Archive

Can I say that water comes in many forms? You have those ice cubes in your drinks, that water vapor in the sky we call clouds, ice cold water out of the tap or in the streams, but I love it just hot...

Saul, ‘who was also called Paul’ (Acts 13:9), was, before his conversion, an Orthodox Jew: a Pharisee with status in the Sanhedrin, which was the governmental board of Judea during the Roman...

There’s something powerful about receiving a letter from someone you admire, a mentor who has walked the path ahead of you, who knows the struggles, and who believes in the calling you carry....

An identity crisis is defined as a period of uncertainty or confusion in a person’s life. This crisis occurs when a person’s sense of identity becomes insecure and unstable. An identity crisis...

A recent development in the social media world is the abundance of influencers. Some of them have many followers, who apparently pay a lot of attention to what they say.  Historically, someone...

The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians was a response to concerns brought to his attention by Epaphras, who had established the fledgling church at Colossae. In chapter two, Paul outlines two...

There is nothing like laying down after an exhausting day of work and resting. I know my time of rest is over when the five kittens we have start jumping on me over and over again. They are like...

To affirm someone is to support, encourage, and confirm another’s worth and dignity, and in Philemon, Paul’s shortest and most personal letter written during his first imprisonment in Rome, he...

Have you ever had friends who have hurt one another deeply and who are unable or unwilling to work together to heal the rift? Perhaps you have a deep desire for them to reconcile, and it hurts that it...

Each year, the Christian church celebrates the events of that first Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Peter to declare before a gathered crowd that the man Jesus, publicly condemned...

We live in an unprecedented time where hundreds of translations and other versions of the Bible are available, and that’s just in English. With a Bible app or website, you can compare verses in...

We can slide by this verse if we are not careful. It is telling us that in Christ, we his children are all blessed with the wealth of God. It amazes me to think that God is sharing his wealth with us,...

I recently saw on Facebook a phrase which read, ‘If your theology doesn’t lead to song, then there is something wrong with your theology.’ As I thought about that statement it seemed to me that...

You’ve heard the phrase, ‘Don’t settle for less!’ It’s a well-meaning attempt to motivate you to not give up on the best life you have envisioned for yourself. You’ve likely heard the...

There are only two ways of life, the way of the flesh: the way of our former life (Ephesians 4:22), and the way of the Spirit: the way of the new life that is now ours in Christ (Ephesians 4:24)), and...

According to the account in Genesis, in the beginning humans enjoyed a direct, personal relationship with God in the Garden of Eden. He walked and talked with them. Yet since the fall, humanity’s...

Have you ever read a verse in the Bible and thought, what exactly does that mean? I’ve read Philippians 2:3 many times but did a full stop last time, wondering, exactly how we are supposed to do...

We have entered the realm of upgrading the house with new flooring; the old had lost its charm as it lost the pattern it held with years of wear. I never imagined how it would overturn my life. I...

Why does the shed blood of Jesus speak a better word than the spilt blood of Abel? To begin to answer that question we have to go back to the dawn of human history. Abel was a righteous man (Matthew...

Have you ever left home without your wallet or mobile phone? Or any item that you almost always have with you? I think most of us can relate to the wave of panic that ensues when we have forgotten...

As we read through the book of Revelation, we are reminded that even Christian believers are not immune from the pain of suffering and persecution, even persecution to death. After all, we understand...

In Old Testament days, animal sacrifice was a daily part of life. Different kinds were made – grain, burnt, peace, sin and guilt. They were required for practically everything, from giving birth,...

Scripture is full of such simple but powerful statements that are there reminding us of the part Jesus Christ played in our lives – and continues to play. They are sentiments embedded in well-known...

Have you ever been asked to explain what you expect to accomplish in your life? As a teenager my dreams were very simple, getting married, having a boy and a girl, a pool in the backyard, and living a...

As Paul neared the end of his life, he wrote, ‘…I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord…will give me...

Here is a funny story you may be familiar with:There was a lady who called her husband while he was driving home from work. She worriedly told him, ‘I just saw on the news there’s an idiot driving...

One Sunday at the worship service, we learned that one of our longtime members, who had been unable to attend church, needed assistance for treatment related to her cancer diagnosis. She had been...

We’ve all had tasks we didn’t want to do. And when we don’t want to do something, it’s easy to put it off until later, maybe the next day, the next week or even later. Mark...

What next? I often feel overwhelmed when I hear that I need to go out and be missional. In my mind, I reason that we are but a small church, and we lack the right resources. We feel inadequate....

‘The Chosen’ is one of my favourite television shows; I love how they have created believable background stories for many of the stories we see in the Gospels. But what intrigues me in almost...

At the end of your life, wouldn’t you like to be commended by God for the way you’ve lived?  In our header scripture, the writer of the book of Hebrews tells us that those ‘ancients’ in...

The great Redwood trees are some of the oldest living things on this planet. Needless to say, walking through the ancient groves is truly a humbling experience. These majestic giants have been here...

It is only in John’s gospel account that we learn that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was there at the foot of the cross, when he was crucified. She was there with at least three other women, in the...