A big issue for me stands with the false belief that confession of sins compromises the whole act of contrition (“humble regret”). To illustrate this I refer to AA (“Alcoholics Anonymous”). One of the steps toward healing and overcoming speaks of restoration (if possible) to all those who the drinker hurt while booze reigned as boss. I support this teaching and exercise. Read more…

The lined weather pants I wear to work keep my legs warm against the cold weather of the night shift. But sometimes the site has more mud than a normal person can even imagine. At those times the pants get caked in muck from the knee down. The legs get wet from the ankle down as they drag in the puddles.

The weight from wet and mud can actually pull the waist lower than suits the situation. Then I tie the string a little tighter after hiking them up a little higher.

But what ever dirt, moisture or dust gathers on the snowpants one thing remains unchanged – they remain snowpants. Read more…

For five years I served as the Conference Parliamentarian. That meant I was the expert in church law, and if any question or challenge arose it was my function to immediately give the President reference to the relevant section of church law in order to make a ruling. So I am intimately acquainted with the hundreds of pages of laws and by-laws and regulations and protocols and practices and policies of The United Church of Canada. Serving as an Anglican priest I became familiar with canon law. Serving in a Presbyterian congregation I learned the Book of Forms (for all the good it did me).

But none of these even reflect, much less constitute, the divine expectation for the Body of Christ. Read more…

Since you were brought back to life with Christ,
1. focus on the things that are above;
2. keep your mind on things above, not on worldly things;
3. put to death whatever is worldly in you: your sexual sin, perversion,  passion, lust, and greed (which is the same thing as worshiping wealth)
4. get rid of your anger, hot tempers, hatred, cursing, obscene language, and all similar sins;
5. don’t lie to each other;
6. be sympathetic, kind, humble, gentle, and patient;
7. put up with each other, and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint. Forgive as the Lord forgave you;
8. above all, be loving;
9. let Christ’s peace control you;
10. be thankful;
11. let Christ’s word with all its wisdom and richness live in you;
12. use psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to teach and instruct  yourselves about {God’s} kindness. Sing to God in your hearts;
13. everything you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
(read all of Colossians 3:1-17 God’s Word to get the whole story)

When troubles come, especially the ones which we cause to ourselves, we can change our ways or blame someone else for the mess we made of it.

If you smoke and then get cancer, don’t blame God. If you eat the wrong foods a lot don’t blame God for your heart problems. If you grouch at people, gossip and criticise don’t blame God (or people) for your loneliness. And so on…

Now, on the other hand, the Bible does teach that God does bring problems on people sometimes. Read more…