How Far Is Too Far When Protecting Your Community?
This is a question I’ve wrestled with for a long time. When you desire to be inclusive and make people feel welcomed and show grace to all it becomes a very difficult question to ask…
Bake Sale To Solve World Hunger
See More Art Installations… This week for First Friday downtown Sarnia we are putting together our first ever Bake Sale To Solve World Hunger. We’ll have tons of tasty treats for sale from our very…
Buying Companies To Hand Them Over To Their Workers
I’m currently reading Looking Forward: Participatory Economics For the Twenty First Century which is basically a book about companies and organizations that have no hierarchy. It’s brilliant. It got me thinking. You know how there…
Narrative Trains Our Emotions Which Conditions Our Perception Of The World
Much of our action is not the fruit of conscious deliberation; instead, much of what we do grows out of our passional orientation to the world- affected by all the ways we’ve been primed to…
An Antidote to Formation
“One way to inoculate ourselves against part of worship’s power is to think of going to church in superstitious terms, as if we are hedging our bets with God. If we participate in worship and…
You Can Be Good Without God And You Must Be Evil With Him
Two common atheists rebuttals or arguments are: 1. You can be good without God 2. Look at all the evil religion does in the world If one believed both those statements completely it isn’t hard…
Unbelievers, Please Don’t Be Yoked With Believers
In my lifetime, I tend to have a lot of spiritual conversations with people that I’ve never met. I get pegged as the pastor or religious guy and then end up talking about some pretty…
Simple Life Doesn’t Have To Mean Simple Thoughts
I often hear two things about complexity and simplicity repeated over and over again. 1. We should strive for simplicity in our lives 2. The more we know the more grey everything becomes and the…
Street Preaching Debate on Moody Radio
Because of my Street Preacher Survival Guide I was asked onto Moody Radio’s radio program called Up for Debate. My first debate and first time being interviewed like this on a radio program. There would…
Prayer: Accepting Broken and People Who Aren’t Like Us
God, forgive us for we know not what we do. Forgive our pride and let us never forget where we have come from. Teach us to be forgiven, repentant and how to love. Help us…
Creativity Is Nothing More Than Entertainment
Creativity isn’t all its cracked up to be. I’ve written about this before in Innovation as Offensive Failure where my basic argument is that creativity appeals to the masses because it doesn’t require change. You…
Louis CK and Soldiers on Planes
Louis CK is my favourite comedian on a number of levels. His rants are unforgettable and face into some of the most ridiculous parts of our culture. His TV show is excellent as well. This…
I Thought It Was Metaphorical
I enjoy some good comedy surrounding the ideas of taking the Bible literally and the reality that we constantly make the Bible say whatever we want it to say to suit our own beliefs. This…
Book Review – A Faith Embracing All Creatures
I’ve always been around vegetarians but I never gave it much thought. I’ve always been fascinated with people who have convictions and live by them. The fascination with the conviction itself usually comes later if…
Book Review – Further Along the Road Less Traveled
A lady who has been coming to theStory for the last few months handed me this book and encouraged me to read a few pages of it. I read them and then just had to…
Grace As The Only Label – A Sermon on Ephesians 2:9-22
Today will be fun, because we get to talk about circumcision! Really though, what will be revealing is that as we understand what circumcision represented for Israel, realize who Paul is talking to and what…
First Friday: #IdleKnowMore Art Installation
See More Art Installations… Trying to keep up with the monthly First Friday’s downtown Sarnia, this month, we put together an installation called #IdleKnowMore The installation was Lead by Dallas Willms (our current intern), and…
Book Review – The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America
I was born in raised in Sarnia, Ontario. There is a number of First Nations reserves all around Sarnia including Aamjiwnaang, Chippewas and Bkejwanong. Just so you know my level of knowledge going into this book, I…
On Being Offended By Labels
Story One. Gerry D came to Sarnia and did a comedy show last summer. A bunch of us went to see it, a number of us teachers who connected with him on a different level. He…
…And We Will Become A Happy Ending
See More Art Installations… A book has been written. For the last six years I’ve spent most of my time with theStory. theStory is a 6 year old church plant in Sarnia, Ontario. Myself along…