“Must I be carried to the skies on flow’ry beds of ease?” asked Isaac Watts many years ago. Well, nowadays that seems to be exactly what we expect Christian life to be like. Is it any wonder that so many folks find Christian life to be boring and unfulfilling? Jesus didn’t promise “flow’ry beds of … Continue reading This is war
Faith and life
“They feared the LORD and served their own gods”
The title comes from 2 Kings 17:33 and describes the people of Samaria during the time of their subjection to the king of Assyria. We shake our heads in disbelief, wondering how those long ago people could have been so blind. What were they thinking? Let’s take a closer look; who was the LORD and … Continue reading “They feared the LORD and served their own gods”
Father Goose
I was working outside this afternoon, putting our water hoses away for the season and listening to the chatter of Canada geese from a pond about a half mile away. I couldn’t see the pond from ground level, there is a railway line between here and there that is built up high enough to block … Continue reading Father Goose
Evangelical hubris
[The following paragraphs are quoted from Less Than Conquerors: How Evangelicals Entered the Twentieth Century, by Douglas W. Frank, copyright 1986 by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.] I suspect that the wildfire growth of premillennialism in the decades after the Civil War really represented a bold move on the part of evangelicals to recapture their … Continue reading Evangelical hubris
Evils of the Dispensational Viewpoint
[The following paragraphs are quoted from The Reign of Christ by Charles Ewing Brown, copyright 1948 by the Gospel Trumpet Company.] This view ministers to spiritual pride. People who vaunt themselves on understanding the dispensations often look down with contempt on other Christians, charging them with ignorance and incompetence in properly dividing the Bible. If … Continue reading Evils of the Dispensational Viewpoint
Dispensationalism Begins to Unravel
My new Christian friends said that they believed the Bible spoke of only one return of our Lord, at the time of the resurrection and the last judgement. I was shocked at first, but then those niggling little doubts grew louder and louder. Isn’t that what the Scriptures appear to say, after all? “And this … Continue reading Dispensationalism Begins to Unravel
Thanksgiving
The book of Leviticus describes three major festivals for which every adult male was to be present in Jerusalem. The first was the Passover, observed the fourteenth day of the first month, roughly equivalent to April in the Julian calendar. This was a celebration of their deliverance from bondage in Egypt. Grain was seeded in … Continue reading Thanksgiving
My Introduction to Bible Prophecy
One Sunday in the fall of 1971, it was announced to the congregation of the Mennonite Church in Carman, Manitoba that bishop D.D. Klassen would be leading a Bible study on prophecy over the winter months. I was a new Christian and of course I wanted to learn more about the Bible. Thus, each Wednesday … Continue reading My Introduction to Bible Prophecy
The Book that Illuminates
Here is a beautiful illustration of the words of David in Psalm 119:130, “The entrance of they words giveth light.” The incident occurred sometime in the 1840's in rural Québec. It is recorded in Histoire du Protestantisme Français au Canada et aux États-Unis by R.-P. Duclos, first published in 1913. Zéphirin Patenaude, was travelling the … Continue reading The Book that Illuminates
Lost, Forgotten and Suppressed History – The Huguenot origins of Québec
The first explorers and settlers of New France were Protestants. This is not something I learned in school; I don’t think it’s being taught even today, the Catholic church having almost succeeded in expunging all mention of Protestants from the collective memory of the Québecois people. The Reformed Church in France seems to have begun … Continue reading Lost, Forgotten and Suppressed History – The Huguenot origins of Québec
Flatlander Faith 