Harry Lehotsky & Soul Anchor

Our Friend……..Harry Lehotsky!
Many of you reading this today may not have been able to attend the tribute on Wednesday at Calvary Temple. A filled auditorium was there to support Virginia, Matthew, Brandon, Jared and the New Life Ministries Church. It was clear that his life touched many people from all walks of life. No doubt you’ve read, as I have, the reflections on his life through different media outlets. All or the sum of all do not accurately describe the life Harry lived, but it was interesting to read the perception of so many in the media and our fair city.
Personally, Harry was a friend and co-worker in the ministry that I will miss. One evening as Harry and Virginia, Murray and Margaret McClarty, Margo and I enjoyed a meal and conversation together, I thought about how it was “just like God” to use all types and kinds of people. Harry from the Big Apple of New York and me from the large mountains of B.C. Virginia for the Dakotas and Margo from Ontario. I think back on that day with fondness as the pathways of our lives crossed, were enriched, even if just for a brief evening.
The conversations with my friends since Harry’s death have been around personal reflection of Harry’s life and our own. “He was an ordinary guy that did extra-ordinary things,” one friend said. We chatted about our own lives and how they would be remembered when we lay our heads down on the silk pillow in the casket. Another friend once said, “People don’t write our Eulogy, we write it with our lives!” If that is true..then how is your own eulogy coming along? Your life and my life! What legacy are we leaving that can be eulogized?
The good news is that your eulogy is not finished yet! You are privileged, I am privileged to have a few more pages to write. There were a lot of people who attended the funeral, but what struck me was not how many people attend a funeral, but how many lives are actually changed by a person living for Jesus. The number that really counts is the number that get to heaven because of you. Your witness! Your words! Your love! How many will Jesus look on around His throne because of you, because of me, because of Harry, because of us.
I sat at the funeral and recommitted my life to whatever God wants for me. To make a difference, upset people if necessary but please God always. I’ve seen that an ordinary Life walking with God can leave an extraordinary eulogy, with God’s love demonstrated in practical real ways.
It was interesting how many people tried to enter his life in these last few months that were previously uninterested. May God use this interest in Harry to cultivate interest in Jesus to lead to a change of heart for so many.
To Harry we say, “Good bye and well done! May we continue to write our own eulogies with a greater focus on the purpose and plan Jesus has for each one of us."
Pastor Brian

Soul Anchor Conclusion is in sight...
Many months ago we embarked courageously looking at the letter to the Hebrews. Twelve chapters later we are coming to the end of our study soon, but not before the fifth warning from the author. To assist your memory the first four were:
1. Chapter 2:1—We must pay attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away.
2. Chapter 3:7—If you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.
3. Chapter 5:11—Warning against falling away
4. Chapter 10:26—Against ongoing sinning.

The fifth warning has to do with listening! Wow! This warning is definitely relevant to our time. It seems like everyone is talking or making some kind of noise of some kind and yet few are listening. We turn up the music louder, or roll up the windows to keep it out. But few really listen. Just yesterday I watched as two young girls put their cell phones to their ears and asked where the other one was. They were standing, with their backs toward each other, about 2 meters apart. If they had been listening, they could have heard the other one ask, “where are you?”
In Hebrews 12 there is more to listening that just hearing….there is a response that is implied to the listeners. As you read through the verses for this Sunday(14-29), look for the contrast between the two mountains the reader lists. Watch for the instruction regarding our connection with others and the reference to the bitter root, and then the instruction that is given in the latter part of the chapter regarding our worship. Use the guide you find for worship in your personal worship today and as you prepare for corporate worship Sunday morning.