Gems - part 6

Here are five more divine gems that have blessed my life.

Max Feener – my connection with Max was only year. He was the CO at North York who attracted Evie and I to Downsview rather than us taking positions at the Harbor Light. Max's passion to see the Kingdom build through evangelism and social ministry was clearly evident and emulated. His joy on the platform is the same joy that you see in the office and as he drives a car. He tries to make every decision by consciously asking himself, where is Christ in this process or how does this advance the Kingdom of God?

One of the most last impacts, and a gem of an impact at that, was when we lost two brothers in a drowning in a local creek. It took days for the bodies to be found and it caught the media attention. I was asked to do the funeral. The evening before the funeral I went through an outline of the service with the family. When I noted that I would give a nine to twelve minute message (which in seminary I was taught should be the norm) that Jamaican parents insisted that I needed to preach at least an hour. I was bothered about having to go four to five times the norm and that onlookers would be aghast by a sermon of that length. Max quietly noted, that I was there to serve the family first, to help them through the grieving and healing process, that if an hour’s sermon is demanded by the family’s cultural expectations then do it and not worry about the cultural norms of others from the community. Those wise words have been lives out in an array of situations and communities in which I have found myself over the years….bring the gospel to the community within their cultural context. What is relevant or will work in one context will be relevant and fail in another.


Clarence Bradbury – I have meet Clarence in several capacities over the years, when he led a brigade of Cadets at the Downsview Corps (now Yorkwoods), our Section Leaders at CFOT, while COs of the Oshawa Corps and as Principle of CFOT St. Johns. He is one of the few individuals who not only has a Christ-like pastoral heart, who is pastoral by inner nature and is not just a profession. No matter what his appointment, his pastoral nature dominates. He is a true servant who accepts the painful arrows with grace and forgiveness. Yet at the same time possesses a sharp mind along with a gift for expository preaching. When you speak with him you find that he is focused upon you and your thoughts. In many ways he reminds me of Denise Kinlaw. Clarence’s is a divine gem for being that thoughtful pastor by inner nature and thereby challenging me to move as much as possible in the same direction.

Al and Karen Hoeft – this couple were Session Mates of Evie and I. Nearly every Friday evening they traveled downtown to assist the Toronto Temple Corps with their Street Patrol. Sacrificial passion for evangelism and service flowed liberally from them. They are always upbeat and encouraging of others. They will go anywhere and do anything to help others and to build the Kingdom of Christ which they clearly demonstrated by joyously having a very extended appointment in Yellowknife. When few Officers would be willing to remain in the artic for more than three or four years, they were there for over ten. Though we have not seen Al and Karen in many a long year, they are an example of what happens when a married couple share almost identical gifts. They are true gems and I have been blessed for having them pass through my life.

Dr. Paul Egan – is a Jesuit priest and professor of Patristic Studies at the Toronto School of Theology. I only had Dr. Egan for one year long class, but it was a powerful one indeed. The demanding class brought to life the richness of the writing of the Early Church Fathers that are ripe with profound theological and philosophical thoughts. The challenge of summarizing the prior week’s three hours of lectures into 50 words or less was daunting indeed.

Besides the exposure of the early scholars of the Church, one of the most significant moments was a forty-five minute conversation I had with Dr Egan following a thirty-minute oral exam (no written exams, only orals upon anything he chose at that moment to ask for an explanation and substantiated opinion). Knowing that I was a Salvationist he talked about the importance TSA plays within the body of Christ, the value it brings by helping to raise the social conscience of the Church regarding the local poor, and how we carry a towel in one hand while the Bible rests in the other. He also went on to note that TSA is can face an identify crisis if we loose track of how Wesley rightly blended evangelism and social ministry as part of one work. Though he never elaborated further on Wesley, later readings in Wesley helped me to understand exactly what he was talking about (a blog for another time). When I left his office I had renewed appreciation for our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, and that in many ways they are more akin to the Army in spirit than are our many of our more fundamentalist brothers and sisters.