Learning from a Pandemic

Dr. Pat Keifert of Church Innovations One of my favourite Missional Theology Yoda Masters is Dr. Pat Keifert of Luther Seminary. He would say there are two kinds of change: continuous change (e.g. from winter into spring) and discontinuous change, which is what we’re dealing with right now with the COVID-19 pandemic. Nothing about our …

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Abortion, Federal Funding and Religious Freedom

In December of last year the Federal Government announced that it would require all applicants to the Canada Summer Jobs Program to agree to a formal attestation that: Both the job and the organization’s core mandate respect individual human rights in Canada, including the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as other …

“Nobody Was Born Racist” and other Things I Wish Were True

This blog is the continuation of a previous post On Aug 16, 2017, a few days after the alt-right rally in Charlottesville, VA this tweet became the most liked tweet in Twitter’s short history. It’s a quote lifted out of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom that continues, “people must learn to hate, and …

Whataboutism

This blog post is a continuation of a previous post. “What about the alt-left that came charging at, as you say, at the alt-right? ... You had a group on one side that was bad. You had a group on the other side that was also very violent.” – Donald Trump This was a particularly …

Taking a Stand Against Racism is a Meaningless Gesture

You need to listen to that speech.  Aug 28, 1963.  You’ve heard parts of it. You could likely quote some of it, but you need to hear the whole thing.  Take 17 min, click here tonight and listen to it. It is a homiletical masterpiece, a speech that defined a movement.  It expresses so poetically …

Being Childish

There is a short but familiar story in Luke 18:15-17 where we see Jesus receiving little children. Right before that, Jesus finished his his parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector with the words “those who exalt themselves will be humbled, but whoever humbles themselves will be exalted” (Luke 18:14b) and then almost as …

The Gospel of Stranger Things

I discovered a Netflix show called Stranger Things  earlier this summer.  Everybody else probably watched it when it dropped last fall. Either that, or you have no plans to watch it at all, so I am probably safe talking about it, but if you haven’t caught it and are planning to watch it, here are …

A Once And For All Faith?

Within my tribe (Churches of Christ) and within other groups as well, there is a danger in reading Jude verse 3 with an air of finality: "Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith …

Even Justice For An Enemy

There has been a lot said in the media about Omar Kadhr since his $10.5 million dollar settlement with the Federal government was announced earlier this month and not all of it was true. As John Oliver says, "memes aren't facts." You need to be careful who you listen to, so consider the following summary …

The Cost of Free Speech

I saw something on my news feed last week (Twitter feed to be exact) that I didn’t know still existed. On Sunday, July 9th, The Klu Klux Klan held a rally to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from