The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading. In order to write a man will turn over half a library to make one book. -Samuel Johnson, 1705-1784. Johnson was a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, biographer, editor and the sole author of A Dictionary of the English Language, first published in 1755 and … Continue reading If you want to be a writer, you first need to be a reader
There is no valid baptism without the new birth
The beginning of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite in Western Canada owes much to the spiritual vision of one man. Peter Toews was the Elder of the largest part of the Kleine Gemeinde (Little Church) which had separated from the main body of the Mennonite church on the Molotschna Colony in Ukraine in … Continue reading There is no valid baptism without the new birth
Hard work is not a Christian virtue
The robots are coming. Technology could eliminate half of all jobs over the next ten years. Working harder isn’t going to save your job. Working smarter won’t to do it either. The economy is changing and the way to ride the wave of change is to change our attitude about work. Several years ago a … Continue reading Hard work is not a Christian virtue
The bishop said I needed a new heart
In January 1953, Dad told the preacher I would attend the catechism classes, then came home and told me I was going. So I went. I didn’t dare defy my Dad; besides I was with the four guys closest to my age, Leonard, Larry, Carman and Allan. I suspect their dads had done the same … Continue reading The bishop said I needed a new heart
The fulness of the time – today
News reports are dismal: mass shootings; random killings; skyrocketing suicide rates; ethnic conflicts; antisemitism; recreational drug use on the rise, with fatal consequences for some; economic instability; political instability; refugees fleeing conflict in search of safety, many dying in the attempt; violence against women; and on and on. It would seem that the condition of … Continue reading The fulness of the time – today
Persecution of the Lollards
William Swynderby (sometimes spelled Swinderby) and Walter Brute were active exponents of Lollard beliefs in the last 20 years of the 14th Century. Swynderby was burned at the stake for his faith in 1401 at Smithfield, London. G. M. Trevelyan, while not entirely sympathetic, gives a glimpse of the views of Brute and Swynderby on … Continue reading Persecution of the Lollards
Breakdown on the information highway
I had planned to write something else yesterday evening, but found myself in a position much like the young man in the photo above: the vehicle with which I cruise the information highway had broken down. We live on an acreage in a sparsely populated part of the Saskatchewan prairies where there are not enough … Continue reading Breakdown on the information highway
The fulness of the time
Solomon’s reign was the golden era of Israel. All the promises of God were fulfilled in the natural sense. The son of David built the glorious temple and God showed His acceptance by sending fire from heaven to consume the sacrifices. Solomon’s reign was a reign of peace over all the territory promised by God … Continue reading The fulness of the time
The Apocalypse
Two hundred years ago scholars in Germany, calling themselves higher critics, began analysing the writing style of the books of the Bible. They concluded, among other things, that Genesis had been compiled by an unknown writer from two different strands of oral tradition and that the book of Daniel had been written by two different … Continue reading The Apocalypse
The Principal Errors of Pietism
Pietism, with a capital P, refers to a movement that began within the Lutheran Church around the year 1600. The Pietists emphasized the new birth, the inward spiritual life of the heart and a pure moral life. There were earlier threads of pietism, but this was the beginning of a distinctive and dynamic movement. The … Continue reading The Principal Errors of Pietism
Flatlander Faith 