Editorials

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...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE A Spring to Remember

Life in the midst of a global pandemic Few planned for the kind of year that 2020 is turning out to be. Long anticipated and pegged as a milestone in many ways, a marker for years for many leaders and decision makers in casting vision and making strategic plans, it has quickly become a defining period in modern history, even as all that this entails is still largely unknown. The emergence of COVID-19 as a global pandemic has radically, even traumatically, altered and upended life as we have kno...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS A Developing Leader Experiences God

A testimony If you have read my last two articles, you have journeyed with me from my experience as a child who initially engages the Christian faith to a teenager who has a maturing, sustainable life in Christ. I now invite you to journey with me through the next decade as I move from being a high school graduate entering Bible college to becoming a young married man with children seeking to faithfully pursue God’s leadership call in my life. The transition from home life and high schoo...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS A Student Experiences God

A testimony One of the great spiritual formation challenges the church in Canada continues to engage is the effective discipleship of children. What does it take to carefully lead each child who initially engages the Christian faith? What can we do to take them successfully through their journey to young adulthood with a maturing, sustainable life in Christ? A major survey was conducted earlier this decade, exploring the reasons why Canadian young adults are staying, leaving or returning to the ...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Spirit Now

It’s Time! The 25th Pentecostal World Conference in Calgary, Alta., late last summer was a reminder to our worldwide Pentecostal family of our critical mission as we enter a new decade. If you weren’t able to track with any of the live stream sessions, you can read highlights from the conference on pages 9 to 13. Laura Bronson’s appeal on behalf of the next generation was a well-received message in Calgary, and she recaps her message on page 14. This issue of testimony/Enrich a...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Extreme love

A year-end reflection Christmas and a new year are just a few weeks away. For some it will be a joyful time, while for others the season merely intensifies the pain of an unwanted reality. For all of us, it’s an opportunity to get out of our ordinary routines and look with new eyes at the gift the Christ child is to us. What did it really mean for the Creator of the universe to take on human form, to be born into a nondescript family in unremarkable surroundings to an unwed mother and a ca...

From our General Superintendent David Wells A Child Experiences God

Uncovering a God-given calling Envision with me an entire generation of children, youth and young adults becoming loving disciples of Jesus, empowered to fulfil their God-given callings. This is our passion and vision. It is important to ask, “What does that look like? What takes place in the life of a child, a young person, or a young adult that forms them into whole-hearted, whole-minded, whole-life followers of Jesus?” In pondering this, I was drawn back—I believe by the Spi...