One Sunday recently, our minister spoke on the passage in the Sermon on the Mount that begins, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life …" (Matthew 6:25 NKJV) and the topic was worry. The message was very much about the … Read more
Search Results for: "Romans 8:"
Bring In The Misfits!
A church that I once attended had a truly gifted minister. This man was articulate, yet compassionate; learned, yet able to explain Bible teaching clearly; and humorous, yet never in poor taste. He had a fine singing voice and played the … Read more
God Knows Our Future
In the summer of 2014, my husband Jim was the lay minister at K-Bar, a recreational vehicle (RV) resort in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona, USA. He was also suffering the side effects of chemotherapy, so he sat on a stool to … Read more
Truck Tire On The Beach
When I was about a year old and my sister was two, my parents deposited both of us in an old truck tire on a beach of the Bering Sea. Then, they went away to search for the glass balls that came off Japanese fish nets and floated up to the … Read more
No Disconnect
"I'm supposed to bring a plate to the hockey banquet next week," my young son announced. "Bring a plate? What do you mean, Stephen?" I asked him, perplexed. "That's what the coach said." I wasn't familiar with the idiom "bring a plate", … Read more
What Does Jesus Pray About?
Do you ever feel like giving up on the Christian life, as if God doesn't hear your prayers, or even care? Growing up in a Presbyterian church in Ottawa, Canada, I learned a lot about prayer. I memorized the Lord's Prayer in Sunday School, … Read more
Sackcloth And Ashes And Sighs Too Deep For Words
Moshe Reuven Asman, chief rabbi of Ukraine, called on Christians and Jews to say together the following words from Psalm 31 as Russian forces attacked the Ukraine on various fronts. People of faith are drawn together to offer comfort and … Read more
The Singer
My two-and-a-half-year-old grandchild, Lindy, loves to sing, even though she doesn't yet speak, other than the odd word here and there. What better place to sing but at church? After all, everyone else is singing, so she loves to join … Read more
Junking For Jewels
Jewels can sometimes be found among the junk. My wife calls it "junking", and she does it quite often. When possible, I usually tag along. We don't actually visit junkyards or stores, but we call what we do junking because we do it among … Read more
Best Lists Ever
We often travelled by skin boat (called a umiak) when visiting our family's tin mine in the White Mountains in Alaska, USA. The boats were made of walrus hide stretched over a framework. In my first year of life, wrapped completely in … Read more
God's Timing
This has always been one of my favourite Bible verses. However, Paul says nothing about when all things will work together for good. I recently received an e-mail that emphasized this fact for me. It read, "It's wonderful how God … Read more
The Past Year
Like many of my pastor peers, for the past year, I've been leading online services and preaching each week from my office desk. This pandemic has changed everything about church, and I now wonder: when all of this is over, what will the … Read more
Turning Negatives To Positives
The other morning, I was looking out the kitchen window at a fair amount of water lying on the concrete landing. I turned and said to my husband, "Too bad that when the man did that work out there, he didn't put a bit of a slant on the … Read more
What Would Jesus Do?
Hurricane Zeta was less than 24 hours away from the small Mississippi town of Lucedale. The people didn't know it yet, but Zeta would bring Katrina-like destruction in the next few days. The town's population rushed to secure their … Read more
Black-And-White Photographs
I once took a class in black-and-white photography at a local art school. Our first assignment was to take interesting photos to develop in the school photo lab. I spent happy hours photographing the Rideau Canal locks here in Ottawa, and … Read more
The Morning Drive
It was a chilly Monday morning. After two days of anger at a particular situation in the media, I was on my way to work. I'd be useless at my job as a church secretary with all this mess in my heart. I needed to spend some time in the … Read more
On The Wings Of The Morning
I have an artist friend who paints glorious landscapes in amazing detail. His depictions of the Atlantic waves breaking themselves on the rocky shores of Newfoundland, or the gentle slap of fresh water on the burnished, burnt rocks of … Read more
For Our Good Or For Our Harm?
When I was growing up, our chicken house usually housed a dozen or so generally docile hens, but the least disturbance could result in a cacophony of indignant clucking and flapping of wings before they'd all settle back down again on … Read more
The Epiphany
The dogs were barking insanely, racing along the fence from one end to the other. Frank, my gelding, and the three goats stood in the corral looking frightened. My mind was on the grizzly that had been hanging around. As I left the … Read more
Our One Guaranteed Freedom
As our pandemic lingers, people naturally yearn for former freedoms — including public worship. Mixed feelings abound over such matters. Restless tension grows between restraints and freedoms. As in any polarized situation, we can easily … Read more
All Things For Good
Recently, I've been thinking about the blessings that have come out of the self-isolation due to the current lockdown. For one thing, I have been grateful to God for the gift of time to improve the PresbyCan website. In early May, I began … Read more
Blossom Like The Crocus
Each spring in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the season is announced first by snowdrops, then by crocus blossoms. The sloping lawns around the Parliament Buildings are adorned by beds of the cheery crocus, purple and golden. For those of us who … Read more
A Perfect Time To Pray
If ever there were a time when we need to approach the throne of grace, it's now! The whole world has been turned upside down. We need God. We need His peace. We need His strength. There is no one else to turn to. Prayer is a gift from … Read more
The Pressure Cooker
I hated the pressure cooker when I was growing up. It hissed and made strange noises. I expected it to blow up every time Mom used it. My bedroom was beside the kitchen, so I had to walk by the scary thing any time I left my room. I'd dash … Read more
The Circles
Our pastor designed a diagram easily understood by the congregation. It often appeared on the screen as he preached. There were some who rolled their eyes and muttered, "Not the circles again!" But most of us grinned and settled down for … Read more