Matthew 13:5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the … Continue reading Stony ground
spirituality
Papa Panov should be Father Martin
Le Père Martin, a Christmas story about an old shoemaker who wanted to see Jesus, appeared over 130 years ago. It was the work of Ruben Saillens, writer, musician and Baptist pastor of Marseilles. Unbeknownst to him, the tale was soon translated into English and circulated without the name of the author. The Russian writer … Continue reading Papa Panov should be Father Martin
Get out of the bus and walk
Sunday morning. Dad had come in with pails of steaming milk and was cranking the cream separator, Mom was getting breakfast ready and I was setting the table. Over the radio came the voice of Ernest Manning, telling us again how world events were shaping up just as foretold in the book of Daniel and … Continue reading Get out of the bus and walk
Self-made flower
(This is my first attempt to create an image using Libre Office Draw.) Years ago I was struck by a cartoon in le Bulletin des Agriculteurs, a French language farm paper. It showed a neat row of flowers in bloom, all standing up straight with perfectly shaped petals. Except for one. It looked rather limp … Continue reading Self-made flower
An exposition of First Corinthians chapter three
An older brother, a minister, once suggested to me that I should write about one portion of this chapter. He didn’t tell me what I should write, but appeared to have confidence that I would be able to cut through the misinterpretations of the apostle Paul’s words that are often repeated in our day and … Continue reading An exposition of First Corinthians chapter three
Fifty years ago
It is 50 years since the Jesus people movement began in California. It followed close on the heels of the Summer of Love, that brief period in time when disillusioned young people believed they had found the solution to all the world’s problems. “All you need is love” by the Beatles was their theme. They … Continue reading Fifty years ago
Loss of power
A few days ago, I reorganized our home office. When I turned my wife's desk a quarter turn, all the wires that were hidden behind it were now a mess in the open air. Not as bad as the illustration above, but seriously unsightly and possibly dangerous. I went about to put a little order … Continue reading Loss of power
Built upon the rock
THE ROCK “Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” There need be no mystery or speculation about what rock Jesus meant in this verse, He was simply referring to Isaiah 28:16, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a … Continue reading Built upon the rock
25 Flavours of Mennonites
When we lived in Ontario it would happen from time to time that someone I had just met would ask me what kind of Mennonite I was. “Does your church allow cars? electricity? telephones?” I knew these questions arose because there were at least 25 flavours of Mennonites within a 100 km radius of where … Continue reading 25 Flavours of Mennonites
Amazing grace
That saved a wretch like me I am not wretched because of things others have done to me, even though those things may have been horribly wretched. I am wretched because of the things I have done, the choices I have made. God is not a sadistic puppet master who made me do bad things, … Continue reading Amazing grace
Flatlander Faith 