The Drumbeat in Advent
God gave the tools of culture to be used to lift our hearts to a loving connection with the Creator.
Lifting clergy burden
The Protestant Reformation, particularly in England, marked a major change in how pastoral care was done in churches. Up to that time, clergy in the Roman Catholic church focused their…
The Art of Healthy Dust-Shaking (2)
Shalom may stick or ricochet back – keep an attitude of peace no matter what.
Principles of church planting
It's almost a truism that “Church planting is the most effective method of reaching the unchurched for Christ.” It's been a legendary recommendation for decades now. And it is true,…
Bavinck in Brief: The Essence of Christianity?
Accommodating to culture succeeds only in making the Church indistinguishable from the world: sixth of a series. Upon occasion I have been asked why we today should study the work…
Bavinck in Brief: Method as Model
Surprisingly simple and straightforward, yet its simplicity wields great power.
Building a Temple
An update on Living Stones – Last year Jon and I took a tour of the holy land with Ross Lockhart. What an amazing trip that was! We began in…
Kimchi and Bannock
A Christ-centred cross-cultural gathering: What happens when a dozen fully-citified Korean young adults drive 10 hours north to visit a remote Indigenous community in the bush? … Read more
Structure for mission and intentional innovation
Churchgoers love routine. Parishioners gather at St. Paul Lutheran in Grafton, Wisconsin in this undated feature photo. (Wikimedia Commons) A church-planting mindset includes risks and discipling leaders to grow and…
When The Holy Spirit arrives
Anna Farlie, left, Dora Daroczi, and Abigail McGuffin are the THEO Trio The THEO Trio overcomes and presents a powerful witness HAMILTON, Ont. – It was the final sederunt of…
Systems and Systematics
In this increasingly fractious world, the need to be grounded on systematic theology is greater than ever.
Way, Truth and Life
The hand-out invitation for a class now essential in any church: If you know nothing, or maybe a little, or are full of questions about the Christian faith and are…
Let us pray in full acknowledgement of our fallen nature
One of the most insightful scriptures regarding prayer is James 5:16, which takes up two sentences. We tend to focus on the second: “A prayer of a righteous person, when…