This post is based on a presentation made at the ACW Regional Retreat in September 2020. Are Spiritual Disciplines really that important? Why are Spiritual Disciplines important? Is not believing in Jesus enough? Are disciplines just a form of works righteousness, some mistaken attempt to earn our salvation? Do we really need to worry about … More Are Disciplines Necessary?
In the opening days of the pandemic, when everything came to a grinding halt and people everywhere were looking for a way to fill the time, I decided to read through Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison. My rational was simple: Bonhoeffer’s experience of being away from his family and friends during the high … More Listening to Dietrich
I remember distinctly the day I fell out of love with contemporary worship music. It was during my first year of university. While always a Christian, my faith grew in passion and energy through the Vineyard explosion of the 90’s. This deepening of my faith coupled with my learning to play the guitar. Almost instantaneously … More The day I fell out of love with contemporary praise music (again)
(This post be long!) This post arises out of question, posed on social media, about how we might mistakenly interpret this parable based on the privilege and capitalism of our North American context. I took that to heart and looked for alternative interpretations, based largely in liberation theology. I started writing out some of my … More True Liberation – A reading of the Parable of the talents
When one loves to read, write, or ponder, the nature of the church, it can be tempting to remain rooted in one’s own cultural or denominational context. This would be a mistake. The church is not simply the church as it exists in Canada. Thus, ever since I found my affinity ecclesiological works, I have … More A prophetic push: A review of Conrad Mbewe’s book “God’s design for the Church.”
This article first appeared at http://www.medium.com/ministrymatters It’s been over two months of lock downs, isolation, physical distancing, and mask-wearing. Depending on where you live, you may be facing this for the foreseeable future. For myself, I have long moved past my initial bouts of irritation. Being unable to run down to the local mall and … More O Blessed Boredom: Isolation and the dethronement of idols
I never believed I would be someone who would enjoy reading books on ecclesiology. Reading about the nature of the church never once appealed to me as a viable good time option. Yet here I am, reading books on the nature of the church, and loving it! The latest addition to my reading was Megan … More Beloved but Messy: A Review of Megan Hill’s “A Place to Belong.”
This post first appeared in “Ministry Matters” under the title: “Discernment: it’s not just pointing at random verses” on Medium.com Whenever we aspire to live the Christian life with any intentionality, an inevitable question arises. How do I know what God wants me to do? How do I know I am making the right decisions? … More The Way of Discernment
In December of 2019, the Seattle Times noted that sales of daily planners and organizers rose to a whopping revenue of $386 million. And this was just for the planners themselves – the books of blank pages and organizational spaces. Sales of planner accessories is a whole other matter. The stickers, the insets, the bookmarks … More A Rule of Life: A Happy-Plan for Christian Living
A few months ago, I wrote a blog entitled “When Words Speak”, which detailed five books that helped inform my faith. It was a pleasure to go through my library and note the books to which I continually return. The spiritual lessons I gleaned from their pages have largely shaped the outward expression of my … More Take up and Read: Exploring Spiritual Reading
