Category: Personal
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O day of peace that dimly shines
Sometimes familiar tunes with new words can be surprising. I had such a moment in 2017 at a remembrance service in St. James Cathedral, Toronto. As the first notes of the tune commonly associated with Jerusalem (Blake’s “And did those feet in ancient time”) rang out—a melody deeply tied to English patriotism—I was jolted from my reverie.…
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Why Advent?
Today is the first Sunday of Advent, and I think more than any other year I remember, I welcome this season of the church. It is first week of a new year in the Christian calendar. I know not all my friends keep advent, so I suppose I should explain why it’s so important and…
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Home, Found Not Here nor There
People long for the familiar. Even many immigrants, people who have uprooted themselves from places of familiarity, often end up in ethnic enclaves with like people. Perhaps no city better illustrates this than New York. Whether it was Irish Immigration into Brooklyn, the creation of Little Italy, or the populating of Chinatown, people gravitate towards…
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Salvation is not the same as having Assurance
One common refrain I hear often is “are you sure you’re going to heaven?” But how can I even ask this question if I question whether or not that answer is yes for myself. Evangelicalism has not reflected deeply on its theology of assurance and of faith and how that theology has related to the…
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Longing for the Justice of God
How long, O Lord? Wilt thou forget me for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? —Psalm 13.1-2 (RSV) I don’t think I’ve really understood…
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I don’t want to be Christian
The more I understand Christianity and Christ the more that I don’t want to be Christian, and yet the more I can’t help myself from being so. Christianity is about grace, it is about how a God who is love has provided a means for a wayward people to come back to himself in the…
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Surpassing Hope in Christ
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, that are in heaven, and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or powers— all things were created through him, and for him. He himself is before all things,…
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A Letter to the Church
Dear Evangelical Church, I wanted to write to you because of my mixed feelings about you. I must admit that I find myself so often really, really not liking you. And though you claim to be the source of joy by virtue of a membership in the Body of Christ, I find that euphoria I…
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I am a creationist
These are my thoughts on the recent debate between Ken Ham and Bill Nye I am a creationist. I agree with the central premise that Ken Ham put forth: God created the world by the breath of his mouth and the work of his hands. But not just that! I am also a student of…
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Scandalous Grace
Fritz Sauckel is a man who was convicted of crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg trial and died by hanging in 1946. He died because humanity condemned his actions in organizing what was essentially slave labour and for his role in the evils of Nazi Germany during the coruse of World War II. He was…
Defined Faith 