[Adapted from a question in an old Bible study book.] The purpose of the church is to win souls. It is important that the church be kept pure. Is it possible, though, that so much time and energy is spent on the details of church work that we have come to see that as our … Continue reading The church in perpetual tune-up mode
Faith and life
Leaerning to recognize the tempter’s voice
[Another excerpt from When I Was Thirteen, the diary of a young girl in South-Western Ontario. The writer was Christina Young, but she used the pen-name of Mary McKenzie when the diary was published 20 years later in a weekly paper. As an incentive to keep writing in her diary, she had vowed to take … Continue reading Leaerning to recognize the tempter’s voice
The circle of God’s love
Ma says the greatest mistake in the world is the notion some people get that outside of God’s laws there is freedom. She says that the only real freedom to be found on the earth is within the circle of His laws, and as soon as one steps outside of that circle, he finds himself … Continue reading The circle of God’s love
Parents: Don’t run ahead of God!
I heard it again the other night — the failure of a childhood conversion. The counsellor at a Christian summer camp had talked about Jesus and heaven and then asked the children if they wanted to go to be with Jesus in heaven when they died. A little girl was among those who said yes. … Continue reading Parents: Don’t run ahead of God!
But what doth your arguing reprove?
For those who do not recognize the question at the head of this article, it is part of Job's response to the arguments of Eliphaz the Temanite and is found in Job 6:25. The whole verse reads: "How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?" I confess that I have sometimes been … Continue reading But what doth your arguing reprove?
Natural affection
I started school in 1948 in a one-room school. The first order of business on the first day involved cutting and pasting and I recall the teacher assigning me to help a little girl who had apparently never done anything of the sort before. I was already quite a proficient reader and the Dick and … Continue reading Natural affection
Truth and reality
In simple terms, truth is something that we trust in and base our lives upon. Reality is what others see from the way we live. Is there a gap between what we say we believe to be true and what is revealed by the choices we make in life? We say we are saved by … Continue reading Truth and reality
My boomerang won’t come back!
This was the title of a hit song from about fifty years ago. Sung by a British singer with a cockney accent, it was the lament of a young Australian Aborigine who couldn't get his boomerang to come back to him. It was the type of politically incorrect, culturally insensitive song that would never be … Continue reading My boomerang won’t come back!
And lean not unto thine own understanding
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" -Proverbs 3:5. I've been wondering of late if I really understand this verse. God has given us a mind with the capacity of understanding vast and complex subjects, and surely He wants us to use it. The Bible certainly assumes … Continue reading And lean not unto thine own understanding
Youth and the church
Since the days of the youth movement, church youth work has often lacked that element of Christian sobriety that alone might enable it to recognize that the spirit of youth is not the Holy Spirit and that the future of the church is not youth itself but rather the Lord Jesus Christ alone. It is … Continue reading Youth and the church
Flatlander Faith 