Salvogesis

Peter tells us that as we obey God and the Truth, we will love one another truly and deeply. This is a result of being born again.   Grass doesn't live very long – especially during water restrictions in the summer or when it is covered by snow in some parts of this country. (That is good because it means we don't have to cut it, then.) Grass is fragile and dies. This is us. We – people – don't live very long, maybe 100 or so years. And maybe much less.  But Peter says that the Word of the Lord endures forever and that those of us who have been born again will be imperishable through the seed of that enduring Word. We will live forever.     We were like grass. Now we are like stones. As we come to Jesus, the living stone, we get built into his spiritual house. Peter says that Jesus is the stone that is rejected; he caused people to fall, but we will be built into a house around him that will stan...

Our Salvation, our inheritance is now in heaven but, in the end, it will come here. It reminds me of a 16-year-old whose dad promised her his fancy car, when she was old enough to drive. The daughter was very excited to turn 16. But even then she wasn’t ready to drive. She had to learn: take lessons, pass tests, practice driving. Even after she had turned 16 her dad was still holding the car for her until she was ready to drive. This is what it is like for us.  Maybe the resurrection was the promise that God would give us the car of our inheritance, which He is keeping in perfect condition for us in heaven’s garage until we are finally ready to receive it, drive it, care for it, love it, share it, and look after it.  From the time we are promised the car (and even from the time we turned 16) until we are able to drive it, we still need to walk; we still need to get rides from our parents and if we have older siblings or friends, our friends.  We still need to take the bus...

Heather was at Teen Camp last week. Just before that Susan, Heather and I were on holiday for a couple of weeks. We traveled through Cashe Creek, Prince George, Smithers, Quesnel, Merit, and other places. It was a lot of fun exploring our province. I was struck by how nice Smithers is. I was also struck by all the smoke with the fires going on. It was a good trip.    Our family has been on many good trips together. We went to The Salvation Army’s Boundless Celebrations in London years ago. We have visited Denmark, Susan and I have visited France, Susan and Sarah-Grace have been to Italy. We have been to Cuba as a family. We have been to the USA quite a bit – because it is so close.    We have noticed when we are traveling that many things have been accomplished by many people in all these different places. We like to stop and read plaques by the side of the road, visit museums, and look at monuments. It always strikes me when we visit the USA though that some of the ...

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.  We have been unpacking a lot of boxes lately as we have just moved to Burnaby after 8 years on the Island. Moving is a difficult time: saying goodbye to old friends even as you prepare to make new friends; trying to tie up loose ends at your current position and find out as much as you can about your new one; cleaning the house from top to bottom; and packing boxes.  This year as we moved, we moved for the first time without 2 of our 3 daughters. They have grown up. Some of their stuff is still with us; as is all of our stuff. After 8 years in one place, you collect a lot of stuff. As we packed and picked up each item we had to decide: do we want to bring this with us into our new life in our new home, in our new city. That is the same...

 When Sarah-Grace, 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 every day and you’ll grow, grow, grow …” She took this truth to heart her whole time growing up was 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 every day 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 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 gos...

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...