Refreshing!
Scripture: Romans 6:1-11
When I was young and growing up outside of Bridgewater, there was a small lake just down the road from my house. We could bike there in less than 5 minutes. It was our swimming hole and our fishing hole. I caught 5 fish there one evening, which totally frustrated my neighbour who caught none, despite our hooks being just feet apart. But that’s not what I want to tell you about this lake.
Actually, I don’t know if you’d actually call it a lake, it’s more like a good sized pond. If you were so inclined, you could swim across it quite easily, although we never did. There were a lot of weeds on the other side of the lake, which we weren’t too keen on getting mixed up in.
We spent many days every summer on this pond. We had a rudimentary raft, which I’m not sure how we ever survived it without drowning, where we could hang out all day if we wanted. And there were many days when we did.
The question every spring was “When could we go swimming?”
Once I got to junior high and we could go ourselves, we would try and get in as early as possible. Usually that meant the May long weekend.
You might be thinking to yourself, “wouldn’t that be cold?”
And the answer is “yes,” empathically, “YES!” read more…
Production
Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1-8
Over the last two weekends I have been challenged to grow more. Now I’m know I’m not going to get any taller. And I’m trying to not grow any wider, however I could probably work on that a little harder than I do right now.
But through the Church Renewal weekend in Manitoba, and last weekend’s Cursillo men’s retreat, I’ve been feeling the need to be a better person. I’ve been feeling the need to get rid of the sins in my life that I had ruled as “minor” sin and not really all that bad for me.
But I’ve come to realize a truth that any sin is bad, and any and all sin keep me from growing in my relationship with God.
At the Church Renewal weekend in Manitoba, I had some powerful experiences that I will share with you at a later time. But God spoke pretty clearly to me that there were things I needed to shed from my life, things I had rationalized as “not too bad”, but in reality had more impact on me than I had imagined, or was willing to admit to myself.
So, I am working on these things. Two weeks in, and I’m doing ok. But ask me again in 6 months, that will be the real test. read more…
Saved by…?
Scripture Reading: Galatians 1:13-17; 2:11-21
Over the last few weeks I’ve been involved with a good number of conversations in a variety of company which I think I can summarize down to a simple question. “How do we deal with people who are clearly living in sin?”
That topic of which sin has varied. It’s been things like: living together before marriage, sexual relationships, abusive relationships, adultery, divorce and alcoholism to name a number of them.
It hasn’t been the type of conversation you might expect. Often these conversations in the church are heavy with condemnation and judgement, at least that’s how the media wants us to believe they are all about.
The conversations I’ve been having are with those who love people who are living in these types of perceived sin, whatever it might be, and some of them have been with people themselves are struggling with these sins in their lives right now. read more…
who belongs?
Scripture Reading: Acts 15:1-18
In case you haven’t noticed, we are in the middle of an election here in Nova Scotia. Signs are popping up on lawns. Parties and candidates are clamouring for spots in the media where they can get their faces in front of people who might choose to vote for them come election day. It’s all a bit of a circus right now as parties and candidates fight for position in a crowded election.
Parties are sharing their platforms on how they are going to save the province from the evil ways of the other parties. They are all going to fix our health care system, our schools, our out-migration, and our businesses are going to thrive while they do it. And at the same time, pointing out how their opponents will fail.
I’ll be honest with you, I can’t believe any of it, no matter what party they belong to. Here’s why: the problem is far bigger than the simple band aid solutions they are offering. You can’t fix the problems this province faces by throwing more money at it. I think the parties know this, but in order to make the real, the incredibly hard changes that are required…. if a party were to make them it’s platform… we’ll there’d be no chance they would be elected. read more…
we had hoped
Scripture Reading: Luke 24:13-35
Have you ever had someone, or I even suppose something, come into your life that you are pretty sure will change things, and change them for the better?
Maybe it’s a new job, or a new boss. A new teacher maybe. A new house or a new car. Maybe even a new friend. Or maybe it’s a class you are going to take, or to hear a speaker who promises to change your life.
We like to look to others, whether people or things, to help us change our life around. Not that we think our life is all that terrible, but sometime we like to shake it up a little. When something new comes along, it often is accompanied by a feeling of freshness, a bit of energy, a boost. And we like it don’t we?
How many times though does the change not really change anything? Sure, we may change for a few days, maybe even a few weeks or months, but long term, how often do we find ourselves back in our old routines? read more…