OCTOBER + NOVEMBER 2019
Not a
“What”, but a
“Why”
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A L L A B OA R D FE B R UA RY 7 - 16 , 2020
9 NIGHTS, STOPPING IN:
Bonaire, Aruba, and Curacao Featuring Back to the Bible Canada's Dr. John Neufeld, Laugh Again’s Phil Callaway and special musical guest, The Wiebes. Enjoy an amazing vacation while experiencing great Bible teaching, laughter, fellowship and special music. TO REGISTER, CALL C H R I S T I A N C R U I S E S A T 1 . 8 7 7. 2 2 9 . 6 1 5 5 OR VISIT BACK TOTHEBIBLE .C A /CRUISE PRICES START FROM $1,452.19 CAD BASED ON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY 2
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WHAT'S INSIDE OCTOBER + NOVEMBER 2019
Not a "What", but a "Why" page 4 Ben Lowell
What's the Problem with Prayer? page 10
page 8
Dr. John Neufeld
GET YOUR FREE 2020 SCRIPTURE CALENDAR!
Stronger Than Fear page 12 Phil Callaway
Prayer Takes Practice page 16 Erika Penner
Less Like a Task, More Like a Relationship page 18 Daniel Markin
page 9
DR. JOHN'S DAILY BIBLE READING PLAN
Not a “What”, but a “Why”
BEN LOWELL Ben is the CEO of The Good News Broadcasting Association of Canada.
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salms of the Seasons, our 2020 Back to the Bible Canada Calendar, reminds us of many things. It reminds us of the beauty and magnificence of creation, and the beauty of God’s Word. The calendar illustrates His greatness, grandeur, and grace. The calendar encourages us to be committed to reading God’s Word. A uniquely designed Bible-reading plan by Dr. Neufeld is placed within the calendar. Begin January 1st, and by December 31st, you’ll have journeyed through the entire Bible! This is a practice and discipline critical to creating a steadfast foundation for faith! The generous financial support we continue to receive goes straight to creating resources like the calendar. And while the tangible aspect
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of the calendar is a great way to demonstrate to you where your gifts are going, there is something bigger at hand. Your partnership supports eternal salvation for people across Canada and around the world! People often ask what Back to the Bible Canada does. Our simple response? We Teach the Bible. The question of what we do is simple, but why we do it is another thing. The faithful study of the Bible is not an optional discipline for the serious Christian. As the world wanders, values of society shift into uncertainty, and truth becomes increasingly undefinable, but the Word of God remains constant, and it is this certainty of faith through the study of His Word that sustains the believer in turbulent times.
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Your investment, driven by His Spirit, dramatically impacts lives. So, we continue to seek your support. In many ways, you are the fuel the propels each of the Bible Teaching ministries of Back to the Bible Canada, and as a result, tens of thousands of lives are engaged in His Word every day! We are so grateful for you, and one way we can express our gratitude is to provide you with resources that inspire and deepen your walk with Jesus. As we have done every year for decades, this month we want to send you a free copy of the Back to the Bible Canada 2020 Scripture Calendar, Psalms of the Seasons. This calendar has been created to remind you of God’s faithfulness, and to encourage your time in the Word every day, and it’s yours for free just by asking!
I also want to invite you to take part in our 1-for-1 Campaign. This is a match pledge for October only, where every dollar you give will be matched up to $50,000! Please consider how you might join us in continuing to propel this Bible teaching ministry with your match gift! God has provided us each a great opportunity to participate in His great plan revealed through His Word, and for that we are privileged to partner with you. This ministry is urgent. The longer people go without hearing the truth of God’s Word, the longer they continue to exist without the lasting hope that Christ brings. In Christ,
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Want to experience Phil
up close and personal? If so, take advantage of the opportunity to invite Phil and Laugh Again for a special appearance or event in your community, or church! Become a member of the Laugh Again team and together let’s share the truth that brings laughter to life!
FOR MORE INFORMATION TO BRING PHIL AND LAUGH AGAIN TO YOUR TOWN CALL US TODAY AT
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We thought that Estate Planning wasn’t for us You may think that Estate Planning is only for the wealthy but decisions about every resource you have such as your home, life insurance and retirement savings will have to be made someday. We have partnered with Advisors with Purpose to help you get started. Their trained estate specialists will meet with you by phone, listen to your wishes and hopes for future generations and then provide you with information and a plan that will help you make the best decisions for you and your family. Because of our partnership with them, this service is free and confidential and there is no obligation to you — and they will never sell you any product. Contact them today to speak to an estate specialist. 1.866.336.3315 | plan@advisorswithpurpose.ca
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F R EE!
Psalms of the Seasons, our 2020 Back to the Bible Canada Calendar, reminds us of many things. It reminds us of the beauty and magnificence of creation, and the beauty of God’s Word. The calendar illustrates His greatness, grandeur, and grace. The calendar encourages us to be committed to reading God’s Word. A uniquely designed Bible-reading plan by Dr. Neufeld is placed within the calendar. Begin January 1st, and by December 31st, you’ll have journeyed through the entire Bible! This is a practice and discipline critical to creating a steadfast foundation for faith!
“Sing to the Lord a new song, For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm Have worked salvation for Him.” Psalm 98:1
Request your FREE 2020 Scripture Calendar from Back to the Bible Canada today! Head over to store.backtothebible.ca or call 1-800-663-2425
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Dr. Neufeld's Daily Bible Reading Plan NOV E M B E R 2 019
DE C E M B E R 2 019
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Jeremiah 24-26; Titus 2 Jeremiah 27-29; Titus 3 Jeremiah 30-31; Philemon Jeremiah 32-33; Hebrews 1 Jeremiah 34-36; Hebrews 2 Jeremiah 37-39; Hebrews 3 Jeremiah 40-42; Hebrews 4 Jeremiah 43-45; Hebrews 5 Jeremiah 46-47; Hebrews 6 Jeremiah 48-49; Hebrews 7 Jeremiah 50; Hebrews 8 Jeremiah 51-52; Hebrews 9 Lamentations 1-2; Hebrews 10:1-18 Lamentations 3-5; Hebrews 10:19-39 Ezekiel 1-2; Hebrews 11:1-19 Ezekiel 3-4; Hebrews 11:20-40 Ezekiel 5-7; Hebrews 12 Ezekiel 8-10; Hebrews 13 Ezekiel 11-13; James 1 Ezekiel 14-15; James 2 Ezekiel 16-17; James 3 Ezekiel 18-19; James 4 Ezekiel 20-21; James 5 Ezekiel 22-23; 1 Peter 1 Ezekiel 24-26; 1 Peter 2 Ezekiel 27-29; 1 Peter 3 Ezekiel 30-32; 1 Peter 4 Ezekiel 33-34; 1 Peter 5 Ezekiel 35-36; 2 Peter 1 Ezekiel 37-39; 2 Peter 2
Ezekiel 40-41; 2 Peter 3 Ezekiel 42-44; 1 John 1 Ezekiel 45-46; 1 John 2 Ezekiel 47-48; 1 John 3 Daniel 1-2; 1 John 4 Daniel 3-4; 1 John 5 Daniel 5-7; 2 John Daniel 8-10; 3 John Daniel 11-12; Jude Hosea 1-4; Revelation 1 Hosea 5-8; Revelation 2 Hosea 9-11; Revelation 3 Hosea 12-14; Revelation 4 Joel 1-3; Revelation 5 Amos 1-3; Revelation 6 Amos 4-6; Revelation 7 Amos 7-9; Revelation 8 Obadiah; Revelation 9 Jonah 1-4; Revelation 10 Micah 1-3; Revelation 11 Micah 4-5; Revelation 12 Micah 6-7; Revelation 13 Nahum 1-3; Revelation 14 Habakkuk 1-3; Revelation 15 Zephaniah 1-3; Revelation 16 Haggai 1-2; Revelation 17 Zechariah 1-4; Revelation 18 Zechariah 5-8; Revelation 19 Zechariah 9-12; Revelation 20 Zechariah 13-14; Revelation 21 Malachi 1-4; Revelation 22
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What’s the Problem with Prayer? DR. JOHN NEUFELD Dr. John is the Bible Teacher at Back to the Bible Canada.
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have started to read an exciting book about prayer by Don Whitney, professor of Biblical Spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Whitney begins with a humble admission in his book, Praying the Bible; “So many believers,” he says, “indwelt by the Holy Spirit, find that their prayer lives are boring. This, in spite of the fact that they desire to please the Lord, they love to fellowship with God’s people, and they have their hearts set on eternity.” The truth is, when we find our prayer lives boring, we don’t feel like praying at all. Whitney notes that while we pray to the most glorious person in the universe, our prayers are often short, repetitious, and hindered by distraction. And because of this tendency, many feel as if there’s
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something wrong with them. They believe that they are “second rate” Christians. Amazingly, Whitney suggests that, “the problem is almost certainly not you; it’s your method.” He goes on to say, “The method of most Christians in prayer is to say the same old things about the same old things.” I have been in ministry for many years, have attended countless Bible studies, and have led more prayer services than I can remember. And I am convinced Whitney is right. We normally begin prayer meetings with prayer requests, and those have been quite consistent over the years. These include our health, our finances, our children, and those we know who are struggling at the moment. I find that Christians often ask God to “bless” a certain person, especially missionaries; but the exact nature of
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what is being asked is surely a mystery. I think the word “bless” gets used because we often don’t know what we should pray for someone, so we simply insert that word with an assurance that God will know how to sort the matter out. Thinking about prayer – the prayers of others and my own – I am reminded that we often expect believers to pray without teaching them how to do it well. On the one hand, this is easy to do, because, as Romans 8:26 reminds us, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too
deep for words.” We can count on the Spirit to give us much needed help in praying. But we are also reminded that in Luke 11:1, Jesus’ disciples came to Him requesting that He teach them to pray, even as John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray. And finally, the book of Psalms contains many passages that must surely be thought of as examples of how we should pray. So, let’s make it a major priority in our lives to grow in our ability to pray well. Of all the things we do well in this life, may prayer be at the very top of that list!
Request your free 2020 Scripture Calendar Psalms of the Seasons, today! Head over to backtothebible.ca
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Stronger Than Fear
A
mother asked her fiveyear-old to go to the pantry to get her a can of tomato soup. “But it’s dark in there,” he said. His mother assured him, “Don’t be afraid, Jesus is in there.” So, the little guy opened the pantry door, looked into the dark and shouted, “Jesus, can You hand me a can of tomato soup?”
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Ah, kids. They’re not alone in the fear department. Do you have some? Lest you think I am abnormally brave, here’s the truth: I’m the guy who still has nightmares about flunking fifth grade. I’m the guy who said a quick “NO” to the first 30 speaking requests I received. I can imagine a disease for every ache, an Eeyore for every Tigger. And I’m not alone. When my wife was battling epilepsy, my daughter asked, “Daddy, are you gonna stay?” I told her, “Oh yes, Rachael. I promise. I’ll be here.” My son asked, “Is momma gonna die?” I didn’t know. I knew I needed to show the way, but I was terrified of the future
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myself. How could I overflow with something stronger than fear? We began taking counsel from the book of Philippians, where we discovered the link between prayer and peace. “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” The book instructed us to feed our minds on things that are honourable, pure, lovely and of good report, and we seldom encountered
these things on the television news. So we flipped the thing off and determined to spend time concerned about that which we could do something about. In the book of Judges, the people of Midian terrorize the Israelites for seven years. God appears to Gideon, calling him a “mighty warrior”, and telling him to deliver Israel out of Midian’s hand. Gideon says, “Who me? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh. I’m the runt of the litter.” Why in the world would God call such a fearful man “mighty warrior”? Because He knew who Gideon would become with God’s help. We too can doubt our abilities. But let us never doubt our God. Gideon’s God is our God today. He will be us and help us accomplish all He asks us to do. So, let’s go to the pantry and get that can of tomato soup.
PHIL CALLAWAY Phil Callaway, the host of Laugh Again, is an award-winning author and speaker, known worldwide for his humorous yet perceptive look at life. Residing in Alberta, Canada with Ramona and their three children.
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INTRODUCING
2020
Calendar
Spend 2020 reading through the Bible with Phil Callaway! Filled with laughs, encouragement, and joy, the 2020 Laugh Again Calendar is guaranteed to bring you exactly that! As we get older, the years fly by faster and faster- and 2020 will be no different! Thankfully God’s Word will remain, and with a uniquely designed Bible-reading plan, the truth of the Scriptures will fill each day as you look at the calendar! Featuring 12 stories from Phil with original drawings to match, the 2020 Laugh Again Calendar is a perfect fit for any space, and great to give as a gift!
Purchase your calendar today for only $12! Includes shipping, handling, and taxes
Head over to laughagain.ca/calendar or call
1-800-663-2425 14
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Prayer Takes Practice ERIKA PENNER Erika is the Content Marketing Specialist at Back to the Bible Canada. She lives in Mission, BC, and is passionate about seeing people experience the love of Christ in their daily lives.
“What if I said the same thing to you every day? Wouldn’t you get bored?”
T
hese were the words that, ironically, came out of my mother’s mouth every morning on the 25-minute drive to elementary school. When I was growing up, my brothers and I were subjected to, what felt like, torment. We were actually taught how to pray. Each day, without fail, our mom would turn down the Michael W. Smith CD in our Honda Odyssey so we could all take a turn talking to Jesus. And without fail, my brothers and I would say the exact same thing, morning after morning; “Dear Jesus. Thanks for today. Please let me have a good day at school and
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have fun. Amen.” Heartfelt, right? That’s what we thought. Mom thought differently. Same thing happened at dinner; “Dear Jesus. Thanks for today. Please let this food taste good. Amen.” This time, Mom’s objections were backed up by Dad. It wasn’t until years later that I realized how valid the concerns of my parents were. If we can’t be genuine when talking to our Creator, how can we be genuine in our faith itself? Prayer takes practice, and my parents were the coaches I didn’t realize I had. When I think about what a relationship with the Lord looks like,
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the first word that comes to mind is personal. We have a personal God. He has made Himself available to us at any given moment. We have unlimited access to the Creator of the universe! Unfortunately for many of us, we don’t take full advantage of that access. We continue to think that our relationship with God is a distant one, which couldn’t be further from the truth of who He is. Our relationship with Christ should be the most intimate thing in our lives. Psalm 145:18 says, “The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” He’s right here with us, so why not talk to Him like He is? I do not claim to have cornered the market on what a healthy prayer life looks like, I’ve still got a lot of learning to do. But I do know that
it takes thought, discipline, and a genuine heart. There is no such thing as a perfect prayer life, but with a little practice, it becomes pretty easy to make Christ the first person you tell everything to. He’s waiting for us to draw close to Him, so what’s stopping us? When you’re 10, the last thing you want to do is listen to your parents. But oh, how I wish I had listened. As it turns out, I was born into a family with two parents who are total prayer-warriors. They led by example when it came to talking to God as if He was sitting at the dinner table with us, and I will always be grateful for that. The examples of prayer that I’ve seen have shaped how I communicate with the Lord as an adult. And yes, that includes those early mornings in the minivan.
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Less Like a Task, More Like a Relationship
DANIEL MARKIN Daniel is an indoubt host while also studying in the Immerse Program and serving as the Pastoral Intern for the Young Adults Ministry of Northview Church in Abbotsford, BC.
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hen it comes to prayer, so many of us feel woefully inadequate. We know that prayer is an essential part of the Christian life. We know that in prayer, God hears us (1 John 5:4). We know that we can call upon God at all times like we see in the Psalms (Psalm 17:6), and we know that we are to bring every request to him in prayer (Ephesians 6:18). Not only does God want to know us, He wants to hear from us, too. However, so often we would describe out prayer life as: “I don’t pray enough.” Now, I say that knowing that even the greatest prayer warriors would say that, but often we have reasons for this. Often, we fall into the trap that God only hears us when we are at our best, or when we are praying often. We can get defeated when we aren’t doing these things and end up praying less- resulting in a vicious cycle. As I’ve been working on my Masters’ degree, I have found 2 books to be encouraging to me on the discussion of prayer and wanted to share a thought or image from each. In the book, Prayer: Finding the Hearts True Home, author Richard Foster talks about simple prayers where “we bring ourselves before God just as we are, warts and all,” telling God, for example, “how frustrated we are with the co-worker at the office or the neighbour down the street. We ask for food, favourable weather, and
good health.” This type of prayer is likened to a child who brings all sorts of crazy requests to their parents (even if they are sometimes selfish). To the parents, even though a request might seem selfish, or for the wrong motives, they would be grieved if the children never asked at all, and are simply glad that the child does come. Foster is saying that all of our little prayers can be asked to God and that they are a good starting point for prayer. Even if they are selfish now, over time God by His Holy Spirit can begin to work in our heart and gently instruct us through our prayers. In Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Timothy Keller, he uses the illustration of prayer being like a medicine pill that you need to take every night before bed, and that if you missed it, you would die. He asks, “Would you forget? Would you not get around to it some nights? No—it would be so crucial that you wouldn’t forget, you would never miss.” This metaphor is powerful because it is true. When we don’t pray, often we find ourselves being crushed and alone. When we do pray, we are kept spiritually alive. These two images of a child-like prayer and a medicine pill make the daunting idea of prayer feel less like a task, and more like a relationship. We as God’s children can come to Him with anything, and need to, otherwise we will perish. But more than that, He wants us to come to Him. BACK TOTHEBIBLE.CA
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