The Parable Of The Deathbed Conversion
There once was a man who was righteous, his name was Richard. Every single day of his life was dedicated to the Lord’s work. He raised his family in church, he operated his business honestly…
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(Sometimes) Nonviolence Is Used To Control
I’m currently reading Culture and the Death of God. I’ve enjoyed Terry Eagleton in the past, especially in Reason, Faith and Revolution where he gives I think one of the best apologies for the Christian…
Can you Share The Journey Of Truth?
I’ve struggled with how much of my wrestling I can share. As a seen leader of a church congregation there is this expectation that you are extremely careful with what you share. Questioning the incarnation…
Christianity Is Not Absent Of Violence
I’ve been reading a lot about American civil rights movements and its leaders and the South Africa Apartheid. I’m reading this after having read enough of the nonviolence theologians and practitioners of Christianity. So I…
Myth of Progress: Women
We like to think that we live in a progressive society, that we’ve come so far as a society and equality is at the forefront of our minds. One of the myths that we believe…
Maybe Violence Is Necessary Sometimes
For quite a while I’ve had the moral principle of non-violence being necessary for the way of the Christian. Taking cues from John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas I had come to the belief that…
Thinking vs Feeling In Regards To Empathy
I am predominately a thinking person. My wife endearingly calls me a robot because when situations arise that would for some evoke deep feelings, I tend to respond with logic rather than comfort. In a…
Whoever Is Against You Is Not For You
A friend recently counselled me in regards to my post on Bethel and their fight against homosexuality that “the disciples wanted to call down fire on some folks and Jesus counselled a different approach.” This…
Action Precedes Belief Only Once You’ve Been Enlightened
We start life where the way we live informs the way we think. We are raised as children and then eventually grow into adults and we only know life how we experience it. The majority…
Thinking Further And Acting Better Than Bill Maher On Muslims, Terrorism and The Charlie Hebdo attacks
Bill Maher has been growing in popularity as of late. People are really jumping on his no-shit direct opposition to religion. In particular, he was recently on the Jimmy Kimmel show where he stated that…
The Goodness and Badness of Guilt and Grace
This morning we chatted a bit about guilt, shame, repentance, confession and this quote: The one way of not doing anything about a situation is feeling guilty about it, because when people feel guilty about…
If White People Are Upset About A Barrier, Imagine What Aboriginals Must Feel Like Over Their Land
In most conflicts between white folk and aboriginal folk we are usually presented with quite the bit of rhetoric that someone isn’t following the rules. In the recent situation at Ipperwash where Kettle and Stony…
Trends in Conversations around the Protests
In trying to follow the unfolding of the Michael Brown shooting and protests and the Burnaby mountain protests I am noticing several different trends in the conversation. 1. Individual Justice vs Corporate Justice – Many…
Tim Gibb and Bethel’s Fight Against The “Homosexual Agenda”
I spent an hour of my evening tonight listening to Pastor Tim Gibb (the senior pastor of a decade or so at the Sarnia Pentecostal Church that I grew up up) ripping into the “gay…
Parables of Judgment – It’s Really Not Looking Good For Us
The last three weeks of the church calendar have been awfully depressing. Especially if we read them right. Parable of the Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) Must read David Henson’s take | My sermon here Parable of…
The Story About Our Ducks And How Sarnia Took Them
Early in May our house decided to get some ducks. Why? Well I think everyone had their own reasons. Rachel wanted someone to cuddle with. Dallas wanted to raise his own meat. Nick wanted companionship….
Pregnancy Centres, Dammit Janet and How I Ended Up In The Middle
So this is interesting. The Pregnancy Centre in Sarnia applied for a grant from Ontario Trillium Foundation to open a second centre in Petrolia (a nearby town). The pregnancy centre here is well supported by…
Networks vs Groups of Belonging
Zygmunt Bauman’s book, Does Ethics Have A Chance In An Age Of Consumers is one of those books that I don’t know if I ever will finish. I’ve been reading 3 pages a week for…
Stories Vs Relationships
We have an affinity for stories. We like to tell them because they create a summary of something that we found important in our life. The stories we tell, the way we frame them all…
America Is A Religion Of Violence
Just watched this little exchange with Sam Harris, Ben Affleck and Bill Maher. Not sure why someone like Affleck was on the show. Not only can he not debate well, he got all too personal…