Write down the revelation...

I am Canadian and today is Canada Day. In a few days, our American neighbours will celebrate Independence Day (their national birthday, not Will Smith’s movie) and I thought it was an appropriate lead-in to July’s theme of identity. Who are you really? Like any nation, the world (and by world, I mean Americans) has a stereotype of Canadians: we’re nice and say ‘pardon me’ all the time, we’re very serious and don’t cut loose very often, we can skate and play hockey even in the summer, we live in igloos and drive a dogsled to work, there is snow year-round, we say ‘oot and a boot’ and ‘eh’, we speak French, and we eat maple syrup on everything. Some of it is true (we’re generally nice people and we do say ‘pardon me’) but most of it’s not. Canadians have a sophisticated sense of humour (perhaps that’s why Americans don’t understand it). We poke fun at ourselves quite a bit; something Americans can’t seem to do. Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves for we shall never cease to be ...

 Jesus tells us that if we want to build a house, we should count the cost to make sure we have enough money. Apparently no one in Mexico has ever heard of this – I’ve never seen a place with as many half built buildings dotting the landscape and city corners as in Mexico. Jesus still asks us the same question. Have we counted the cost to be a true disciple of him? Paul urges us to be living sacrifices – it’s not easy and rarely pleasant. This week, over at Kingdom Bloggers , we’re writing about sacrifice. If you click over there now, you’ll find my post . I encourage you to read David and Joyce’s posts from earlier this week also and remember to return to the site on Thursday and Friday to read Tracy and Tony’s writing as well. When you like what you see from David , Joyce , Tracy and Tony , click to link to their personal blogs to view more from these talented writers.

This is a lesson about what not to do.  During my working career, I worked in human resources for an independent recruitment agency.  I was recruiting for a Chief Financial Officer position in a one of the city’s top-rated companies. I had secured enough interest from a potential candidate to secure a lunch date to talk more about the job opening. I brought one of my firm’s partners with me to the lunch. As soon as we sat down to lunch, I started telling the candidate about the job and company. We hadn’t even ordered yet. After I had finished extolling the merits of the job, the candidate began to tell me about his preferences for a new job and reasons why he would consider a job change. I realized that in my haste to talk about the excellent qualities of the job and the company, I had not considered how the job would personally benefit the candidate. Even though it might have been a good career move for the candidate, I had made a misstep in the approach. On the way back ...

  Years ago, before my Man was officially my Man, he had a groupee. She was cute, perky and dumber than a stick but she played the victim perfectly, which infuriated me. Girls, you can relate, right? My Man is a protector; his natural inclination is to protect everyone but especially women. He’s marvelous in that way, but this time he didn’t get it. The groupee was playing him and he was falling for it. Men can be so dim-witted at times. The groupee was over at his apartment. I was there too, protecting my claim. The groupee starts complaining about the classless men who were catcalling and whistling at her as she walked by. I looked at her and said, “Honey, you can’t wear a short skirt and then get mad when the boys whistle.” Okay, I lied, I didn’t say Honey. It’s true, though and people do it all the time. We want attention, but then we don’t want it. We say one thing and then when we get it, we complain. As Christians, sometimes we focus on the negative and wonder why the c...

What’s better than 1 blog writer? Five blog writers. I’m honored to be invited to be part of a writing community at Kingdom Bloggers . Each week, David of Fire and Grace introduces a topic and Monday through Friday, 5 different bloggers offer different perspectives. It’s kind of like the Gospels, except that there are 5 writers and not 4, and the fact that it’s not the Bible – so maybe it’s not like the Gospels at all. I write on hump day, or Mittwoch as the Germans say. Head over to the site here to catch my latest ponderings and while you’re there, read David and Joyce’s perspective on Monday/Tuesday respectively and then come back on Thursday and Friday to read Tracy and Tony’s thoughts.  This week’s theme is passion; since there are 5 of us, you could call it a passion party. I was going to host a passion party once. I was careful about who I invited because Christians like to keep it a secret that we have sex , (I’m whispering in case I offend somebody). It’s especially o...

About a decade ago, the Christian catch-phrase was “What Would Jesus Do?” abbreviated WWJD to gain appeal with pop culture. The phrase became so popular even within secular mainstream that irreverent variations began to show up on t-shirt designs. The clichéd phrase lost meaning to those touting bracelets with the letter WWJD embossed on the silver plating.    It’s the hypocrisy of the question not being lived out that rubs me the wrong way. If you ask the question, find the answer and then do it. Too many people only want to ask the question but not live out the answer. I have somebody in my life that is needy. We all have somebody in our lives that are needy.  Not only is this person needy, but also prideful, self-absorbed, and unteachable. This person also requires financial assistance – assistance which I am able to provide. I don’t want to - at least not just help. Every Teacher inclination in me wants to help and teach, but the present situation isn’t a teachin...

In honor of Father’s Day on Sunday, I’m writing about my dad. I have an awesome dad. Most people don’t. Father wounds are the largest reason inner healing is necessary. The great part about being in the family of God is that we have a brand-new heritage and family legacy. Any story you read in the Bible, you can take as part of your legacy and if that’s still not good enough, go ahead, graft your story into mine and claim my personal legacy as your own because we’re family. 1.        My Father will rescue me When I was 16 a boy took me on a date to a hockey fundraiser in another town. It was winter and a blizzard started during the evening; driving was not advised. My date decided to stay at a friend’s overnight. I knew that wouldn’t please my parents but I had been drinking and I was afraid to call my dad.  I called and both my parents came to pick me up. Instead of condemnation and fear, I felt safe. Whether or not they knew I had been drinking di...