A modern yet rustic country retreat, having retained the original post and beam. The retreat is set on a private lake surrounded by 92 acres of rolling land. It's located in the Grey/Bruce region of South Western Ontario. A spacious living room has a panoramic view of the property. And decks surround the retreat. We have a spa hot tub that holds seven people on the east deck. The grounds include 8 large flower gardens, a herb and vegetable garden, an apple orchard, extensive woodlands and meadows, and three spring ponds. Just off the kitchen is a cozy sitting room with a colonial fireplace. The kitchen and dining area has a wide open concept and includes a wood burning cook-stove. Delicious, nutritious and healthy meals are cooked with lots of love and care. Freshly juiced fruit juice, organic grown produce, fresh picked apples - in season, home-tapped maple syrup, and organic grains and nuts are all included in the menu. Accommodates 16 People. Four spacious bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms sleep 16 people. Two rooms on the main floor have private entrances out to decks. Two additional rooms are available with ensuite bathrooms. One suite with a queen-sized bed and one double. We have a three acre private lake right next to the retreat. The water is excellent for swimming. Link to More Pictures. A bird perched on Jacques arm

Worldly Judgment to Righteous Judgment. There are two types of judgment; righteous and unrighteous. Righteous judgment comes out of Love and is purposed to bring reconciliation to God. Unrighteous judgment is fear-based and is purposed to preserve and gratify self. The former brings life; the latter brings death. We need to know the difference between the two because as Saints, we are called to judge the world. Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 1Corinthians:6:2-3 We have an awesome responsibility. During the time of His ministry, Jesus preached to the unsaved and unsanctified. He warned the people Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brothers eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Mathew 7:1-3 NKJ As we discussed in the teaching on self-expression, settled judgment is an attribute of life lived out of the soul. When we judge from the source of our soul, we separate from the object of our judgment. This manifests as either condemnation or exultation of ourselves or others. We are superior or inferior to that which we judge. We justify ourselves independent of God. We rationalize and minimize to validate our judgment. As we act on this, we strive to bring life to our circumstances, but fail. This is the essence of dead works works that fail to bring life. Recently, we had a young African pastor on retreat with his Canadian wife, whom he met on a mission trip. His hearts cry was that the charity organizations supplying aid to Africa would stop. The aid is killing my people, he said. They wont work. The land is perfectly good and no one will farm it. They all want to wear suits. They feel they are inferior to the white man and the suit is a status symbol. He told us the Africans have become so dependant on the white man that the governments will go so far as to fake a disaster just to get more aid. And we thought we were helping. The same dynamic applies to our personal relationships. In our fallen nature, our attitude toward pain is wrong. We judge pain, either physical or emotional, as a bad thing. Pain of any kind is unacceptable and must be alleviated. We pity those we see in pain and conversely, feel sorry for ourselves when we hurt. Pity gets confused with compassion. Pain, however, alerts us that something is wrong and needs correcting. Without pain, we would not know. Lets look at some of the things we do to avoid or alleviate pain. We take drugs, which mask but wont cure an ailment. We protect our loved ones from suffering consequences for their actions, and block a change of heart. On a global scale, our decisions are driven by economic insecurity or fear of lack. We are in world grain crisis and Canadian farmers are happy they will get more money for their wheat. To our farmers, their personal security supercedes their concern for a starving world. Apparently, the decision to grow corn for ethanol caused the crisis. Its cheaper than gas. One mans gain is another mans pain. But lets not judge them. We can all come under that flag. Romans 2:1-3 With worldly judgment, an effort to solve one problem often creates another. Have you noticed? Righteous Judgment Can we concede that we cannot judge rightly in the flesh no matter how hard we try? We cant make judgments independent of God and expect life-giving results. Jesus said I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. John 5:30. To judge rightly, our spirit, which has come to life at salvation, must supercede our soul. Our spirit must be Lord of our hearts. When our spirit is Lord, our soul is subservient. We lay down our agendas and acknowledge that we are not God and need His guidance. We accept adversity as a pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as we wish it to be. We trust that God will make all things right if we surrender to His will. Its a place of neutrality and rest. In this place of rest, we can commune with God and receive His wisdom. We can discern truth and know by the Spirit what action to take and when. We can judge rightly and love unconditionally. As believers, Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to empower us to make the shift. I will send Him to you, Jesus says in John16:7. Verse 8 says, And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Gods conviction is not punishment. Conviction brings the truth into our awareness so we can make a choice for God or against Him. In the world system, we are deceived and living in the dark. So we operate unconscious of our sin nature. As my life played out, I was unconscious that Id modeled my mother and thus perpetuated the generational curse of sin until the Lord opened my eyes. Do we need a Savior! Neutrality does not mean unloving, but an absence of worldly judgment that enables us to Love. We no longer need to control situations; need to correct whats wrong; or need to manipulate outcomes. If were not neutral, however, we can discern truth and be judgmental. To judge righteously, we need to be healed of past hurts and delivered from the influence of evil spirits. Although the Lord can sovereignly do this, he often uses his saints to minister to each other. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:6 Deliverance often instantly follows confession as our sin comes to light. If, however, we dont experience victory, we may be confessing sins that are manifesting out of a deeper root sin. For example, rage is a manifestation of a deeper core issue which is unconscious. Ideally, we seek another Christian more mature than us to take the speck out of our eye, one who is walking in the light. Many people have helped me over the years, some more mature than I, and some not. If we seek God with all that is in us, he will use anyone and anything to bring us home. Ill never forget Charlie. Charlie was a skid-row drunk attending the same A.A. meeting early in my sobriety. (Had I remained on that road to hell, I was headed there too.) I cant recall what I was struggling with, but I was miserable. As any good intellectual, I was trying to figure out why I couldnt let go and let God. As I sat in the meeting that day sharing this, Charlie piped up, Well quit trying!! I sat there in shock. But of course! Trying is the direct opposite to letting go. I surrendered.

Still Life Retreat is in Grey West county, southwestern Ontario. We're 30 minutes south of Owen Sound at the foot of the Bruce Peninsula, 90 minutes north-east of Guelph, and 90 minutes north-west of Toronto. From Toronto An easy 90 minute drive from Toronto. Go north from Brampton on Hwy 10 (Hurontario St.) You can take the 410 north from the 401 to bypass Brampton. The 410 ends at Mayfield drive. Turn left on Mayfield Dr. and go through several sets of lights to Hwy 10, about 5km. Turn right at Hwy 10 to go north again. At Hwy 89, turn left. Hwy 10 and 89 merge for about 3km. Go right into Shelburne. In the center of Shelburne, you will turn Rt. to go north again on Hwy 10. At Markdale turn left at the lights (Main St) onto Grey Rd. 12. Drive for 10-15 min. and turn right on Concession 2, just after the Still Life Retreat sign. The Retreat is the first laneway on the right. From Toronto via Hwy 400 An alternative route from the Scarborough area, is to go north on 400. Exit west on Hwy 89 toward Allison - Shelburne. In Shelburne, go north on Hwy 10 and follow the previous directions. From Guelph Take highway 6 north from Guelph (about 90 minutes). Proceed on Hwy 6 through Mount Forest and Durham. About 10 km. north of Durham turn right on Grey Road 12 toward Markdale. Drive 2 km to first intersection, Concession Rd. 2. Turn left and then right at the first laneway. Still Life Retreat is at 394591 Concession 2. Daily Bus Service from Toronto to Markdale and from Guelph to Durham. With advance notice, we can meet you in either town; or taxi service is available in both towns. Grey-Bruce Airbus from Toronto Airport. Call your travel agent or call 1-800-361-0393 Toll-Free (or 519-389-4433) to arrange airbus ground transportation from Pearson International Airport in Toronto. Travel to Durham, Ontario. We will transport you from the bus stop to the retreat. You can also reserve from their website: www.greybruceairbus.com

 Conference and meeting room
 Credit cards accepted
 Dinner may be served in the room
 Disabled guests are welcome
 Heating
 Access to internet
 Ironing facilities
 Laundry services/washing machine
 Smoke-free guest rooms
 Parking lot
 Quiet surroundings
 Private/Ensuite bathroom
 Swimming pool
 Phone at reception
 TV sets in rooms
 Patio, summer terrace
 Cheques accepted