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PAGE 16, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1980, WHITBY FREE PRESS The Church Speaks 1 U. By PASTOR GORDON D. McKINNON Church cf the Way Should the church be up-to-date? Yes!1 Anytbing that is fresh, vital and full of 111e bas up-to-dateness te it. It isn't the product by name so much as it is the goodness inside that counts. Dried fooda bave been discovered that are hundreds of yeara old and still in good eating condition. However, we al know that fresh fooda taste better and are better for you than preserved ones. Mucb of the church's teaching today is good but it lacks freshness. It is given out in a preserved or canned form. Truth bas te corne through a spiritually alive person to bave a f resh up-to-date ring te it. When Jesus Christ lives inaide a Todays church laceks fresliness person this gives that life a freshness that tastes of reallty. Wbat we need today is flot sonie old forma of religion but a up- to-date experience. Dusting off old by-gone efforts from some distant past at pleasing God is fruitless. Only a new heart ex- perience will do. Jesus mocked the religion of Fils own people because they were only working at outward things - like their religious celebrations etc. - instead of the inner man. He told themn they needed to make dlean the inside of the cup first then cleannes on the outaide would follow. Jesus was saying that He was bringing to man a religion that was of the heart. If the root is corrupt so will be the fruit. The heart of man is corrupt and without a recognition of this truth we get nowhere in seeking (3oc. But once we confess this point in a personal way we have cleared the way to move forward. The next thing is to believe that God sent Ris Son to be our personal Saviour. This is the born again experience. I know that the subject of a personal Saviour is not popular. But I can't understand why when we are living in a day when everyone is crying out for personal attention.. Today there are many groups, representing ail sorts of needa, requesting help of people. We have a drive after drive for assistance from the public or from governments to help meet this particular need or that one. Then withln each of these groupa are the in- dividuals -, claiming bis or ber share of attention. Over and over la this action repeated in many areas of life today. The individual bas become ail important in this very day w re living in. So here we have God offering us personal help -in the way of personal Saviour. To each one individual is this offer made. If you do accept this offer, then begin to follow Him ini your life and the way to find bow to do that is to reacl His Word, the Bible. Now the subject is our need of freshness in qur churches and personal religious experience. So, after we have found Jesus as Saviour, the question is how to keep the experience fresh or maintain a vital experience. Fresh water has to keep flowing into a pond in order te keep it fresh, so with us too. Jes promised that the Holy Spirit would be given to ahl those who believe in Ilim and ask for bis gif t. He Himself said of those who receive V-is Spirit (John 7:37- 39) that our of tbeir lives would flow riWers of living water. This is the "freshness" we need in our ives today s0 that in turn our churches would become streams of living water themselves. This ia how God keepa Ris church up-to-date, fresh and vital s0 that it can have an impact on our stale, dying world. Board of Education candidate debate Candidates for the Durham Board of Education who plan te run in the November 10 municipal election can have their say at a public forum on October 28 sponsored by the home and school association. The candidates wilI have three minutes te speak te the members of the Durham Council of Home and School Associations and other in- terested members. 0f the public in attenda*nce. The meeting beg ns at 7:30 p.m. in Room.'118 of the Durham Board of Education, Administration Office, 555 Rossland Road West, Oshawa. A question period will follow. PARKWOOD FLOOR CENTRE 385 Bloor St. W., Oshawa (OId Hambly Bldg.) 576-6412 PROUDLY INTRODUCE A DIFFERENT KIND 0F FWOR'3 4800 ERIUS SMEET VINYL FLOORS $11895 Miracle SVS' Super-Vinyl-Surface makes the SQ.YD. dîfference with these quality features: " NO-WAX Easy Cars " RESISTS STAINS Better Than Ordinary Vinyl Floors "*RESISTS DISCOLORATIN From Sunlight *FADE RESISTANT To Concentrated Heat *TOUGH WEARLAYER Stands Up To Vears 01 Traftic & Abuse *QUIETER,WARMER à MORE COMFORTABLE Quiet-Cor" Interfayer ALL THIS AT SUCH A MODEST PRICE!