Sunday, April 22, 2007 proved in the goodness of God to be a beautiful day. The weather was delightful: warm and dry. The expected guests all arrived safely. The morning church service was a blessing. The Renewal of our Marriage Vows, conducted by Bishop Keith Elford, and witnessed by my two eldest – Elaine Maxwell and Tom Adams – was a happy experience. And our meal and informal program at Stockdale’s Station 1802 was absolutely fantastic!
There were a number of cameras clicking pictures throughout, both at the church and at Station 1802. Gena McMullan, a professional photographer who attends the Frankford Free Methodist Church, kindly took some family portraits and donated them to us. We also received a disc of pictures from both Dr. Dan Marshall and Lloyd Crowder.
Our Silver Wedding Anniversary was a wonderfiul experience, with many friends, our six children and all eleven grandchildren present.
We are now anticipating our long-awaited trip to Ireland, if the Lord will, from May 2 to May 18.
I’ve been quoting this poem of Frederick Faber’s often…we even sing it at our church…and recently I shared it with a loved one experiencing a personal disappointment:-
I bow me to Your will, O God
And all Your ways adore
And every day I live I’d seek
To please you more and more
He always wins who sides with God
To him no chance is lost
God’s will is sweetest to him when
It triumphs at his cost
Lead on, lead on triumphantly
Oh, blessed Lord, lead on
Faith’s pilgrim sons behind You seek
The road that You have gone
Ill that God blesses is our good
And unblest good is ill
And all is right that seems most wrong
If it be His sweet will
This poem was composed yesterday for one of our church ladies who is undergoing chemotherapy.
My friend and sister in the Lord
Your fellow Christians are in accord
We want you well
So you can tell
God’s many graces you’ve explored
There’s saving grace, so rich and free
Made possible through Calvary
And keeping grace
Which you can trace
Throughout your life’s diversity
But you’re also finding special grace
That gives you strenth so you’ll embrace
Weakness or loss
Your current cross
And thus let faith all fear displace
Sufficient grace, God’s promise true
Is always there when days are blue
It can’t run out
So never doubt
Take heart, thank God, He’s still with you
Transforming grace, ah, that’s the aim
That you might all God’s best attain
Christ’s likeness wearing
His blessings sharing
And then His “Well done!” finally gaining
Mervyn Paul coined the phrase which was popularized in a book published by my uncle, John H. Adams, entitled TRAINING FOR REIGNING. Here it is -
LIFETIME
IS
TRAINING TIME
FOR
REIGNING TIME
That puts our circumstances in their proper perspective, doesn’t it? The Lord has each of His redeemed ones in training for a specific role in His eternal kingdom. “If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him.” So it is evident we cannot fill the role for which we are destined without going through this particular Boot Camp program we are in right now. And an all-wise God has actually written a very personal and detailed curriculum for each individual Christian. I guess Paul Billhiemer was right when he told us, “DON’T WASTE YOUR SORROWS.”
Say not, my soul,
“From whence can God remove
my every care?”
Remember:
Omnipotence has servants everywhere!
His methods are sublime,
His ways supremely kind.
God never is before His time
And never is behind.
Wednesday evenings from October 2005 to April 2006, I had the joy of sharing some of my simple thoughts on consecutive books of the Old Testament with the Frankford FM congregation. To do so, I used PowerPoint slides. If you’re searching, perhaps, for a different approach to one of these fascinating Hebrew Scriptures, you may want to take a look. This introductory presentation is a sample. I have studies on file all the way from Genesis to Joel – 24 in all. If this approach is of interest to you, write me anjadams@sympatico.ca and mention for which book(s) you want the PPT. and I will send it (them) to you as an attachment.
Sunday, April 22, 2007 – Twenty-five years ago on this date, Jeannette and I were married in Sarnia, Ontario. Would you believe that exactly 26 years ago, to the day, Jeannette and met for the first time?
Well, to celebrate we have invited many of our family members and close friends to join us in Frankford on April 22nd to witness the renewal of our vows (officiated by Free Methodist Bishop Keith Elford) at the close of our morning worship service and to enjoy an anniversary dinner together at Station 1802. There will be songs and recitals and speeches, along with a scrumpcious meal.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - If the Lord will, Jeannette and I will fly to Belfast, Northern Ireland, to begin an exciting anniversary vacation trip we have talked about ever since we were married. We intend to pick up a rented car and immediately travel north to see the famous Giants’ Causeway. The next day we will head south into the Republic of Ireland where we have booked Bed and Breakfast accommodations in Donegal, Galway, Kilkee, Dingle, Ballinskelligs and Kildare. Our vacation is scheduled to end with two nights at a B&B five minutes from Gatwick Airport so we can take the train into London and spend one whole day seeing the sights of the city – Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St, Paul’s Cathedral, Piccadilly Circus, 10 Downing Street, etc. By God’s grace we intend to be back home in Frankford Friday, May 18, in the evening.
God has been very good to me, allowing me to spend these past 25 years with Jeannette. I thank God for her. She has been to me all that a Christian wife and intimate friend could be. To God be the glory!
How quickly we move from one week to another in the life of a congregation. Sundays come and go. But the Word of God remains true forever. On March 18, 2007, I completed the series of three talks based on the biblical Epistle to Titus. Here is the PowerPoint presentation I to illustrate chapter 3: PPT Titus Ch. 3
PPT Titus Ch. 2 Here is the PowerPoint presentation on the second talk in the three-part series, based on the Epistle of Paul to Titus, given at Frankford in March 2007
PPT Titus Ch. 1 This is the PowerPoint for the first in a series of talks based on the Epistle to Titus in the New Testament. Each of the three sessions is represented by the reading of one of the three consecutive chapters in Titus and the corresponding PowerPoint presentation. This one is based on Chapter 1.
