Update Tuesday 22/05/12

The weather has turned decidedly nicer these past few weeks, and although we really cannot complain about the winter that we had (to say it was mild would be an understatement) there is still something that happens when spring really hits or we begin to transition into summer.  Something happens in the cities and towns, in the neighbourhoods and even within the soul of each Canadian and there is a real sense of new beginnings and new possibilities.
I spent some time planting a garden as we celebrated the first anniversary of our move to Hamilton.  We planted a few plants, a tree and some vegetables.  My neighbour down the street, who has quite a large and immaculate vegetable garden, saw me working and offered some tomato plants which I accepted gladly.  As I was planting the tiny tomato plants, I could not help of thinking of my colleague Jim Danielson, with whom I served at our sending church in Milton On. for six years before coming to Hamilton.   Jim has a huge tomato garden and at times was even a bit obsessive about it, ordering seeds from all over North America.  It was a passion, and still is I imagine.  That garden was a yearly reminder to us and it served as a key metaphor for the work that we were doing.  It still serves as an apt image as we think about our work here in Hamilton.  Sowing seeds, of course, has been a metaphor for sharing the word from the time Jesus spoke His famous parable.  Working on that tomato garden, from the preparation of the soil through to mature fruit, has provided some further understanding as we seek to see a similar process in the lives of people.  In the early days of Milton, and our early days here, it has been the idea of preparing the soil and sowing seeds that spoke most clearly to us.  The reality is that if the seeds are to flourish, a lot of time must be put into preparing the soil.  Hard ground must be broken up and softened and weeds must be pulled.  Ministry in Canada can be very similar.  There is an abundance of hard ground, hearts hardened towards Jesus and the gospel, as well as, an abundance of weeds of misunderstanding, preconceptions, distrust or negative experience flourish.  And so, we spend a lot of time turning up soil, softening the ground and pulling up weeds through service and loving those around us, building relationships and pouring into people, that they may see a positive example of the Jesus, His church and what it really stands for.  This is not an excuse not to sow, never to share the gospel, which is unfortunately how some proceed today.  Instead we sow, we constantly sow as we plow and weed.
Planting my garden, thinking of Jim's garden, and remembering what it is that we are doing has been a good reminder this week.
Tonight, is our weekly fellowship meeting and once again we are expecting a few new faces to join us.  We will continue to look at the Gospel of Matthew as we attempt to learn about who Jesus is, what He has done for us and what he wants to do in and through us.  Again, we have found no better way to pull up some of the weeds of misconception then by inviting people to look at what Jesus actually said and did for themselves.  Some of us are learning for the very first time, trying to make an informed decision about Jesus.  Others of us are looking again, gleaning fresh insight as we spend time in the word and with each other.   We are also reading with the thought that by the end we will read that Jesus asked his disciples to go and make more disciples and thus we can be learning how to do that as we go.  Our group is growing in numbers but also in diversity, in just about every sense of the word and we are excited about what God is growing.  We thank you for your continued prayer for our weekly times together.
As we think about softening soil, we also recognize that when it comes to the individual heart it really is the Spirit that prepares for the reception of the word and thus our greatest tool and investment is prayer.  We truly thank you for your continued support of our ministry and for your prayers.