I wanted to share a post about church membership from 2016.
While the Bible does use the words “marry” and “marriage,” rather than add an eleventh commandment, “Thou shalt have a wedding,” there’s a commandment not to commit adultery. And you begin to realize that if it’s a sin to sleep with someone who is not your husband or wife, then there must be some formal way to identify where a marriage begins and ends. In that sense, church membership is a little bit like marriage.
I wanted to share a post on fasting from 2020 to help us prepare for the 24-Hour Fast and Churchwide Prayer Night we’re planning for January 24-25.
Today, we usually associate fasting with health trends or bloodwork, but Scripture presents it as a spiritual practice rooted in prayer and dependence on God. This post explores what biblical fasting is and why it still matters for believers today.
I wanted to share a post from 2019 to help us reflect on our preparations for Christmas.
I like to listen to Christmas songs, get out to Christmas markets, and watch my share of Christmas movies. But I think I know one reason Christmas makes so many people miserable. Consider the Christmas message of many of the most popular Christmas songs. What you’ll see is that what started off as a holiday to celebrate a religion became a holiday celebrated as a religion. Let me explain.
I wanted to share a post from 2015 as a follow-up to last week’s discussion of personal witness.
I was invited to a seminar on the life of Muhammad. In fact, a representative of the mosque had hand-delivered the invitation to the church. It was a reminder to me of the religious and cultural diversity of our city – and it impacts how we witness about Jesus. Let me explain how I responded to the invitation.
I wanted to share a post from 2019 as a follow-up to last week’s discussion of grief.
When it comes to helping a grieving friend, nobody wants to say the wrong thing. Nobody wants to make it worse. And the fact is that almost nobody feels confident in navigating such delicate issues. I want to share some of the things I learned from Roslyn Crichton’s booklet, “How to Help Grieving People.”
I was at a conference last week, so I wanted to share a post from 2020 about Paul’s metaphor of the body of Christ.
Paul’s metaphor of the body of Christ is inspiring, but does it mean anything if we stay disconnected from a local church? This post explores why the picture of unity, connection, and belonging pushes us to reconsider our understanding of church membership.
I was on vacation last week, so I wanted to share a post from 2020 about a topic many people wonder about.
Baptism is one of the few areas where churches still disagree—especially when it comes to infants. But the differences are smaller than many think. Here’s a simple explanation of where churches agree and why they sometimes baptize differently.
I was on vacation last week, so I wanted to share a post from 2017 about God’s hand in your singleness.
As marriage rates drop and singleness rises, Christians face new challenges in dating and contentment. This post explores the insights of a 7,000-person survey and offers biblical encouragement to those navigating singleness and God’s plan for their future.
I was on vacation last week, so I wanted to share a post on the church from 2020.
There are as many views of what the church is today as there are people. But how did Jesus think about the church? You may be surprised to learn that the word “church” only appears three times in the gospels. But what it teaches about Jesus’ vision for the church is profound and is at odds with how we typically understand it.
This is a post that I originally shared in 2019 about our need for the Holy Spirit.
Many Christians unknowingly live as if the Holy Spirit is optional. But without Him, the church wouldn't exist—and neither would true spiritual power. Here are three signs that you might be ignoring your need for the Holy Spirit.
I wanted to share a post I wrote back in 2019 about gospel-centred living titled, “Always Start With DONE Before You Move to Do.”
Many Christians bring a non-Christian mindset to how they live the Christian life. When they hear a sermon, they only hear what they have to do. When they open the Bible, they only see God’s commands. And, ironically, Christianity can become a non-Christian religion in the process. There’s a simple pattern that the Scriptures give for correcting this: start with DONE before you move to DO.
I was away last week at the Fellowship Pastors’ Conference, so I wanted to share a post I wrote in 2017 about The Simplest Way to Explain the Gospel.
The shortest summary of the gospel I know is “God made it. We broke it. Jesus fixed it. By faith, I receive it.” Each of these statements tries to summarize an important part of the good news announcement of the gospel. Even more basic are the four words: “God. We. Jesus. Me.”
I wanted to share a post I wrote in 2020 about my reflections on The Tale of Two Cities.
What if a classic novel could help you see the message of the Bible more clearly? One unforgettable story by Charles Dickens opened my eyes to understand Jesus in a way I didn’t expect.
After our seminar on Sunday, I wanted to share a post I made back in 2020 about ways we procrastinate.
We all have things we know we should think about but keep putting off. Some of them don’t matter much in the long run, but others have lasting consequences. What if the thing you’re avoiding now is the most important of all?
I was on vacation last week, so I wanted to share a post I wrote back in 2020 about what I learned about heaven.
A visit to a Japanese home taught me something surprising about heaven. Just as a host sets the rules for entering their house, God sets the terms for entering His kingdom. Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast reveals what keeps people out.
I’m on vacation this week, so I wanted to share a post I wrote back in 2020 about handling tragedy when it comes.
When tragedy strikes, we ask tough questions: Does God care? Why does suffering exist? The story of Adam and Eve in Genesis provides deep answers, revealing God's love, the deception of sin, and His ultimate plan to restore what was lost.
Because many people don’t know the background, I wanted to share an article I wrote back in 2016 on the history of our church association.
What comes to mind when you think of McMaster University? Great medical school? Decent football team? Large, sprawling campus? Whatever image you have of McMaster University, you probably weren’t aware that, more than anything else, it was once what drew Baptists in central Canada together, and then split them apart - understanding how is an important part of the history of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Canada.
I was on vacation last week, so I wanted to share an article I wrote back in 2016 on the afterlife.
What do you believe happens when you die? LifeWay Research uncovered some surprising contradictions in people’s views about the afterlife and salvation. Why are so many confused, and what does the Bible really teach?
A recent LifeWay Research survey reveals that almost half of all self-identified Christians believe that God accepts the worship of all religions. Are they right? And if not, why not?
I was on vacation last week, so I wanted to share an article I wrote back in 2016 on shame.
While guilt can be a clear-cut response to something specific we’ve done, shame is often a vague attack on our identity and value. And we don’t just feel shame over bad things we’ve done but we’re also affected with shame at the circumstances we experience. That’s why abuse and trauma are often accompanied by shame. And also why just asking for forgiveness doesn’t take it away.
