Relationships

What Happens When We Don’t Understand?

Lots of things happen and we try to understand. Some situations are predictable and therefore easy to understand. Others we can make sense of even if it is not the outcome we would normally expect. Then there are the situations far beyond what we would expect. I can, with some degree of accuracy, predict that a child with an upbringing that encourages questioning for the purpose of understanding and involves laughing together but never laughing at the child when the answer is obvious, will do well. Power dynamics in which the person perceived to have the power explains what is not understood in terms suited to the other person’s intellectual limitations and mental capacity will lead to a well-developed adult. If this continues through the teenage years, there is a higher degree of success for the maturing individual and a stronger relationship with all who pour into their lives but…

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I’ve Been Thinking…

Warning – independent thought may lead to cancellation. There are days that I worry what others will think about my thoughts. It is these days that I choose not to think or at least not to think out loud. Other times I deem myself to have reached a plane of philosophical depth that my thoughts, when revealed, cannot be dismissed. Then there are regular days that my thoughts are pedestrian, no, really, they are about pedestrians, how not to hit them at a crosswalk, how not to become one by driving recklessly and losing my licence etc. These are the days when thought is limited to the things that present themselves throughout the day. No depth, just trying to make it to tomorrow.

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What If?

It’s a strange time in my life. I wrongly assumed that the things I have done and continue to do would have reached more people. Somehow, I came to the conclusion that the things I love to do like writing blogs, plays and music, my book, leading worship and preaching sermons would lead to a wider audience. I’m not saying I expected to be famous or even well known. I’m not going to lie; I dared to dream once in a while that I could be more than I am, be someone who’s name came up when people talked about this thing or that thing  but now my dreams can be best described as backwards. Instead of a vision of what I want my future to be, my dreams revolve more around the past and the question, “What if?”

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What Would Jesus Say About 9/11?

A special guest blog by Dennis Menard

In His earthly ministry, Jesus did speak to the deeper realities behind tragic, seemingly senseless deaths. In Luke 13:1–5 (NIV), we find Him addressing two catastrophic events: one, an act of mass murder ordered by Pilate; the other, a deadly accident—the collapse of a tower in Siloam. Both would have stirred deep emotions and raised profound questions, much like 9/11 does for us today.

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Better The Devil You Know Than The One You Don’t

Sometimes it’s just easier not to change, not to risk being more let down than you already are. It is often the reason behind why people vote the way they vote. It can be the reason we put up with bad service and return to the same restaurant or retail outlet. We may remain at the same doctor with the horrible bedside manner or buy the same car brand with the not so sexy looking models. Bad service, bad government, bad manners or bad looking may seem much safer than taking a chance on something new; at least I know what I’m getting. These situations are rather benign in comparison to areas in our lives that choosing the devil we know over the one we don’t, is not only lazy but it is also ungodly. Maybe that should be a given since choosing any devil is not godly…

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The Delight of Disease

Before I go any further, I want to make a few things clear. First, I am not a silver lining type of guy. I do not try to find the good in the bad or try to look for the light in the darkness. While it is a good practice to be thankful and to remind oneself that God is at work, I don’t think that every situation has some type of good in it at least good that we can see this side of heaven. Second, I have always had a great marriage. People have commented on how in love we are and how we interact with each other. Third, I hate two “T” words, trigger and trauma. These words have been stolen from those who have had real trauma and suffer because of real triggers, your coffee being served to you cold is most likely not a trigger of past trauma. Why are these important points for me or at least why were these points important for me to make before you read on…?

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