Today we are going to hear a 'shout out' from both Isaiah and Matthew for the coming Messiah. Some of you who are part of the generation that attended raves, loves rap music and can dance all night long to hip hop music will know what a 'shout out' is. It is merely a positive greeting sent out to a friend or group whom you deem worthy of your respect. As some rappers might say, “do you feel the love?” more...

What would it mean for you to experience complete fulfillment right now? Would it be to be out of debt? To own a car that worked perfectly? To experience complete harmony in your family life? To have the perfectly buff body? Expensive running shoes? The latest computer software? Your favourite brand of entertainment available to you 24/7? To have all of your physical needs satisfied – for tasty food, excellent health, sexual pleasure, unlimited energy? more...

“Take courage, all you people of the land; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts.” If the work we are to be about is in building a world of peace and justice and bringing healing to the brokenhearted, then no one seems to have heard those words more than Dr. Samantha Nutt, a Canadian doctor, a graduate of community medicine and family medicine from U of T. At the hope-filled age of 24 years, in 1994, she jumped at the offer to join a team of volunteers with UNICEF and journeyed to Somalia. “Ultimately”, she says, “this was the experience that would change me and my view of war forever, because once I had seen war, and experienced it, as millions and millions of others have around the world and throughout history, there was no way that my life could ever be the same as it was before.” more...

Indeed it was a long hard road to Jerusalem, and he just kept looking for signs of hope, that he was making a difference, that somehow his message was taking hold. And there it was when he was walking along through the crowd in Jericho, his eye caught a small man up a sycamore tree, looking down at him. “Well, I'll be,” he thought to himself, “its Zacchaeus the tax collector.” Everybody knew him, personally. He could see it in the squinty eyes, for there would not have been a person he had not defrauded for the sake of raising taxes for both himself and the Romans. “Hey, Zacchaeus”, he waved, “come on down out that tree and lets get together at your house for some conversation!”more...

A few years back a decently dressed man, who gave his name George Gunn, was charged with disturbing the congregation at St. Bride's church on Sunday morning by snoring so loudly as to prevent all those who happened to be near him from hearing a single word that was uttered by the Minister. Evidently George entered the church in a state of intoxication and had a hard time staying awake and snored in a 'less than harmonious manner'. After much consternation George was taken to the local jail house. Sir John Perring said he thought this was hardly a case within his jurisdiction and wondered if the man should be turned over to the Ecclesiastical courts (i.e. Presbytery). more...

Today I've brought in the log cabin quilt that my grandmother Elsie Keyes sewed for my wedding present,a gift she had presented to each one of her grandchildren. I've always loved this quilt, not only for its warmth, colour and design, but for the family stories and memories that it contains. Each little scrap of material had been used in the family household at some point in history, reminding me of family who are long since deceased and those still alive. It reminds me of visits to the farm on Wolfe Island growing up where they tried to instill values of hard work, love and respect for nature, the importance of creating loving family, and the importance of serving your neighbour. more...

Who here wants to be a millionaire? It appears that the Ontario Lottery Corporation is offering you that chance yet again, promising that you indeed might win a million instantly, 'but for a short time only'. Of course we would all love to be rolling in money, but we would have to honestly ask ourselves if that would truly make us happy – and after all, what is happiness anyway? more...

Summer is a wonderful season for pilgrimages. Each summer I look forward to a pilgrimage to water – a cottage, a swim at the Sand Banks, a leisurely canoe trip. This summer I was able to rejuvenate all of my senses connecting to water, earth and sky in various locations around Ontario, giving me a fresh perspective on life. I look forward to hearing about your various pilgrimages that you had this summer whether to golf course, family gathering or into some lengthy novel. more...

Last week I had some unexpected visitors to our home, a couple of old friends, Kathy and Mark, who were travelling back from the jazz festival in Montreal to Toronto. It is always a delight to catch up on what they have doing for the past year and this year Mark was again full of surprises. This year he had decided to take up tap dancing to ease the tensions of his very stressful job managing a number of group homes in Toronto for adults with mental health issues. more...

We have to stay focused on the goal, to live as though everything depended upon us, on our passion, our commitment to the task, our loyalty, our skill our understanding of what we are called to do and become. There is no place for dawdlers, for half hearted play or for looking back over your shoulder. We need to be light-footed and disciplined for the game. Now I know many of you might be thinking of the Fifa soccer series right now, wondering why Brazil, the favoured team lost to Poland yesterday and how Canada might beat out Chile later today and truly, in many ways there are parallels between sport and the Christian pilgrimage. more...

It is a small drama that reads somewhat like a soap opera. A small group of men are having a dinner party, reclining comfortably at table in the home of Simon the Pharisee, chatting about politics and religion, town gossip – the usual things, enjoying the evening and the cool air that comes in from the open porch. It was very disruptive when this woman of the city barged into the dining area, unannounced and nearly threw herself at one of the dinner guest's feet, weeping real tears over his feet, wiping them with her hair and then pouring aromatic ointment all over his feet. more...

On January 17, 2007 the Doomsday Clock moves two minutes closer to midnight. Such was the increasingly ominous prediction of the end times as predicted by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in response to the environmental crisis as well as the increase of nuclear weapons in a world of violent conflict and ever-increasing rogue states. Stephen Hawking, professor of mathematics at the university of Cambridge, a Bulletin sponsor, endorses this prophetic warning so that people with political and economic power can begin taking the risks more seriously. more...

The recent film, “Amazing Grace”, was a somewhat historical movie about the British abolitionist William Wilberforce who helped to bring the slave trade to an end in the British Empire in 1807. It was a very inspiring movie about this political activist and evangelical Christian who became a physical wreck by struggling in Parliament to change hearts and minds to see that slavery was a complete abomination for their Christian nation. To say that his words fell on deaf ears would be an understatement as slavery supported big business. more...

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me.” These words, a part of the 23rd Psalm, have brought comfort and courage to people for countless generations for they express the hope that people who know and believe in God have when they are facing tough times, even death itself. more...

One morning some years ago, a young bookstore clerk named Deborah arrived at work early to open the shop. Standing at the door waiting for the store to open was a man dressed in the characteristic garments of a Hasidic Jew. As Deborah was unlocking the door, the man quietly asked if he could come in. She hesitated; it was nearly an hour before the store was supposed to open, but he man seemed polite and evidently needed something right away, so she decided to let him come in early. After turning on the lights, she said, “Would you like any help?” more...

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God. The Sea of Galilee formed a natural boundary between Galilee, inhabited by both Gentiles and Jews, and the largely Gentile territories of Gaulanitis and the Decapoplis. The Roman's relentless urbanization of Galilee changed Jewish peasant agrarian and fishing life, and not for the better. more...

This weird weather we have been having has been taking its toll on a lot of industries this year. One group that is satisfied in British Columbia, the province most devastated by unusual weather, has been the wineries that cultivate ice wines, an intensely sweet desert wine enjoyed by many. In order to harvest the grapes for the production of ice wines you need to have at least 3 days of cold weather below -8C and the grapes have to be harvested and pressed while still frozen, an event that occurred in November in BC. The wine growers however in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes are dismayed because with each passing week of warm weather the grapes begin to look more and more like dried up raisins. more...

What makes us happy, fulfilled, blessed? Is the satisfaction we may feel after having given and received beautiful gifts, of having feasted well, or having re-connected with friends and relatives enough to keep the embers of our sense of happiness stoked for the next year or are we far more insatiable than that? If money buys happiness then the world should really be a happier place since the world economy has grown at an annual rate of 3.2% per head since 2000 and may be the best decade ever, beating out both the idyllic 1950's and the revolutionary 1960's.more...