Having collected Christian music since the early nineties, I have amassed a very extensive collection. A couple of years ago I began moving it all to my computer and now have some 5,200 songs in MP3 format. This respresents the bulk of the collection with the exception of sixty or eighty cassettes. I have some…
This morning I spent a good bit of time reading through some of my old journal entries. Sadly my journalling has tailed off as my blogging has increased. This is sad because journalling was an important spiritual discipline for me. While I often wrote about the same things I write about on this site, journalling…
I assume that almost no one reading this needs to be persuaded to attend church. Beyond your good habit of church attendance, however, how do you decide what else you should or should not do on Sunday? When it comes to making such decisions, I understand there to be three major views among Christians, One…
I still remember the day I bought my very first CD player. I had been saving my pennies and dimes for some time and convinced my father to drive me to Future Shop, which is Canada’s answer to Best Buy. Just a couple of days before my previous stereo had gone up in a flash…
I often struggle with my decision to continually defend Calvinism. And more than defending it, I also “evangelize” it, explaining to others why I consider it to be nothing more or less than the Bible’s teaching on the doctrines of redemption. I find my mind wondering if it really is important enough to dedicate such…
Reach out and grab the book that is nearest to you. If there are two that are equally near, take the one with the prettiest cover. Open it up and turn to the 39th page. Find the third sentence. If a sentence carries over from page 38 to 39, consider that the first sentence. And…
Yesterday I posted an article that was formed around my apparently uninteresting personal testimony. It seems I am not the only one who has been deluded into thinking that my testimony, which is one of God’s grace early in life rather than one of God saving me when I was an adult and deeply entrenched…
I often feel that I have a ridiculously boring testimony. I can’t count the number of times I have sat through courses, seminars and Bible studies and have heard the value of a good testimony in evangelizing the lost. And like any long-time believer, I have heard some incredible ones. I have heard about women…
There are times in life when various “threads” seem to converge – times where I have been thinking about a few things and suddenly they all just come together. Yesterday I was thinking and writing about whether God loves everyone, believer and unbeliever alike. Tuesday evenings I lead a Bible study and this topic came…
Several alert readers have noticed that new button at the top of the page. (Yeah, that one…the one that says “New” on it). I have hinted at this before, but have finally decided to go ahead with a community blog (click here to see it). Now you may be asking what exactly a community blog…
After a rather short voting period, the 2005 EU Evangelical Blog award winners have been announced. And here are the winners: Best Evangelical Teen BlogTo Be Least Best Evangelical Group BlogDead Yet Living Best Evangelical Youth Pastor BlogStu’s Rants Best Evangelical Missionary BlogUnder The Acacias Best Evangelical Blog-HumorRantings of a Lord of the Rings Fanatic…
As promised, I bring to you today the February book giveaway. Each month, for as many months as I can convince authors to sign and send their books to me, I will be giving away two copies of a Christian book autographed by the author. As always, two equal prizes will be awarded in February.…
So it’s time to vote for the 1st Annual Evangelical Blog Awards. As I said before, I hesitate to bring these up as I don’t want to seem self-serving. At the same time, I do want to be a responsible member of the blogosphere, so will play along. Anyways, if you would like to vote,…
Sometimes I read a book that has come with such numerous and lofty recommendations that really it can only be disappointing. Having heard so much about how the book will change my life and cause my faith to grow in leaps and bounds, I have often found the reality to be disappointing. Conversely, sometimes a…
Who could have thought that a presentation of Calvinism lasting nearly four and a half hours could keep me at rapt attention? Actually, I suppose most people who know me wouldn’t be too terribly surprised. Amazing Grace – The History And Theology of Calvinism is an examination of the doctrines of grace, produced by The…
When I was in the eleventh grade I decided to study Latin. I don’t remember what it was that compelled me to study the language, but I suspect it had something to do with the small class size. Where most classes in my high school had twenty five or thirty students, Latin usually had only…
Suppose you were facing the darkest hour of your life. You had been accused of false charges and there was no doubt that you would be found guilty. The punishment for your crime would be a brutal, torturous death. But suppose that for just a few moments you were allowed a visit from another person.…
Few figures in history cause such heated debate as Oliver Cromwell. The Cromwell Association says rightly that “since his death as Lord Protector in 1658, Cromwell’s life, ambitions, motives and actions have been the subject of scholarly investigation and intense, often vitriolic, debate. Whatever position is taken on Cromwell, ‘Chief of Men’ or ‘Brave Bad…
I almost always carry a journal or notebook with me so I can scribble down thoughts as they come to me during the day. Some of these turn into articles and others turn into devotional material. More often than not I look at them weeks or months later and have absolutely no idea what they…
Last month I read two books which exposed some of the New Age influences in today’s evangelical churches. Deceived on Purpose and A Time of Departing each showed some different areas where the New Age has had great influence in evangelicalism. Both authors, to no one’s great surprise, singled out Robert Schuller as being one…