The Front Page
While reading the November issue, I could not find the humour in the Pontius Puddle comic. It has a pastor quipping that the back row of his church is filled with life forms that have “long since been fossilized and inactive.”
by Jennifer O'Farrell
by David Webber
We had been anticipating it for weeks, my 10 – year – old grandson, Jacob and I. We had talked about it, dreamed it and meticulously planned it; a spring bear hunt up the headwaters of Knife Creek. I knew just the spot. It was an area that had been cleanly logged perhaps 30 years ago with lots of aspen and birch left standing like sentinel clumps in large openings of lush green grass.
by Bruce Fraser
In his letter to the Ephesians (4:1 – 16), Paul sets out what we hold in common before talking about diversity and purpose in ministry. He lists five leadership ministries: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher (APEPT). Paul is giving a collegial model of leadership—something we Presbyterians have. Well, in theory, anyway.
by Patricia Schneider
I can’t recall the exact message the speaker gave us that first night, but I will never forget the feeling of God’s presence at the end of the evening. It was a bit unnerving to many who had no evangelical background—and so different that I still have trouble explaining it. Many of us stayed in the sanctuary for quite a while, reluctant to leave. In small groups we prayed together, some tears were shed and compassion shared. It was awesome!
by Ginny-Lou Alexander
WOW! What a weekend! For four days I was immersed in the presence of God, as He blessed me with Spirit – led teaching and great fellowship. The accommodation at the Grande Prairie Regional College was superb. God put four of us together in our quad and we bonded through sharing and prayer. Throughout the event, God reaffirmed for me three important principles for living and working in the Kingdom: 1) God, through the Holy Spirit, is very much at work everywhere in the world today; 2) Every believer in and follower of Jesus is called and given spiritual gifts; 3) God must be given all the glory!
by Don Lipsett
It was a meeting with the Holy Spirit. The Eldership Unleashed conference was just that, for all of us. It revealed to me why I had volunteered for the committee in the first place, and why the Lord had put a deep hungering in my heart, early last year, for a closer relationship with and knowledge of the Holy Spirit since my surrender to Him in 1979. It also helped explain His putting the story of Gideon (Judges 7:2) into my heart, as I thought about our congregation and its future.
Graffiti covers the Palastinian side of the of a long concrete wall dividing Israel from the West Bank
When I was in college, there were two things you were not allowed to discuss at a formal meal before dessert: politics and religion. Well, OK, there were actually four things. A chivalry predating the co – ed institution also said you could not speak about a woman who was not present. And you couldn’t talk about the pictures on the walls. I never did figure that one out. (And I won’t go into the method of public shaming for violators ….)
General Assembly doesn’t usually choose the destination for its Moderator’s international visit. But when the church’s response to the Kairos Palestine Document, a plea for support written by Palestinian Christians, stirred passion and debate among the commissioners last June, the court asked the Moderator to consider fulfilling the authors’ request for fellow Christians to “come and see” what life was like for Palestinians in the territories occupied by Israel.
by Andrew Faiz
There has been much debate about the purpose and meaning of the loosey – goosey Occupy movement, as a wide array of folk tented down in major cities against the unfair balance of power and wealth held by only one per cent of the population. (Mathematics may not be their strongest suit; the number is symbolic.)
by Mike Walker
What does the demolition of a church building mean, theologically and personally? In the winter of 2011, the building that once housed Summerside Presbyterian Church was torn down and demolished, to make way for a new church building that opened this past autumn. While I haven’t been an active member of the congregation for about four years, I grew up in that church,
by Amy MacLachlan
When St. Timothy’s, Etobicoke, Ont., launched an international mission project in 2010, they hoped it would be a long – term affair. And when the mission team visited Hungary, Ukraine and Romania for the second time last summer, their hopes for a meaningful relationship were rewarded.
by Glen Soderholm
It has been suggested, convincingly in my view, that at the core of all human identity lies desire. Consequently, what we direct our desires toward becomes our spirituality. In C.S. Lewis’s brilliant essay, The Weight of Glory, he argues that the true end and fulfillment of our desires is the glory of God. Indeed, our deepest longings will be complete when we have fully entered into the glorious communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for eternity. That is the hope of glory.
by Laurence DeWolfe
Samuel watches old Eli’s every move. Samuel was just a toddler when he went to Shiloh. To learn the craft of priesthood. Samuel watches Eli offer the sacrifices. Keep the hours of prayer. Counsel worshippers. Decide the value of their offerings. Ensure the maintenance of the sanctuary. Samuel grows into servanthood. He’s Eli’s right – hand boy.
