Salvogesis

Romans 13:1: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”   We have just had municipal elections. I had a number of friends running. Our Mayor was re-elected, of course she is married to Colin here, congratulations to the family. I also have a couple of friends of mine from Rotary and the community who were running and some have been elected and/or re-elected to different positions. There are also those for whom I wouldn't and didn't vote who were also elected. These are our new governing authorities. You may not have personally voted for them but they are now our authorities and, Romans 13:2-3a:   Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong…   This reminds me...

I am so thankful that we are allowed to have our worship times outside now (as long as we are blessed with appropriate weather).  There has been a lot of talk about obeying the authorities in recent times. It has after all been illegal for the Church to meet in the churches for church services since Christmas. It is only in the previous few weeks that we have even been allowed to meet outside in the elements again. There have been many discussions about churches gathering. I had an article published in the  Journal of Aggressive Christianity  entitled “What we did when Church was illegal  “ [i] . It has been a serious concern. At a time when rates of suicide and drug use and abuse are at all-time highs to remove these emotional and spiritual supports from the most vulnerable doesn’t seem to make any sense to many people.   According to Matthew, Jesus famously tells us to “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s”  (M t  22:21)  and  Paul in  ...

We just came back from New York where we spent Spring break with our children. It was a lot of fun seeing the sights. Our family also really enjoys learning about the history of places as we visit them. We read every plaque we see and visit as many museums as we can. We were in Buffalo, New York before we went to New York City. In Buffalo we saw plaques and monuments to US President Fillmore. He was from Buffalo.- the last Whig President. We saw a monument to President McKinley who was assassinated in Buffalo. We saw a statue of President Lincoln. I put a Salvation Army 614 toque on him for a picture; we did this unknowingly on or near an anniversary of one of his massacres of indigenous peoples. (Lincoln, sadly, was responsible for many brutal acts and a lot of death and destruction). We saw a monument to Canadian and American friendship noting that our two flags should fly side-by-side for eternity but, alas, they had Ireland's flag flying instead of Canada's. (This was iro...

When one of my daughters was five years old she would ask us every night if we would read the Bible to her since at Sunday school the teacher sang with the children, “read your Bible, pray everyday and you’ll grow, grow, grow …” She took this truth to heart and has been faithful in reminding us to read her Bible. Reading the Bible has also been very important to me since I was in elementary school. I personally have tried to read my Bible everyday since I was ten or nine. I can’t imagine not reading my Bible regularly. It is exciting. It is transformative. The very first doctrine of The Salvation Army, of which I am an Officer, states that, “the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.” In Romans 1:16-17, Paul writes, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes...  For in the gospel a righteousne...