Fruit and the Community of God
Last Sunday, I preached a sermon that presented my current understanding of John 15:18 through 16:4. This passage follows closely on Jesus’ words that he is the vine and we are the branches. The last part of John 15 points out that the vine does not exist to make a wonderful life for the branches.…
Continue readingThin Places
The concept of “Thin Places” fascinates me. The definition of a “thin place” is “a place where the boundary between heaven and earth is especially thin. It’s a place where we can sense the divine more readily.”* This was an important concept to Celtic Christians. For the Roman church, the place to meet God was,…
Continue readingSafety and Security
If I continue to quote from good books I may have to rename my blog, “What’s in Keith’s Book-bag?” At any given time I often have multiple books on the go and so it is not surprising that I want to introduce you to another fascinating book: The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families…
Continue readingProgress
As I look around Vancouver I see projects that suggest progress: a new condo tower beside other new condo towers; a 500 million dollar project to put a new roof on BC Place; a 3.3 billion dollar project to build a new Port Mann bridge. All of this is exciting to watch and means more…
Continue readingLive What We Talk
“We must live what we talk, even in places where we cannot talk what we live.” – Willard, Dallas. Renovation of the Heart: Putting On the Character of Christ. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2002, p. 231.
Continue readingIndividualism
Western culture in general has a high degree of emphasis on the individual. Individual rights and values are often allowed to trump societal benefits and norms.* Some would say that this is a direct result of western Christianity and the changing relationship between Church and State.# Faith, in particular, has become much more about me…
Continue readingWork
A friend of mine asked me to watch a video and make some comments. The video is by Nigel Marsh and can be seen here. Nigel Marsh is an author and lecturer who speaks about balance in life. I agree that “finding the balance between work and life is an ongoing battle.” Regarding my own…
Continue readingConsumers
“Consumerism, is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods or services in ever greater amounts.”# Most of us know what consumerism has done to our western world; and by now we are probably familiar with what the North American culture of consumerism…
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Hummingbirds and Giraffes
Last weekend we enjoyed the hospitality of some friends at their cabin. They have many hummingbirds coming to drink from their feeder. Sadly, while we were there, one of these beautiful birds flew into the window and lay stunned on the deck. We were able to get a good look at this amazing creature. They…
Continue readingAn Indwelling God and a Sojourning Community
In Colossians Remixed the authors tell the story of Nympha*, a prominent woman of the Roman Empire who gets introduced to the community of people known as Christians at Colossae. She comes to realize the revolutionary nature of this community. Their hope was rooted in the memory of Jesus – a memory they kept alive…
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