A Little Bit About my Trip East

Two weeks ago I travelled to Moncton. This is the second time, as you may know, that I’ve visited pastors in the Atlantic in the past 3 months. Both of my stops were helpful to me, and positively memorable. There’s something very warm, wholesome and inviting about the leaders I’ve met there.

On the Friday morning I set out in my rented Dodge Magnum for the delightful little town of Alma. The weather (apparently unusual for this season) was balmy, the sky was blue and there were only remnants of snow by the side of the road.

Leaving early, I set aside time to visit the awesome sea-side tourist attraction of The Rocks. Because the gates were closed for the winter, I parked outside and hiked the ½ km or so to the edge of the Bay of Fundy Cliffs. Alone on the viewpoint, I enjoyed a refreshing visit with the Creator.

I arrived at the magnificent bed and breakfast owned by Peter and Donna Colpitts called Falcon Ridge. Peter and Donna share lay pastoring responsibilities with Forrest and Jean. I was greeted not only with hugs and smiles from the 16 pastors who were present, but also by the aroma of an awesome home cooked meal (yes, I am still struggling with my love of food!).

We ate and talked together for an hour or so before I was asked to begin my presentation for the Bible College, Building Leaders Campaign. But first, Rose Misner www.misnermusic.com, led us in an amazing time of worship. It is hard to describe the sweet spirit of worship we enjoyed together, but it was a very fitting prelude to my talk.

The theme of my presentation was not about getting churches to give their money to build a new building for PLBC, but about the principle that God wants to bless us and free us from the things that hold us back from success.

I’ve described in my book, The Secret of Happiness, the running over principle and this is what I shared with those present. My talk led to about 4 hours of healthy and fruitful discussion. As we talked about the challenges of these economically repressed Canadian provinces, my friends identified, at least three spiritual strongholds of the Atlantic region. (A stronghold is a point of enemy control, like in Iraq today. Although 95% of that country has now been freed and enjoying the benefits of their recent democratic election, about 5% of the area is controlled by terrorists. The violent insurgents literally terrorize the rest of the country.)

So it is with us. We may have subjected our souls to King Jesus, but strongholds such as fear, lust, anger, low self-esteem, insecurity, etc., keep our souls on edge. And it is the same in our churches. Strongholds can retard maturity and effectiveness – sometimes it can actually render us powerless. An example of this can be seen in the church the apostle Paul addressed in his first letter to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 11).

In the Atlantic provinces, the 3 areas that threaten the church, that the pastors identified, are:

1. a poverty mentality (there will never be enough money – like the farmer in Luke 12:16-19 who said, “I’ll build bigger barns and keep more for myself”) with much of this thinking being rooted in the depression years.


2. the religious spirit of the Maritimes which is like that old saying, “Grandma taught it and we bought it.” The people are not about to change their traditions, even if the new way is Biblically sound.


3. the spirit of suspicion in acts of kindness and with outsiders. In the first instance, if I do something for someone because I feel like blessing them, they often mistakenly believe that I want something from them, so consequently, they can not accept anything from me or anyone else. The latter has to do with anyone who has not lived in the small community for at least 20 years. The citizens call them “from away people” and believe they can’t be trusted.

Every community, like every person, has strongholds which they are wrestling with. I spoke about this the Sunday I returned, as well, as I approached our second week of the Twelve Steps to Higher Ground series.

I loved the time I spent with the pastors. We agreed to continue battling any spirit which stands in opposition to God’s good plans for us who are part of the family of Foursquare Churches. The testimonies of God’s faithfulness, even through financial valleys were truly inspiring.

When I left Moncton, I made a final stop in Toronto. Sixteen of us talked together about our PLBC campaign and we also had the spiritual privilege of eating lunch together around a big table. There’s something profoundly intimate about breaking bread as friends.

I was so happy that my good friend Shannon La Chance and her friend Sandrine were there, as well. They had left Montreal in the early morning hours to drive all the way to Toronto to be with us. Both Shannon and Sandrine have profound insights into the culture and spirituality of Francophone Canadians. Our mutual desire is to expand our Foursquare churches throughout the spiritually barren province of Quebec. But we do have to recognize the cultural uniqueness of our French speaking brothers and sisters!! God help us build strong bridges across the invisible, but significant border between us. Help us to see Canada as one nation with distinct flavors and colors and give us divine insight as to how we can be one in spirit.

My Ontario comrades have a strong passion to develop leaders, plant churches, see maturity develop in the believers who are already there, and nurture new believers. I was encouraged as we shared ideas how we, who are across the great divide of the Rockies can both receive benefit from and also give help to the growth of the Central Canadian Foursquare churches. My belief is that our Bible College will be a source of health, focused Christian education and leadership development for the many new churches which are now budding in the rich spiritual soil of Ontario and Quebec.

So that was my trip. It was a worthwhile four days as I touched down on 5 of our Canadian provinces from BC to New Brunswick. And even though it was a whirlwind week, I was blessed and renewed.

Barry

At Northside Fourquare Church we start training them young. This is my grandson, Jordan, and as you can see, he's read all of my books.