Bird River Bible Blog

I hate wasting. Often if I accidentally pour out too much of something out of a bottle or container, I’ll try to quickly scoop it up and put it back in, whether it’s too much shampoo, or too much mayonnaise. One thing I have found that is impossible to put back is toothpaste back into the tube. Have you ever tried it? I have. It really doesn’t work so well.
Our words work much the same way as that toothpaste. Once you say something, it’s very difficult to take it back. So if you go around, calling people names, or saying horrible things to your friends, then you won’t be able to take any of those words back. Sure, it’s easy enough to ask for forgiveness for what you said, but even if your friend decides to forgive you, the words that you said will be sitting in there, never quite forgotten by the receiver. It’s like, if I were to take a piece of paper, all smooth, I could write on it in pencil, and even when I’ve erased it, there’s still that indentation on it. You can still see that I wrote on it with something. I’ve left a mark…that can never be removed.
We need to be careful about what we say and choose our words wisely. If you’re a Christian, you are representing God with what you say. Remember that catchy phrase from a few years ago, “WWJD” or “What Would Jesus Do?” In this case just think “What Would Jesus Say”.
I want to add that it’s not just words that you say to a person that can do a lot of harm. It can also be words that you say about a person…like gossip. Think hard about what you say and what your words can do to a person. And remember that you can’t take it back and stuff the words back in your mouth.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

“Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Proverbs 16:24

Hey everyone! I just want to mention to you that this coming weekend (Oct. 20-22) is the Franklin Graham Festival at the MTS Centre. It is a free event with some really good bands including Casting Crowns, Newsboys, Rebecca St. James, and Tree 63. Make sure you check it out. Run your mouse over “Franklin Graham Festival” and you can link to their website.
I also want to send a shoutout to a couple campers from the summer, Shaneil and Desiree who helped save the life of that boy in the burning shed this last weekend. You girls are amazing!

I’m going to admit it: I love meat. There’s something I deeply enjoy about sinking my teeth into a tender piece of meat that is oozing with flavour. My mouth is watering at the thought. During our Family Camp this year, we enjoyed a for real roast pig from Danny’s Whole Hog. Now, I’ve had roast pig before, slowly cooked over a spit all day. But this. This was oh so much better because DWH prepares the pig for you, letting it marinate for a long time before it goes onto the spit. The pig sat in this marinade and soaked up all of its subtle flavours and once cooked, released it all into a medley of taste perfection.Marinating can do amazing things to a piece of meat. It can take a piece of tough meat and make it more tender, or an already great tasting meat, taste even better.
I’m going to use this word, “marinating” to talk about spending time reading your Bible. Some of you may look at your Bible and all you see is that it is a large book. I was asked during the summer, how it is that some of the staff can recall verses from their Bible, just like that. I said that it’s because we love reading it so much. It’s like any favourite thing: you spend a lot of time with it, and you know it. I’m sure that a lot of you have favourite songs that you don’t mind listening to over and over again, soaking in the lyrics, so that you can recite them at any given time. It should be like that for Christians and their Bible, the Word of God.
Read through your Bible, know it, and memorize it. Spend time marinating in God’s Word, letting it soak into your heart and you will find that its flavours will come out in your everyday life. You’ll find yourself in situations where what you have been reading in your Bible, comes to mind and will be totally useful and encouraging. Your heart will be softened by its words and you will learn many of God’s promises for you!
If you don’t already regularly read your Bible, you may be thinking about this big task of reading your Bible and wondering how to go about it. I would suggest what is called the SOAP method. First find a section (maybe a chapter) to read. Then write down a verse of Scripture that stood out to you. Write down any Observations you have about the verse you just wrote down. Then Apply it to your life (reading your Bible without applying it is useless!). Finally, Pray and ask God to help you do whatever it is that you just wrote down. If you need some suggestions for what you should read, or you want a Scripture reading plan to follow, just drop me a line via the “leave comments” link and I’ll make sure you get one.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently in the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:22-25

Hey folks. Sorry I haven’t got any devotions up on the blog yet. I have one completed to put up, as soon as I send out the follow-up letter to those campers who made some decisions this summer to follow Christ. In other news around camp, the fundraiser went quite well, with people donating great items and people having fun pushing up the bid, so we could raise more for the camp! Last weekend, some friends of the camp came out and completed the shell of the kitchen extension. It’s looking really good, complete with 2 floors, walls, and a roof! We also had a hot tub donated that came a couple weeks ago, that will go on the deck of the extension. Hopefully we will see that installed this winter. For those who are curious, Jenny-Lynn seems to be experiencing a healthy pregnancy. We look forward to having a lil’ Kroeker around here in January. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone! “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1