Our walking tour of Quebec City made us feel old like the cliff-top citadel we were exploring. The ferry-trip across the St. Lawrence River presented itself as an appealing alternative to the pedestrian labours of going down, then up and down again. We haven’t always had the best of experiences on ferries. On one occasion…
Grade 2 was a tough year. I was a new kid at school, you know the drill, no friends, trying to fit in. It struck me that sitting up front and trying to answer the teacher’s questions was not the way to win acceptance. It seemed better to hold back. Maybe then I would be…
I know, when you see the word Oikos you think Greek yogurt. I get it, I buy that brand too. But an Oikos Prayer List doesn’t have anything much to do with yogurt. It is the ‘Greek’ part that relates to this prayer list. You see the word ‘oikos’ is Greek for ‘house’. But the…
Before Jesus arrived, a father had asked the disciples to help his demonized son (Mark 9:14-29). They failed. The man was disheartened. Now in response to Jesus’ questions, he says, “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Jesus leans into this man’s hopelessness and says, “‘If you can’? Everything…
Our kids emotions were on a rolling boil. We were headed to an amusement park! They were excited for the obvious reasons; I was stressed because I didn’t know where I was going. My wife was stressed because if we got lost, it might be several meals off the tailgate before I would be ready…
I don’t know what kind of relationship you had with your dad. It may have been a good one, it may not. In varying degrees, all earthly dads come up short, but God our Father does not. He is always with us and forever for us. On the night that Jesus was anticipating becoming sin…
A recent Canadian poll reported that 90% of the respondents felt overwhelmed by the demands of their roll. Expectations, obligations and responsibilities created a bulging list of to-do’s that overran their calendars and stressed the fabric of their wellbeing. In his analysis of the hurried and harried, author Greg McKeown argues that their lives are…
Overwhelmed with life right now? Feeling out of breath? Then breath prayers are definitely something you should practice. A breath prayer is a short request of God that you can express in one exhale. A traditional example would be the Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Many…
We believe God is full of plans, cosmic ones and particular ones. Whichever it is, God’s will comes to pass. Our praying about it does not seem to matter. That is what we tell ourselves, not because it is so, but because it makes our prayerlessness easier to justify. A bug in that ointment are verses…
To pray that God would ‘bless’ or ‘help’ an unreceptive unbeliever is not the way to go. Two reasons: Those kind of prayers are too generic. How will we know if God answers. How will we know if we are praying according to God’s will. Those prayers are framed as if the unbeliever was a…