An Honest Prayer

by Dion Oxford

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t was a Wednesday evening. A group of the residents of the hostel had gathered with some of the staff to debrief the slaying of one of our own community members two nights previously. Everyone in the room was still in shock and disbelief as we attempted to deal with this. We all felt that it wasn’t supposed to be this way. › Continue reading

On Poverty and Economic Justice

A biblical perspective on the poor, by Bruce Power

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t happened in Bethany. In the home of a man known as Simon the Leper. A woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, broke the jar and poured it over Jesus’ head.

Immediately the critics noted a year’s wages had been spent on this act, declaring the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. They took the woman to task for her extravagance. But Jesus comes to her defense: “The poor you will always have with you …” (Mark 14:7). › Continue reading

Our People

Restoring holiness to ministry, by Aaron White

“The first call of the gospel of Christ is not proclamation…nor is it social action. The first call of the gospel of Christ is incarnation – living out something that is radically different.” – Tom Sine, ‘The Wrong Dream’, Tear Times, Autumn 1996, p.15.

“We do not need the grace of God to stand crises, human nature and pride are sufficient, we can face the strain magnificently; but it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty four hours in every day as a disciple. To go through drudgery as a disciple, to live an ordinary, unobserved, ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional things for God; but we have not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, and this is not learned in five minutes.” – Oswald Chambers.

“We’re Doing Just Fine As We Are, Thank You Very Much.”

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adical discipleship is a daunting subject and one that I take on with some reservation. I once taught a week long discipleship seminar for teens at a well-known Christian conference, and there had my expectations shattered. I was quite sure that the seminar would be sparsely attended, as it was only one amongst many and the other options seemed much more likely to attract young people. › Continue reading

Honor your father and mother

… a commandment to die for? by Bruce Power

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any of us must plead guilty to commandmentizing with a child in a difficult moment. You don’t recognize this participle? An example may clarify its meaning. It’s a difficult moment at home with one of your offspring. You declare: “Didn’t we teach you to honor your father and mother? So why are you acting like this?” It can be a great moment of satisfaction to bring God into your corner and finalize the dispute with a winning bit of rhetoric! › Continue reading

Righteousness

A single word as a call to action, by Amy Reardon

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s a rule, I’m not a big fan of biblical “word studies.” Possibly the reason for this is that learners and teachers often seem to pull solitary words out of Scripture to dissect them outside of their context, referencing their Hebrew or Greek origins at a dispassionate arms-length. With a tenuous grasp on the newly-revealed connotation, the word is replaced ever so gently back into its context where it glows warmly but dimly, slightly illuminating the passage further. › Continue reading

A Salvation Army

Come join our army. Reflections on 2 Chronicles 20, by Bruce Power

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hat sort of salvation army are you a part of? Perhaps a view from the past, can help us to define a prayer for the future. › Continue reading

The Greatest Teacher of All

A review* of Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder (Algonquin Books: 2005) by Andrea Demchuk

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nce in a while I stumble on a reference to a book that promises to affirm my core beliefs. Not only did Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods do just that, but it also provoked in me a deeper understanding of child development; this understanding considers the full range of learning, including the intellectual, artistic/creative… and spiritual.

Louv reminded me of one ingredient that’s missing in most children’s lives today that if restored would make for improved learning and behaviour.

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Can you remember a sabbath?

The call to an ordered life in the midst of a chaotic world, by Bruce Power

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abbath keeping has always been and will always be countercultural. That is what makes it so important. A sabbath serves as a weekly reminder of the essential values of a holy God and provides opportunity for those ideas to break into the chaos of our world. Each week a time of rest, reflection and conversation with God and each other brings a challenge to reorient our lives around the order established by God, and our activities and ourselves around his image. › Continue reading

Making the Effort

Sloth - Our Denominational Sin? (the seventh and final in a series of articles on each of the seven deadly sins* to be published on each Friday until Labour Day), by Geoff Ryan

Sloth is the desire for ease, even at the expense of doing the known will of God. Whatever we do in life requires effort. Everything we do is to be a means of salvation. The slothful person is unwilling to do what God wants because of the effort it takes to do it. Sloth becomes a sin when it slows down and even brings to a halt the energy we must expend in using the means to salvation. (Pocket Catholic Catechism)

Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel. (Isaiah 43:22)

Working for thee, working for thee,
Earnestly, constantly, faithfully
Working for thee.
(Albert Orsborn, The Song Book of the Salvation Army, Song Number 484).

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nyone who considers themselves a writer has to admit to some degree of egotistical narcissism. The underlying assumption when writing anything - whether daily blogging on the internet, writing novels for a living or contributing mildly inflammatory essays to monthly publications - is that the writer has something important enough to say that other people will want to read it. The urge to write includes a degree of self-absorption. That understood, the problem in writing a column on the seven deadly sins is that each new sin is not only researched and examined - but also, inevitably, personalized. › Continue reading