Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace
Good will toward men!
May
the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ
Be your strength in 2007
Christmas
2006
Dear friend
Praise the Lord for
His goodness.
Climate change!
“Behold, wthe days are
coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
xThe mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all
the hills shall flow with it.[1]
The world’s
observers see ‘For ination
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be
jfamines, 2pestilences,
and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are
the beginning of sorrows.[2]’ but
this time of trouble will be cut short and the Lord will bring on His kingdom
(we pray ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’)
4 Now
ait shall come to pass in
the latter days
That the
mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be
established on the top of the mountains,
And shall
be exalted above the hills;
And
peoples shall flow to it.
2 Many
nations shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the
house of the God of Jacob; He will
teach us His ways, And we
shall walk in His paths.”
For out
of
And the
word of the Lord from
3 He shall
judge between many peoples,
And
rebuke strong nations afar off;
They
shall beat their swords into bplowshares,
And their
spears into 1pruning hooks;
Nation
shall not lift up sword against nation,
cNeither shall they learn war anymore.
4 dBut everyone shall sit under his vine
and under his fig tree, And no
one shall make them afraid;
For the
mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.[3]
We have had 270mm
rain this year compared with 460, 547, 722, 750 in recent years. Famines in scripture are often associated with
God seeking to draw people back to Himself because the consequences of
disobeying the gospel[4]
are ‘everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord’ (2Thess 1:8). So, while it is sad to see the land
languishing, dams empty, stock hungry, fires burning and trees dying, it is not yet apparent that
Another busy year has passed quickly. Andrew lost his job last Christmas and has
not yet found another. Kathleen and
Kelvin are expecting their second child in March; Hannah at 15 months is a ball
of energy. Lois has moved to Wollon-gong and though also without work, seems reasonably
content. Julie-Ann and Keith are as busy
as ever. Poest
has started school. Daisy is nearly 4
and Truli Grace was born on
Ellen has worked at
the Christian school 3 days a week but looks for opportunities to visit the
grandchildren. She is not so keen about
the possibility of working 5 days in 2007.
She has also been busy supporting ladies in the assembly.
Arthur had two
trips overseas: in January to attend a retirement dinner for Professor Robin
Thompson who has been an inspiration on the work front, and in August to
consult in
He has now
completed the third reading of the whole scriptures on Rhema
FM (over ten years) and continues as treasurer.
There is opportunity for more to be done on that front if there was more
time and skilled volunteers.
The Lord has
continued to bless through the assembly as we seek to know the Lord and live a
life glorifying Him. A special joy has
been to attend six weddings over 18 months (1 to go). Arthur obtained registration as a marriage
celebrant and conducted one of those.
We have no
particular plans for great changes in 2007.
It is still two years before we think of retirement. The olive trees are still alive though
stressed by the drought. We picked 150
kg last autumn.
Arthur and Ellen
GILMOUR
“Cargo Vale”,
CARGO, NSW, 2800
02 6364 3288 (home)
0419 647 675
(Ellen)
0438 251 426 (Andrew)
Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace
Good will toward men!
May
the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ
Be your strength in 2007