“I have a dream!” As Reverend Martin Luther King, Junior spoke those words in 1963, millions around the world dared to dream with him of a better day; a day when outward differences would lose their power to divide us; a day when we could all join hands to work together, to pray together. That … Continue reading What happened to the dream?
A refuge
A refuge, a place where I could escape the storms that beat around me; that’s what I needed. When one is young, many storms are more imagined than real. But my father’s anger was real. He was not violent, but when he lost his temper angry words rang throughout the house, seemed to be in … Continue reading A refuge
Brought low by such a little thing
The flourishing African violets and other greenery in our home are testimony of my wife's green thumb. She grows new plants from cuttings and often has African violets to give away. When she has too many little succulents she will take a few to a store in our nearest town that sells antiques, home decor … Continue reading Brought low by such a little thing
Questions of life and eternity
What is the most important factor in making a person want to be a Christian? Is it the fear of hell, or the longing for heaven? Have you ever been in a discussion like that? What was the conclusion? I think both factors have some motivational influence, but I do not believe that either is … Continue reading Questions of life and eternity
Some more thoughts on evangelism
OK, we need to strip the gospel message down to the pure Bible-based essentials and restore all those essentials that have been cast away. Now, when we come to sharing this vital message, we need to strip away all the verbiage and attitudes that hide the message rather than revealing it. Here are some thoughts … Continue reading Some more thoughts on evangelism
Some thoughts on evangelism
Each time the Apostle Paul stopped in a new location during his missionary journeys, he first went into the synagogue to teach. This always ended with the Jews rising up in opposition, sometimes with great violence. Roland Allen, in Missionary Methods, St. Paul’s or Ours, expresses the view that it was Paul’s intention to make … Continue reading Some thoughts on evangelism
Too close for comfort
The days are getting short, the nights cold. These are the days when folks used to gather around the Quebec heater to visit. Stoves like the one in the picture below were found in most Saskatchewan farm homes, and in most stores. Most wood stoves still come from Quebec, for the same reason that most … Continue reading Too close for comfort
Dorothy Sayers on the origin of evil
The orthodox Christian position is . . . [that] the light, and the light only is primary; creation and time and darkness are secondary and begin together. When you come to consider the matter, it is strictly meaningless to say that darkness could precede light in a time process. Where there is no light, there … Continue reading Dorothy Sayers on the origin of evil
A pure faith
Catholic originally meant a faith accessible to all people, in all countries, in all eras. Early in the Christian era, imperial pretensions developed in the church at Rome toward other churches in the empire. That process sped up when Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313, granting religious freedom in the Roman empire. Again it was … Continue reading A pure faith
Suspicions of Suppression
Some years ago, a backyard mechanic on the Canadian prairies invented a new carburetor that got fantastic gas mileage with no sacrifice of performance. He drove a car equipped with this carburetor from Winnipeg to Vancouver, averaging 130 miles per gallon for the trip (or 107 miles per US gallon). Or did he drive 217 … Continue reading Suspicions of Suppression