The old cat and the old door

When Panda was a young cat, she loved to explore the great outdoors and often wasn't ready to come in when we wanted to go away or to lock the door for the night. My wife discovered a surefire remedy — kitty treats. She only had to rattle the bag and Panda would come running. … Continue reading The old cat and the old door

Why Couldn’t I Be The Healthy One?

I decided to reblog this post from a year ago to explain why there has been so little activity on this site lately. I have draining sinuses, a sore throat, achy legs, a fog-filled brain and have gotten very little sleep. I have been taking Buckley's cold capsules (decongestant, antihistamine, acetaminophen,etc.) and thought I was … Continue reading Why Couldn’t I Be The Healthy One?

Keeping the faith

Most Amish trace their families back to Mennonites from the Canton of Berne in Switzerland. An Old Order Amish bishop once said to me, "There must have been a special strength of character in those Bernese Anabaptists that has enabled their descendants to keep the faith for hundreds of  years." The Amish divided from the … Continue reading Keeping the faith

An abiding church

“Reader, understand what I mean; we do not dispute about whether or not there are some of the chosen one’s of God, in the before mentioned churches; for this we, at all times, humbly leave to the just and gracious judgment of God, hoping there may be many thousands who are unknown to us, as … Continue reading An abiding church

Hazards of cross-cultural ministry

At a worship service in Québec the visiting minister rose to begin his message. He had just heard us singing in an unfamiliar language but the melody was familiar and he felt he had found a common thread to connect  with the congregation. He began by referring to several words of the English hymn he … Continue reading Hazards of cross-cultural ministry

Barbarians at the gate

What remains to be seen is whether Donald Trump and his friends are the barbarians or the best defense against a barbarian takeover. I would suggest we take a long walk and wait a while to see. Let's say about 100 years. By that time historians should have a clearer view of what has happened. … Continue reading Barbarians at the gate

Follow on to know the Lord

A teenage girl is convinced that she is pregnant and about to become the mother of baby Jesus, even though her mother, her doctor and an ultrasound all assure her that she is not pregnant at all. Why is this news? I suppose the media think this is one more way of poking fun at … Continue reading Follow on to know the Lord

Raised eyebrow Christians

I was going to write supercilious, but that's just a fancy latin word meaning raised eyebrows. So I decided to speak plain English. There was a time in my mid-twenties when I was quite sure that everyone who claimed to be born again thought they were better than anyone else. Then there came a time … Continue reading Raised eyebrow Christians

Maple bug lament

Boisea trivitatta - box elder bug - commonly known as maple bug in Saskatchewan They come marching into the house in fall. They can fly, but mostly I see them plodding up the walls, down the walls, across the ceiling, across the table, across the back of my hand. They are so light-footed that I … Continue reading Maple bug lament

Food for the hungry

Back when we were living in southwestern Ontario we made the trip back to Saskatchewan every two years. The trip was 3,000km and took 3 days each way. The first two days we tried to get an early start and got our meals at fast food restaurants to save time. When we stopped for gas … Continue reading Food for the hungry