Making the teaching attractive

As I am working on my next book on Titus: Restoring Health in the 21st Century’, Titus 3:9 keeps comes to me: “so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”

Yes, we must major on being missional and incarnational. Yes, word and deed. Yes, walk the walk and talk the talk. Yes, our culture is quite deaf to the gospel these days.

I like what Louis Pascal says in his book Pensees: “Make religion attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is. Worthy of reverence because it really understands human nature. Attractive because it promises true good.” This was brought to my attention by HTB’s Nicky Gumbel and Dr. Graham Tomlin the Alpha theologian.

Doc Loomis and Titus, Giant-Killers on their Way to Corinth

Sermon for All Saints Community Church, White Rock/Crescent Beach, Dec 28th 2008

By the Rev. Ed Hird

“Doc Loomis and Titus, Giant-Killers on their way to Corinth” (2 Corinthians 8 & 9)

Some of you will not be aware that Canon Doc Loomis began his ministry in a small rural church where the roof was seriously leaking for many months. One Sunday Doc became so frustrated by the lack of progress that he announced to the congregation that the communion service would not begin until the leaking roof issue was dealt with. Ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour passed until finally the resident tightwad at the back of the church spoke up and said: “Let’s get the service started. I’ll give fifty dollars.’ At that exact moment, a huge chunk of plaster fell from the ceiling and hit him on the head. Pulling himself up from under the pew, he said in a weak voice: “I meant to say five hundred dollars”. Doc Loomis quickly spoke out: “Hit him again, Lord!” What I will be sharing today is probably already familiar to you, but sometimes God needs to hit us again with familiar truth.

I was welcomed as the Rector of St. Simon’s NV almost 21 years ago. Upon my being hired, one of the wardens/elders told me that we are $10,000 behind from last year and if things don’t turn around by June, they wouldn’t be able to pay your salary. “No problem”, I said, “God pays for what he orders.” They felt better; I felt worse.

I met with our St. Simon’s NV Church Council and just studied one biblical stewardship passage at each meeting. After a few months, one of the Church Council members said: “This is all very nice, Reverend, but when are we going to do something?” It seemed to me that we were doing something by educating our leaders first.

I had told our ACW ladies group that they could no longer save the church with their garage sales. Rather they needed to give the money away to missions and outreach, an idea that rather caught on. Finally in June of that first year, I preached on the lectionary passage talking about tithing our first 10% and sacrificial giving above 10%. Some of our long-timers hit the roof. A medical specialist heard about the situation and began tithing that next Sunday. This action broke a log jam and released a flood of biblical generosity from which we have never looked back.

Every year at St. Simon’s NV we have an annual Stewardship education time where we teach from the bible on biblical stewardship of our time, time and treasure, and where lay people share for two to three minutes why they tithe. During the Stewardship Education time this fall, I felt led to read 50 books on biblical stewardship from Regent College.

Our stewardship focus always wraps up with an annual pledge Sunday where people bring in their pledge cards for the coming year. This November we celebrated our 22nd annual Pledge Sunday. Around Pledge Sunday 2008, Peter and Elsbeth Turner did a skit. remarkable on 2 Corinthians 9.

Some of you know that I am writing my third book. I have 120,000 words written so far on my sequel to ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’ which was about Timothy. This third book is about Titus, a remarkable paratrooper who Paul planted smack in the midst of Crete, which had been a pirate island for 800 years before Christ. Paul quoted Crete’s famous 6th century philosopher Epimendes said ‘All Cretans are liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’ Paul fully agreed. Paul’s challenge to Titus was to raise up godly healthy churches in every town in Crete, drawing on reformed ex-pirates who had given their lives to Jesus. That sounds like the challenge we are facing as the Anglican Coalition in Canada and in our new Province, the Anglican Church in North America, reaching out to a post-modern pirate culture.

Paul in vs. 1 of 2nd Corinthians 9 ironically says that there is no need to talk to them about financial stewardship, which he calls ‘service to the saints’. Then Paul proceeds to talk for another chapter, on top of Chapter 8 which was also about financial stewardship. The heart of his message is that ‘you better not shout, you better not cry, you better not pout, Titus is coming to town.’ Whenever money is mentioned in many Anglican Churches, shouting, crying and pouting often happens. Titus was coming to Corinth to receive a significant offering for the suffering Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.

Why did Paul send Titus to the Corinthians, or for that matter Doc Loomis recently to White Rock? 2 Corinthians 8:6 tells us that Titus was sent to bring a healthy conclusion to a good beginning. “So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part.”

The Corinthians were known for their generosity, just like the Macedonians who had given very generously out of their most severe trial, overflowing joy and extreme poverty (8:1). Paul wanted the Corinthians to be like the Macedonians who didn’t just talk the talk; they walked the walk financially. Paul wanted the Corinthians, just like they excelled in the charismatic gifts of faith, speech, knowledge, complete earnestness, and love for them, to also excel in this grace or charismatic gift of giving (8:7).

So Paul sent Titus along to help the Corinthians be the cheerful givers that they wanted to be. Paul described Titus in 8:17 as a first century Doc Loomis. Titus was enthusiastic, welcoming and showed initiative. 8:22 says that Titus was zealous, dedicated, diligent. That is Doc to a ‘T’. Both Doc and Titus were born to be giant-killers.

Timothy on the other hand was much more hesitant and shy, and had to be coaxed into his significant leadership by Paul. That is why Paul said to the Corinthians in Chapter 16:10-11 “If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am. No one, then, should refuse to accept him.” Timothy could be easily thrown off by criticism and negativity. Titus plodded in where angels fear to tread.

Paul also chose Titus because Titus could be trusted financially. Someone said that there are three key temptations by which Satan tries to destroy leaders of church: ‘gold, girls, and glory’ or ‘sex, money, and power.’ On the North Shore, the treasurer of a local church ran off with $70,000 of the church’s funds. It rather put a damper on the party. That is why Paul said about Titus that ‘they were taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of people.” (8:21)

Paul in Chapter 9:2 commented about the Corinthian eagerness to help, which he had been telling the Macedonians about. The Corinthians were famous for their eagerness to give. “Your enthusiasm (zelos/zeal)”, said Paul, “has stirred most of them into action.” A passion for tithing and biblical stewardship is contagious. I have found that when clergy and church council tithe their first 10% and give sacrificially over and above, it sets a tone for the rest of the local congregation. I remember many years ago where a rector told me that he believed in tithing 10% but wouldn’t give it to his own congregation, because he didn’t think that they spent it well. My sense is that biblical tithing is its own reward, even if they just went out and burnt the money after collecting it. I suggested to the Rector that if I couldn’t trust my congregation (which is the storehouse) with the tithe, then I would need to leave and find another congregation. But I will never agree to robbing God, as the Malachi 3:10 describes withholding the tithe.

I must admit that I actually robbed God for over eight years after becoming a Christian in 1972. I gave generously by Anglican standards and believed in tithing but was waiting until I felt financially secure enough to tithe. When I lost my voice in Dec 1980, I read Dr Peter Wagner’s book “Your Spiritual Gifts can help your Church Grow’ where he challenged people to tithe, saying that God would meet one’s needs. As I had no income at the time, I figured that 10% of nothing was doable. God met my family’s needs for the next 12 months, while I had a throat operation and then was able to go to St Matthew’s Abbotsford as an assistant priest exactly 12 months after I had stepped down from St. Phillips Dunbar. Because God met my needs while I was out of work and couldn’t speak, I figured that I couldn’t stop tithing now that I once had a real job and income. You may have noticed that I am passionate about tithing. In fact it is the only area in the bible where God says that we can put God to the test and see if he will not open the floodgates of heaven. Everywhere else it is forbidden.

So why did God send Titus to this congregation that was already famous for generosity? Because he wanted them to finish well. Talk is cheap. Walking the walk is costly. It is very easy in our west coast culture to start something new, to be generous for a short period. The challenge is to hang in when things get more challenging, when people offend you, when your hopes are disappointed. Titus according to 2nd Cor 9:3-5 was sent to help the Corinthians keep their financial promises. Our last four St. Simon’s NV services, including two on Dec 28th and two at Christmas, have been cancelled because of treacherous snow conditions on the North Shore. Why, you may ask, am I not worried about the financial hit that we may take? Because St. Simon’s NV people are generous tithers and sacrificial givers, who regularly can be counted upon to keep up with their yearly pledges. Not even snow and cancelled services keeps St. Simon’s NV people from being financially faithful.

St. Simon’s NV people realize that if they sow sparingly, they will reap sparingly (9:6). For the past twenty-two years, I have watched them sow generously and reap generously. I have seen God make all grace abound at St. Simon’s NV so that having all they need, they have been able to abound in every good work. (9:10)

St. Simon’s NV used to be a mission congregation for many years, which meant it didn’t pay its own way, and was almost closed several times by higher authorities. When St. Simon’s NV started tithing, it also began supporting missionaries around the world and locally. God has made the people of St. Simon’s NV rich in every way so that they could be generous on every occasion, resulting in thanksgiving to God. (9:11).

When we were thrown out of our buildings after joining up with Rwanda, God provided many financial miracles. We had a lot of startup costs in a new setting, and were in Dec 2005 down to five hundred dollars in the bank. There was a lot of pressure from a few to drop our missionaries in order to balance the budget. But God spoke to me through people like Doc Loomis and Bishop Chuck Murphy at the Anglican Mission conference. I determined that I would not sacrifice our missionaries on the altar of meeting our budget. So we kept giving to our missionaries, and God miraculously came through.

Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 9:12 that generous giving will not only meet the needs of God’s people (how many of you think that it is a good idea for your Rector and family to have food on their table and a roof over their heads?), but it will cause overflow of thanksgiving to God. Generosity comes from thanksgiving and releases more thanksgiving. By your generosity, others will praise God for your financial obedience and your liberal sharing (haploteti) with others.
It is worth noting that the only time that the bible encourages us to be liberal as Christians is financially, not doctrinally or morally.

Each year before our annual Pledge Sunday, we have a twenty-four hour Stewardship Prayer Vigil organized by Elsbeth Turner, who is also organizing our 22nd Annual Renewal Mission on March 20th-22nd with Doc Loomis and William Beasley. This November we had 52 people commit to praying for an hour, the largest response in our St. Simon’s NV history. Prayer and financial stewardship are inseparably linked (2 Cor 9:14). It is vital that we never ask anyone to do anything important that you don’t ask them to first pray about, whether it is time, talent or treasure. As we seek the Lord in prayer about what we need to give, God will speak to us and soften our hearts.

2 Cor 9:7 says that each person should give what he has determined in his heart to give. The heart is the heart of the matter. The key words are: “Not RELUCTANTLY or UNDER COMPULSION”. God loves a cheerful giver. Biblical stewardship says no to arm-twisting, motivating through panic appeals or guilt.

Canon Doc Loomis has been such a blessing to All Saints Community Church a few weeks ago, challenging people to give it all to Jesus. That is one of Doc’s favourite themes. As a young preacher, Doc was preaching a three point sermon. The first point was ‘give it all to Jesus’. While Doc was passionately preaching, a woman jumped up and said “I’ll give it all to Jesus. My hat for Jesus” as she threw her hat up by the pulpit and sat down. Doc’s second point was ‘give it all to Jesus’. Once again the woman jumped up and said ‘I’ll give it all to Jesus’, throwing her coat up by the front pew before sitting down. Doc’s third point was ‘give it all to Jesus’. Suddenly the same woman jumped up again, but Doc was quick on his feet, saying “Madam, your purse next”. She said down and said to the man next to her: “Doc quenched the Spirit”. It is funny how many people think that you have quenched the Spirit when you mention finances.

Let me tell you clearly. All Saints Community Church does not need your money. God is quite capable of looking after All Saints without you. But God does love a cheerful, hilarious giver. God is inviting you to be generous at All Saints so that you can grow spiritually and become more Christ like. How many of you would like to decide today to be a generous giver? How many of you want to be a generous cheerful giver? How many of you are willing today to trust God with a tithe in the coming year 2009? Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.

Life after Death with Titus

by the Rev Ed Hird+

in North American Anglican Vol 1. No.1 November 2008. http://www.39articles.com/

On the minds of many Anglicans is ‘What’s next?’ To borrow from the Anglican poet T.S. Eliot, Lambeth 2008 has come and gone not with a bang but with a whimper. Have we as Anglicans become Eliot’s ‘hollow men...stuffed men’? For many of us in North America, our beloved Anglican/Episcopal Church seems sadly reminiscent of Eliot’s classic poem ‘The Waste Land’. I was asked by a well-meaning pastor why our congregation bothers to stay Anglican. With all the nonsense out there, wouldn’t it be easier to just be a community church? Perhaps. But I, for one, have discovered that I am incurably Anglican, and that God is making a way where there is no way.

Orthodox North American Anglicans have become ‘wheat kernel’ Anglicans. Jesus in John 12:24 said: “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” God is giving us as Anglicans in the 21st Century both a fresh start and a death to much of which went before us. Becoming free from the apostasy and false teaching in much of the North American Anglican/Episcopal Church is a form of ‘death’. Many of us have had to leave behind our church buildings, rectories, and bank accounts. Much like the Israelites did when they left Egypt, we have had to die to the familiar and comfortable. We as Anglicans have had to learn again what it means to be pioneers, ground-breakers, and planters of new works. This can be an overwhelming task for institutionally-bound Anglicans. Thank God that in the book of Titus, we have a clear example on how to produce many seeds in times of death.

Titus was sent by Paul to the land of Crete where false teachers were swallowing the church community (Titus 1:10-16). The Cretans, who had been pirates for eight hundred years before Christ, were vulnerable to being drawn back into deception and confusion. Paul sent Titus in order to raise up healthy indigenous churches and leaders in every single one of the over one hundred Cretan cities (Titus 1:5). That is our challenge today, to send forth Tituses all across North America who can raise up countless healthy Anglican churches, churches that are immunized against deception and false teaching. Because of the moral and spiritual confusion being sown in Crete by false teachers, Paul’s key emphasis to Titus again and again was health/soundness (hygiaino or hygiene): healthy faith, healthy teaching, healthy love, and healthy endurance.

My wife and I recently went to Crete. We found out that the gospel works. Countless lives on Crete have been radically transformed by the Gospel of Life over death. You will remember how Paul in Titus 1:12 quoted the 6th century Cretan prophet Epimenides “All Cretans are liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons”. When Paul commented that ‘this testimony is true’, the Cretans would not have been shocked or offended. They were pirates and proud of it. The miracle is that through the ‘renewing of the Holy Spirit’ (Titus 3:5) that deceitful, violent, addicted buccaneers became trustworthy, peaceful, and sober.

Titus was commissioned by Paul to raise up godly indigenous clergy from the ranks of ex-pirates. As Paul put it in Titus 1:5, “The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.” That is our North American challenge in the 21st century. There is much to be straightened out, much left unfinished. Many of us are starting again from scratch. Many of us have counted all loss for the sake of following Christ (Philippians 3:8).

One of my favorite hymns over my thirty-four years of following Jesus has been “I have decided to follow Jesus”. The words often deeply challenge me: “Though none come with me, still I will follow...The Cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back, no turning back.”

It can be a very lonely reality to follow Jesus and to count the cost of discipleship. I remember when I first met Bishop Chuck Murphy and the Rev. Dr. Jon Schuler four years ago at St. John’s Shaughnessy. Jon Schuler read out the passage in Philippians Chapter 3 about ‘having lost all things and considering them rubbish for the sake of Jesus Christ.” I remember quietly thinking: “I sure hope that it doesn’t come to that in Canada.” I was hoping against hope that the problems in TEC would stay below the Forty-Ninth Parallel, and that Canadian Anglicans would not jump off the moral cliff. Sadly I was mistaken. I was even more shocked when the 2004 Canadian ACC General Synod voted to affirm the ‘sanctity and integrity’ of same-sex relationships. What had happened to the Canadian reticence over shooting ourselves in the foot?

The North American Anglican tragedy was foreshadowed in Titus 1:10-11 “For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers... teaching things they ought not to teach...” Have we not all sadly met North American Anglicans whose “minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him...?” What hope is there in such a time of theological and moral meltdown?

The answer is found in Titus 1:9 where Paul teaches of Titus’ Cretan leaders that “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” The problem is always leadership. The solution is also leadership, godly leadership, leadership submitted to the authority of Holy Scripture, leadership that takes seriously the Creed and the 39 articles, leadership that does not treat the Ten Commandments as multiple-choice.

In contrast to the uncertain voice of Lambeth 2008, GAFCON gave a clear trumpet call to those Anglicans who have ears to hear. As a licensed priest of the Anglican Province of Rwanda, it thrills me to see the growing John 17 unity God is giving us as Common Cause Partners, not unity for its own sake but for the sake of the lost. I believe in the Anglican way as an important gift to the wider body of Christ. As we hear afresh the words of Paul to Titus, may God raise up an army of godly leaders who can retake North America for Christ.

The Reverend Ed Hird+, Rector,
St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver, Anglican Coalition in Canada
-author of ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’ (1 & 2 Timothy) and the upcoming book ‘Restoring Health in the 21st Century’ (Titus)

Visual Memories of Crete

After two days in Athens, we began our Cretan adventure at Arolithos, a traditional Cretan village. We found Arolithos very pretty but very quiet and lonely, being way out in the country. Arolithos was literally divided between the sheep and the goats, on either side of the village.

The next day we moved from the 'country' to the Captial City of Crete, Heraklion where we booked into the delightful Castello hotel. Right across from the hotel was one of many statues celebrating key Cretans who have liberate Crete from its numerous invaders.

Crete is famous for its numerous archeological sites. In both the National Archeological Museum in Athens (left) and the Archeological Museum of Crete (right) are displayed beautiful ancient Cretan vases. Crete is the largest of the Greek islands at 8,336 km² (3,219 square miles) and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean.

Our first Sunday in Crete started with heavy rain, requiring us to take a taxi to the 7am service at Hagios Tito/Titus Church where Titus' actual head is kept in the side chapel. The Hagios Tito service lasted 3 and 1/2 hours. For the first hour, there were more clergy and robed choir than congregation: about 8 including us. Time is no concern to Cretans. Every hour, more people wandered in, until three hours later the service was 80% full. Even the choir members wandered in and out over the three+ hour service.

There were no instruments. The two miked-singers/cantors who led the choir had excellent base voices. The congregation never sang. At the end of the service, any of the people who did not take communion were invited to receive a blessed piece of bread to eat on their way out. All the children took communion, plus many of the adults who felt spiritually connected that day.

The Greek Orthodox Archimandrite Makarios officially welcomed us to Crete and invited us to have coffee with him after the service. His English was excellent, so we had a great conversation. I was able to give him a copy of 'Battle for the Soul of Canada' as a gift which he seemed pleased to receive. As he is also a medical doctor, he gave us a gift of his book on Orthodox bioethics.

After Church, we went for lunch with one of the young Cretan couples. It was a great opportunity to learn more about Crete, and how to not butcher the modern Greek language. Quite understandably, Greek has changed a bit in two thousand years. For example, the 'eu' in Eucharist/Thank you is currently pronounced as an 'f' as in 'Efharista'.

In the afternoon, we went by bus to the famous Knossos archeological palace, where the ancient Minoans had their headquarters. As the centre of the Minoan civilization (ca. 2600–1400 BC), Cretan culture was the oldest form of Greek and hence European civilization. It is not surprising that there are over 2,000 scholars and archeologists on Crete.

After that, we went to the Venetian Port at Heraklion where the wind on the windbreaker was so strong that it almost blew us off our feet. We can understand how Paul in Acts 27:10 warned the ship captain not to leave Crete because of the winter danger of shipwreck. Even today Cretans do not do much fishing in the winter.

On Monday we first went to the Hagios Minas Cathedral where we met three of their priests, including Fr. Methodius, the administrator for their Archdiocese in Crete. Every where we went, we were greeted with much hospitality and gifts about Titus, including a palm Sunday cross which the Eastern Orthodox are preparing for (being later than our western Easter).


A taxi driver Immanuel, who carries a Greek bible in his taxi, drove us to the Agaradou Monastry way up on a remote hill where we met the Abbot Irasmus who gave us a memorable tour of the monastry. Then we visited Fr. Makarios at their radio station where we had more food and hospitality.

Later that afternoon, we were fortunate to visit the National Museum of Crete, where we saw the stone pulpit from the original Hagios Tito Church in Gortyn/Gortyna. We also learned about the many times the Cretan people have been conquered, and yet how they reemerged after great persecution. All of their church buildings after the conquest of 1669 were closed, and converted to other purposes. Only 50 people in their main city of Heraklion (Chandax) were left after a continuous siege for twenty years, reportedly the longest siege in the history of the world.

The resilience and deep faith of the Cretan people is a lesson to others facing difficulties in life. My prayer for those reading this article is that we would show the same resilience and faithfulness when we face life’s disappointments.


Yours in Jesus Christ,

Ed Hird+

Sunday Worship in the Land of St Titus

http://twgauthors.blogspot.com/2008/04/sunday-worship-in-land-of-st-titus-hird.html

Sunday Worship in the Land of St Titus- Hird

We had a very full Sunday visiting Heraklion, the Capital of Crete where the Apostle Paul left his assistant Titus. (Titus 1:4-5)

Sunday started with heavy rain, requiring us to take a taxi to the 7am service at Hagios Tito/Titus Church where the actual skull of St Titus is on display. As we arrived early, we ate a Cretan/Greek breakfast with a heavy emphasis on pork and potatoes. Potatoes in Crete always mean 'french fries'!

The Hagios Tito service lasted 3 and 1/2 hours. We became somewhat weary standing for much of the service. For the first hour, there were more clergy and robed choir than congregation: about 8 including us. Time is no concern to Cretans. Every hour, more people wandered in, until eventual the church building was 80% full. Even the choir members wandered in and out over the three+ hour service.

There were no instruments at all in the service. Instead the male choir, with two lead singer/cantors, used microphones, singing the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom (the golden-tongued) in minor keys. The congregation never sang.

At the end of the service, any of the people who did not take communion were invited to receive a blessed piece of bread to eat on their way out. All the children took communion, plus many of the adults who felt spiritually connected that day.

The visiting Cretan Archmandrite Makarios invited us to have Greek coffee with him after the service. Having studied for three years in Boston, his English was excellent, so we had a great conversation. I was able to give him a copy of 'Battle for the Soul of Canada' as a gift, which he seemed pleased to receive it. In return, Fr Makarios, an Orthodox priest and medical doctor, gave me a copy of his new book on Christianity and Bioethics.

After Church, we went for lunch with one of the young couples. It was a great opportunity to learn more about Christians in Crete, about Titus, and how to not butcher the modern Greek language. For some reason, Greek has apparently changed a bit in two thousand years since the New Testament in some of its pronunciations ;) The 'u' in Eucharist/Thanks is now pronounced as an 'f' as in 'Efcharista', and the 'g' in 'evangelism' is pronounced as an 'h'!

In the afternoon, we went by bus to the famous Knossos archeological palace, where the Minoans had their headquarters. After that, we went to the Venetian Port at Heraklion where the wind on the windbreaker was so strong that it almost blew us off our feet. We can understand how Paul warned the ship captain not to leave Crete because of the winter danger of shipwreck. Even today Cretans do not do fishing in the winter.

So many rich experiences packed into one Sunday. All this confirmed the value of visiting Crete as part of birthing the new Titus book 'Restoring Health in the 21 Century.'

The Rev Ed Hird+
Rector, St. Simon's Church North Vancouver
Anglican Coalition in Canada
http://restoringhealth21.blogspot.com/

Study Visit to Crete

Dear friends in Christ,

Please keep my wife and myself in your prayers, as we travel to Crete after Easter (April 1st to 12th) where I will be working on my third book' Restoring Health in the 21st Century'. It is a sequel to 'Battle for the Soul of Canada'.

As Battle for the Soul of Canada is a devotional commentary on 1st and 2nd Timothy, 'Restoring Health in the 21st Century' will be a devotional commentary on Titus, which is all about the island of Crete. Crete was a pirate island for 800 years, so my book will have a lot to do with recovery from a unhealthy pirate lifestyle. "As one of your own prophets said, 'All Cretans are liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons. This testimony is true" Titus 1:12


I have just finished a two-and-a-half month Titus sermon series where 50 commentaries, 10 Crete books, and 20 pirate books were read.

Blessings, Ed Hird+
http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com/

p.s. If you haven't yet purchased Jan Cox's Bible Study Guide on 'The Battle for the Soul of Canada', I strongly commend it to you.

"A companion Bible study for Ed Hird’s book, Battle for the Soul of Canada, is now available, called Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada, by Janis Cox. There are six sessions in the study, each with an excerpt from Ed’s book.

Discuss what God has in store for your life, review the Christian statement of faith as told to Timothy by the Apostle Paul, learn to pray with sincerity and rely on God’s wisdom and come away from this study with new thoughts, ideas and enthusiasm to be the Spirit-filled leaders Canada needs.

The cost of the study is $5.00 for the first PDF copy and $3.00 for each additional printing. Leader’s Notes are free with your first copy. To request a free sample session or to order, email Janis at SpiritFilledCanada@sympatico.ca For more information please see http://spiritfilledcanada.blogspot.com/. "