That’s Awkward

Is the way we respond to awkward and uncomfortable things conditioning us to ignore the chastisements of God?

Interruptions

Yesterday I had a bunch of work to do.
Write this email, fill out that report, mail this, make these phone calls.
I came in to my office ready to go.  I set up my laptop, shifted my papers on my desk, and picked up the first piece of mail on my desk…
…’knock, knock.’
“Come in.”
Around a half [...]

Resolution to Discipline

Did you do any goal setting for 2010? 
I did, I made a resolution to get better at the guitar. 
Many people make these types of goals around December 31st, as they look back on the previous year and desire a change for themselves in the future.  So many people do this in fact that it [...]

Down Time

How much free time do you have today?
“Not as much as I need,” might be your quip reply.
It’s true, when we look at our day and all that we want to accomplish, it can feel like there just isn’t any time left for anything that isn’t essential.  We probably don’t have spare hours each day [...]

First Burst

First week of school.
Burst of excitment, energy, determination, and passion. 
What happens to this first burst?
This week I’m heading up north to plan a couple of conferences with my Epiphaneia friends.  I’m excited to go and hang out with my friends, I’m excited to think about the Kingdom with them, but I certainly don’t feel that first [...]

Walk in the Spirit

This is a message that was planted by last weeks message ‘Filthy Rags’, and sprouted as a result of an experience I had in downtown St Catharines being open to the Spirit of God. 
“6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.  The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Gal 5:6b
Wow, a [...]

Filthy Rags

There is an all too common belief in the world that being a good person means being a decent person.
Holding doors open for old ladies, picking up the cheque for your buddies, buying a round at the pub, saying please and thank you to the barrista at Starbucks.  These are the behaviours that justify being [...]

Poisin

|’And do not give the devil a foothold.’  Ephesians 4:27 |
The diagnosis came back.
Contact dermatitis.
Itchy, swelling, blistering skin due to contact with some hostile poison.  The doctor’s quick and flippant diagnosis did alleviate some concern about this being a larger problem; however, the constant itching was not alleviated so easily.
When I scratched it [...]

‘Very Early in the Morning’ (Quiet the Noisy Heart Part 3 of 7)

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35
 
 
 
 
 
The phrase ’very early in the morning‘ will be the focus of this edition of Quiet the Noisy Heart.  
This description comes to us after a long exhausting day of [...]

Lily

Christina and I have our first pet.  Her name is Lily, and since the day we brought her home she’s been sick.

She’s an adorable Shorkie (Shih Tzu/Yorkshire Terrier), who is very well behaved for her age, is great with people, and very loving.  It was heartbreaking to see her struggling to keep food down, not [...]