You will remember that earlier this summer I wrote about some new and exciting things we are going to be launching this fall. Well, they are ready to go.
In Volume 3, Number 29 I wrote:
Mark Twain (supposedly) said that “everyone’s talking about the weather, but no one’s doing anything about it”. The same could be said of our use of scripture. To push this concern a little further, we are launching a daily audio-devotional guide beginning with the Rev. Faye Reynolds and the book of Esther. The format is very similar to the “Praying Through the Year” books by Eugene Peterson. We begin by reading the text, followed by a brief exposition and then a prayer.
The whole devotional takes about 5 minutes and can be downloaded onto your computer (and an MP3 player if you have one).
I am very excited about this and we are very honoured indeed to have Faye lead us. We have several excellent Bible teachers in Western Canada who will continue this work once Faye has completed Esther for us.
The audio devotionals, which are being organized by Michael Gurney, Claudia Wakeman and Shelby Gregg will be launched on Monday, September 10th. If you are unsure how to access and download this podcast, please contact Shelby at sgregg@buwc.ca or 604 225 5916 and she will walk you through the process.
In Volume 3, number 25 I wrote:
We are regularly asking God to develop in us the basic spiritual disciplines that are the foundations of a life in Christ and the maturing of a community of faith in the church.
We have introduced a number of denomination-wide initiatives to deepen our faith together; the Listening Sessions, the William Carey Institute, Assemblies and Banff Pastors’ Conferences, Missional Networks and a vast array of congregational and personal resources.
In September 2007we will begin to list a simple scripture of the day as selected by Claudia Wakeman. Claudia is one of my associates in the Vancouver office who has an MDiv from Regent-Carey and has been active in many different roles in First Baptist Vancouver.
The second initiative will be a prayer request for the day. Lisa Shierman, who manages church resources and reception in our Calgary office, has created a daily prayer guide for office staff devotions for many months now… she will be sharing many of those requests with us so that we can pray for our wider CBWC family in all its many facets.
These two features will be launched on Monday September 17th. Just go to our website (buwc.ca) and it will be there on the front page. As well, to find verses and prayers from previous days, you can head to “Resources”, then “Daily Verse” to find our archives.
I hope these new resources will enrich your daily walk with God.
Warmly,
In Christ,
Jeremy Bell