Testimony

Discipleship Re-imagining Pentecostal Worship

Over 25 years of ministry, I have become increasingly aware of a tension within many Pentecostal churches, a tension that resonates in my life as well. We deeply value encountering God’s presence in worship, and rightly so—not only as our heritage, but as one of our defining distinctives. From the Hebden Mission to Azusa Street, and even the Keswick revivals, God’s presence has marked His Pentecostal people.[1] However, I began asking whether my understanding of worship a...

Faith What’s Changed?

It’s mid-July. Daytime highs have hit north of 30 C half a dozen times in the past two weeks. Today, smoke from the forest fires raging across northwestern Ontario has turned the sky hazy and the air acrid. The windows of my writing studio are closed. The small fan propped on the ledge blows warm, stale air. I’m here at my desk because I’ve agreed to write a Christmas-themed article, but I’m struggling to find my spark. It’s hard to think about Christmas with sweat ...

Discipleship Philadelphia

Love is commonly defined as affection, a beautiful emotional feeling that human beings have for one another. For Christians, it is not just any affection: it is that noble type which is deployed in biblical ways to the benefit of the recipient. God, the author of that love, personifies it: “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8, NKJV). In Christianity, the most vital proof that God loves us lies in His sending Christ to die for our sins: “This is ...

Reflection What Could Be

I have always loved cheering on the next generation. There is something beautiful about their passion, their conviction that life must count, that faith must be real, and that the church must be more than what’s seen on a stage. They provoke me to pause, to reflect, and to question my own assumptions. And honestly, we all need that. Without listening to those coming behind us, we risk becoming disconnected, even obsolete. They carry both promise and weight, and I’m convinced they are...

Testimony The Urban Cry

A “divine itch” to study grew when my pastor, Kevin Rogers, suggested I attend Bible college. It was a great idea. I love studying the Word of God and reading the thoughts of scholars. However, cold logic told me that that season had passed. Surely, I was too old to consider going back to school. But the itch would not go away. Years prior, I had attended seminary and walked away after one semester feeling defeated because I could not make it work. There were too many obstacles...

Faith How I Learned to Trust God by Using Rocks

About 10 years ago, God started me on a journey that has transformed my walk with Him and radically improved my ability to trust Him. And it all started the day I got fed up with myself. I had been a Christian since childhood. Like most believers, if you had asked me if I trusted God, I would have replied with an emphatic, “Yes, of course!” But the minute my perceived safety or happiness was remotely threatened, I immediately started to panic. It didn’t seem to matter the size ...

Reflection What Would I Say to My Younger Self?

I’m not one for social media trends, but a recent one caught my attention. For days, I saw women post a photo with these words over the image: “I met my younger self for coffee today.” The words that followed compared who they were when they were 20 or 30 with who they are today. While I quickly scroll by most trends, these women’s words caused me to pause and reflect, “What would I say to the younger version of myself?” As a 40-something leader in the church ...

Faith Listening to Sermons

I’m in a forced slowdown. Before winter faded, I overestimated my ability to remain upright on the icy surfaces of Quebec in March and was rewarded with crutches and a cast. For the moment, my life involves a lot of sitting with my leg elevated. I’m ok with it. There’s time to be quieter. To read and write. To listen. To pray. The last few years, those things have too often been pushed to the side, and that’s not how I want to live my life. Those things matter to me. I&rs...

Lifestyle Beyond the Why

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). On March 26, 2022, it was my daughter’s first birthday. Like most first birthdays, we had a party for a kid who only wanted to eat the icing off the cake, loved the wrapping paper more than the presents, and was the first to go to bed. Along with others, my parents were at our house for the birthday party. They staye...

Faith When Food Comes Knocking

Have you ever had meals delivered to your door? I’m not talking about food prepared by some faceless chef, then delivered to your door in a dash by some nameless courier. Skip that. I’m talking home-cooked meals that arrive at your door in well-used casserole dishes covered with aluminum foil and wrapped in towels because they’ve come hot from the oven. I’m talking about meals delivered by the people who cooked them: people who know your name, and you, theirs. People who,...

Faith Ham’s Children

When the miniseries “Roots” was aired on television back in the 70s, as a young boy, I was horrified by the few scenes of oppression I peeked at. My older siblings found it fascinating, but I found it frightening and sad. It was especially painful to watch people who looked like me suffer brutalities and humiliation as they fought for their freedom. At that time, I was too young to ask where all this animosity I was witnessing came from. Decades later, I watched the movie “12 ...

Faith Reflecting on Christmas

Back in 2005, the Chicago White Sox baseball team was vying for the World Series, and the rock group Journey had a song that was used to boost their morale. You may not have ever listened to the group or even known their name, but you might remember the chorus that simply started with, “Don’t stop believin’.”1 Kids would jump up and down, singing at the top of their lungs, letting everyone know that there was still hope—not only for the baseball team but for themsel...

Faith Learning What It Means to be a Father

What do I think of when I think of a father? Darth Vader. And my own dad. God, of course. A Catholic priest. An image of a man balancing a toddler precariously on one hand above his head. And now, my son, Weston. These are the things I think of when I think of the word “father.” Or, at least, these are examples of what a father might be. I’ve found myself wondering a lot over the last few months what exactly it means to be a father. If that last example on the list wasn’...

Discipleship A Call to the One

Honest confession: I was reluctant to say “Yes” to the call of God. I remember the moment so clearly, kneeling in the back prayer room at Lakeshore Camp in Cobourg, Ont. In that time of prayer, an inner sense came to me so clearly—God was calling me into full-time ministry. My immediate response was not joy or excitement but fear and dread. I questioned the Lord, not doubting what I had sensed but wondering if I was the right person. “But God, I don’t even know if I...

Discipleship Roslyn McKenzie-Ochieng

Roslyn McKenzie-Ochieng was born in Guyana in a single-parent home, the youngest of four children. Her family migrated to Canada in 1987, where, as a young person, she gave her heart to Jesus at a strategic time in her life. Roslyn’s family and friends had a mixed reaction to her born-again experience. Her mother encouraged it, though her own faith was nominal. Roslyn’s siblings and friends questioned her decision and what it meant regarding her hopes of becoming a wife one day. The...

Discipleship Awestruck

Every Sunday, we go to church, put on our ministry badges and say a morning prayer with our teams. Slowly, people trickle in, one by one, family by family, until the auditorium is nearly full. The countdown video indicates we are just about to start. When it reaches zero, the worship leader boisterously welcomes everyone as the band builds the energy and launches into the first up-tempo song. A pastor transitions from singing to prayer, welcomes everyone, and shares some church announcements. Ne...

Discipleship Dressing for Success

Immediately after deciding to follow Christ, we become a target of the enemy who will do all he can to take us down. He will do whatever it takes to discourage us, make us feel unworthy, not good enough and tempt us to fall into our old way of living. This is the reason we need to “dress for success.” Just as we need clothing to protect our physical bodies from the elements, we also need the Armour of God to protect us from the schemes of the enemy. Paul teaches us in Ephesians that ...

Discipleship Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Wisdom is like a house. When the foundation is unstable, walls crack, doors stick, chinks appear in the concrete, water seeps in, the roof sags—a defective foundation spoils the whole building. Jesus used the idea of building a house to illustrate that wisdom is the foundation of a godly life. He said those who act on His words are like the “wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24). The wise Christian builds a life on these seven pillars found in Proverbs. Trust...

Vitality Mission Possible

And then there were none. No more babies making baby sounds in the service. No more children running and laughing in the fellowship hall. No more youth gathering to learn about Jesus and His love. They had grown up and moved away from our small town of Nottawa for higher education or employment, and those who remained had gone to other churches with more peers. As they left, drawing in others in their age groups was proving difficult. So we at Cornerstone Church had become a church of older peo...

Faith Why Is There a Dragon in My Nativity Scene?

I have long loved Christmas! Even before I met Jesus (which only made me love Christmas more). I felt it was the most magical time of the year. Every December 1 the Christmas tree would go up and the house would be transformed into a wonderland with Christmas music, lights and decorations. I knew Christmas was coming because of the promise of A Charlie Brown Christmas to be aired soon on television. Even without knowing the true meaning of Advent, it felt important—it had become tradition ...

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Editorials

From the Editor Telling Our Stories

From our General Superintendent The Myth of the Omnicompetent: A Leadership Reflection

From the Editor Closing the Gap

From our General Superintendent "Fix Your Gaze": Jesus at the Centre

At Work in the World

Mission Global BAM

Mission Canada THE BLESS MODEL

ERDO CONTINUING A LEGACY