Norway and Iceland Photos
I had the privilege of going to Norway and Iceland for three weeks a few months ago. We rented an RV in Norway and drove around the fjords and marveled in the beauty of the…
Learning Things That Cannot Be Taught: A Reflection On Relationships
The liturgy, like the feast, exists not to educate but to seduce people into participating in common activity of the highest order, where one is freed to learn things which cannot be taught. -Aidan Kavanaugh…
When Money Determines Everything
Without the existence of a rich set of criteria for evaluating the application of time, money quickly becomes the lowest common denominator that defines whether or not time is being spent in a worthwhile manner….
City Hall Should Move Into Bayside Mall
link (a letter I wrote for the Sarnia Journal) Sir: Former city councillor John Vollmar recently criticized council for “vetoing” two offers to purchase Bayside Mall. He suggested we should count our losses and let…
Insecurity Breeds Kindness or Arrogance?
I just finished watching Netflix’s series Chef’s Table. It was a fascinating show where each episode dives into the lives of personalities of different famous chefs from around the world. With each chef you watch…
Three Kinds Of People With Jobs
There are three kinds of people who have jobs. The Workers: Those that are working to live The Lifers: Those that live to work The Lucky: Those where work and living have no recognizable differences…
Organize People Who Care, Not Those Who Just Want Jobs
One of my key personal values is this: more can be accomplished and more people can be cared for when groups of people share common values and purpose rather than individuals going off on their…
Practices Make The Church #Praxis15
I got an opportunity to join the good people at Praxis Conference in Houston this week. Some thoughts have been spurring. Every church is formed by the practices that they partake in together. The more…
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…
Giving Money To The Church Is Not Worship
Recently I saw this on a giving card that a church handed to it’s congregants. “WE RECOGNIZE THAT FINANCIALLY SUPPORTING OUR CHURCH, IS ONE OF THE WAYS WE WORSHIP GOD.” Underneath it was all the…
(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…
Two Temptations of Longing For Justice
If God exists and is active, if his will and action truly raised Jesus from the dead, then what we think and do and achieve as human beings is not the only thing that the…
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…
Committing to the South End
I wrote this article for the Sarnia Journal his past week. Keeping my thoughts to under 500 words and on topic has served to be good exercise in being concise and clear. Our values speak…
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…
Imagine being uprooted from your home
My first piece written for the Sarnia Journal. If you feel like your rights are being trampled on for a situation like a barricade coming down – can you stop for one second and try…
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…