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Does God lead us into the wilderness?

I spent most of my teen years living on a family ranch in northern British Columbia. We were literally at the end of the road, and our closest neighbors were eight kilometres away. Situated in the foothills of the Rockies, the ranch was surrounded by thousands of acres of Canadian wilderness. Among my favourite memories are the summer Saturdays, when we would saddle up our horses, stow a simple lunch in the saddle bags and ride into unexplored territory for another wilderness adventure. For me, the word “wilderness” revives pleasant memories.

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What is Spiritual Direction?

Does the regular, busy, anxious person in the church know what it feels like to soak in the loving gaze of God?

What is it like to “be still, and know”?

What does the movement of the Spirit “guiding me into all truth” feel like?

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What my parents taught me about faithfulness

My mom and dad have taught me a profound lesson on what faithfulness looks like. They celebrated 65 years of marriage before my dad’s recent passing and those years covered some very hard seasons. When I was younger, I fully expected my parents to get divorced eventually. Part of that stemmed from seeing that they didn’t spend much time together and I could often hear them fighting when they thought my brother and I were sleeping. The other reason I expected it was because most of the kids in my class were from one-parent homes. I can only recall two of my classmates whose parents were still together besides mine. When my parents did fight, I often wondered if this would be the time where they would walk away from each other.

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Is it really finished?

The last words that Jesus cried out before he took his last breath were, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

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Companionship through the spiritual dryness

Where are you, God? This is a question that haunts all of us at different times in our lives, pastors included. Psalm 10:1 says, “Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” We have all had those times when God seems completely uninterested and uninvolved, when our prayer is dry, when our relationship with Him seems empty and one-sided. For the pastor, this reality can be especially worrisome. Read more

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Four reasons why sabbaticals are helpful for church leaders

Many of us dream of having breaks in ministry to restore our passion and our drive. And while sabbaticals are not the “magic bullet” for all your church leadership woes, they truly can refresh you and give you longevity in ministry. Read more

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Ten top symptoms of emotionally unhealthy spirituality

Jay, one of our church members, recently shared with me: “I was a Christian for 22 years. But instead of being a 22-year-old Christian, I was a one-year old Christian 22 times! I just kept doing the same things over and over and over again.” Read more