Silence
“. . . a silence that is overwhelming in its eloquence.” Somebody should write a book someday about the silences in Scripture. Maybe somebody already has. “For God alone my soul waits in silence,” the psalmist says (62:1), which is the silence of waiting. Or “Be not silent, O God of my praise,” which is…
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Saint Columba
Saint Columba is widely known as one of the first missionaries to Scotland and certainly Scotland’s most famous missionary. He preached to the fierce Pict people in Northern Scotland. These were the people with tattoos all over their bodies who made intimidating screams when they went into battle. They were frightening people to whom Columba…
Continue readingTruth-Telling, Torture, and Confession
A US Senate committee has released a damning report on the interrogation methods used by the CIA. In over 500 pages the committee accuses “the spy agency of inflicting pain and suffering on prisoners beyond its legal limits and deceiving the nation with narratives of life-saving interrogations unsubstantiated by its own records.”1 The report tells…
Continue readingEnchantment
Many are talking about entitlement. It has become the recognized sin of our time. A provincial premier uses taxpayer’s money for expensive airfare and the media speaks of an environment of entitlement within the government. The Boomer generation feels entitled to an affluent retirement after years of hard work. The Millennial generation feels entitled to…
Continue readingYour Redemption
(Words and Music by Mike Charko and Keith Shields – SOCAN 2012) Listen to it here. People always tell me, This world is all there is. You’re a fool to think there’s more. But God above has told us, Heaven and earth fade away, His word remains the same. So straighten up and lift up…
Continue readingGod at the Door
Lately, I have had the same conversation with two different groups of friends. The conversation revolves around whether or not, and how, God might discipline people. If we remain resistant to the love of God, will he ever try to get our attention with difficulty? Will he ever “correct” our ignorance and entice us to be receptive…
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The Cross Around My Neck
I wear a cross around my neck. I wear it underneath my shirt and most people will see no indication of the fact that I wear it unless they see the string at the back of my neck or a small wrinkle on the front of my shirt. The cross was carved out of amber…
Continue readingNoise
It was Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) who said that “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” It was James Thurber (1894-1961) who said “Nowadays men lead lives of noisy desperation.” Thurber said this long before the development of the internet, Twitter, and blog entries.…
Continue readingTaking the Easy Way
I wish there was an easy way to live out this life of faith. I wish there was some way to just say a few words and “presto” life would be simple, righteous, just, easy, and uncomplicated. Jesus, the night before He was crucified, asked for an easier way. He went on a little farther…
Continue readingThe Cross
The cross was not the defeat of Christ at the hands of the powers: it was the defeat of the powers at the hands – yes, the bleeding hands – of Christ.[1] The whole biblical drama, . . . the whole tradition of the embrace of pain – from the initiation of covenant to the…
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