Forty years ago the pastor of the church my wife and I were attending went to California for several weeks to take a course in church growth. He was really pumped when he got back and expounded to us how the key to growing our congregation was to target people in our community who had … Continue reading The church is a faith community
spirituality
Is the salt losing its savour?
"But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in … Continue reading Is the salt losing its savour?
Dumbing down the gospel
I think it is dawning on many people that evangelical Christianity has shallowed out over the past generation or two. I will be so bold as to suggest some causes which are not often mentioned by others. Children's Bible story books: Parents have felt inadequate to help their children understand what the Bible is all … Continue reading Dumbing down the gospel
Sitting around the fire
We were in a small mission congregation in a major Canadian city. A middle-aged single lady, I'll call her Anne, had been attending for a year or more. One day she said to me, "It seems like there is a warm fire burning here and you are all gathered around to warm yourselves by that … Continue reading Sitting around the fire
No compulsion in matters of religion
Around 204 AD, Tertullian wrote: "As the religion of others does not concern us, and neither profits nor harms us; therefore it does not become any one religion to force itself upon another; since it must be accepted voluntarily, and not by coercion, for what is required is the offering of a willing mind." In … Continue reading No compulsion in matters of religion
Don’t be anxious for anything
We were going through self-examination before communion when a frail elderly brother stood and said "I want to say that I have peace with God, but it seems like I should do something to be able to claim that I have peace. I have prayed God to show me if there is anything I need … Continue reading Don’t be anxious for anything
The church in perpetual tune-up mode
[Adapted from a question in an old Bible study book.] The purpose of the church is to win souls. It is important that the church be kept pure. Is it possible, though, that so much time and energy is spent on the details of church work that we have come to see that as our … Continue reading The church in perpetual tune-up mode
Leaerning to recognize the tempter’s voice
[Another excerpt from When I Was Thirteen, the diary of a young girl in South-Western Ontario. The writer was Christina Young, but she used the pen-name of Mary McKenzie when the diary was published 20 years later in a weekly paper. As an incentive to keep writing in her diary, she had vowed to take … Continue reading Leaerning to recognize the tempter’s voice
Parents: Don’t run ahead of God!
I heard it again the other night — the failure of a childhood conversion. The counsellor at a Christian summer camp had talked about Jesus and heaven and then asked the children if they wanted to go to be with Jesus in heaven when they died. A little girl was among those who said yes. … Continue reading Parents: Don’t run ahead of God!
But what doth your arguing reprove?
For those who do not recognize the question at the head of this article, it is part of Job's response to the arguments of Eliphaz the Temanite and is found in Job 6:25. The whole verse reads: "How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?" I confess that I have sometimes been … Continue reading But what doth your arguing reprove?
Flatlander Faith 