Walk By Faith
“Walk By Faith”
2 Corinthians 5:6-13
Something happened Friday night that we’ve never seen before. Millions of people, all over the world, tuned in to watch a man go for a walk.
Only it was no ordinary walk. Nik Wallenda walked a tightrope from the United States to Canada, crossing over the Niagara Falls.
I almost forgot it was on as we had some company pop in for the night from Halifax. We were just getting up from chatting around 11:00 and someone mentioned in passing if the fellow had made it across the falls. So we turned it on to see he was about to start. So we sat back down to see what was going to happen.
The journey took about 25 minutes full of steady, purposeful, focused steps. As we watched him walk across on the television screen, we had the chance to hear some discussion via wireless headset between Nik and his father who was watching from a broadcast truck. It wasn’t really deep conversation. What we heard was Nik’s father really just keeping him loose. “How’s the harness feel?” “Looking good.” “Slow your pace a bit.”
In terms of riveting television entertainment… it was riveting, but not highly entertaining because he made the trek across the falls look incredibly easy. There were no great wobbles, no huge gusts of wind or mist to push him to the brink. He just looked ahead and put one foot in front of the other. read more…
The Way – Review
I’m a pastor.
I have a Bible. I have a shelf full of Bibles. I’ve even read some of them. So why would I bother to review yet another Bible?
Because I’m a pastor.
It’s nice to have a variety of translations around to see how different passages are translated.
And what caught my attention about The Way was that it is targeting young adults. So I wanted to see how they were going about it.
The first thing you notice when you pick up The Way are the pictures. There are some beautiful and powerful photos in this Bible. As you flip through it, you also find there are lots of stories. There are short reflections on passages. There are laments where people write of their struggles. There are wonderfully written introductions to each of the books which helps set some context for what you are about to read.
The Way also uses the New Living Translation of the Bible. While I obviously haven’t been able to read the entire Bible for this review, the passages I have found myself thumbing through are accessible to most readers.
One other feature in this Bible is the liberal use of QR codes (the little funny looking boxes you can scan with the camera on your mobile device). I didn’t have a lot of luck getting the codes to scan, however, if you type in URL next to the code you can get access to the extra content. What I reviewed from the online content seems well done.
So while, from a critical eye, I’m sure I could point out some flaws in theology in the stories, I’m not about to do that. A Bible that seeks to find a way to connect with a generation that is distant from God through the telling of stories can’t be a bad thing.
In short, if you are looking for a Bible to give to a young adult in your life who may be looking for answers and ways in which to engage the big questions of life at a time when we typically make big transitions, this would certainly be a suitable gift.
Advanced Reader’s Copy of the Bible has been provided courtesy of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
What Are You Living For? – Francis Chan
Francis Chan gets us thinking about what we are living for…
Wired
A sermon delivered on the occasion of Newsom United Church’s 54th anniversary, June 10, 2012
“Wired”
Romans 13:8-14
I remember when I got my first computer, a lowly little Vic20. One day in and I was hooked. From then on computers were to be my future. Figuring out how to program them; how they worked; how to make them do more than they were expected. I loved it all.
Imagine how I felt when I got to high school and learned that I could actually go to university and make a living at this!
And so I did, I got my Bachelors of Computer Science degree at Acadia University and worked for a major company in Ottawa. I had life by the tail. Nothing was going to stop me now.
So I thought.
Turns out, something was missing in my life. Something just wasn’t quite right. So I worked more. I put in longer hours. I took on more responsibility in the office. I started to move up the management ladder. I worked on bigger projects. Still nothing… read more…
I Believed and So I Spoke
“I Believed, and So I Spoke”
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1; Mark 3:20-35
Breaking up is a hard thing to do. Whether it’s a relationship, a business, a family, a church, there is a lot of pain when something comes apart. Whether the split is because of personality or maybe it’s philosophical differences, it’s very rarely a happy occasion.
If we are supposed to be working together, if we’re supposed to be a single unit, a team, then division is bad. Division creates resentment, it breaks down trust, it creates animosity, it leads to gossip and other unfriendly behaviours. At which point, the team breaks apart. It can’t function as an effective unit any longer. Things either have to change, or the organization will cease to exist.
In our reading from Mark this morning, Jesus is being accused of a variety of things. But first, I need to set some context because it began in a very awkward spot.
The reading began in Mark 3:20 by saying, “Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat.” read more…