Anniversary It’s a special anniversary. It’s been 500 years since the Protestant Reformation, first marked by Martin Luther when he posted 95 theses on the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany. The arguments were generally characterized by criticism of the excesses of the Roman Catholic Church. The work proceeding from the Reformers elicited five famous Latin phrases and convictions: Sola fide:faith alone Sola scriptura: scripture alone Sola gratia: grace alone Solo Christo:

The Loss For some odd reason the moment the calendar flipped to August 1st, I began to think about, okay, almost obsess that in another month, it will be one year since my dad had passed away. During this entire season of loss, not once had I cried, felt the crush of his absence or the natural squeeze of grief. Trust me, it’s not because I’m too tough, or that I didn’t love him. He and I were almost identical in attitude and actions, so although it caused friction at times, I

Imbalance Recently, I shared a personal situation that had me chained down over the last year. Failing to pray forgiveness for certain siblings left me shackled to sin’s floor. But before, “I forgive you,” came from my lips, I needed grace to pour out from my heart. As I’d admitted in the previous article, after nearly a year since my dad’s passing, there was never an opportunity to grieve his loss. The result is numbness. In this void is also an imbalance of emotional respon

Our daughter was home recently for her final winter break from year two at university. She said friends asked how Christianity could claim to be the correct faith or religion. We’re instructed to be prepared to give an answer for the faith we hold (1 Peter 3:15). So I reminded her of some things she’d learned before. The ultimate example came from C.S. Lewis. He emphasized that grace makes Christianity unique. All other faiths require specific actions and measures to earn rew

Our seventeen-year-old son flew to France a week ago. He’s gone for three months on a high school exchange program. We hosted his wonderful French partner last fall from August to November. We’re surprisingly at peace with our son’s excursion. It’s partly because it’s obvious that his host family are warm and kind. It’s also due to his older sister’s successful exchange to France three years ago. It’s mostly due to trusting the Lord for his wellbeing. It’s amazing the travels

A few weeks ago, our pastor preached about getting through the storms in life. “How firm is your foundation?” he asked. He demonstrated his point by showing a short animated film of a silhouetted stick person who’d built his house on the sand, and another who’d built his house on the rock. And, well, you know how the story goes. The poor guy who’d built his house on sand lost it in a mudslide when troubles mounted. He just didn’t have anything to lean back on. No God to trust