I am so excited to be able to join you as a guest blogger for this week as we lead into Mother’s Day this Sunday.  I was exploring the book of Matthew this week for our Young Adults Group, and a particular passage struck me.

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27) 

I want to be clear, I know that this is not a stereotypical Mother’s Day piece of scripture.  When we think of Mother’s Day and scripture, we think of the woman who fears the Lord in Proverbs, or Mary who birthed Jesus.  There are a lot of good examples of moms in scripture.  This passage does not even mention a mom, instead it talks about the wise person who built their home on a foundation of rock.  Because of the strong foundation, when the storm came the house was secure.  Moms are our first role models, and they lay the foundation of who their children are as people.  Moms care for us, protect us and shows us what to do. 

One of my favourite quotes from my mom to this day is, “Remember that I taught you how to use a spoon.”  Moms teach us right from wrong, good from bad, and show us what love is all about. With all that moms do, it is obvious that they deserve more than a day of praise.  Without moms laying a strong foundation of love and support for us, when the wind and rainy days come it would be easy for us to tumble.  The cool part about this passage as well is that you do not need to be a biological mother for it to apply to you.  As many Christians do, you can take the form of a mentor or spiritual parent.  I want to encourage all of you here at City Centre to connect with someone in that capacity.  Mentoring is one the most rewarding relationships that two people can have.  Personally, I am thankful for all the spiritual parents and mentors that I have had throughout my life and the impact that they have made to me. 

I would like to end this blog post with something for you to ponder this Mother’s Day.  It is written in the book of Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”  How are you honouring your mom this Mother’s Day?  More importantly, how are you honouring her every day?  Take this Sunday as a reminder to honour her all year and remember to thank her for being the rock on which your foundation is built upon. 

Happy Mother’s Day Church Family!  I look forward to connecting with you all this Sunday.  

Mark Twain once wrote, “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”

There are several instances in John 21 where it becomes obvious truth was being communicated because the details are rather strange if they were fictional.  In other words, this story of the frustrating fishing expedition, the subsequent filling of the nets, and the reactions of the various individuals and groups bear all the earmarks of authenticity as opposed to fabrication.  This is significant since it shows that our faith is based on facts. This is truth we can build our lives on.

I find Peter’s reaction to John’s declaration, “It is the Lord!” after the large haul of fish appeared, to be somewhat comical.  Why did he gird up his clothes and cast himself into the sea?  Why didn’t he first help his fishing buddies bring in the nets and wait to greet Jesus when the boat was ashore?  His reaction to Jesus’ presence was instinctual and spontaneous, and a little irrational.  It appears to me he was so overcome by the reality of Jesus’ presence ashore that he abandoned a reasonable response and rushed to approach his Saviour.  This seems to be a very human reaction to an astonishing situation.

A second example is that John 21 recorded these specific details: the net was full of “large” fish, there were precisely 153 of them, and yet the net remained intact.  Most people would say, “Who cares?”  What most people would find important was that Jesus was on the shore cooking breakfast and inviting them to enjoy the fish and bread He had prepared.  However, the only kind of people who cared about these details would be…fishermen!  What was the primary occupation of Peter and all those listed in John 21:2?  Fishermen! Rather than these fishing details being irrelevant, they point to an eyewitness of this extraordinary encounter with the Lord.

Another instance of John 21 being a truthful account was Peter’s reaction when he saw John over his shoulder following behind during his conversation with Jesus.  Peter had just found out his future was apparently going to include martyrdom.  So, he wanted to know about John’s fate.  How human!  “If I’m going to suffer, will he as well?  I hope he’s not getting off without taking some shots too!”  Jesus told Peter to mind his own business and not compare with others.  But his question revealed a very human weakness we all share.

And lastly, John 21:23 recorded that “fake news” was around in the first century AD as it is today.  Jesus’ comment about John to Peter was misinterpreted by many in the Christian community to mean John would never die.  John himself had to correct the fake news with the truth.

In all these story details, we see that the “truth is stranger than fiction.”  This is another indication of the reliability of our Bible because it contains truths that are unlikely to be fabricated.  I look forward to sharing more about this amazing story about our Lord Jesus with you on Sunday!