Salvogesis

Romans 12:15: Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. It has been interesting in the news lately. I saw one survey published the other day in the National Post that said that we are, as a society, becoming angrier. This makes sense intuitively if we read all the social media memes and comments. Alongside this in Canada there is also the reality that more people feel less free to share their opinion at all. This has been evidenced by election polling. Polls which once used to be accurate within 3 percentage points 19 times out of 20 now seem to be way off. The Conservative election victory on PEI recently proved that again. The day before the election they were calling for the first Green party government in Canada. All of this is of course a symptom of a sense of powerlessness. And this powerlessness can lead to a feeling of loss and despair. There are many desperate tragedies and other sad events in our world. On and since Easter there have been those horribl...

Now I must admit that when I was a kid I used to be quite good at hide-and-seek: I had a great way to not get caught – it also worked very well with my own kids when they were little – when I was hiding and they were looking for me, I kept my eyes open and watched to see where they were and listened to discover where they were looking and as soon as they had looked in a particular spot, I would move from where I was hiding to that exact spot where they just were, knowing that they won’t look there again. This worked really well in a house with an upstairs and a downstairs because as soon as the kids came upstairs, I would make a beeline straight downstairs. Hide and seek: Did you ever play hide and seek? There is one thing that you notice playing ‘hide and seek’ with mostly little kids but sometimes with older ones as well.    It is really quite neat. Most of them when they are hiding, they close their eyes. So when you call out, ‘1-2-3, I see you’ – you will sometimes he...

I remember one men’s breakfast we had in inner city Toronto where we were posted just before here. We had the breakfast at the corps. There were about 50 men there. It was a great breakfast. The speaker did a good job and didn’t speak too long. There was bacon. It was a great time. At one point someone from DHQ who joined us asked me very politely who the woman was who had come to the men’s breakfast. There was one lady who showed up – a friend of ours here – one of the men was good to send her away, with some bacon. I thought that is who I was being asked about. ‘No, who was the lady who stayed and had breakfast with us for the whole meal? At the next table there?’ ‘Oh. That wasn’t a woman’, I said. Our friend from DHQ was a little embarrassed – there wasn’t really any need to be our friend dressed in stereotypical women’s clothing and may have even wore some padding but he certainly identified as a man, at least as far as getting a free breakfast, and someone from headquarters w...

One April after a worship service at the Salvation Army in Swift Current, Saskatchewan we had a self-denial meal. We each bought tickets in advance to raise money for overseas mission. We had no idea of what would happen next... Three people were chosen at random to sit at a beautiful table complete with a nice table cloth, fancy cutlery, bowls, plates, etc. They were each served more wonderful food than one could even imagine. There was so much special food that they could not even finish everything that was served to them. The rest of us lined up and received a scoop of rice in a bowl. We did not have fancy table cloths; we did not have special drinks; we did not even have cups or cutlery. We just had a bowl of rice. Linda and Ora (who put on this meal) informed us that the three people at the head table, who were served and had an overabundance of food, represented us in Canada and the other 'first world' countries. The vast majority of us who only had a single ...

I don't know if you are familiar with the game of Cribbage. When playing a hand of Crib, you are dealt 6 (or 5) cards. The idea to to keep cards in your hand that are the same number, runs of three or more cards, or cards that are all the same suit or that add up to 15 points. Of the six cards you are dealt, you are allowed to keep four of them. You want to keep as many points as you can in your hand so you make the best choices you can. After both players have chosen hands then the deck is cut and one more card is selected. The card that is turned up becomes part of both players hands. As you can imagine that extra card can be quite significant. It can be the difference between a four point hand and twenty point hand. Sometimes the card cut favours one player, sometimes the other, sometimes neither, and sometimes both. There are games when you can't seem to get a card you want cut. There are days when you seemingly play every card perfectly but you never seem to get the cut ...

"As people are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), we have been entrusted with the care of the earth's resources (Genesis 2:15). Stewardship requires that we use these resources in a manner which ensures the well-being of present and future generations. God's instruction to 'subdue' the earth and 'rule' over every living thing (Genesis 1:28) cannot be interpreted to justify abuse or disregard for any life, not only human life. The privileges granted require our accountability to Him and one another" (TSA Canada Position Statement). God cares about the environment, the land itself. He lays out some important commands concerning it (specifically relating to Palestine; Lev. 25, 26) in a part of Scripture that is – interestingly enough - known as the 'Holiness Code'. We are directed that the land itself shall enjoy its Sabbath rest (Lev. 25:2, 26:34,35) just as man is commanded to (Exod. 20: 8-11, Deut 5:15), and as God did (Exod. 20:11, G...

Every month we go to the Arthur Meighen Centre to lead a service for the senior citizens. Can you imagine if when we are at the retirement home next a ninety year-old lady gives birth? This is the miracle of Isaac’s birth. Nothing is too difficult for God. An angel of the Lord tells Abraham that his 90 year-old wife will give birth.Sarah hears this and she laughs. The Angel calls her on it, saying, ‘why did you laugh when I said you were going to have a baby’? Sarah replies, ‘I didn't laugh’; The Angel says, ‘yes you did’; so God and the Angel call her child ‘Isaac’ which means ‘Laughter’ to remind her and us not to doubt the power and the providence of God. Nothing is too difficult for God. Every time Abraham and Sarah would be tempted to doubt that in the future they simply had to laugh or recall their son Isaac’s name, and they would be reminded of his miraculous birth and that nothing is too difficult for God. This is important. Nothing is too difficult for God. Sarah and...

I read this verse today as I have been trying to come to terms with the tragic bus crash in Saskatchewan. I honestly did not expect to feel the amount of grief and sadness that I do. Friends of mine have lost friends and family members. My heart breaks for them. My heart breaks for the young people and their families. As I led prayer time here in Toronto this Sunday, I had to stop more than once to regain my composure. Songs at the Sunday service would remind me of people whom I knew would be grieving. Images would flash before my mind. I used to live in Nipawin and pastor churches in both Tisdale and Nipawin. I would drive that same highway where the accident happened every week, many times a week. One Spring afternoon, at about the same time of day, at about the same time of year, I was driving that same stretch of highway with my two young daughters in the car. Our car crashed and rolled over and we were left dangling in the air. We were okay. I, disoriented, even wandered out int...

I remember when I was 10 or 11. I remember once we were watching TV in the living room –my mom, my dad, my sister, and I - and I, as a 10 or 11 year-old boy make some apparently hopelessly inappropriate comment about something on TV so my mom decides that it is time for my dad and I to have a sex education talk and so the two of us are banished to the kitchen. My dad and I talk about what we are supposed to talk about for a while but the conversation eventually changes to other interesting things such as God and family history. It is an easy transition from sex education to family history especially as my grandfather’s father brought the first rodeo across Canada; he was always travelling from the east coast to west. He had another reason for travelling too. He had one family here in Saskatchewan and another family one back east in the Maritimes – until, of course my great grandmother found out. My dad’s grandfather could have used one of these sex-ed talks. I am eagerly learning al...