Winter 2006
FROM THE PASTOR
Astronomers
will tell you that the shortest night of the year occurs on June 21st. But any
parent of small children (and not so small!), will tell you that you are wrong.
The shortest night of the year is December
24th!
It starts good with the little “angels” heading off to bed early, promising
to sleep all night to the morning. But after a busy night, just as mum and dad
climb into bed and their head touched the pillow, your pyjama-sleeve gets a tug
and a tiny voice whispers “Happy Christmas Daddy, Happy Christmas Mummy, is it
time to get up yet?”
After a few
stories about Santa getting delayed with a snow drift and he will be delayed, or
he is down stairs at this very moment and you had better be asleep, the
inevitable happens and the family tiptoe to the front room and amazingly in
those brief moments of sleep, Santa has arrived and left enough goods to keep a
village in Africa well stocked for a year! It is a very short night!
By the time
you are reading the Church Magazine, it will be all over for another year, and
some sort of “normality” will be resumed! But as we embark on another year,
I want you remember the shortage of time. The Lord Jesus said of his
ministry in John ch.8:4 “ I must work the works of him that sent me,
while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” Also John 4:35 “Say
not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto
you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to
harvest”.
The earthly
ministry of Jesus was a short one, but its impact is still seen today. He chose
to spend most of His time "teaching" and "preaching", and
one thing we can clearly see about Jesus was His genuine love and concern for
the lost, all He had to do was look on the multitude, and this would move His
heart with compassion, and that compassion moved Him to teach and preach to
them. When we think of the number of people on earth, and how many of them are
not saved, it should break our hearts, how many people die lost right here in
privileged Northern Ireland.
It is not difficult for us to find out what God’s plan for our life is today,
the harvest must be gathered, or else it will perish. If a farmer does not
harvest his crop when it is ready, it will rot and perish in the field. Too many
souls are perishing
in the field.
In
2006 in the will of God we must ask God for a
renewed burden for the souls of men, women and young people in our
community.
A. We
must declare the truth to bring in a Harvest
It takes
the proclamation of the gospel to set people free (John 8:32), which is why the
focus of our fellowship is the preaching and teaching of the
Living Word of God.
B.
We must rely on the power of the
Holy Spirit to bring in a Harvest
It is very
easy to get discouraged when we preach the Word, and no one gets saved, but our
job, calling and ministry is to deliver the truth, and rely on the Holy Spirit
of God to save. Often the harvest we see is the result of seed that was sown
months or years before. We sow the seed, but God gives the increase.
C.
We must pray for a Spiritual Harvest – Matthew 9:38
We pray
about a lot of things, but do we pray that God would send out labourers into the
field.
We must be
careful about praying for labourers, because in recent months God is raising up
young people in our fellowship to train for full-time Christian service. This is
thrilling, and these young people need much prayer, and also we need more
labourers because we are not meeting the vast spiritual needs all around us.
Would you this New Year:-
Tell the Lord you are
willing to be available –surrender your life to the Lord
Daily pray for God to
send more workers into the field
"this
generation of saints is going to have to answer for this generation of
sinners" …… can you see that it is harvest time
<><
<>< <>< <>< <>< ><> ><>
><> ><> ><>
Tribute
to Mr Wilson McKeown. 1919
- 2005
Our
dear Brother Wilson was suddenly called from this earthly scene to be with his
Lord and Saviour on Sunday 11th December 2005. He had
arrived at Church with his wife Mary and after helping her to park their
car beside the Church, took a seizure and died while in the car. Experienced
medical staff from the Fellowship rushed to his aid and together with the
Ambulance crew did their best to revive him. This news and happening cast a deep
and lasting shadow over the morning worship, great was our loss but greater was
his abundant and glad entrance into the very presence of his Lord. (2 Peter 1
v11)
It
is now fitting that tribute should be paid to one who not only worked in the
Fellowship but had the work of the Fellowship in his heart for the
greater part of his life. Wilson came from the Cullybackey area, was born on
23rd May 1919, and was the oldest of a family of five, Wilson, James, John,
Margaret and Mary. From that family he is now survived by his
Sisters who live at Tober Park, Cullybackey.
Wilson
was saved on the first Lord’s day of 1964 and was a founder
member of Ballee, one of those who met in the home of Mark Johnston at 11
Carolhill Park in 1968, at the very beginning of this Fellowship. After that,
the group used the Minor Town Hall, Ballymena before coming to the present Toome
Road site. During his earlier years in Ballee he was a
faithful Sunday school and bible class teacher for a good number of years
and also served the Fellowship in the office of Deacon.
The
respect and affection in which he was held was shown in the good crowd that
attended his funeral in Ballee on Tuesday 13th December.
Pastor Jones read the scriptures and led in prayer. Pastor Kennedy spoke
from 2 Tim Ch 4, using three verses of the last words of the great Apostle
Paul’s to young Timothy.
v6
“I am now ready to be offered” = Ready for death. This can be said
today of our dear departed Brother Wilson McKeown. Saved 41 years ago.
V7
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept
the faith” = Radiant in death.
Again these words can be applied to Wilson. He was faithful to his wife,
faithful to his family and faithful to this Fellowship.
V8
“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me in that day, and not to me only, but to
all them also that love his appearing” = Rewarded in death. Wilson on many
occasions was able to say the best is yet to be.
The Pastor left a challenge with all present, if they could say or if
these words could be applied to
their lives; - Ready for death;
Radiant in death and Rewarded in death.
"Thou
shalt be missed because thy seat will be empty" 1 Sam 20. v18.
We
commend the whole family circle to the God of all comfort and grace.
To
Mary his dear wife. His Son - James
and his wife Audrey, Belfast. His Son Roy,
wife Veronica, daughter Don, Ballymena.
His Sister Margaret and Mary, Cullybackey.
D.
Mitchell.
Secretary.
"A
Spiritual Journey Through Breast Cancer".
I
was blessed with Christian parents, but like many young people did not
appreciate what this meant. Instead
of being grateful for the love and guidance that my parents gave me I spent a
lot of time growing up with
feelings of resentfulness towards their strict rules, which did not allow me to
do what my friends did or go to places they went.
From a very young age I knew that if you wanted to go to heaven then you
had to be saved, but to me as a young teenager being saved meant a list of
things that you weren’t allowed to do. I
was so wrong!!
I
came under conviction of sin at the age of 16 following the death of my
Grandfather who was not a Christian. It
seemed as though he loved the drink more than anything else and one day as he
sat in the local pub at age 82 he drank his last pint and suffered from a
massive heart coronary. Up until
this point Granda was in good health so his death was a huge shock to the family
circle.
I
remember going to church the week after his funeral and feeling very paranoid of
every word the minister said that day. I
was afraid of dying, suddenly, as Granda had, and not being ready.
I knew that I needed to be saved, my upbringing had taught me that over
and over, but for the first time at age 16 I decided to do something about it.
That night, alone in my bedroom, I desperately searched through my bible
for something that would reassure or comfort me.
But I knew the one thing I needed to do, and that was to bow my head in
repentance. I prayed the
sinner’s prayer that night, asking God to forgive me of my sins and invited
Him into my heart. Immediately I
knew the peace of God flood my soul and I fell asleep with the burden of my sin
at the foot of the cross!
That
was just the beginning of my journey, and sad to say, I failed the Lord at the
very first hurdle. I did not confess
my salvation. Because I did not tell
others that I had got saved, the devil tried to make me doubt my salvation
within a very short space of time, but a verse that I often go back to in my
Christian walk is found in Psalm 29 V 11 “The Lord will give strength to his
people; the Lord will bless his
people with peace.” Things were
different now, I had a peace in my heart
that
I never had before and deep down I knew I was a child of God.
Little
did I realise at that point in my Christian walk how precious that very same
verse would become to me in later years.
Let’s
fast forward 12 years – I’m now age 28.
I’m married to John, we have 2 boys, Alex (age 21/2)
and Josh (4 months old). Following a
post natal examination with my GP I was referred to Antrim Hospital Breast
clinic for what was thought to be a routine matter. So
confident was I that there was nothing to worry about that I insisted I
go to the appointment by myself, even though John kindly offered several times
to join me. On 7th November 2003 I was told by the Consultant I had
pre-cancerous cells in my right breast and would need to have a mastectomy.
This news horrified me and came as a complete shock.
John made his way up to the hospital and a nurse broke the news to him
– I could not bring myself to say the words.
Immediately my thoughts went to my family.
I was a young wife and mother and I wanted to be around for many years to
come. “This can’t be
happening” “But I’ve got 2 wee
boys” were phases I repeated over and over to myself.
How could I ever be able to accept what was
happening to me? For a short
time I became consumed in my bad news and forgot that the Lord is
my refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble (Psalm
46v1). However, before I left the
clinic that day I was able to recall a quiet time I’d had about 2 weeks
previous.
One
night as John and I did a bible devotion together I was burdened with how far
away from the Lord I was feeling. As
I examined my Christian walk it was not pleasing to me and I was certain it was
not pleasing to God. I wasn’t
close to the Lord and I had barely any
passion in my heart for Him. The study of His word and devoted prayer
times were few and far between and my testimony was more reflective of a
spiritual drought than an active life for Christ.
That night I got alone with God and prayed that He would draw me close to
His side. I wanted to know the joy
of my salvation again and I desired to live a life pleasing to Him.
I
certainly did not expect the Lord to answer my prayer in the way He did.
Breast cancer was not what I had in mind when I prayed to be drawn close
to His side, but I soon found out that it was a very
effective
way of bringing me to the point of trusting completely in the Lord for
everything.
My
Mum flew in from Canada on 6th December leaving her duties
behind to care for me, my family and my house.
I can never repay her for all her help, love and kindness, but I’m sure
that she will receive her reward in heaven.
(Thanks Mum!)
On
10 December 2003 in The Ulster Hospital I had
mastectomy and reconstruction surgery, carried out by Mr Stephen Kirk.
This was major surgery so I
was off my feet for quite a while afterwards.
Everything was successful as far as the Consultant and doctors were
concerned and all I needed to do now was recover.
I felt as though I was through the worst of it and glad that these
“horrid” cells had been detected at such an early stage.
I can clearly remember saying to a nurse when in hospital, “You know,
I’m very fortunate I don’t need chemotherapy, things could be much worse”.
John
and I returned to Mr Kirk’s office
on 23rd December for results of my tissue following it’s
examination at the lab. We both sat
in a state of shock and horror as Mr Kirk explained that the results showed
small but aggressive tumours had been present in the breast.
Up until this point I had not accepted that I really had cancer.
Pre-cancerous, yes, but that was so much different from invasive
cancer and tumours.
All of a sudden the reality and seriousness of the situation hit me and
came down on John like a tonne of bricks. More
surgery was required, this time to remove my lymph glands.
That would be followed with 6 cycles of chemotherapy and then 5 weeks of
radiotherapy. John and I left the
hospital that day in a complete state of desperation and despair.
We made it back to the car and just cried in each others arms.
No words explain the fear and pain we had in our hearts at that time.
Our world was falling apart and it seemed there was nothing either of us
could do to stop it.
This
news came 2 days before Christmas, so you can imagine we
weren’t exactly in the mood for all the festivities.
I was introduced to a girl, similar in age to me, who had been through
breast cancer the previous year. I
decided to give her a call on Christmas Eve and see if talking to her would
somehow help me. She was such a
great
encouragement to me and I was so grateful for her help.
I decided to
pick
myself up and get on with things as best as possible for the sake of our 2 boys
over Christmas. To my surprise I was
able to enjoy this time and not have the fear of more surgery and treatment
looming over me. That’s the
wonderful thing about my Saviour, even when
circumstances seem hopeless and we are afraid of what the future holds
for us, He is there in the background, upholding us, giving us strength and
courage to work our way through things. Again
I could be comforted from Psalm 29 v 11.
So,
more surgery for me on 31 December 2003 and this time I was scared.
I knew that if I got bad results after this procedure then things were
really going down hill. Two days
after removing my lymph glands I was beginning to feel very troubled and afraid.
This was the first time I was letting myself come to terms with the fact
that this cancer could kill me. This
particular afternoon I was very tearful and desperate for someone to tell me
that I would be ok. I talked with my
husband, breast care nurse, surgeon, the nurses on the ward and no one could
tell me that I was going to be alright. The
peace of Psalm 29 seemed to be slipping out of my grasp, I was feeling
vulnerable and fear was taking over. After
a visit from John and some family
members I decided to hide away in a shower room at the end of the
corridor, where there would be no interruptions.
Part of me wanted to hide in there and never come out!
That day I had been questioning people about my health, hoping for the
answer I wanted to hear; “Don’t
worry, you are going to live, you’re not going to die”.
So caught up in my fear was I that I hadn’t stopped to pray about it
and ask the Lord to help me. I sat
in that shower room and cried until physically the pain got too much to bear.
I called out to the Lord, “I’m so afraid and I can’t cope with
this. I have a family who I love and
want to be with. I don’t
know how to carry this load, please take it from me, please take the burden
away”.
I
returned to my side ward and later that night my bible devotion took me to
Proverbs chapter 3. This was a
familiar passage to me but that night it was as if the words were brand new and
written just so they could minister to my broken spirit.
Verse 2 spoke of “long life and peace”, words which brought me such
comfort.
Verses
5 and 6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart;
and lean not
unto
thine own understanding. In all thy
ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”.
I sensed the Lord speaking to my heart,
telling me to just simply trust in Him.
I can honestly say that for the first time in 12 years as a Christian I
completely put ALL my trust in the Lord that night.
Suddenly I was rejoicing and so grateful to God for His goodness and
mercy. I immediately bowed my head
and gave thanks to God for showing me this wonderful truth from His word and
giving me comfort through it. The
next thing I did was get on my phone to John and tell him all about the
revelation. He was rejoicing too!
And
it didn’t stop there. The next
morning as I did my bible reading it directed me to Psalm 118.
Verses 17 and 18 jumped out of the page at me, “I shall not die, but
live, and declare the works of the Lord. The
Lord hath chastened me sore: but he
hath not given me over unto death”.
The previous day I had been cross-examining every doctor and nurse in the
place hoping they would tell me I was going to be ok.
Of course now I realise I was looking in the wrong place for my
answer. The Lord pinpointed
my need exactly, so specifically and personally
that I felt as though He sat on the bed next to me.
God had given me a promise to cling to and now I was rejoicing more than
ever because the fear had gone and my soul was filled with God’s
marvellous peace.
During
my second stay in hospital I found out from another Christian nurse that my
surgeon was a believer in Christ. Many
people had already told
me he was the best surgeon in his field within the country and for that alone I
was grateful, but to find out that God had given me His very best was a double
blessing.
By
now lots of people were praying for me and my family.
I can remember
a chat with Pastor Kennedy about how I found it difficult to pray for myself.
He smiled and assured me that was normal.
Throughout my illness I was always sure of the benefit of other
believers praying for me and I can honestly say it was the prayers of
others that carried me through the hardest times.
John
and I arrived back at Mr Kirk’s office on 12 January 2004 for results of my
lymph glands. We were extremely
nervous and worried. Experience had
by now taught us not to go in expecting everything to
be
straight forward or ok. Instead we
feared the worse and anything else was a bonus.
Much to our joy and relief I can say God gave us our bonus.
Out of 44 lymph glands only 1 was found to contain a tumour and it was a
small one at that, only 2 mm in size. Praise
God!! We left the hospital that day
smiling and so grateful to God for this good news.
The
next hurdle was chemotherapy. Daunting
to say the least. This was all new
to me and I feared that it would be a terrible ordeal.
A couple of days previous to going for my first chemo I was comforted
from 1 Peter ch 1 v 6 & 7: “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a
season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the
trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ”.
By
this stage I had come to realise that breast cancer and all the treatment that
goes along with it was my trial of faith and as every day passed I was
experiencing the refining process that burns away impurities and prepares us to
meet Christ. Beside these 2 verses I
have written in my bible “A dark hour makes Jesus bright”.
I
had my first session of chemo in the Ulster Hospital on 27 January 2004.
It went surprisingly well. I
had this vision of being completely wiped out with all the poison they were
pumping in to my veins and going
home to hang my head over the toilet for the following few days.
I can clearly remember John and I laughing hysterically as we left the
hospital. John looked at me and said
“You know Rhonda, I thought I would be dragging you out be the heels today!”
(No doubt comparing me in his mind to one of his sickly sheep!)
I still laugh when I think about it.
As
each treatment went past I became more and more tired, so by the time the 6th
and last one came around I was completely exhausted.
Just before I was due to get my second treatment my hair started falling
out. The day I was due back
for more treatment a woman who deals with wigs shaved my head and suddenly I
looked like a cancer patient. I did
not like what I saw and it took a lot of getting used to.
Later that night when I asked Alex, our oldest boy, what he thought of
Mummy’s new hair style he just looked at me blankly and asked if
the
cows had eaten it! Another memory
that makes me smile! As it turned
out God was merciful because I did not once suffer sickness during any of my 6
treatments, nor did side effects such as mouth ulcers give me much trouble.
Lamentations 3 v 22 – 25 were very
encouraging to me during chemotherapy:
“It
is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions
fail not. They are new every
morning; great is thy
faithfulness. The Lord
is my portion, saith my soul; therefore
will I hope in him. The Lord is good
unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.”
My
radiotherapy ran from 29 June – 4 August.
Compared to
chemotherapy this was a lot easier on me physically and I enjoyed the
independence of driving myself to Belvoir Park Hospital.
I was beginning
to feel like life was returning to normal.
Except
to say, for me, normal life was different now.
No more going through every day life ungrateful of my health, my family
and most importantly my Lord.
In
February 2005 I attended my first mammogram which, praise God, was clear.
I can rejoice that the Lord has healed me of cancer, but even more
importantly He has healed my soul and answered my prayer from the beginning of
my testimony. My desire was to be
drawn close to His side, renew the joy of my salvation and to live a life
pleasing to Him. With the help of
God as each day unfolds I look to him in
everything.
Through
it all I have learnt to trust completely in God and His word.
In Jesus name we find the strength to press on!
Rhonda
McCalmont
Young
People’s Fellowship (Sep – Nov 2005)
Another
season of Youth Fellowship started with ‘The Launch’.
This evening gave
a chance to get to know each other and tested our basic communication skills
with each other! The new committee
were
introduced which for this season is Claire Calderwood, Ian Calderwood,
Cherith Cameron, Geoffrey Kennedy, Richard McCord and Alison Whann.
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ on 18th September saw
various young people tell of their work at camps, trips and events of the summer
months. We were greatly blessed as
we listened to Richard McCord explain
how that God guided him through his summer activities in China.
Geoffrey Kennedy, Alison Whann, Julie Whann and Joel Hutchinson told of
their work carried out at camp. Andrew
Elder told of his experience in Bolivia. Stephen
Law visited us on 2 October and by giving a word from his heart left the young
people with a great challenge of how they are
living their lives for God. Michael
Williams of Stauros visited on 16
October and spoke to the young people reminding us that each one is very
important and special in God’s plan – he told some sad stories of cases that
he has dealt with and continues to deal with on a daily basis.
Our meeting on 30 October was taken by Ian Calderwood and was entitle
‘R U 4 REAL?’. He challenged the
young people about the Christian walk from Galatians 5 and 6 and spoke about the
importance of taking a strong stand, not being swayed by false teachings and
being Christlike in all things – even the small things.
The YPF had a special evening on 13 November
when representatives from Lo Debar Trust brought a Russian couple to the youth
meeting. Their word of testimony and
great musical talent was appreciated by all.
The young people got to ask questions at the end of the evening.
On 27 November Geoffrey took the meeting
taking as his theme ‘Are You Sure?’.
He challenged the young people to look at their own lives and how they
were living for God. We do thank
many of our church members for your continuous support and would
appreciate your continued prayer support for the work of the YPF and all
of our precious young people. Pray
that those who are Christians will be strong in their faith and walk in the
Spirit. Pray that those as yet
unsaved will soon come to a saving faith in Christ.
YPF
Committee
That
Other Shore.
We
are going home to heaven
One
day, it may be very soon,
Our
plans were made some time ago,
Won’t
you join us, there’s still room!
Just
to think who will be there?
All
who trust the Saviour here!
Those,
whose sins have been forgiven,
And
whose names are written there.
I
shall go without companions
And
with nothing in my hand,
When
I pass from this old world
To
that good and pleasant land.
I
shall meet my Saviour there,
With
many loved ones gone before,
And
I shall know them as I did
When
I reach that other shore.
Are
you going to that fair haven?
Where
no storms will ever come.
Where
no floods will wreck our mansion,
And
no tsunami can ever overrun.
It’s
time you made your preparation,
Trust
the Saviour, The one who came
Who
died on the cross, for you and me
And
suffered O! Such pain and shame.
Written
by Barbara Mills.
A
New Year
- a
New Start
“Put
off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt
according to the deceitful lusts. And be renewed in the spirit of your
mind. Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness” Eph 4 v22 – 24