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…
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…
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…
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…
Christianity as a religion really isn’t that spectacular (and no it’s not because Christianity is a relationship and not a religion). We’ve got some interesting stories, most of which are rewrites of other stories. There…
The first time I heard of Clooney/Alamuddin wedding – it was in a coffee shop in Toronto, and I was scrolling through the newspaper (I believe it was the Toronto Star). I started laughing and…
Every once in a while I like to sit in front of Facebook and leave some comments that will stir some thinking, or just confront strange statements or conversation. I don’t know what comes over…
The nature and origins of our institutions has been something that I’ve become more aware of over the last little while. By institution I mean systems of organization assembled by people. These organizations turn into…
I’m preparing the service for this Sunday where we are performing three baby dedications/baptisms. I’ve been reading through the Free Methodist language and liturgy surrounding it. There is one section in our Manual that struck…
In Acts 11 we find out the “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” What we don’t really know is when the term Christian was self-applied. In the three instances it shows up in…
Since about 2006, when I moved back to Sarnia, and having read just enough Claiborne to be naive, I have always intentionally moved into the poorest and roughest area that I could find in Sarnia….
Humans have this sort of innate ability to adjust to their surroundings. Well, I guess everything does. But with humans I find it interesting because there is more to the adjustment then just thousands of…
Here is my train of thought on this one. Let’s say God doesn’t exist. Jesus is made up. The whole thing is just insecure humans contriving religions out of their lack of knowledge and science…
One thing many people know about me is I love a good argument. Not only do I feel like that is where I learn the most but I also seem to do fairly well at…
I’m not really a pastor. The Free Methodists aren’t into the idea of giving me the title of ‘ordained minister’ due to a few theological differences as of right now. But being part of a…
Back in the day I met a guy who was planting a church in London, Ontario called Presence named James Shelley. Ever since I’ve been following his work and his brain. Lately he’s been working…
Update: Challies describes what false teachers are and I’m pretty certain he fits the bill. Challies has a series right now called The False Teacher series. It’s getting quite ridiculous at this point, and it’s…
There once was a rich man who would travel around his country. He would bring with him his servants and food and family and setup camp along rivers and lakes. Each night he would wander…
Think about it. Smart Decision #1 World Vision makes a decision to be more in line with the gospel by removing the barriers of employment of their organization. This decision basically said they recognize that…
There has been lots of conversation lately in my circles about the violence in the Bible stemming from our 1 year series in 1-2 Samuel. All excellent conversation. Last night while speaking with Kevin and…