The majestic elm tree was a landmark along the Autoroute des Cantons de l’Est south of Montréal. It stood straight and tall on the east side of the highway, near St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, but it looked the same in summer as in winter. Like most North American elms it had fallen victim to Dutch Elm disease and … Continue reading Clinging to the rock
Faith and life
The Rage Against God
The rage against God, how atheism led me to faith, © 2010 by Pe ter Hitchens is a personal memoir of the writer's rejection of God in his youth and his return to faith years later. He tells how the rejection of God in British society has led to moral decay and gives a rebuttal … Continue reading The Rage Against God
Somebody ought to do something
Just about every day the media presents new evidence of bullying, neglected and mistreated children, juvenile prostitution, verbal, physical and sexual abuse, youth gangs and all the other problems that seem to afflict the children and youth of our society. Cries of distress and outrage go up and there is a universal feeling that something … Continue reading Somebody ought to do something
A NEW DAY . . . .
This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it . . . or use it for good, but what I do today is important, because I am exchanging a day of my life for it! When tomorrow comes, this day will … Continue reading A NEW DAY . . . .
Kindness does more than violence
Here is another story that was told to Ruben Saillens. An Anabaptist and his wife were sleeping peacefully in their hut at the edge of the road, when some young men returning from a party in a neighbouring village passed by. “Look. Here’s the home of the old Anabaptist. Why don’t we play a trick … Continue reading Kindness does more than violence
A different kind of heroism
Ruben Saillens, 1855-1942, was the best-known Baptist preacher of his day in France. In 1895 he visited an Anabaptist community in Switzerland and then published a couple of historical incidents that he heard from them. Here is one of them. One day, during the Thirty Years War in Europe, a group of soldiers stopped at … Continue reading A different kind of heroism
Synthetic or authentic?
Zeal is a Christian virtue. Submission is a Christian virtue. On our own we can work up a pretty convincing facsimile of one or the other. To have both at once is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit.
How can we be sure that Christ arose?
There are people in our day who say that Jesus never existed. However, there are references to Jesus in first century writings by both Jewish scholars and Roman officials. No one from that era ever denied that Jesus was a real person. The gospels are eye witness accounts and the authenticity of their accounts on … Continue reading How can we be sure that Christ arose?
Unstable as water
My wife and I once took a whale watch cruise from a little town in Massachusetts. To find the whales we had to go out on the Atlantic until even the skyline of Boston disappeared from view. There was no wind that day, the ocean was as smooth and flat as a prairie field, only … Continue reading Unstable as water
Triumph in the cross
Jesus entered enemy territory when He came to earth, and He knew it. Satan and He had been adversaries since the Garden of Eden when Satan tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, asking her, “Did God really say you shouldn’t eat it? You must have misunderstood, it’s good for you.” Since that time, Satan … Continue reading Triumph in the cross