Hello Faith Pals,
How are you this week?
Gorgeous sunshine today! It really is worth the frosty cold nights for this. Peter Campbell from Heatheron-Dingley sent me a haiku earlier in the week. It ties in well considering the temperature this morning!
‘Chill winds nip and bite.
Under doonas warm we hide
from winter’s sharp fangs.’
Peter also answered my question about what heaven will be like:
‘ What will heaven be like? I hope heaven is like the Garden of Eden. Full of plants, fruits, animals and birds with everything living in harmony. A place where, like Adam and Eve, we can walk and talk with God.’ -Peter Campbell.
I asked that question because of a poem that John Wallace sent to me. I have it as an attachment. John then mentioned the book and film, Heaven is for Real, by Todd Burpo (2010) A film based on the book was released in 2014. It tells the true story of a young boy, Colton (3-4 years old) who has a near death experience, after his appendix ruptured. He travels to heaven and back, and over the months, and even years, he says things about heaven which astound his family (his father is a pastor). The book does make you wonder about heaven. I would have given you a quote or two from the book, but I went to look for it on my book shelves…and it is hiding somewhere! Does that ever happen in your home? I am sure my books have a jolly time during the night, shifting positions and locations!
I have included the sermon for Sunday. It is Trinity Sunday, so the material is a little heavier.
Last week my sermon mentioned the film The Wizard of Oz. This week I had a medical appointment, and walked past a cinema. On the front door it had a poster of Dorothy’s red shoes from the film, The Wizard of Oz, with the caption: ‘There is no place like home!’ A wonderful way to get that message across.
I was thinking about the people who manage cinemas and theatres-they are doing it tough. Cafes and restaurants can serve people-but cinemas and theatres remain closed.
Our hearts are heavy. Our world is burden by disease and violence.
Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.’ (Ephesians 4: 26)
Well, I think that is enough to read for the next few days,
Blessings and love
Barbara Allen
To live in a land with no cares
Would you like to be in a land without any care
Where there is nothing better than the freshness of the air
And wherever you look you can only see children playing
And you are in the most precious of all the silks, just laying
You are in the most beautiful garden you have never seen
Looking around all you can see mansions, how keen
The streets are like clear glass made of pure gold
And no one here will ever grow old
There is no sickness here as there was on Earth
And the people are full of happiness and mirth
There is a river, but no sea, and no rain pours down
And there is no one here who ever has a frown
Heaven is the place I now call my home
And no matter where I go I’m never alone
there are animals here by the score
I may be mistaken but I think I saw a dinosaur
There are many kinds of foods all of them growing
And nothing tastes fowl which goes without saying
There is no eating meat because it is not allowed
And you may have thought you’d be walking on a cloud
Heaven is a place where there is no war only peace
And love is all around you and will never cease
If all on this Earth were to love the Lord Jesus
We would have peace on Earth that never ceases
Another poem by John P. Wallace
