Testimony

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 ...

Faith Of All Men Most Pitied

At 7:20 a.m. on Tuesday, November 24, 2020, my phone buzzed at the office, and I received the following text from my son-in-law: “I have had to rush Jade to emergency. She started feeling dizzy after [going to the] gym this morning, which led to some feeling of numbness on her left side, and then she started to lose consciousness. They have done a bunch of tests and a CT scan and they think she has had an acute stroke …” Jade, our oldest daughter, and her husband, Julius, had...

Faith Muriel’s Miraculous Recovery

Moving effortlessly around her kitchen, Muriel McGuire is doing something she hasn’t done in a while—bake cookies. You would never know that just over a year ago she was lying unconscious in the trauma unit of an Edmonton hospital. The doctors had not given her family much hope. In fact, they were certain she had a zero per cent chance of survival and was put on end-of-life care. It was very unlikely that she would be able to recover from the extensive internal injuries she suffered ...

Faith Persevering Through Pain

A lopsided, middle-aged man “jogged” past my car when I stopped on Dufferin Street in Toronto. It seemed like half his body refused to co-operate as he pulled it forward. Every painful limp seemed to be his last. Sweat-soaked and purple-faced with exhaustion, he kept punishing his body. Each day on the way to my church, I’d see him at some place farther up Dufferin outside G. Ross Lord Park. His route must have been more than five kilometres. Weeks went by. I saw no improvemen...

Lifestyle A Lesson in Solitude

Occasionally I need to go out of town for a work-related conference. These types of excursions usually last between five and seven days. Kitty, being a very independent cat (or so I thought), would be fine alone for a week, I reasoned. I had asked a friend to drop by just to make sure that her water and food bowls were filled daily. Kitty sleeps 16 hours a day anyway, I told myself. She won’t even realize I’ve gone away. She will be fine, I reassured myself. Upon my return from a ...

Reconciliation Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples

Matthew 5:23-24 tells us, “… if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” The Lord asks us first to be reconciled before offering our acts of worship. On May 30, 2021, the initial discovery of 215 unmarked graves in Kamloops, B.C., sent shockwaves throughout our nation. Indigenous and non-Indigeno...

Reconciliation The Colour of Faith

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb ...” (Revelation 7:9). I never met my maternal grandmother—she died in my mother’s teen years—but I know she was a Caucasian woman. She could have been Scottish, Irish, Jewish, or German, even though she lived in Jamaica. My childhood friends were Chinese, Korean, British, Italian, ...

Reflection The Other Boys of Bethlehem

I’ve been thinking about the other baby boys. The ones in the Christmas story we tend to edit out. Understandably. The execution of Bethlehem boys aged two years old and younger doesn’t make for pleasant tree-trimming banter or Christmas dinner table talk. It’s a guaranteed mood spoiler. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not out to spoil Christmas. I love echoing the angels’ joyous strain each year. I get chills every time I hear Mariah Carey climb her way to the summ...

Faith The Spiritual Discipline of Church

Over the last 2,000 years of church history, we Christ followers have been taught about the spiritual disciplines. If we know what they are, most likely we think about prayer, fasting, silence and solitude, or generosity. For the serious follower of Christ, I’m sure these disciplines are in the regular rhythm and practice of daily life; we do them because our greatest desire is to become more like Christ. But one spiritual discipline for serious followers of Christ that has been on the dec...

Faith The Sweetness of Lament

“Just trust God.” “Have more faith.” “You’ll be OK.” “This, too, shall pass.” These two encouragements and two promises are absolutely right and true, but what if your circumstances are so dire that you are having trouble remembering or even believing these statements? What if you’ve experienced tragedy, sorrow, loss, heartbreak or betrayal that runs too deep? Or what if you find yourself depressed and overwhelmed while navigating a...