Things are fairly slow on the news front. I’d love to tell you of the smashing success we have had and the hundreds of people reached with the gospel. But that hasn’t quite happened and we get excited when even one person shows up to the Sunday evening service. At times it has been discouraging. Of course we know success is not measured strictly by numbers, but by faithfulness to the task which the Lord sets before us. Truly and honestly that is a wonderful truth that keeps us going, but that doesn’t mean discouragement or doubt are magically eliminated. Those thoughts persist and have to be dealt with.
Continue reading “A Little Nudge”We Don’t Know What To Do
King Jehoshaphat was a mixed bag. At times he displayed godly wisdom and a clear-sighted vision of what God requires of the king of His chosen people. At other times he lapsed into human folly and sought to make Judah strong through ill-advised alliances. However, in the Chronicler’s account of Jehoshaphat’s “battle” against Moab and Ammon, we see in this mixed-bag king one of the most clear and memorable confessions of dependence on the Lord.
Continue reading “We Don’t Know What To Do”The Parts We Leave Out
Unless the Lord builds a house,
its builders labor over it in vain;
unless the Lord watches over a city,
the watchman stays alert in vain.
In vain you get up early and stay up late,
working hard to have enough food
Psalm 127
You moved across the country to start a new job. A dear friend has wronged you. Your husband has cancer. Your child is rushed to the hospital.
Continue reading “The Parts We Leave Out”In Santa Bárbara
We’ve finally moved and are more or less settled in, so it is high time for an update. It has been an exciting time as we have been adjusting to our new neighbourhood, arranging our new house and planning more ministry activities.
Continue reading “In Santa Bárbara”¿Traes Cambio?
I sometimes joke that the national pastime in Mexico is searching for change. Mexico is still very much a cash economy and there are many places that won’t accept a credit or debit card. In addition to that, there are security concerns which means many stores do not want to keep large sums of change in the till. This leads to a never-ending pursuit of looking for change, of which there always seems to be a shortage.
Continue reading “¿Traes Cambio?”The Same
It is easy to draw a bold, black line through the empty page between the old and new testament and to think that what God did in the past with Israel is largely separated from what he is doing today in the church.
Continue reading “The Same”A Tale Of Three Men
A lost sheep
All his home in a heap
Wears the street on his feet
Bones with no meat
Cause he struggles to eat
The wind at his cheek
Searches retreat
From the shame and the sleet
Discovers relief
Beneath headlines of last week
And slips to sleep
Between a snitch and a sneak
A Sojourn in Meshech
Is the Christian life one of sustained joy and blessing? Does the Christian ever suffer from forces outside their control? Does our prosperity in life correlate closely with the strength of our faith?
Continue reading “A Sojourn in Meshech “A Space to Be
The last update I wrote on this blog was about our plans to move into a different neighbourhood and start a new ministry there. That was a couple months ago now and we are happy to be able to update you all with the way plans have progressed.
Continue reading “A Space to Be”Remembering to Believe
The Book of Psalms is, among other things, an instruction book for how to speak to God. The psalms give us just the right words to speak when we are at a loss for words, or when we are stuck in the common rut of repetitive prayers. But even more than allowing us to borrow God’s own language, they demonstrate the appropriate way to approach God in prayer.
Continue reading “Remembering to Believe”