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Bringing Them Home to the Trinity

Bringing them home to the Holy Trinity (Isaiah 49:1-12)

By Rev. Dr. Ed Hird, All Saints Community Church, Crescent Beach

How does Bishop Peter bless us at the end of each All Saints service? With the Trinity, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Happy Trinity Sunday!

Often clergy bless people using the sign of the cross. It is a fascinating blend of the Holy Trinity and Cross. Have you ever crossed yourself? You don’t have to, but it can be a meaningful gesture.  Eastern Orthodox people cross themselves in the other direction, right to left. Who is being dyslexic, East or West? 😉 I am sure that God doesn’t mind each way.

How many of you were you raised in a tradition that celebrated Trinity Sunday? The word Trinity is not in the Bible, but the concept is everywhere, three in one and one in three.

Now how many of you enjoy going away on trips? How many enjoy returning home in one piece? That can be painful. I will never forget being at the Honolulu airport with my dear wife waiting to return home to our homeland of Canada. My wife encouraged me to dress warmly in preparation for Canadian cold. I got warmer and warmer as we waited in the hot sun. Suddenly, after having unwisely eating half-price food at a Scottish Hawaiian festival, I fainted and threw up on the feet of the airport attendant. Before I knew it, I was suddenly being sent by a very expensive ambulance to the Honolulu hospital. There were no waiting lists there, but also no health insurance, thanks to a temporary computer glitch. How many of you want to find out that you don’t have health insurance while visiting the USA? I decided to get healthy quick, after being filled up with intravenous fluids. Thousands of dollars later, I was so glad to return home safely on a red-eye flight that night. It reminded me of Dorothy in Wizard of Oz saying ‘There’s no place like home.’ I believe that Canada has one of the best health care systems in the world as long as you are willing to wait for a very long time, which is rather complicated.

For years, the two things I didn’t want to do was clean toilets and door knock. Steve Monks, our St. Simon’s missionary for ten years in Baja, Mexico, preached at our church on how he loved Francis of Asissi and cleaning toilets.  It seemed a bit over the top to me. 😉 My wife Janice got me started on both, and I have now door knocked over 40,000 homes, half spiritually and half politically. I haven’t cleaned 40,000 toilets yet. 😉 Maybe 5,000 😉

On this Trinity Sunday, I have discovered that healthy Christianity always loves the Trinity. As part of our Christian walking group, I asked people what they appreciated about the Holy Trinity. One engineer told me that while he believed in the Trinity, he didn’t really understand the Trinity.  Welcome to the Trinity. You know how engineers like to figure everything out.

Our Light Magazine publisher Steve Almond is having Janice & myself do a series on denominational founders. Menno Simons, Martin Luther, and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer all loved the Holy Trinity. John Calvin greatly loved the Holy Trinity and gave this even more attention in his Institutes than he gave to the doctrines of God’s sovereignty and election. Many people think that Calvin is only about predestination but he is actually more about the Trinity.

Speaking of homes, my favorite homes to knock on are the JWs. They usually go into shock when the tables are turned. 😉 Did you know that JWs are not allowed to vote or serve in the military? President Eisenhower was raised in a JW family in which the Kingdom Hall was actually their private house. His dad got kicked out for questioning the JW view of the second coming.  After Eisenhower entered the military and politics, his mother was given a full military funeral. The JWs were not pleased.   JWs, by the way, are highly allergic to the Holy Trinity, going to great steps to demote Jesus to just being the Archangel Michael. They won’t be having a Trinity Sunday today, just in case you’re wondering. 😉

What do you appreciate the most about the Trinity? People in the congregation commented: unity, the family emphasis, the Holy Spirit, the omnipresence, mutual humility.

Alan Gilman, our long-term messianic friend, while attending one of his ten children’s wedding, recently preached at Pastor Giulio Gabeli’s Westwood Church in Coquitlam. He said something very memorable that relates to Isaiah 49: “Israel is Israel is Israel.” The Church is not Israel; rather according to Romans 11, we has been grafted into the olive tree of Israel. We have not replaced Israel; Rather as Isaiah 49 tells us, the Gentiles, the Goyim, the nations are included in Jesus/Yeshua. This is what the apostle Paul in Romans 16:25-27 calls ‘the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed.’ Christianity is the only ‘Jewish denomination’ that actively welcomed the nations.  I love how Alan Gilman insightfully noted: “If the Bible doesn’t drive you crazy, you’re not reading it right.” Is Christianity for Jewish people or for Gentiles? The answer is yes. 

The Bible really stretches us and transforms us if we are willing to both deeply listen and also to obey. The Hebrew word ‘shema’ means both to listen and to obey. True hearing, as Bishop Peter often reminds us, is not just cognitive information processing, but also surrender of the will and radical obedience to God’s Word. Why does Bishop Peter keep repeating himself about the surrender of the will?  Because we need to surrender our will.  There was a Latino pastor who preached on ‘Little children, love one another’ for three weeks. When asked by the elder when he would switch topics, he answered: ‘when you start doing it.’  The Bible is meant to mess with us and change us. The problem is that we don’t want to change, what the bible calls: to return. We want other people to repent and return instead. Repentance (shuv in the Hebrew) actually means to return home to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When Jewish people come to know Jesus/Yeshua, they are not leaving their heritage. They are actually coming home.

I am going to give you some homework in today’s Returning Home message. When is the last time that you have been home? What does home mean to you?  (The people in the congregation said: “safe, welcome, family, shelter.’)  If you were not born in Canada, it can be complicated as to where you feel fully at home.  Many South Africans get shocked when they move to Canada with its sometimes confusing practices, and then return to South Africa where they no longer feel at home, so they return to Canada as their new home.  You may have heard the expression: home is where the heart is. You may wish to ask: Where is your heart, and how does that relate to your sense of home? Marriage is intended to be a union between heart and home. My late mother and dear wife have an amazing ability to turn a house into a home. That is a real gift.

Home is woven with numerous precious and sometimes painful memories. Home is about family and togetherness. Home is a place of refuge from the storms of life – a place where we can hopefully relax, recharge and find solitude. That is not everyone’s experience. If you were raised in a alcoholic or addicted home, you may feel like you are walking on egg shells, and find it hard to feel at home.

In our national anthem sung especially during playoffs, we speak of Canada as our home and native land. How many watched the playoffs recently? Did you know that it has been 31 years since Canada brought the Stanley Cup back home. While My dad, grandfather, and great grandfather all lived in Edmonton, my dad who married a BCer became a strong Canuck fan. Either way, I am still hoping that Canada will surprise us and bring the cup back home in 2024. Do I hear a cheer: Bring it home? Bring it home. 😉 Of course my ultimate hope is not whether the Stanley cup comes home, but rather that people embrace the Kingdom of God cup.

Sometimes all of us feel a bit homeless, or not fully at home in our Christian life. Has it been hard or easy to feel at home in church for you? Do you feel at home at All Saints? Do you have to be perfect to be here? No.  God is our home, our dwelling place. The Holy Trinity is a community of three persons, and gives us an everlasting family.

Janice Inch, one of our elders came up and shared at this moment how safe it was for her at All Saints to be who she was and to have time to heal. She wants others who come through those doors to feel the same way.

Isaiah 49:1 says to us: “Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.”

Before the digging of the Panama Canal in 1904 to 1914, BC used to be known as the most distant part of the world. You could only sail to Vancouver by first going to the treacherous bottom of South America. Isn’t it wonderful to realize that we were all called to follow Jesus, even in our mother’s womb? Even in the womb, the Trinity is calling us home and even speaking our names before we could ever choose him.  Isn’t that amazing that God called our name in the womb?  God must care for the unborn children.

In vS 2, Isaiah said “He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.”

The Trinity often hides and conceals us as they sharpen us into a sharpened sword and a polished arrow. God calls us home in the midst of sharpening us. Has anyone been sharpened sitting under Bishop Peter’s sermons? Canadians can sometimes be a little dull because many don’t know their bibles. Many of us watch way more TV than we read books. It is the Bible and preaching that sharpens our mind.  At our Oct 25th South Surrey-White Rock Leadership Prayer Breakfast, we are once again having an Arrow Leadership speaker Carson Pue. Last year Dr Steve Brown from Arrow told us that this was their theme scripture. How many of you want your arrow sharpened and polished by the Holy Trinity this morning?

In vs 3, God said, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.””

How often are nations driven out of their homeland and return two thousand years later? That was a modern day miracle with Israel.  You may wonder: Why did the Trinity birth the people of Israel in the land of Israel, and miraculously call Israel back home, to do aliyah in 1948? To display his glory. The Hebrew words Shuv, as in our good friend Marty Shoub, means to return, and Aliyah means to go up to Jerusalem. Why has the Trinity grafted each of us as believers into the Olive Vine? Being grafted in is all about returning home. God calls us home to display his glory.

In vs 4, we hear a large ‘but’.  Do you ever say ‘but’ when someone says something nice about you?  We need to cancel our ‘buts’ and receive the blessing.  “But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”

Have you ever struggled with self-pity or discouragement in your Christian walk? 95% of people admit to this.  You can imagine how many Jewish people became atheists after the holocaust? Where was God when we needed Him?  Yet according to Joel Rosenberg, there is a major Jewish revival going on with over 800,000 Jewish people believing in Jesus/Yeshua as their Jewish messiah, more than ever in history. The Trinity is calling his chosen people home back to their messiah. I find this very encouraging because if Jewish people are starting to believe, there is hope even for Anglicans. 😉 Jewish people are starting to realize in their current deep trauma that it is actually Christians who love them and stand with them.

In vs 5-6, “the Lord says— he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength— he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.””

The first return of Jewish people to Israel was after they were exiled to Babylon in 587BC for seventy years. God the Trinity is still passionate about calling home Jewish people. The suffering servant here in Isaiah 49 refers to both Israel and the messiah Jesus, who embodies Israel. It is both the corporate and the individual at the same time.  You will notice that returned Jews, like Nicky Gumbel in the Alpha course, are being used to call home  the nations to experience the good news of salvation. Jesus’ very name Yeshua means salvation. Through a former atheist lawyer Nicky Gumbel & Alpha, over 30 million people have heard the good news of salvation. Sally, do you have anything to add about Nicky & Alpha? Sally Start commented: “God uses Nicky because he had good mentorship, the centrality of the Holy Spirit, with an undergirding of prayer.

In vs. 7, you will notice what the Lord says— the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel— to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see you and stand up, princes will see and bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

God here is speaking both about the people of Israel as a suffering rejected servant, and the messiah Jesus who embodied the very suffering of Israel. Have the Jewish people suffered? Jesus is that embodiment. It is almost impossible for Jewish people to believe in Jesus because they think that he is too Gentile. But God is moving among his own people in revival during these times of great trial. The Trinity calls home the despised and rejected.

in Vs 8, the Lord says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances,”

The Messiah Jesus, our suffering servant, becomes a covenant for the people, bringing restoration to the land of Israel. Only those who go home receive their desolate inheritances offered by the Holy Trinity. There are many Jewish people in Israel turning to Jesus/Yeshua during their desolation.

In vS 9, The Lord says to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill.”

You can imagine what a comfort this verse is to those families who had their own taken captive by Hamas and hidden in the Gaza tunnels. You may have seen many online hostage posters with three words ‘bring them home.’ This also applies to all of us caught in the darkness of sin and despair. The Trinity is calling us all home. Come home. Come home.

In vs. 10. God promises to feed, guide and lead Israel home: “They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.” I thank God that those of us who are grafted in, are included in this homecoming to the Holy Trinity.

In vs 11-12, God the Trinity shows that He is coming to bringing Israel home and those who are grafted in.  “I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up. See, they will come from afar— some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan.””

Recently in California, there were 30,000 people baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. “Here’s an excerpt: “this lady – probably in her 50’s, started running down to get baptized. I held my arms out open and yelled ‘Welcome home.’ She ran up and hugged me so tight and said, ‘I am free! I am free.’ That’s truly coming home, isn’t it?

Home often has to do with one’s final destination, and returning to where one started. Dying for Billy Graham was described as going home in his final book Nearing Home. Have you noticed how that last verse in many hymns is about coming home, going to heaven?   Let’s sing Swing low sweet chariot coming for to carry me home.

How many this Sunday morning want to more fully come home to the Holy Trinity? Let us pray. Dear Father, we often feel homeless, and don’t know where we are rooted. Only in you, and in your son Jesus, can we fully come home. I pray, Lord, for those who are just coming to know you and those who want to grow that there will be a homecoming today, in Jesus’ name. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.


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John G. Lake, Father of the Healing Rooms

an article published in the Light Magazine

March 1, 2019 by Rev. Dr. Ed & Janice Hird Leave a Comment

John G Lake

What if most of the people in your family died from incurable illnesses? 

Born in St Mary’s in Ontario in 1870, John G. Lake moved with his family to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan in 1886. Eight of his siblings died, despite the best care from medical doctors. This family tragedy inspired Lake to seek the healing power of Jesus Christ. 

After Lake was healed in Chicago from a digestive disease, his whole family went from chronic sickness to supernatural health. His invalid brother got up and walked after healing prayer, his hemorrhaging sister was healed, his mother was restored at the brink of death, and his wife was cured from tuberculosis. 

Upon being filled with the Holy Spirit in 1907, Lake said, “My nature became so sensitized that I could lay hands on any man or woman and tell what organ was diseased, and to what extent.” Rev. Audrey Mabley of Eternally Yours TV describes John G. Lake, a fellow Canadian, as the greatest man of faith for healing that perhaps has ever lived.

For the first nine months after being touched by the Holy Spirit, Lake could not look at a tree without it framing itself into a glory poem of praise, “Everything I said was a stream of poetry.”

Anointing in South Africa

Feeling a call from God in 1908, John G. Lake and Thomas Hezmalhalch, with their large families, boarded a ship to South Africa. Being sure that God would provide, they arrived with just the clothes on their backs and not enough money to enter the country. Waiting in line at customs, a stranger gave them enough money to pay their way into the country. The families were unexpectedly greeted in Johannesburg by Mrs. C.L. Goodenough, who offered a furnished cottage for them to stay in. 

The only way that Lake could describe the anointing that fell on him while in South Africa was as ‘liquid fire’ pumping through his veins. Lake believed that the power of God is equal to every emergency. The well-known South African author Andrew Murray commented of Lake, “The man reveals more of God than any other man in Africa.”  Mahatma Gandhi notably said, “Dr. Lake’s teachings will eventually be accepted by the entire world.” 

So many people were healed in South Africa that Lake was brought by Arthur Ingram, the Bishop of London and Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury, to address a Church of England conference. Bishop Ingram said of Lake’s Triune Salvation talk, “This is the greatest sermon I have ever heard, and I commend its careful study by every priest.” 

Out of this South Africa healing revival was birthed the Apostolic Faith Mission in southern Africa, a movement now numbering 1.2 million people. 

Sadly, on December 22, 1908, while Lake was ministering in the Kalahari Desert, his wife Jenny died from malnutrition and exhaustion. She had been feeding countless poor sick people on her front lawn, while waiting for Lake to return.

The Healing Rooms

Feeling a call to Spokane, Washington, Lake left South Africa, where he settled and  married Florence Switzer, having five more children. In 1915, he began the Spokane Divine Healing Institute, later called the Healing Rooms, training up ‘healing technicians’. His instructions to them were to go to the home of a sick person and not come back until that person was healed. Some might be gone for an hour, some a day, and some for weeks. Lake commented:,“We pray until we are satisfied in our souls that the work is complete. This is where people blunder. They will pray for a day or two, and then they quit.” Having previously been a manager for a life insurance company, his extensive business experience caused many business people to be more open to the gospel. Lake commented: “If there was one thing that I wish I could do for the people of Spokane, it would be to teach them to pray.” In Spokane alone, 100,000 healings had been documented and recorded within just five years. Dr. Ruthlidge, of Washington DC, said that Rev. Lake, through the Healing Rooms, made Spokane the healthiest city in the nation. 

This Spokane Blessing spread back to Lake’s Canadian homeland. A 32-year-old Canadian, William Bernard, had been suffering from curvature of the spine, since being dropped by his nurse at age three. When Bernard said that he had no faith, John G. Lake laughingly said, “I have enough faith for both of us.” After his spine was healed, two physicians certified him as fit for military service. Bernard commented, “I’ve always longed to give my service to my country of Canada.”

Lake fearlessly submitted to a series of experiments at a well-known research clinic where they watched him through x-rays & microscopes in a laboratory context as he successfully prayed for elimination of leg inflammation in a dying man. He called the Healing Rooms the most amazing adventure in the world. The Spokane Better Business Bureau investigated the healings, giving Lake and the Healing Rooms an opportunity to vindicate themselves by presenting numerous local healings with Spokane residents. Most of the cases where people were healed were ones that physicians had pronounced hopeless. One such case involved the healing of a 35-year-old woman from a 30-pound fibroid tumour in her abdomen. The tumour was completely gone after just three minutes of prayer. Lake commented of the Healing Rooms, “The lightnings of Jesus heals men by its flash; sin dissolves, disease flees when the power of God approaches.”

Thanks to Healing Rooms International Director Cal Pierce’s work in Spokane in 1999, there are now 2,961 Healing Rooms in 69 countries around the world. 

According to Tiny Marais, Director for the Greater Vancouver Healing Rooms, the Healing Rooms’ teams at the recent Missions Fest Conference prayed for over 230 people, “We saw the hand of God on everyone we prayed for.” Today, John G. Lake’s life, through the Healing Rooms revival, still impacts millions of lives around the world. 

About Rev. Dr. Ed & Janice Hird

Ed & Janice HirdBooks by Rev. Dr. Ed & Janice Hird include God’s Firestarters; Blue Sky, a novel; and For Better, For Worse: Discovering the keys to a Lasting Relationship. Dr Ed’s newest award-winning book The Elisha Code is co-authored with Rev. David Kitz. Earlier books by Dr. Ed include the award-winning Battle for the Soul of Canada, and Restoring Health: Body, Mind, & Spirit.


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Rebuilding Ancient Ruins sermon (Isaiah 61:1-6)

March 10th 2024 sermon: Rebuilding Ancient Ruins (Isaiah 61:1-6)

by Rev. Dr. Ed Hird, All Saints Community Church Crescent Beach

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.”

Isaiah 61:1-6 NIV

Anita McBride sang her Isaiah 61 song.

You will notice that Isaiah 61 begins by saying: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me.  The Hebrew and Greek words for the Holy Spirit is Ruach and Pneuma, which is the same word used for wind or breath.  Think of a pneumatic drill powered by the air, the wind.  Everything about Jesus is related to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit of Truth, the Paraclete our comforter and counsellor, and the Holy Ghost, from the German Geist for Spirit. The Holy Spirit is compared metaphorically to Clothing and  a higher power in Luke 24:49), to a Dove in Matthew 3:16, to a Pledge and Earnest Money in 2 Corinthians 1:22, to a seal in Ephesians 1:13, to Fire in Acts 2:3, to Oil in Acts 10:38, to water in John 7:38, to Wind in John 3:8, to breath in John 20:22, and to wine in Ephesians 5:18. What is your favorite biblical image for the Holy Spirit?

Matthew 1:20 tells us that Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 3:16 tells us that the Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon Jesus during his water baptism by John the Baptist. Luke 4 tells us that Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for the forty days of Lent. In John 14:26, Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit would be his representative on earth when he returned to heaven. The Holy Spirit is mentioned over 90 times in the New Testament. In recent history, the Holy Spirit was often the forgotten third person of the Trinity. As the Nicene Creed puts it, the Holy Spirit is worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son.  He is not an impersonal Star Wars force.  He is God.  The Holy Spirit is not a something. He’s a someone, a person. The Holy Spirit has an amazing personality that you would enjoy getting to know.

Do any of you, by the way, know who Muslims think that the Holy Spirit is?  Because they reject the Trinity, they shrink the Holy Spirit into just being the Angel Gabriel.

John 14: 16 tells that the world (and often many of us church folks) neither sees or knows the Spirit of Truth. Many of us had accurate theology about the Holy Spirit without personal experience of the Holy Spirit.  Acts 2:17-18 quotes Joel 2:28-32 that God in the last days will pour out his Spirit upon all people, on both men and women, young and old, even upon the servants.  The Good News is that hundreds of millions of people, especially in Africa, are experiencing a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit. Most Anglican Christians live in Africa, well over forty to fifty million where they are experiencing a wonderful Spirit-led revival. Each of the three times that Janice and I have ministered in Africa, we have come back refreshed and renewed in the Spirit.

You will remember how in Luke 4, Jesus preached from Isaiah 61 in Nazareth. It did not end well, as his home town rose up, attempting to throw him headfirst off a cliff.  What is it about Isaiah 61 that was so upsetting to his home town crowd? 

To say that the Spirit of the Lord has anointed Jesus is to affirm him as the Messiah, the anointed one, in Greek the Christ.

Jesus’ mandate from the Holy spirit in Isaiah 61 is to proclaim good news to the poor. The term gospel means good news. The term evangelism or evangelical means to share good news. Historically, the poor are the most open to the good news.  The poor can be those economically poor, but also poor in spirit.  You will remember that Jesus said in the beatitudes ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God.’  Blessed are those who know their need. 

Isaiah 61 vs  tells us that the Holy Spirit sent Jesus on mission.  Part of that apostolic sending is to bind up the broken-hearted.  Has Jesus ever done that for you? Has he ever used you to bind up the broken hearted?  Why is it so essential to the gospel to bind up the broken hearted?

Isaiah 61 tells us that through the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus will proclaim freedom for the captives.  E. Stanley Jones describe these captives as those who have been disinherited and exploited because of race, class, social standing, and lack of education. 2nd Corinthians 3:17 tells us that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Romans 8:15 tells us that through the Holy Spirit, we as children of God are no longer slaves to fear. The Holy Spirit set my hero E. Stanley Jones free from a sense of inferiority. His father was an alcoholic who had sold most of his family’s furniture to feed his addiction.  God reminded Jones according to 2nd Timothy 1:7 that God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind.  The baptism or soaking in the Spirit is a baptism of God’s love.  Has anyone experienced freedom from captivity in their Christian walk?  Has anyone experienced a baptism of God’s love in your life?  What was that like for you? 

Has anyone been released through the Holy Spirit from darkness, as Isaiah 61 talks about?  This reminds me of Isaiah 60 “Arise and Shine for your Light has come”.  The Holy Spirit is vital in our being released from all forms of darkness, including physical and emotional sickness. Often the inner healing happens before the physical healing. Forgiveness of deep inner hurts often results in remarkable physical healings. Countless millions in Africa, Asia, and South America have come to know Jesus personally when they experienced the healing power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus told us in Acts 1:8 that we shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, and we shall be witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, and Samaria and to the ends of the earth, including Crescent Beach.

I am so grateful that this is the year of the Lord’s favor. How many appreciate the favour of the Lord in your life? In the creeds, the Holy Spirit is called the Lord of Life. Judaism and Christianity are all about embracing the gift of abundant life.  We live in a culture of abundant death where abortion and MAID attempt to remove suffering through eliminating human beings.  Romans 8:6 tells us that the mind governed by the Holy Spirit is life and peace. Romans 15:13 describes our being filled with joy and peace so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Does anyone need less peace and joy in their lives? 

You will notice that Jesus did not quote the second half of the verse, which refers to the Judgment of the Lord which awaits his second coming.  As we say in the Creed, he, Jesus, shall come again to judge the living and the dead.

I love how Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, comforts all who mourn, and provides for those who grieve in Zion.  We are very aware of how many Israelis have been deeply grieving since the October 7th massacre. Jesus said in Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” We are called in 1 Corinthians 12:15 to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. 2 Corinthians 1:4 says that the Father comforts us in our sorrow that we can comfort others with the comfort that He has given us.

Has God the Holy Spirit ever given you beauty for ashes, as mentioned in Isaiah 61:3? What did that look like for you? The oil of joy is such a gift where life is weighing us down.  That is why Paul reaffirmed in Philippians 3:3 that the joy of the Lord is our true security. What are we tempted to trust in for our security?

How many have ever put on a garment of grumbling? How did that work for you?  Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, puts on us a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. There is something very radical when we give thanks while others curse. E. Stanley Jones said after a massive stroke that he still could give thanks, sometimes because of, and sometimes in spite of.  How has giving thanks and praise brought breakthrough in your life? Has anyone ever heard of Merlin Carother’s book Prison to Praise? 

How many of us want to be oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor?  In this world of chaos and destruction, we need to be deeply rooted in a way that displays his splendor.

We live in a difficult time when everything that can be shaken is being shaken. Hebrews 12:28 tells us that only the unshakable Kingdom will remain.  The Spirit of Jesus is helping us to rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; The Spirit of the Father is enabling us to renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. That is incredibly good news in this time of gross darkness, particularly in BC.

Jesus in Luke 11:11-13 said: “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? So, if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” God only gives good gifts. We don’t need to fear giving over our will to the Holy Spirit, who is a good and loving God.  Galatians 5:25 teaches us that since we live by the Spirit, we need to keep in step with the Spirit. I Corinthians 6:19 reminds us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.

All born-again Christians have the Holy Spirit living inside of them, but it is still too easy according to 1 Thessalonians 5:19 to quench the Spirit, Ephesians 4:30 to grieve the Spirit, Act 7:51 to resist the Spirit, and Isaiah 63:10 vex the Spirit.

It is such a joy, as Romans 8:26 puts it, that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us through wordless groans. Many scholars see this as an allusion to praying in the Spirit, to speaking in tongues.  Nicky Gumbel calls it a love language.  Some have the misunderstanding that speaking in tongues is always an ecstatic experience, and so they seldom speak in tongues unless they are a spiritual high.  Rev. Dennis Bennett, the author of the best-selling book Nine O’Clock in the Morning and one of my Anglican heroes, recommended that people pray in tongues in their prayer closet on a daily basis. I compare speaking in tongues to flossing one’s teeth. It is best done on a daily basis, whether one feels like it or not.  Over the past forty-five years, I have observed that daily speaking in tongues does not guarantee spiritual maturity, but it can help one grow in their prayer lives.

Nicky Gumbel says that you can be filled with the Holy Spirit without speaking in tongues. There are no first-class and second-class Christians. Nicky also says that all Christians can potentially speak in tongues. How many of you have ever heard of Vicar Alexander Boddy from All Saints Anglican Church in Sunderland? Janice and I visited there on our last trip to England. The Holy Spirit poured out on that church in 1907, and for the 25 years, countless people came at Whitsuntide/the Day of Pentecost to receive an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps the most famous recipient was the Bradford plumber Smith Wigglesworth, who after receiving his prayer language, went on to have a world-wide healing ministry. Has anyone heard of Smith Wigglesworth? 

Being filled with the Holy Spirit again and again, according to Ephesians 5:18, makes us more fully Trinitarian, not just conceptually, but also experientially.  It is not mere coincidence that we are water-baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. At the end of every worship service, we are blessed in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Healthy revival and renewal is always deeply Trinitarian.  Jesus lays down his will to the Father. John 16:13-14 tells us that the Spirit of Truth points not to himself but to Jesus.  The Spirit helps us experience intimacy with Jesus, making us more Christocentric and therefore less eccentric, as in off-centered.  As Nicky Gumbel puts it, it is the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus real to us. That is why the Alpha Course weekend with the three talks on the Holy Spirit is such a gift. More than 24 mi E. Stanley Jones said that ‘every rediscovery and re-emphasis on Jesus has brought and still brings revival and renewal.  This Lent, we all need to more fully receive the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Bishop Peter often says that breakthrough comes through surrendering our will. What if this Lent we actually surrendered to the Holy Spirit?  What if we let go and let God the Holy Spirit take control? How many are willing to ask God for a fresh Isaiah 61 outpouring of the Holy Spirit this Lent? Let us pray. Come Holy Spirit and fill us afresh with abundant life. Amen.


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Receiving the Wealth of the Nations (Isaiah 60:10-22)

March 3rd 2024 All Saints Sermon by Rev. Dr. Ed Hird

““Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion. Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations— their kings led in triumphal procession. For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined. “The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the juniper, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn my sanctuary; and I will glorify the place for my feet. The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. “Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations. You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones. I will make peace your governor and well-being your ruler. No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly.””

Winston Churchill, in the midst of the London blitz, told the Brits that this was their finest hour. Isaiah 60 is similarly telling those of us who are grafted in the olive tree of Israel that this is our finest hour. Janice and I have been involved in a Monday to Friday zoom prayer meeting for Israel since the Oct 7th massacre. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the release of the over 100 Jewish hostages still held in the tunnels by the Hamas terrorists.  Most of our favorite messianic friends have been involved, people like Pastors Giulio & Adam Gabeli, Marty Shoub, and Alan & Robin Gilman. I am praying that in the midst of increasing antisemitism that this will be the finest hour for the people of Israel, and that many will turn to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, revealed in his son Yeshua Mashiah, Jesus Christ.  I strongly believe that according to the Abrahamic covenant of Genesis 12, those who bless Israel will be blessed, blessed to be a blessing in the Messiah. Is it a mere coincidence that the nation of Israel bubbles with creativity and innovation, with over 6,000 recent inventions that other nations of the world are already benefiting from? Just think about Microsoft Windows, computer chips, instant messaging, cell phones, and many medical devices birthed in modern-day Israel.  God’s heart is that all nations on earth will be blessed through the Jewish Messiah, not just through Jewish technology.

Have you noticed how Isaiah 60:10 says that foreigners and their Kings will rebuild the open walls of Jerusalem on Mount Zion?  Vs 20 tells us that the everlasting Light of God will cause the days of sorrow to end.  The Jewish people have seen so many days of sorrow, sometimes from people who claim to be Christians. Historically, many gentile nations have often robbed the Jewish people rather than generously bring them the wealth of the nations.  Do you remember the first nation that robbed Israel and then blessed as they left?  Exodus 12:36 calls it the plundering of the Egyptians after four hundred years of slavery.  It is not rocket science to observe that nations that curse Israel and the Jewish people never do well, for as Jesus said in John 4:22, Salvation is of the Jews.

How many of you have a friend, family neighbour or colleague whom you would like to come to know Jesus personally? In the Jesus movement revival, we led countless people, including some of our Jewish friends, to Jesus, largely because we didn’t know any better.  Most of our Christian friends were hiding in the closet about their faith until the Jesus movement happened.  When Jewish people in Israel prophetically receive the wealth of the Nations, I am believing that this will include receiving what Romans 11:33 calls the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[i] knowledge of God! Paul tells us in Romans 11:25 that in the last days after the full number of the gentile nations have come in, there will be an end-times revival in which all Israel shall be saved. That is why we need to keep praying expectantly for our Jewish friends for a turning to the Lord and a removing of the veil. Do I hear an amen?

Both Bishop Peter and I have talked a lot about the Bible-based Chosen TV series, which is distributed first by Lionsgate Films on the large movie screen, and then on the Chosen App, YouTube, Prime, and Netflix. It first came out in 2017 and is now in its fourth of seven seasons. More than 600 million people already have watched the Chosen series. How many have watched any of it yet? What was your favorite episode?

New research reveals that roughly half of the viewers of The Chosen are not Christians. As mentioned last Sunday, the darkness out there is getting so gross that many of the unchurched are getting curious about Jesus the Light of the Nations. The research shows that Gen Z and younger, many who know nothing about Jesus and have never been to church, are loving the Chosen series. They can’t get enough of it. Here’s an advance tip: Season 5 of The Chosen will spotlight Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem for Holy Week. Season 6 and Season 7 will include the crucifixion and resurrection. You won’t want to miss it. How many of you are willing to check out the Chosen series? More importantly, are you willing to invite a friend or family member to watch a chosen episode with you? It is one of the easiest ways to do evangelism in this gospel-resistant culture.

How many of you love Isaiah? I deeply love Isaiah.  I am genetically related to Isaiah who is now four years old. His mom chose this name because the prophet Isaiah spoke about beauty for ashes, an anointing of joy for a spirit of heaviness. How many of you have met any of our grandchildren? If you have met Isaiah, you will never forget him. Our grandson Isaiah is full of life, bubbling over.

As you know, All Saints is currently doing a five-week Lenten sermon series on Isaiah entitled “Arise and Shine, All Saints.”  The New Testament quotes the book of Isaiah 71 times.  Isaiah is the most Christian, in Hebrew, the most messianic book in the Old Testament, which Jewish people call the Tenach.  How many of you know what the term Tenach stands for?  It is an acronym for the three section of the Old Testament: 1) Torah (Law, the first five book), 2) Neviʾim (Prophets), and 3) Ketuvim (Writings, or the rest of the Old Testament).

Isaiah 2:5, as quoted by 1 John 1:9, calls us to walk in the light of the Lord”. Isaiah 5:20 warns woke people, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.” Isaiah 7:14, as quoted by Matthew 1:22, prophesies that a virgin will give birth to God’s son, one of his names which is Immanuel, God with us. Isaiah 9:1, as quoted by Matthew 4:15, calls Jesus a light in darkness. Isaiah 9:6 prophesies that Jesus the Messiah will come as a baby. I love the beauty of the King James Version which Handel’s Messiah drew upon “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 11:1, as quoted in Luke 1:31-33, calls Jesus the root of Jesse, King David’s father. Isaiah 28:16, as quoted in Matthew 21:42-44, calls Jesus the rejected Corner Stone. Isaiah 29:18 & 35:5, as quoted in Matthew 11:5, prophesied that Jesus would cause the deaf to hear and the blind to see. Isaiah 40:3-5, as quoted by all four Gospels, predicted the coming of John the Baptist who would prepare the way for Jesus the Messiah. Isaiah 42:1-4, as quoted by Matthew 12:18-21, prophesied that Jesus the Messiah would be gentle and not crush the broken.  

The strongest and longest OT prophecies about Jesus are found in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, which is never read nowadays in the synagogues.  Many of my messianic Jewish friends have come to know Jesus, who they call Yeshua, by reading Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. There was a Jewish person who was first shown Isaiah 53 and asked who it was talking about.  He said, “Well, it’s obviously about Jesus. But I don’t trust your New Testament.”  He was then amazed to discover that this was not from the New Testament but the Old Testament.

Have you noticed that Isaiah 60 keeps telling us in verses 3, 5 to 6, 11 (even in Isaiah 66:12-13) that those coming to the Light of Jesus will bring the Wealth of the Nations? The King James Version called this the Wealth of the Gentiles. In Hebrew, it is called the wealth of the Goyim. In 140 places, the KJV translates the term goyim as the heathen. The words ‘heathen’ and ‘nation’ are often interchangeable in the KJV, as in 1 Chronicles 16:24 “Declare his glory among the heathen, his marvelous works among all nations.” This is where we get the word ‘ethnic’ from (ethnos in the Greek). To be called heathen did not mean that you were uncivilized, just not Jewish. Those of us who are not Jewish and love Jesus are actually Christian heathens.

Now when business people, economists and politicians hear the term Wealth of the Nations, what person and book comes to mind? Adam Smith’s 1776 book Wealth of the Nations. How many of you have ever read Wealth of the Nations? How many of you have ever taken a course of economic? I want to invite you up for a little dialogue.

In 1776, Smith’s second book The Wealth of the Nations was so popular that he became known as the Father of Economics and the Father of Capitalism.  For some people today, Capitalism has become a negative word associated with Scrooge-like greed and cutthroat business practices. Karl Marx blamed capitalism for all the world’s ills.

Most people have no idea that Adam Smith was a devout Christian economist. In his two books, including his lesser-known book The Theory of Moral Sentiments, God was mentioned a total of 403 times. Biblical economics is based on our being faithful stewards, realizing that all things come from God, and of his own have we given him (1 Chronicles 29:14).  Stewardship in the Greek is the same word as economics (oikonomos, manager of the oikos, the house). Smith wanted everyone to earn a decent living, saying ‘No society can surely be flourishing and happy of which the far greater of the members are poor and miserable.’  Smith observed how God transforms private interest into public good by his invisible sovereign hand.

Born in 1723 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, Adam Smith never knew his father who had died five months before his birth.  Smith regularly attended the local church with his devout mother Margaret. His strong Christian faith is often ignored or minimized by modern economists.  You cannot really understand Adam Smith without appreciating his 1759 book The Theory of Moral Sentiments:

He said: “As to love our neighbour as we love ourselves is the great law of Christianity, so it is the great precept of nature to love ourselves only as we love our neighbour, or what comes to the same thing, as our neighbour is capable of loving us.”

Adam Smith was not just a philosopher and economist.  He was also an early psychologist and sociologist who served at Glasgow University as Professor of Moral Philosophy. He was such an academic rock star in Glasgow that the university bookstore even sold a bust of his head what he was still alive! Smith was fascinated about what made people tick, especially how emotions/sentiments affected our life choices and ethical decisions.

With most of his students training to become ordained clergy, he taught them extensively about natural theology, how God our creator impacted our natural world:

…every part of nature, when attentively surveyed, equally demonstrates the providential care of its Author, and we may admire the wisdom and goodness of God, even in the weakness and folly of man.

Smith was struck by the miraculous order of God’s good universe. He called the universe God’s machine, designed to produce at all times the greatest quantity of happiness in us. Romans 8:28 reminds us how all things work together for the good. 

Since he was fatherless, Smith deeply appreciated that God was indeed our heavenly Father. He commented that ‘the very suspicion of a fatherless world must be the most melancholy of all reflections’, leaving us with nothing but endless misery and wretchedness.

All the economic prosperity in the world, said Smith, can never remove the dreadful gloominess of a world without God our Father.  Smith taught that with this conviction of a benevolent heavenly Father, all the sorrow of an afflicting adversity can never dry up our joy. Smith, who sometimes suffered from depression, knew that because he was not cosmically alone, he had reason to keep going. After experiencing academic burnout, he left Glasgow University, serving as a European tutor for Henry Scott, the future Duke of Buccleuch and his brother. While in Paris, he became friends to Voltaire and the French physiocrat economists, led by Dr. Francois Quesnay, the Royal Physician to King Louis XV. After the tragic death of Henry Scott’s younger brother, Smith returned home, never to visit Europe again.

Let me ask you a question: Who first brought the wealth of the nations to Israel as predicted in Isaiah 60? None other than the wise men who brought their three gifts to Jesus the Messiah of gold, myrrh, and incense. Haggai 2:7 says that the gold and silver belong to the Lord.  My scientist brother-in-law had a great bumper sticker “Wise Men Still Seek Him.”  Isaiah 60 Vs 5 prophetically said “Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.” Where did we get the idea that the wise men came on camels? From Isaiah 60.  Where did we get the idea that the wise men or magis were kings? From Isaiah 60 vs. 3 and 11.  And also in the prophecy of Psalm 72:10-11, it says “May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts. May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.”

What reason did Isaiah 60 give that the wise men came to visit Jesus?  The darkness became so gross that they were drawn to the light.  Have you noticed in 2024 that the darkness is getting pretty gross? I am believing that many unchurched people in 2024 will be so grossed out by the extreme darkness in BC that they will come to this glorious Lighthouse in Crescent Beach.  We the people of the light need to be ready to welcome them with open arms. These lost, broken people will not come to the light already cleaned up and fixed. 

According to Matthew 2:2, what led the wise men to that perfect light? (the Star of wonder, Star of night) That reminds me of a song.

We three kings of orient are

Bearing gifts we traverse afar

Field and fountain

Moor and mountain

Following yonder star

O star of wonder, star of night

Star with royal beauty bright

Westward leading, still proceeding

Guide us to thy perfect light

Glorious now behold Him arise

King and God and Sacrifice

Al-le-lu-ia, al-le-lu-ia

Heaven to earth replies

O star of wonder, star of night

Star with royal beauty bright

Westward leading, still proceeding

Guide us to thy perfect light

Did the wise men visit Jesus at his birth? Not likely. Likely over 40 days later. Perhaps a year or two later.  Do you know, by the way, why the wise men were late for Christmas?  Being men, they wouldn’t ask directions. 

How many wise men does the bible say came to Jesus? It doesn’t say. It just said three gifts. Their names were not likely Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. 

What was the final thing the wise men did after they gave Jesus the wealth of the nations?  They worshipped him.  Did you know that the JW New World Translation bible wipes out any references to worshipping Jesus, retranslating proskuneo as merely obeisance, whatever that means? How many of you believe that Jesus the King of the nations is worthy of worship and adoration? That reminds me of a chorus: O come let us adore Him

O come let us adore him

O come let us adore Him

Christ, the Lord

Why do we have an offering of our tithes and sacrificial offerings each Sunday in our worship service? Because Jesus is worthy of our worship, worthy of receiving the wealth of the nations. Do I hear an Amen?

Jesus, in sixteen out of the thirty-eight recorded parables, spoke about stewardship.  As we seek first God’s Kingdom, our needs will be met.  (Matthew 6:33) Jesus tells us in Luke 16: 11 “if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” Money is small potatoes in God’s eyes. The true wealth of the nations is about love, forgiveness, justice, and God’s Word.

Abundant living depends on abundant giving.  Jesus taught that it is better to give than receive (Acts 20:35).  Tithing our first 10% to God and then giving sacrificially expresses the truth that God the King owns it all, and we are his Kingdom caretakers.  E. Stanley Jones told the story of a poverty-stricken boy named Colgate who met a steamboat captain who encouraged him to give his heart to Jesus and give one tenth of all he made to God.  The boy promised both, and through his Colgate Toothpaste Company, ended up giving millions to serving others.

What might happen to Canada in 2024 if we chose to lay the wealth of the nations at the feet of Jesus’ unshakable Kingdom?

Let us sing the first verse of All to Jesus I surrender song, as our prayer to Jesus.


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Three more book reviews by Violet Nesdoly, Marina Ireland, & Dr Leonard Sweet

Violet Nesdoly

Three more book reviews of God’s Firestarter. It makes a great Christmas present. You can order the ebook or paperback at Amazon USA or Amazon Canada.

Violet Nesdoly, author & painter

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and Inspirational

Reviewed in Canada on November 10, 2021

Did you know that Katharina was the one who proposed marriage to Martin Luther, that Charles and John Wesley met with scandal and opposition in America, or that John Newton was a bad-tempered, rebellious alcoholic. Ed and Janice Hird reveal these historical bits and many more in their recently released book God’s Firestarters—Preparing Our Families for Coming Revivals.

In twenty fast-paced chapters the Hirds delve into the lives and impact of twenty giants of the Christian faith. These stories span centuries from Katharina Luther (1499-1582) and Susanna Wesley (1669-1742) to the 21st century and Chuck Smith (1927-2013), John Wimber (1934-1997), and J. I. Packer (1926-2020).

The accounts are tightly written with the abundant corroboration of a Wikipedia profile (there are a total of 717 endnotes). This is testimony to the rigorous research that has gone into each story. That’s a good thing too, for some of these accounts are almost unbelievable in the way God worked—through unlikely people, doing unlikely things, in unlikely places.

Though the stories are interesting and many entertaining, the Hirds’ real motivation in writing this book was not merely to relate lively histories, but to spark in readers a desire for more of the same surrender, obedience, faith, and audacity that was present in these revival firestarters. I would say it succeeds.

The book concludes with this prayer expressing the heart of the authors: “Wake us up. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit. Send the fire once again. Revive us, transform us, renew us, refresh us in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

A section of Discussion Questions precedes the Endnotes, making this a great choice for Bible study groups or book clubs.

Marina Ireland

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book worth the read!

Reviewed in Canada on November 8, 2021

This is a wonderful book, well documented and extremely interesting. It is a book that is hard to put down and one that challenges us to aspire for more of Him in our lives and those of our families. Read it – you won’t be disappointed.

Dr Leonard Sweet

Dr. Leonard Sweet, former Dr. E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism

A captivating gift of story-telling wrapped in historical exploration and riveting case-studies that brings out multiple elixirs for revival today and ecclesial empowerment. —Dr. Leonard Sweet, best-selling author (Rings of Fire), professor (George Fox University, Evangelical Seminary, Tabor College), and founder of The Salish Sea Press.


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God’s Firestarter Endorsements

God’s Firestarters Endorsements by Heidi McLauglin, Tom Morrison, Stuart Spani, Gordon Dirks, & Rayna Stone

Heidemarie Erika McLaughlin

Amazon book review

5.0 out of 5 stars A Historial Masterpiece

Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2021

Rarely do I find myself so compelled by research and stories of historical giants that I can’t wait to turn the page. I thought I knew a little about Dr. Livingstone, George Whitefield, John and Charles Wesley, Dr. Stanley Jones and more, but the authors Dr. Ed and Janice Hird have made these heroes of the faith come alive. It’s filled with love and romance, along with pain and suffering, and how it can strengthen marriages. It delves into the lives of how ordinary people changed the slave trade, discovered Africa, impacted India, England and impacted the world to know our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This book is magnificent, filled with Holy Spirit inspired words that will at times make you gasp with sorrow and other times be astounded with amazement and joy. The authors engage us with stories of people whose shoulders we stand on, to give us fire in our own belly to use our ordinary lives to do extraordinary things. If they can do it, so can we. Well done Dr. Ed and Janice Hird, you’ve written your best book yet.

Tom Morrison, Engineer

“Life is difficult,” wrote M. Scott Peck in The Road Less Travelled, (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1978). Nothing could more abundantly express this fact than Ed and Janice Hird’s God’s Firestarters, whose 150 pages trace the biographies of twenty leaders who collectively formed the backbone of the Protestant faith for nearly five hundred years. These twenty heroes – they could not be described in lesser terms – overcame a more complete array of hardships and setbacks than can possibly be imagined – physical and mental illness and injury, hostility, slander, betrayal, persecution, captivity, material loss, bereavement and, not least, those enemies from within — disillusionment, temptation, self-doubt and sheer exhaustion. Challenge in good times, comfort in bad times, it is a privilege to share Ed and Janice’s God’s Firestarters.

Stuart Spani, Film Producer

Stuart Spani, Film Producer

I finished reading your book last night and it is the most enjoyable book I have ever read!!!!
Ever since becoming a Christian, my greatest thrill is hearing of Christ changing lives. A favorite saying of mine, for many years, has been, “if there were half as many sermons and twice as many testimonies, there would be four times as many Christians”. Testimonies make Christians, sermons mature believers.
The two of you have done a superb job of telling the stories of twenty real fire starters. Twenty people who God has used to take literally millions from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.
While almost all of your twenty were great preachers, I believe most of the growth came as the masses saw friends and neighbours lives being transformed. I will be promoting it.
God bless both of you and your work.

Gordon Dirks, minister, politician, educator 

Gordon Dirks

“This incredibly inspiring volume on God’s “Firestarters” powerfully reminds us that God has never stopped doing a new thing on his mission of redemption for the world. Authors Ed and Janice Hird take you behind the scenes and reveal intimate details of the lives of twenty remarkable Christ-followers who changed the world for God and for good. The vignettes of their life stories are replete with remarkable Christian devotion, courage, sacrifice and innovations in ministry which will whet your appetite to seek God for new expressions of Spirit-inspired activity in your own life.

Rayna Stone

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your latest book ”God’s Firestarters”. It gave me a fresh appreciation for the many godly men and women that God has used to revive the church and bring many into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Your stories of these faithful saints will inspire and encourage many.

Well done, good and faithful servants!

Tiny Marais, Area Co-ordinator, Greater Vancouver Healing Rooms

“In a time where this world has been in turmoil and nothing makes sense, this book comes as a reminder of the Power and Love of Almighty God. As you thumb through the history of these ordinary people’s lives, allow the Holy Spirit to Baptise you with the same Pentecostal Fire that each one of them

To purchase any of our six books in paperback or ebook on Amazon, just click on this link.
To receive a personally signed copy of any of our books within North America, just etransfer at ed_hird@telus.net, giving your address. Cheques are also acceptable.


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Just arrived

The proof copy of our new book just arrived today.
You can find the ebook already on Amazon.


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Just received the keys to the Church Building

Here is the latest update on the Oikos Project for which we also value your prayers.

• We just received the keys for the church building in Crescent Beach.

• We have raised over $1,065,000 in cash and pledges to date.

• We still need just under $885,000 to pay off the mortgages.

You are also welcome to join us in generously giving to the Oikos Project.  

We have included the links to the short video and website.

Blessings,

Rev Dr Ed Hird

778-881-3857

p.s. Here is a Light Magazine article on the Oikos Project

and in a great Peace Arch newspaper article published about the Oikos Project.

and in a recent Church For Vancouver Magazine.

P.p.s. Our US friends who want to donate to Project Oikos can send a cheque to:

New Covenant Anglican Church

Attention: Bishop Buffington

800 Tuskawilla Road

Winter Springs, FL 32708

Please make the cheque out to the Anglican Mission International and put “Project Oikos” in the memo line.

They’ll make sure that USA 🇺🇸 donors receive a tax receipt.

⁃ Canadians (and others around the world) can donate though CanadaHelps. (Only Canadians will receive tax receipts through CanadaHelps.)

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/51680

To purchase any of our six books in paperback or ebook on Amazon, just click on this link.
To receive a personally signed copy of any of our books within North America, just etransfer at ed_hird@telus.net, giving your address. Cheques are also acceptable.


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Tammy Peterson’s Rebirth

When Jordan Peterson’s wife Tammy was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she realized: “My life isn’t about me…This is about the service I give to the people around me. That’s what life is for, and that is what my life is for. As far as I am concerned, I died and came back to life. Spiritually, I have been reborn. I think that I understand now what it means to be reborn. (1:02:09)
Click to view the podcast with her daughter Mikhaila Peterson

To purchase any of our six books in paperback or ebook on Amazon, just click on this link.
To receive a personally signed copy of any of our books within North America, just etransfer at ed_hird@telus.net, giving your address. Cheques are also acceptable.


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God and Baseball

Stewards of God (Genesis 1:26-31). Click for a great message by our good friend Alan Gilman who served as a baseball chaplain for three years in Ottawa.

To purchase any of our six books in paperback or ebook on Amazon, just click on this link.
To receive a personally signed copy of any of our books within North America, just etransfer at ed_hird@telus.net, giving your address. Cheques are also acceptable.