please try to think of ways to reach out to those in our communities that God would want us to touch... We can talk about it here on the blog and at our next Bible study... In the meantime, if you have any clothes that you don't wear or anything that would be nice to wrap up and give away to someone who is less fortunate, bring them over to my place and we'll wrap them.... If you have any wrapping paper or old shoe boxes laying around the house, or tissue paper and tape.... Bring them along next weekend.... We'll make a night of it!!! I'll even play Christmas music!!!! Oh and have coffee too! (for Jay and Davey of course) Please pray about what God would have you bring... I look forward to next weekend...

Lastly.... a special note for my mommy.... I am so greatful to have you as my mother... Throughout all that we lived through as a young family, you truly made it wonderful... Wayne and I had no idea really that we didn't have much. We were happy kids.... Thank you for that... We both love you mom... xoxoxoxoxo God really was looking out for us wasn't he mom...I guess that the only way that we can show God that we are thankful to Him is by showing our love to all of His other children... (Thank you God for the opportunity to serve you in this way...)

THIS SATURDAY

****FYI ****
BIBLE STUDY AT THE CHURCH THIS SATURDAY 7PM...

Be there... lol

What happened Saturday????

So that was weird... I think that everyone was thinking that they needed the night off.... Um, only Jess showed... Wayne was busy killing like 10000 bees in our garage that make their way into our house daily!!! Davey was really busy setting up for Summit Park! (by the way, we totally appreciate all that you and your dad did! You are both awesome!) Anyhow, we will be doing the last bible study on being a servant. Let me know if you'll be coming out... Snacks are always cool if you're bringing some.... Um, but I'm gonna try to watch what I eat so don't be insulted if I don't indulge like I usually do... Hmmm, unless you bring veggies or cheese and crackers, or something healthy anyway. So, lots of blabbing about nothing going on here..... Hmmm, why am I the only one that blabs? NO ONE ELSE seems to want to comment or blab... lol I guess it's because I've just said it all already! Well, I really hope to see all of ya there on Saturday because we have some pretty serious business to be discussin'! lol (no seriously) ha ha ha (NO SERIOUSLY!!!) ok now, I'm arguing with myself! ha hahahahahah gotta keep entertained somehow! See yall for now.

Being a Servant - Mark 10:43-45

Mark 10:43-45
Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
NIV


Matt 6:244 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. NIV

1. Why does Jesus say that you need to be a slave to be great? Why couldn't a rich man be great?

2. How is it possible to serve money?

3. What are things that we can do to make sure that we are serving only one master? (The one true master?)

4. What are ways that you can serve God individually?

5. List ways that we as a team can serve God.

6. Create an action plan to ensure that these goals to serve as an individual and as a team come together.

Bible Study on New Wine Skins

Bible study at the church this Saturdat at 7pm. We will also be preparing for the Summit Park Service for the following week and of course doing the silhouettes.... Bring food and we'll bring coffee!!!! Let me know if you can make it. Don't forget to print your copy of the Bible study if you want to follow along. See yall then!

Matt 9:16-17

16 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
NIV

Discussion Questions:

1. What do the wineskins and the unshrunk patch represent in the above scripture?
2. How are the wineskins and unshrunk cloth relevant in todays society?
3. What needs to happen in our churches and communities to ensure that we do not let the patch pull away from the garment or that the wineskins burst?