Testimony

Your Story A Tangled, Beautiful Mess

One evening recently, our three kids and I sat around the table drinking tea—like a good Russian family. They were telling stories about the shenanigans they got into at the orphanage, the constant fist fights the boys had, how the older girls would gang up on the younger ones, and the countless ways they tried to avoid the mean orphanage workers. There was lots of laughter. But as they talked, the look in their eyes told me that they didn’t want to go back. They may not fully unders...

On The Season Elizabeth

She shares my middle name, but not much else. She was born into a family of priests and was the wife of one. Most of her life’s years were behind her, though she had no child to take care of her and her aging husband Zechariah. The first thing we know after being introduced to her is that she is righteous in the sight of God, a blameless keeper of all the commands and requirements of the Lord. So we know it wasn’t her sin that kept her barren, though that’s what most of the mar...

Perspective The Odds of God

When the truck in which you’re a passenger hits black ice and flips into a snow-filled ditch, the first words you’d want to hear might be: “I’m a nurse. I’m here to help you.” Cory and Lynsey Jones, my son and daughter-in-law, were delayed in leaving Saskatoon for a 2014 family Christmas celebration in Delmas, Saskatchewan. They were just east of North Battleford when a black pickup truck accelerated past them. A hundred yards down the road, the driver was try...

Lifestyle My Kids Go to Public School—and I’m OK With That

I do admit that when it was time for my first-born to go to school, I really wanted her to attend a private Christian school so she would be “safe.” I spent a lot of time praying for a miracle—that God would provide the funds and open the doors so that she could put on a uniform and get a good Christian education. But the doors never opened and the funds never arrived because God had better miracles in store. Miracles. Plural. Miracle #1: More Faith It is a leap of faith t...

On The Issue Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus presents a gripping and deeply personal account of Nabeel Qureshi’s journey to faith in Jesus. Qureshi’s story of family, friends and faith, intertwined with insights into Islam, helped me to understand the Muslim world in new ways and to see the powerful ways in which God is meeting seekers today. Qureshi, a medical doctor by training, began his study of the gospel in order to challenge it. In so doing he joined the ranks of Dr. Simon Greenleaf, C. S. Le...

Lifestyle Tell Me About Yourself

Hardly a day goes by when we don’t read about another downsizing or layoff. Thousands of unemployed youth, older workers, new immigrants, and people with disabilities will be seeking jobs this year and attending multiple interviews. When job applicants arrive at an employment interview, they usually shake hands with one or more interviewers, sit in a chair that has been reserved for them, and respond to polite comments about the weather and traffic. Then the interviewer sits back com...

Perspective A Distinction to Consider

To many people he was a pastor and missionary. I knew him as a mentor and friend. Donald Krohn died in 1997 of ALS, a cruel, incurable, slow-moving disease that renders its victims physically immobile while keeping them mentally alert. For the record, if faith is the key that unlocks physical healing, Don Krohn should have been healed. Apparently the disease didn’t receive that memo and, almost in defiance of the prayers offered in faith, it pressed on unflinchingly. It was on its own cloc...

Lifestyle Doing Church with Kids

Our church is busting at the seams with kids. A lot of them are under the age of seven. Long, Canadian winters, right? Whatever the explanation, having a young, active family presents some interesting challenges when it comes to getting involved in the life of a local church. The good news is that it’s very possible. Let me offer four reasons why I believe young families need to be connected and involved in a local church, and four ways to make it happen. Reason number one: You are a part ...

Perspective Re-examining the Root

Two of Beshir Kamel’s brothers were among the 21 Christians executed by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) terrorists in February 2015. Everyone involved in that horrific event, both victims and perpetrators, was of Arab origin. When it comes to the Middle East we presume to know the “good guys” from the “bad guys.” Aren’t all Middle East conflicts the result of an Old Testament prophecy related to the descendants of Ishmael? Aren’t Ishmael’s ...

Lifestyle The Grip of Fear

By the time our children hit their teen years, we parents have earned pro status in dealing with their physical health. We know how to treat their colds and their road rashes, and we know the best parking spots at the ER if those video stunts should fail. But when it comes to our teen’s failing mental health, we can feel helpless. “I am desperately reaching out to you for help for my 14-year-old daughter. She is suffering from anxiety and panic attacks. She is very afraid, ...

On The Issue Financial Abuse of Seniors

When I was a child, I remember my mother pointing to a couple in our church and whispering their sad story in my ear. This elderly couple had given all their savings to their son and his wife as a down payment on a home, with the promise to the parents that they would have a place to live. However, once the deal was sealed, the parents were turned out of their son’s home. This left the elderly couple almost destitute, living on small pensions and with no other savings for backup. I could t...

Everyday Thoughts Remember Vincent

A stranger wandered into the Sunday morning service. I was so wrapped up in my own concerns that I didn’t notice him at first. I was upset that my brother was teaching Sunday school in a run-down church in Little Burgundy, a low-income area of Montreal’s downtown. He was supposed to be sitting with me. It bothered me that I had to sit alone in the pew. It wasn’t until my brother’s girlfriend, Santina, slid into the pew and said, “Do you see that man?” t...

Your Story Between A Rock and a Hard Place

Have you ever felt hemmed in by a hopeless situation, caught between the proverbial “rock and a hard place”? This is exactly where I found myself during one particularly difficult season of my life. I was a single mother of two teenage daughters, an expensive time of life for any parent but especially challenging for me as their primary provider. Thankfully, I was employed full time as a medical secretary. I was, however, in a tight financial bind. My paycheque barely paid for...

Perspective An Infectious Joy

Kristen Fersovitch had more ornaments than she could find room for on her Christmas tree. Some were negotiated in and out each year, depending on how she felt. However, there were some non-negotiable ones. Kristen and her husband, Mike, had purchased ornaments for every special occasion in their lives. There was the one celebrating their first year of marriage. A baby ornament was added when their firstborn, Beckett, came along. Two more joined the first one with the arrivals of Tayven and Linco...

On The Season At the Heart of Christmas

The mystery of the Incarnation hovers over Christmas, whispering through the twinkling lights and beckoning in the silent nights. That “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made” should come down from heaven and put on our tattered flesh—here is awe and wonder! Here is joy to the world and all the true magic of Christmas. Immanuel has come: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory …” (John ...

Everyday Thoughts A Crisis of Biblical Proportions

Canada is facing an unprecedented famine that most Canadians are unaware of. It’s not a famine of food. It’s a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. And it’s being experienced in unexpected places—the homes and hearts of Christians. Results of the Canadian Bible Engagement Study (CBES), commissioned by the Canadian Bible Forum and The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, were released in May of this year. The study, titled Confidence, Conversation and Community: Bible En...

On The Issue The Law, Letters and Life

At our biennial conference for The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada this past spring, the big resolution on everyone’s radar was the Fellowship’s position on the consumption of alcohol by credential holders. Traditionally, the PAOC has held the position that abstinence from alcohol by credential holders best serves its churches and its representation of the gospel message. In recent decades, because of weightier or more important concerns, this position has become fairly quiet....

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Editorials

From our General Superintendent Foundations: Who We Are

From the Editor God Uses Everything

From the Editor The Power of Story

From our General Superintendent The Next Obedient Step

At Work in the World

Mission Global ELMER AND SHERRY KOMANT

Mission Canada WHO WILL YOU CHOOSE TO BE?

ERDO JUST GO