Nihilism vs Faith
When you allow yourself to explore all philosophical and religious angles, you will come face to face with the world of nihilism. And after exploring all the different options, nihilism becomes quite attractive because it…
Sheltered Workshops Fulfills a Need
I wrote this because organizations like Wawanosh Enterprises should be defended on issues like this. Turning a service like this into a political and economic issue hurts everyone involved. It ends up becoming about making…
Dallas and Celeste
A few years back, this guy with big, dark rimmed glasses sat in our church with his friends. One year later, he sat quietly in a living room in Saskatoon across from me. At some…
A Perfect Example of Why The Sarnia Observer Needs To Die
It’s a nice Sunday afternoon, I’m reading through the news. An insane image shows up of a man on fire on the front page of the Observer forty minutes ago with the headline “Flames at…
Rooted: A Sermon On Staying
Communities have different ways of remembering who they are and where they came from. For instance the wider church community throughout the entire world remembers this through the scriptures. Countries have constitutions. Businesses have logos…
Staying
Without roots of love, we easily become slaves to our own desires, using the place where we happen to be as a staging ground for our ambitions and manipulating the people around us so they…
Voting Federally in Sarnia-Lambton in 2015 (I Guess I’m Voting After All)
My political leanings vary daily. I read anarchist literature for fun. I’m currently reading Che Guevara’s biography. My religious leanings side heavily with those of the Christian anarchists and liberation theologians and anti-colonial thinkers and…
Living An Intentional Life: A Sermon On Intention
We all wake up every single morning. We all go to bed at night. We all eat. We all breathe. We all live in houses. We all have relationships. What ends up happening with all…
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…