Lent: Helpful or Harmful? Baptists are cautious about treating special days, seasons, or Christian practices as necessary observances. We want to avoid becoming legalistic or Pharisaical but we also want to avoid saying, “Whatever works for you.” The debate between Jesus and the Pharisees might be helpful for us. The […]
Preparing for the Future The calendar is turning again and another year has fallen away. Some are indifferent. For others, it is a chance to change. Some may feel trapped in a a cycle where nothing changes. Still others feel more keenly the uncertainty and instability in our world as
Preparing for Jesus Over the last few weeks we’ve been reflecting on the return of Jesus while reading through Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica. Advent was approaching and is now upon us, and the lessons were good preparation. When I told Carol Hepting that these lessons were
From Deuteronomy to Christ’s Return We have spent the last few months preaching through Deuteronomy. I think it has been important for us to reaffirm as a congregation, out loud, that we are called to discipleship. We are to strive to do what is right and to reject what
Giving Thanks Thanksgiving has been one of the major Canadian seasons throughout my lifetime. In school, we read stories about harvest being shared with newcomers to this continent. I was in a city school in Toronto’s suburbs but even there, thanksgiving meant farm-themed activity sheets and bucolic scenes of corn
