Going Local Isn’t Easy But So Far It Feels Right
About a year or so ago I decided that I needed to start being more intentional about being present in my community. I had found myself torn back and forth all over south western Ontario…
Recommended Reading About How to View Osama’s Death
As the internet gets overloaded with everyone’s opinions about how to feel and not to feel about Osama’s death, I though I would link to some posts that really stood out from the pack for…
23lbs Smaller
So ten weeks ago today I along with Joe, Robb, Chris, Ron and John looked at ourselves in a mirror and realized we were all gaining weight more than we would hope. It was probably…
Palm Sunday Message – Sitting on Young Donkeys
The songs we sang this Sunday morning were a crucial part of how the morning was shaped. We sang these three songs to start. I’ll fly away Chariot by Page France But for you who…
Labels and Categories and Language
In following this Rob Bell fiasco, I’m reminded of some of my own misgivings in my failures as I am judged or I judge others. Categories and labels are thrown around so we can better…
Lent Service – Proclaim
As I mentioned before, we are working with some Anglican churches in Sarnia to have some Lent gatherings together. We had our first gathering at 2pm and it was excellent. Thanks to all the Anglican…
Wake Up and Be Aware – A Sermon on Philippians 4:2-9
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! In a lot of ways I do look at…
The Rich and Poor Are Both Lazy
Talk to most wealthy people and they generally have this disdain for the poor as being lazy, irresponsible and unmotivated. As I grow older and I start to become more successful in business and in…
Consumption as Identity
For my teen years a lot of my identity was caught up in what I consumed. I worked so I could buy things and pay for my car so I could get places. I took…
Changing Perspective To Understand God’s Unfolding Drama Of Salvation – A Sermon on Philippians 3:1-11
We’ve spent this entire year in Philippians and it’s been a pretty fun ride. We have a better understanding of the kind of letter that Paul is writing, who he writing to, what kind of…
A Catch 22 With Community
What is one to do when they feel its good and right to a more social/communal gospel such as living in close quarters, same neighbourhood, same house as others who call themselves Christians but whenever…
Excitement over Expectation
Expectation always ends up ending bad. The person with the expectations ends up being disappointed and the other ends up feeling inferior. Leaders with expectation end up getting burnt out and burning bridges with everyone…
The Balance Between Being Held Accountable and Holding Accountable
One of the main struggles I find in relationships, especially one’s that I am in, is striking up a healthy balance of accountability. I find this especially tough in being a leader of a church…
No Longer Making Converts
I struggle with evangelism because it always seem so disingenuous. The only people I know that have ever come to consider themselves Christians who were not born into it were not the direct results of any evangelism techniques that we…
Economics is the World’s Theology
For a while I thought that I would want to go get a Masters in Economics of some sort. After seeing the kind of impact that economics has on all of our lives, my interest…
When Leaders Fail At Leading, What Next?
I’ve been changing lately, or at least I like to think I am. I don’t like changing, or having realizations about myself, because it usually means that someone else was right and I was wrong….
The Church Can Live Better Than Just A Well Paying Job
I’ve been paying more attention lately to our language around work and vocation. I’m realizing patterns that I think are embedded pretty deep within us and serve to rule our lifelong actions rendering us unable…
Ecumenical Lenten Gatherings for Lambton County
Growing up Pentecostal I was scared of liturgies, sacraments, common books of prayers and funny hats. I spouted of the regular indoctrinated statements of any good charismatic; assuming these churches had no spirit, and didn’t…
Where Is the Church?
I don’t think we take the church nearly serious enough. Not even close. Church is still just a place we go to on Sundays to fulfill some sort of empty void that we only really…
One Step Self Help Program – A Sermon On Philippians 1:12-26
Let’s give ourselves a little bit of perspective before we jump into our part of Philippians today. The church in Philippi started with a group of women who because there was no Jewish Synnagogue, would…