Editorials

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Staying the Course

Passing safely through the pressures of our day One of the best bits of advice I was given in a time of major transition, and just as I began serving in full-time ministry, was “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23). The New Living Translation says it like this: “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” The New King James Version says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS A Vital Theology

Presenting the Statement of Essential Truths The recently adopted Statement of Essential Truths is one outcome of a greater initiative to encourage theological vitality within our Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada family. The 2020 Initiative was launched in 2013 as our national/international, district and local leadership acknowledged what the Spirit was saying to the church regarding our spiritual, theological, and missional vitality. In seasons of prayer and contemplation, we were drawn to the...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS Wanted: Good Shepherds

Expectations of Spiritual Leaders I have noted, as we get back to public activities, that the need for help in various workplaces is very evident. From restaurants to airports, the “help wanted” call is going out. It is a good patience builder to not react as service happens more slowly, a flight is delayed, or a skilled labourer or the supply of a particular kind of stock is not available for a few more weeks. At leadership levels in the life of the Western church, including Canad...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Where Will Our Strength Come From?

Reminders for every generation “Lord, through all the generations you have been our home! Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God” (Psalm 90:1-2, NLT). A reminder that often comes to me is that “the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth,” generation after generation, strengthening the hearts of those...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE What’s Most Important

Revisiting Foundations in Times of Turmoil Martin Luther King Jr. once famously said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” 1 The nature of today’s geopolitics is bringing that principle to the forefront in uncomfortable ways. The interconnectedness of the nations—and of humanity—has always been a reality because of the One who ordained it to be so, the One who created it all. Yet, because of the autonomy we have been granted in either accepting ...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS Beyond the Impossible

Fulfilling our Commission as God’s People Impossible! That was the theme I proposed for our 2022 General Conference. Frankly, I did want to provide a shock factor. What we as God’s people are called to be and to do is … Impossible! I cannot be the whole-hearted, whole-minded, whole-life lover of God and others I am called to be. I cannot consistently do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God as I am required to do. There is no way we can go to seven billion plus human...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Pandemics … Then and Now

Taking courage in the reality of “now” and “not yet” Grappling with the barrage of constantly changing news and views around the COVID-19 pandemic, I recently took some time to learn more about how humans have wrestled historically with plagues and public health crises. In the Bible, plagues are primarily referenced in the Old Testament. There were, most famously, the 10 plagues that Egypt faced (Exodus 7-12). In this and other instances, there was an outcome God was spec...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS How Big Is Your Church?

An expansive view of the Body of Christ “How big is your church?” is a common question that has been asked of pastors and congregational members for years. The focus is usually on the number of people who attend weekend services. This has been a very difficult question to answer recently in light of capacity limits and online views. I would like to ask the question from a different angle. When you think of the Lord’s church globally, how expansive is your view of those who are ...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Facing Our Fears

Good news for every person, anywhere “How do you mend a broken world? Give it a gift it could never earn Pour out a love that it don't deserve Send it a Son and a Savior.”1 In a few short weeks, Christmas will be here. We’ll have another opportunity to ponder all that the occasion encompasses—a surefire way of keeping or getting one’s bearings back in a season of chaos and disorientation. The Prince of Peace has something to offer everyone who is open to receivi...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS “Kingdom Normal”

Engaging the main narratives of Scripture In multiple contexts, from Zoom calls with leaders to backyard conversations, and from boardrooms to family rooms, there have been conversations in this pandemic season regarding what the new normal might be. Would there be one? For those in the life of the church, what should our expectations be? What would the metrics be as we look to the future? My consistent response and clear conviction throughout have been that we needed to let the shaking of a gl...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE The Gift of God in the Wall

Persevering through our spiritual roadblocks “Every follower of Jesus at some point will confront the Wall—or, as the ancients called it, ‘the dark night of the soul.’ Emotionally healthy spirituality helps provide a (partial) roadmap of both how one goes through the Wall and what it means to begin living on the other side…. Failure to understand its nature results in great long-term pain and confusion. Receiving the gift of God in the Wall, however, transforms o...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS Honouring Our Spiritual Parents

Remembering my father’s legacy of faith This was the first year that, as we honoured our parents on Mother’s and Father’s Day, I did not have a living parent to call so I could express my love and respect. My father, Ralph Wells (pictured), passed away on Good Friday at 90 years of age. Through the Lord’s sovereignty, I had the privilege of being present with my dad as he breathed his last breath and went to be with his heavenly Father. My mother, Ruth Wells, had previo...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Injustice and the Changing Body of Christ

A look back at 2020—and Pentecostal foundations There are many characteristics that define the 21st century as different from any that came before it. Three important ones that come to mind for me are the commonness of cross-continental immigration within extended families, the prevalence and accessibility of technology in our daily lives which allow for minute-by-minute scrutiny of events anywhere in the world, and the disruption of homogeneity in many Western church congregations. Th...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS Different Outcomes, Our Choice

A study in contrasts: Judas Iscariot and Mary, sister of Martha They were both with Jesus at the same time. That is what we see in Mark 14 and John 12 as Jesus, Judas Iscariot and Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, find themselves together in Bethany. Not only do you have a coming together of a man and a woman with Jesus, but you also have a juxtaposition of the best and the worst of human values and attitudes. All in the presence of Jesus! As a colleague of mine reminded me regarding t...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE A New Thing

A spiritual reset for 2021 “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19, NKJV). A curious sensation interjected my thoughts throughout much of 2020. It was a sense that we were in the middle of a slow-motion test, and that we could pass it only if we took it at slow-motion speed—being still ...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS Wisdom From a Stop Sign

Walking in the fear of the Lord Like many, I have been pondering the current environment we live in, with all its attitudes and rhetoric. That includes not only the multiple cultural contexts that exist in the world, but also within the life of the church. My thoughts and emotions have ranged from being puzzled or amused to being deeply moved, flabbergasted and downright angry. In all of this, I have been drawn to focus on and contemplate the stop sign that is on the street corner in front of o...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Our Ultimate Focus

Strengthening the confession of our hope “… if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS In Times Like These

Returning to fundamentals This past season has been marked by words that speak of uncertainty and disruption: lockdown, cancellation, pivot, distancing and flattening the curve. While it has been a challenging time, with many of us experiencing everything from disruption to bereavement, it has also provided an opportunity for us to reawaken ourselves to principles and practices that are fundamental to being followers of Jesus. As the COVID-19 lockdowns began, we rolled out a gift book I had wr...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE 2020 – A Year of Spiritual Battle

Finding peace and purpose in turmoil On a warm Caribbean night on December 31, 2019, I sat in a New Year’s Eve service and listened to a message the pastor felt the Lord had given him to bring his listeners into 2020. The title? “Prepare for War.” Basing his message on 1 Kings 20:1-30, and on what he believed God had spoken to his heart through a series of dreams, he conveyed the warning that we should enter 2020 prepared for spiritual battle. His central encouragement was tha...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS What We Call Ourselves

The characteristics of a movement On May 5, 2020, I was again selected by our General Conference’s voting delegates to have the immense privilege of serving The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) for another four-year term as our general superintendent. With the restrictions in place because of COVID-19, I was in a church auditorium with a handful of my closest colleagues. It was a unique experience, yet I felt the affirmation and prayerful support of so many within our Fellowship. T...