Adding Silence to your Prayer Life

I remember a summer camp skit I saw years ago where a family was gathered watching TV and one kid got up and said, "I'm heading off to pray, anybody need anything?" I think we all appreciate that prayer is not just the practice of asking God for stuff.  Prayer is about expressing concerns and …

Is Steve Jobs a Great Guy or Not?

This month's WIRED magazine features an article written by Ben Austen on former Apple CEO Steve Jobs that perfectly illustrates Western culture's completely schizophrenic attitude toward morality. Is Steve Jobs a great guy or not? Well that depends on your point of view. The article brings up a bunch of stories from Job's biography written …

What I Learned Taking Two Months Off Facebook

I have been working on a thesis for the past six months or so. After I defend it in a couple of weeks I will be put up a copy of it up on this blog for people who might be interested in reading it. As I got closer to the crunch at the end …

The Kingdom of God Breaking Out Everywhere

I don't know if it's the Seasonal Affective Disorder letting up, or me finally getting over a cold that has lingered for the past few weeks but I am finally starting to feel myself.  I was doing some research for school and was touched by a picture book illustrated by Canadian artist William Kurelek called …

A Resolution

As I considered resolutions for 2010 ( I may still make some... really!) I heard an interesting fact on the radio: most people put more planning into a one week vacation than they do into the entire year. No references were given for this statistic but I am sure it is true. If you have …

Doubting Thomas

This is for a friend: Doubting Thomas by Nickel Creek What will be left when I've drawn my last breath, Besides the folks I've met and the folks who know me, Will I discover a soul saving love, Or just the dirt above and below me, I'm a doubting thomas, I took a promise, But …

What's a Blind Man to Do?

Bill Cosby has a funny story about when you say something stupid and before you're done saying it you know it's stupid but you keep on saying it anyway. He was doing a show in Las Vegas with Ray Charles and Ray invited him over to talk one night so Bill shows up at the …

A Church of Hands and Hearts Not Brick and Mortar

I had a chance to have lunch with some minister friends this week and the conversation turned to congregational life: what's up, what's good, what's bad. One of us is struggling with what to do when you've got 31 different languages spoken at your church. People who are living here in Canada but their heart, …

Dying to Tell the Truth

In my history class last semester we spent part of one class debating whether it was a positive thing over all that Constantine legalized Christianity in 325 A.D. You might think that it's an absurd question, “Of course it was good! People were dying by the thousands. If he hadn't called off the persecution all …

A Fight in My Mid-Week Bible Study

There's an awkward difference of opinion in my midweek Bible Study and no one knows about it but me. I need to tell someone about it. I'm studying Reformation History and have met a new friend, Martin Luther. You might think it weird to consider someone who has been gone almost 500 years as a …