It was different when I was a boy; then all the good people went to church. We didn’t come right out and say that those who didn’t go to church were bad people, but they were considered rather disreputable. Somewhere along the line the churches got the notion that their calling was to make the … Continue reading Good people don’t go to church
Author: Bob Goodnough
Parents and contagious faith
In June 1953, at the age of eleven, I was confirmed and became a full member of the Anglican Church of Canada. After the service, our local minister handed me a little red book, containing questions for self-examination before communion. They were searching questions and I remember taking that little red book on a Saturday … Continue reading Parents and contagious faith
Blessed are the meek
— for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5) I believe I have located one of the weak points in my faith. I love the promise in this verse, who wouldn't? But I don't really want to be a poor, timorous, vacillating wimp. However, the promise is for the meek. Thus I am faced with … Continue reading Blessed are the meek
Soul and body
[This is another excerpt from the Epistle to Diognetus, written circa 129 AD, translated by J.B. Lightfoot, © 1936.] In a word, what the soul is in a body, this the Christians are in the world. The soul is spread through all the members of the body, and Christians through the divers cities of the … Continue reading Soul and body
Here and there
Tomorrow is our anniversary and I am taking my wife out to dinner in a restaurant that opened just one week ago. The restaurant is in Moose Jaw, the city where our married life began 43 years ago. One of my cousins and his wife will meet us for dinner, we plan to visit two … Continue reading Here and there
Is anybody listening?
Christians who suffer from depression or other emotional or mental distress often face disapproval if they try to find help in psychologists and pills. It is true that there are dangers with both. What kind of help are we offering them? “Why do Christians shoot their wounded?” was the title of a book published some … Continue reading Is anybody listening?
We wrestle not against flesh and blood
My father was usually a kind and considerate man, very much in earnest about Christian life. However, he had an explosive temper, and each time he blew up it took several days for the rage to die down. While the rage was burning inside him, every time he came into the house he would tell … Continue reading We wrestle not against flesh and blood
For without me ye can do nothing
O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps (Jeremiah 10:23). Okay, if we don’t have it in us to conduct our lives in a way that will lead us to our ultimate destination of heaven, or even to live … Continue reading For without me ye can do nothing
We are not machines
A week ago I went into a small town branch of the Royal Bank of Canada with a $500.00 cheque I had received for some translation work. The cheque was in US dollars and I asked the teller to give me $80.00 in Canadian cash, $20.00 in US cash and deposit the rest in my … Continue reading We are not machines
Remittance men
Remittance men began to appear in the Canadian West around 1880, in the early years of settlement. Well-to-do fathers in England groomed their oldest son to follow in their footsteps. The eldest son generally developed a mature sense of responsibility and found a ready opportunity to show his abilities. The second son often did not … Continue reading Remittance men
