Participants:
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC202028S
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00:01 >> Welcome and thank you
00:01 for joining us on 00:02 It Is Written Canada. 00:04 Let me ask you a question: 00:06 Do you like art? 00:08 Maybe you are an artist or 00:10 maybe you like watching an 00:11 artist work on a drawing 00:14 or a painting. 00:15 My father was a trained artist 00:17 so it's fascinating to me 00:19 whenever I see someone 00:21 creating some kind of 00:22 masterpiece. 00:25 So we want you to imagine 00:26 right now that at this very 00:28 moment, you have the 00:30 opportunity, the wonderful 00:31 privilege of walking into the 00:33 studio of a great artist who 00:36 is working on an intriguing 00:38 work of art. 00:40 >> The artist takes out a white 00:42 sheet of paper and haphazardly 00:45 peppers black dots here and 00:46 there on the page. 00:49 You press your eyes tightly 00:50 together and try and make 00:52 sense of this mess of dark 00:54 dots, but the creation is no 00:57 more than an irregular 00:59 splattering of inky marks. 01:01 [Mike] And and then the artist 01:03 adds a series of straight 01:05 parallel lines across the 01:06 page, puts in a few rests, 01:09 a cleft and the musical notes 01:14 miraculously materialize 01:16 on the sheet. 01:19 Grabbing a musical instrument, 01:20 the artist plays the 01:22 composition from the page and 01:24 the sweet sounds stir you and 01:27 touch a chord within your soul 01:29 as you listen to the 01:31 harmonized music of 01:33 the Doxology. 01:35 "Praise God from Whom all" 01:37 "blessings flow," 01:38 "Praise Him all creatures" 01:40 "here below." 01:42 >> Sometimes dark dots and 01:44 spots spray themselves across 01:46 the pages of your life 01:49 and you may feel perplexed by 01:51 their presence. 01:53 Why are they there? 01:55 >> But when you let your 01:57 Creator, the Master Artist 01:59 come into your heart, to clear 02:01 aside the confusion by adding 02:04 His finishing touches across 02:07 the page, when you wait for 02:08 Him to put in a few rests at 02:12 the proper places, musical 02:14 notes miraculously materialize 02:17 and out of the inky 02:18 distressing dots and upsetting 02:20 spots, He makes a 02:22 glorious melody. 02:24 >> When a musician presses the 02:26 black keys on a piano, the 02:29 music is as sweet as when she 02:31 touches the white keys, 02:33 but to get the capacity of 02:35 the instrument, she must 02:38 touch them all. 02:40 So here is our challenge for 02:42 you today: when you open your 02:45 eyes in the morning, thank God 02:47 that He has kept you through 02:49 the night, ask Him to put a 02:52 song into your heart. 02:55 Morning, noon, and night, let 02:58 gratitude like a sweet 03:00 perfume, rise from your lips 03:03 up to heaven. 03:04 >> God's angels will guard you 03:06 against evil and press back 03:08 the powers of darkness that 03:10 are seeking to destroy you. 03:13 You have so many reasons to be 03:15 thankful every moment, 03:17 thankful when you go through 03:20 the Valley of the Shadow of 03:22 Death, God is with you. 03:26 >> Today on It Is Written 03:27 Canada, you're going to see 03:30 how God has created you for 03:32 connection and how He is with 03:34 you, even when you have to 03:36 face physical and 03:38 social isolation. 03:44 ♪♪ 04:30 >> Ever since I was a tiny 04:31 human, I have loved hugs and 04:34 maybe you can identify. 04:35 My mom, my dad, my brothers, 04:37 my friends, I embraced 04:39 them all. 04:40 And then my parents divorced. 04:44 My mom took us, myself and my 04:47 three brothers on a train ride 04:49 from Sudbury, Ontario to 04:50 Regina, Saskatchewan. 04:52 And because she was not able 04:54 to care for all four of us, 04:57 she placed us in an orphanage 04:59 called The Orange Home and we 05:00 were the Lemon brothers and it 05:02 was in a little town by the 05:03 name of Indian Head. 05:05 My eldest brother, Joe, he 05:06 went to the Orange Home farm 05:08 which was out of town and my 05:10 older brothers, Pete and Bob, 05:11 who were twins, they stayed in 05:13 the big boys dorm while I was 05:16 consigned to the 05:17 little boys dorm. 05:20 I was three years old at the 05:21 time and the physical 05:23 distancing meant no more hugs. 05:27 [René] Medical research 05:29 informs us that hugs boost the 05:31 immune system of all humans 05:34 and makes them happier, 05:36 even the tiny ones. 05:38 >> I remembered I cried myself 05:40 to sleep that first night and 05:41 I distinctly remember a 05:44 certain day when I saw my big 05:47 brother, Pete, and he was in 05:48 the yard at the orphanage, he 05:50 was surrounded by a swarm of 05:51 other boys and I ran to him 05:53 and I wrapped my tiny-tot 05:55 little arms around his big-boy 05:56 waist and he stiffened and 05:59 Pete looked down at me and he 06:02 told me to stop hugging him 06:03 because boys don't hug 06:05 each other. 06:07 Although I knew that my 06:09 brother loved me, a tap turned 06:12 off inside my heart and I 06:14 developed a series of ongoing 06:16 illnesses, even having to stay 06:19 in a hospital for weeks on 06:21 end, causing my mother to fear 06:23 that I might die. 06:26 >> Love and the expression of 06:28 love are absolutely vital 06:31 to our existence. 06:34 During our current time of 06:35 physical distancing and social 06:37 isolation, studies show that 06:40 the number of adults 06:42 experiencing depression has 06:44 tripled since the lock-down 06:46 measures began. 06:48 >> It's kinda like ants. 06:50 They need a colony and people 06:52 need a family. 06:54 And God, in His mercy, He 06:56 blessed René and me with two 06:57 devoted daughters and a 06:59 supportive church family, 07:01 but many other people 07:03 are not so blessed. 07:06 >> You see, you are really 07:08 like a cell phone, 07:10 always looking for connections. 07:12 From the time you were born, 07:14 you were looking for 07:15 connections. 07:16 You cried until you were put 07:19 into your mother's arms and 07:21 then you were happy because 07:22 you were connected with 07:24 someone who loved you. 07:26 And throughout your life, 07:28 without companionship, no 07:30 matter how much money you make 07:32 or how beautiful your house, 07:34 or how perfect your job, you 07:36 can't be completely happy. 07:39 God designed you with a 07:41 longing to connect 07:43 with others. 07:44 >> And look at how Dr. Dean 07:46 Ornish writes about in his 07:48 book, UnDo It! How Simple 07:51 Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse 07:53 Most Chronic Diseases, 07:54 he writes... 08:16 >> Today I want to encourage 08:18 you to value the connections 08:20 you already have with your 08:21 friends and family and also, 08:24 by whatever means possible, 08:26 to seek to make new connections 08:28 with those who are locked 08:30 behind doors of loneliness 08:32 because it's not good for any 08:35 of us to be alone. 08:37 [Mike] I suggest you pray that 08:38 God will inspire you to 08:39 connect with other through 08:41 writing a letter, sending a 08:42 text, an email, calling or 08:45 connecting face-to-face, using 08:47 some virtual platform during 08:49 these times of 08:50 physical distancing. 08:52 So if you're feeling like, 08:54 "God really doesn't" 08:55 "understand what I'm going" 08:56 "through," well the truth is 08:59 that He does know and He feels 09:02 your pain and all 09:03 your sorrows. 09:06 [René reading] 09:21 >> Once I was asked to do a 09:23 funeral of a lady who was an 09:25 artist, a vibrant public 09:26 speaker, and her children told 09:28 me that her favourite song 09:29 from the hymnal was, 09:30 Day By Day and so we sang 09:33 that song at her funeral. 09:35 And we want to let you listen 09:37 to the music of that song. 09:41 >> These are the words of the 09:42 first stanza of that song: 10:22 >> Now let's listen as James 10:25 and Ryan play the sweet music 10:28 of that song. 10:34 [guitar playing intro] 10:41 [piano joins] 10:46 [begin playing Day By Day] 10:50 ♪♪ 13:04 >> Isn't that such a peaceful, 13:06 inspirational song? 13:09 I just love it! 13:10 >> Inspirational music is like 13:12 a weapon that we can always 13:13 use against discouragement. 13:15 And you know what 13:16 another weapon is? 13:17 The Sword of the Spirit 13:18 or memorizing the words 13:20 of the Bible. 13:22 [René] Oh, that is so true. 13:24 Recently I have been 13:26 memorizing Isaiah 43 and when 13:29 we went to visit our youngest 13:31 daughter, Miclain, in British 13:33 Columbia, that chapter of the 13:35 Bible, Isaiah 43, really 13:38 helped me to deal with 13:40 all the rain. 13:42 The days were gray, dreary, 13:45 and wet, very wet. 13:47 >> I think that we both 13:49 realized that if we wanted to 13:51 get outside we were gonna have 13:53 to go out into the rain and if 13:56 we waited for it to stop, 14:00 we would get nothing done. 14:01 And so we love to run and so 14:03 we went out running in the 14:04 rain and of course we got 14:05 sopping wet, completely 14:07 drenched. 14:09 >> After a few days of these 14:11 miserable conditions, 14:12 I couldn't take the 14:14 darkness anymore. 14:16 I was starting to feel uptight 14:18 and despondent and I wondered 14:20 how anyone could possibly live 14:23 with all this rain. 14:25 >> And that's when you 14:25 started to pray. 14:27 >> Yes, I prayed that God 14:29 would lift my spirits. 14:30 I needed to feel better. 14:32 I needed to be cheerful 14:34 and be a ray of sunshine 14:36 for our daughter. 14:37 And immediately God led my 14:39 mind to Isaiah 43. 14:55 When I thought of those words, 14:58 I knew God was talking 14:59 to me directly. 15:01 Although nonstop rain was in 15:03 the forecast, that was when 15:06 the rain stopped. 15:09 God answered my prayer by 15:12 stopping the rain just for me 15:15 because He knew that was 15:18 exactly what I needed. 15:21 >> And I remember when 15:22 that happened. 15:23 It was supposed to rain 15:24 the whole day. 15:26 And then you told me that you 15:27 knew that God did it 15:29 specifically for you and you 15:31 told me the whole story behind 15:32 it and I believed it. 15:34 >> What impressed me most was 15:36 the word, "honoured." 15:38 God said to me in that verse, 15:41 "You have been honoured." 15:44 I'm supposed to honour God. 15:46 It's not supposed to be Him 15:49 honouring me, but He said... 15:57 [Mike] God is so good. 15:58 It's like when you have a 15:59 craving for something and then 16:01 you get to taste it. 16:03 It's just so good. 16:05 >> Listen to this, the 16:07 prophet, Jeremiah, said... 16:18 When we feed on God's words by 16:20 memorizing Bible verses, it 16:23 draws our hearts closer to God 16:26 so that we can literally hear 16:28 Him speaking to us personally. 16:30 >> The Bible says... 16:36 It is so sweet when you take 16:39 in how good God is, consuming 16:42 sweet truth from the Bible and 16:44 it's very important to our 16:45 well-being to know that 16:48 He is our friend. 16:50 So we have a recipe from our 16:52 friends, Vanessa and Emelin, 16:55 who are going to share with us 16:56 right now and how good that 16:58 recipe is. 17:00 >> They're gonna make 17:01 what they call a 17:03 "Funky Monkey Smoothie," 17:05 so let's take a look. 17:09 >> Hey, everyone! 17:10 This is Mary... 17:12 >> And I'm Vanessa, this is my 17:13 daughter, Emelin, and today 17:15 we're gonna be making Emelin's 17:16 favourite smoothie. 17:17 What's it called? 17:18 >> Funky Monkey. 17:19 >> We're gonna start with 17:21 getting some frozen bananas. 17:23 So you'll notice these bananas 17:25 are a little bit brown. 17:27 >> I know, I noticed mine 17:28 would turn brown in my freezer 17:30 even though I've never-- 17:31 They weren't brown when I put 17:32 them in so what's that about? 17:35 >> So if you want the bananas 17:36 to stay nice and fresh-looking 17:38 then don't put anything on top 17:40 of them that isn't frozen yet. 17:42 >> Well, that's a really 17:43 good tip. 17:43 >> Yes! 17:44 OK, so we're just gonna chop 17:45 up these bananas. 17:47 We're gonna make them about, 17:49 mmm, an inch and a half, 17:51 something like that. 17:53 You don't need to take a ruler 17:54 out, just chop 'em up. 17:57 >> Some of the other 17:58 ingredients we have here, I 17:59 see here are peanut butter... 18:00 >> Yes. 18:02 >> Carob powder... 18:02 >> Mm-hmm. 18:03 >> Akava... 18:04 >> Akava. 18:05 >> What is Akava? 18:06 >> Akava is a coffee 18:08 substitute that does not have 18:10 any caffeine in it. 18:12 So we don't wanna fill our 18:13 blender too high... 18:16 we can always make some more. 18:18 And maybe, Mary, you could 18:19 throw those in the freezer. 18:21 So you'll wanna make sure you 18:22 put your bananas back into the 18:23 freezer as soon as you can so 18:25 they don't get too thawed out. 18:28 So we're gonna take our Akava 18:29 here and we're gonna put about 18:32 a tablespoon in. 18:34 OK... and then if you wanna 18:36 grab the carob there... 18:38 So carob powder is kind of 18:42 like chocolate, but 18:44 not exactly. 18:46 It doesn't have theobromine, 18:50 but it's full of antioxidants 18:52 and also fibre and it's just 18:55 really-- it's a really good 18:56 product to use. 18:58 So let's grab the 18:59 peanut butter. 19:00 OK, Emelin, you wanna put the 19:01 peanut butter in? 19:02 >> Have you ever used any 19:03 other nut butters with this? 19:04 >> Yes, definitely. 19:06 I've used almond butter which 19:07 is also very tasty and you can 19:10 use whatever, almond butter or 19:13 nut butter or seed butter that 19:14 you want to. 19:15 >> So like a sunflower seed 19:17 butter would be good for 19:19 anyone with nut allergies. 19:20 >> That's right, yeah. 19:22 So we're gonna throw in there 19:24 about a tablespoon of this... 19:25 >> Like that? 19:26 >> That looks great, Em. 19:28 Go ahead, just plop it 19:29 right in there. 19:31 Good job. 19:32 >> Peanut butter's so yummy. 19:33 >> OK, put that over there. 19:36 And then last, but definitely 19:39 not least we are going to be 19:41 putting in some 19:43 plant-based milk. 19:45 Here's some almond milk, but 19:46 you can use whatever kind of 19:48 milk you want to. 19:49 So what we're going to do is 19:51 we're going to-- if you have 19:52 very frozen bananas, you might 19:54 need to add more, but these 19:55 bananas are not so hard so I 19:57 wanna be careful not to put 19:59 too much 'cause if you like 20:01 kind of a more thicker 20:02 consistently-- consistency, 20:04 you're going to want to put 20:05 less milk. 20:07 >> OK, so is this on? 20:09 It is on we're just gonna put 20:10 it on, it think it's on the 20:11 smoothie setting... 20:12 and then you just push this 20:13 button down here. 20:14 Just push this one. 20:17 Perfect! 20:18 [blender whirring] 20:20 [playful music] 20:26 Here we go, we have our 20:27 Funky Monkey, does that look 20:28 about right, Emelin? 20:30 Yeah? 20:31 Alright, so let's get our 20:33 cups out and we can 20:34 give this a try. 20:36 Mmm, what do you think 20:37 about that? 20:38 [clicks tongue] 20:39 Mmm, looks so good! 20:44 Alright, so let's get... 20:46 We're gonna use a spoon here 20:48 and I'm gonna let Mary kind of 20:49 guide this out. 20:50 So when you're pouring 20:51 smoothie, obviously it's nice 20:53 to have something to kind of 20:54 guide it out otherwise it 20:56 might just plop right out and 20:57 then end up all over the place. 20:59 [Mary] That happened... 21:00 [Vanessa] Many times! 21:01 OK, so that's probably 21:02 about good. 21:05 There she goes, she can't 21:06 even wait. 21:07 >> Can't wait when it's in 21:08 front of you, just have to. 21:09 >> That's good. 21:11 >> It's irresistible! 21:12 >> It is irresistible, 21:13 that's for sure! 21:15 There we go, 21:16 kind of let it drip. 21:18 OK, so, and we're gonna grab 21:20 our spoons here and 21:21 give it a try. 21:23 >> Thank you. 21:25 >> OK, here we go, taste test. 21:28 Is it good? 21:29 [Emelin] Yeah. 21:30 >> Mmmm! Wow, that is so good! 21:33 >> That is so yummy! 21:35 >> If you like peanut butter 21:36 and chocolate, you'll 21:37 love this. 21:38 >> Mm-hmm. 21:39 Thanks for joining us again 21:41 here, experiencing life in 21:42 the kitchen and we hope you 21:44 enjoy this Funky Monkey 21:45 Smoothie. 21:49 >> I think Vanessa and Emelin 21:51 did a great job. 21:52 >> They did. 21:53 >> And I also think that 21:54 I'm gonna try making 21:56 that smoothie. 21:57 >> Mm-hmm! 21:59 So you were saying earlier 22:01 that the Bible says, 22:02 "Oh, taste and see that the" 22:04 "Lord is good." 22:05 >> Yeah, it's like 22:06 the smoothie. 22:08 We can watch Vanessa and 22:09 Emelin making the smoothie and 22:11 you can even see all the 22:13 ingredients in front of you 22:14 and watch them making it, but 22:17 what you really wanna do is to 22:19 taste and see that it is good. 22:22 >> So God says that there is 22:24 evidence that is open to 22:25 everyone, the most highly 22:28 educated and the most 22:30 illiterate, and it is the 22:32 evidence of experience. 22:35 God invites you to prove for 22:37 yourself the reality of the 22:39 Bible, the truth of 22:41 God's promises. 22:43 He asks you to... 22:49 Instead of depending on 22:51 someone else's word, you are 22:52 to taste for yourself. 22:55 God declares... 23:08 >> A few nights ago, I had a 23:10 hard time sleeping. 23:12 Maybe you can identify. 23:14 So I started to pray and then 23:17 I thought about Bible verses 23:19 that I had memorized, hoping 23:21 that one of them would help me 23:23 and so I started with Psalm 1 23:26 and I meditated on every word, 23:28 thinking about it. 23:30 What was God saying to me? 23:31 "Blessed is the man who walks" 23:33 "not in the counsel of the" 23:35 "ungodly, nor stands in the" 23:36 "path of sinners nor sits in" 23:38 "the seat of the scornful," 23:40 "but his delight is in the" 23:42 "law of the Lord and in his" 23:43 "law he meditates day" 23:44 "and night." 23:46 So I went through the entire 23:47 Psalm, word for word, and I 23:49 still had this blah feeling and 23:51 so I went on to another Psalm, 23:52 well-known Psalm, Psalm 23, 23:54 "The Lord is my shepherd," 23:55 "I shall not want, He makes" 23:56 "me to lie down in green" 23:57 "pastures, He restores my" 23:59 "soul..." 24:00 So I went through that entire 24:02 Psalm and still I had that 24:03 blah feeling and then 24:04 Psalm 40, "I waited patiently" 24:07 "for the Lord and He inclined" 24:10 "unto me and He heard my cry." 24:13 But I still had that feeling, 24:15 like I said, I couldn't shake 24:16 it, and so I prayed again. 24:19 And the Lord reminded me of 24:20 Psalm 67 and it said... 24:36 So that was when it hit me. 24:37 It was like a switch went on. 24:39 It was like I was asking 24:40 God to bless me and now He's 24:42 giving me health and strength 24:43 and it wasn't my thoughts, 24:46 it was like God was talking to 24:47 me and I could hear those 24:49 words in my mind and then the 24:50 next words were just coming 24:52 from deep in my soul... 25:01 And it really did come from 25:03 inside, I heard those words in 25:06 my mind and that blah feeling, 25:08 it lifted. 25:09 It completely evaporated 25:12 and I was filled with this joy 25:14 and I could rest and I fell 25:17 into a deep, peaceful 25:19 night's sleep. 25:22 >> That's what it means to 25:23 taste and see that the 25:26 Lord is good. 25:29 >> And anyone can have that 25:31 kind of experience. 25:34 You don't have to be super 25:36 religious, you just need a 25:38 Bible, prayer and a little 25:42 bit of faith. 25:44 >> Jesus says even if your 25:46 faith is the size of a tiny 25:49 mustard seed, it's enough to 25:51 move mountains. 25:53 So as we end our program 25:56 today, let's pray together 25:58 that our faith in God and His 26:01 life-giving word will grow. 26:05 Let's pray to Him right now. 26:10 [Mike] Our Father, we know the 26:14 words we find in the Bible are 26:16 true, they are life-giving, 26:19 and we can trust them because 26:21 they are Your words to us. 26:25 [René] Lord, we know that Your 26:27 word endures forever and we 26:30 thank You that we have been 26:32 born again through the word 26:34 of God which lives and 26:36 abides forever. 26:39 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 26:43 [Mike] Friends, let me ask you 26:44 a question: way down deep 26:45 inside, is there something 26:47 that you most long for? 26:50 Do you have unmet needs in 26:51 your life that drive you 26:54 to find satisfaction in 26:55 possessions or pleasure or 26:58 achievements or addictions and 27:00 endlessly seeking something, 27:01 anything to fill that 27:04 undefined, empty spot inside? 27:07 >> It is so easy for us to 27:08 believe that just the right 27:10 amount of money, just the 27:12 right kind of pleasure, 27:14 will leave us satisfied. 27:16 So our free offer for you 27:18 today is, Satisfied: How God 27:22 Can Meet Your Deepest Needs. 27:25 Here is the information to 27:28 receive today's free offer. 27:31 >> Before you go, we wish to 27:32 pray for you. 27:34 If you would like to send us 27:35 your personal prayer requests, 27:37 the information for how to 27:39 contact us is on the screen. 27:41 Tell us your request and we 27:43 will pray for you personally. 27:45 >> And if you go to our 27:46 website, you can see our 27:48 latest programs including our 27:50 exercise workouts called, 27:52 Experiencing Life and our 27:54 short spiritual messages 27:56 entitled, Daily Living. 27:58 >> They are all there for you, 28:00 free to watch whenever you 28:02 choose because we want you to 28:04 get to know the Lord as your 28:06 personal friend through 28:08 reading the Bible so that you 28:10 can experience the truth that 28:11 is found in the words of Jesus 28:13 when He said, "It is written," 28:16 "man shall not live by bread" 28:17 "alone, but by every word" 28:19 "that proceeds out of the" 28:21 "mouth of God." 28:23 ♪♪ |
Revised 2021-04-07