Skip to main content
Tag

North Pointe

CHAPLAINS TO THE INVICTUS WARRIORS Uncategorized

CHAPLAINS TO THE INVICTUS WARRIORS

The Invictus Games aren't about the finish line – they’re all about making it to the starting line. This is an event where everyone gets a medal but there’s no coddled attitude for participants. For every competitor, just playing the game is important, courageous and admirable. The 3rd version of the Invictus Games - Toronto 2017 - featured more than 550 competitors from 17 nations participating in 12 adaptive sports. Wounded Warriors Each competitor is a wounded warrior. Melanie Harris, 42, from Edmonton, competed in bioarchery. She spent twenty years in the Armed Forces, serving four tours, including two in Afghanistan.  Harris lives with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and lingering pain from a back injury sustained overseas. In 2008 she…
Bob Jones
October 1, 2017
TO ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS: DOROTHY VISSER Uncategorized

TO ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS: DOROTHY VISSER

Upset. Angry. Judgmental. That was me before breast cancer. Yes, before. From Fear to Peace I am sitting on my deck reflecting on the day and feeling so peaceful. These past couple of months have been the hardest and most blessed in my life. Cancer. The diagnosis terrified me. Would the cancer kill me? My fear made me feel guilty. An inner voice nagged me, “Isn’t love supposed to cast out fear? Doesn’t God love you? Where’s your faith?” I was afraid of chemo and radiation and everything associated with cancer. Then I discovered how something life threatening could teach me how to live. In February 2017 Dorothy Visser's doctor informed her that she had breast cancer. Dorothy sat in…
Bob Jones
September 10, 2017
MY LOVE HATE LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH SPORTS Uncategorized

MY LOVE HATE LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH SPORTS

To be honest, you and I have had a turbulent relationship. You’ve caused me late nights and early mornings, disappointment and heartache, and you’ve made me wipe tears from my children’s faces on more than one occasion.  I have resented you, cursed you many times and some days you have even stolen my sanity. The life of a sports family is often chaotic, tiring, scheduled and trying but I wouldn’t give it up for anything. Alisha-Jans Lemoine is a part of the North Pointe Writers Group. She is a skilled writer and an even more awesome mom. This post first appeared on Alisha's blog at yegsolomom.   Teacher And Mentor You have been an amazing teacher and mentor. You have taught…
Bob Jones
September 6, 2017
DANCING IN THE RAIN: LINDA WINICK Uncategorized

DANCING IN THE RAIN: LINDA WINICK

Ask a hundred people who knew Linda Winick and you'll get hundred and one responses of "her smile" as her most impressionable quality. She left an indelible impact on anyone she met. Linda happily went in with all heart to anything she committed herself to - from 4-H as a child, community work as a homemaker and serving in her church during the last seven years of her life. No other earthly commitment mattered as much as her family - and she had a lot of them to love. Family Matters Next to her husband Wilson, her five children and their spouses and the nineteen grandchildren they gave her, were the apple of her eye. And she was a great-grandmother…
Bob Jones
July 3, 2017
HOLY SPIRIT POWER AND YOU Uncategorized

HOLY SPIRIT POWER AND YOU

Chrome, carnauba wax, and classic cars get your motor running? North Pointe is the place to be on the first Saturday of June 2018. The parking lot is packed with collectors of classics, admirers, and memories from days gone by at our Annual Cruise Into Summer Show 'N Shine. You can't miss the pristine exterior of the cars on display. And the powerful engines under the hoods. I started thinking about the horsepower available in these restored cars and the power of God's Spirit. Horsepower Under The Hood If you like the look of engines then you'll love the next couple of pictures. If not, scroll down... Yesterday's Power Maybe its the name "Bob Pilkie" that got my attention. This…
Bob Jones
June 3, 2017
REV. PHYLLIS RYAN FISHER: WOMAN OF HOPE Uncategorized

REV. PHYLLIS RYAN FISHER: WOMAN OF HOPE

Sixty nine years ago, Phyllis Ryan Fisher was born in Toronto to a loving and resourceful mother who in post war years either cared directly for Phyllis or made sure she was nurtured in wonderful homes surrounded by people who “adopted” her into their families. Small Town Girl Although Phyllis was an only child she collected moms and dads and sisters along the way that enriched her life and helped mold her into the lady she grew to be. This small-town girl loved the water and the Kawartha Lake country where she grew up and never forgot the friends who all loved her as a local girl who was going to make her mark in life. Rev. Bruce and Phyllis…
Bob Jones
May 24, 2017
KIDS HELPING KIDS: ROOT56 & JAMQUEST Uncategorized

KIDS HELPING KIDS: ROOT56 & JAMQUEST

Changing the world can be simple. Just. Decide. To care. (If you've gotten past the first ten words of this post it means your heart is free of cynicism. The curious can't be cynical.) Nick Schoff Nick Scoff did just that when he was in eighth grade. A TV documentary on child poverty in Africa "got this thirteen year old butt off the couch." Nick loved basketball. So he started a three-on-three fundraiser tournament to help kids in Kenya. He called the tournament, Jamquest. $2700 was raised the first year. He saw he could do something.  The rest is history. Jamquest Jamquest, Schoff's brainchild, strives to bring faith, hope, and love to kids in need. Kids helping kids. "Imagine if…
Bob Jones
May 17, 2017
HERE COMES HOPE Uncategorized

HERE COMES HOPE

Three things will last forever - faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is Hope - as in Hope Thomas. Hope is the newest addition to the Pastoral staff at North Pointe - and we couldn't be happier. She's been a devoted volunteer in NP's Youth Ministry during her four years of study at Vanguard College. Two years ago Hope was given responsibility for "Anthem 56" - our mid-week ministry for Grades 5 and 6 students. On November 14, 2017 she accepted the full time role of Youth Pastor. Who Is Hope? You'll hear Hope's laughter long before you see her smile. And how about that smile? Hope or Hopiee as her besties know her, spent her formative…
Bob Jones
April 21, 2017
THE CROSS IN THE CLOTHESPIN: ANN VOSKAMP Uncategorized

THE CROSS IN THE CLOTHESPIN: ANN VOSKAMP

She's Ann Voskamp, a plain Ann without even the fanciful “e”, wife to The Farmer, mama to six, and in her own words, "a bit of a mess." Ann was named by Christianity Today as one of the leading fifty women who are shaping culture and the Church today. She's a New York Times best-selling author many times over, communicator, story teller and advocate for those without a voice. "The only words that really matter are the ones I live. This convicts me. I keep writing it out here everyday, the words I am seeking to live — about this wondrously messy, everyday-holy life…. about finding the beauty and quiet, about slowing to see the sacred in the chaos, and…
Bob Jones
April 16, 2017
WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF OFF COURSE Uncategorized

WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF OFF COURSE

There are certain messages that serve to get me back on track when I find myself off course. Verses. Vision boards. Inspirational quotes. A personal mission statement. A Manifesto Lately its been a manifesto - a philosophical declaration. Over the past six weeks I've been on a same page initiative with hundreds of other people at North Pointe. All ages and stages. Together. Studying. Praying. Digging deep. Seeking God. All your chips in the middle. All In Mark Batterson gave us a context for study in his book All In. Took him thirteen years to write it. Impressive. Sacred. He reduces his life takeaways from seeking God, to twenty-two declarations. Thanks, Mark. Which one speaks to you? 22 Declarative Ways…
Bob Jones
April 5, 2017