Canadian Evangelism

Well, no. I don't really. In fact, I must. This is an event we have planned for September 25. It began as a desire to help a young friend of mine who also has to raise all his own support and I thought we could do something together. At the same time, a couple of friends from church indicated a desire to put on a fundraiser for me, so I said, "Why don't we make it a joint affair?" (No, nothing about legalizing marijuana.) I recruited a new-found friend, the very funny Dan Taylor, to do a standup routine, mutual friends of both Steven and mine who are very skilled jazz musicians, and another friend who loves to perform John Denver music. I think it will be a really enjoyable evening, and at 30 bucks, a cheap dinner date. Online registration is available here . Anyone interested can also reach me by phone or e-mail using the contact info at the bottom of the poster. You can also right-click the picture above and print it as a poster. Just to clarify, the $30....

Registration and more info here Blessings, John

One of my activities this week has involved being in discussions with Alpha Canada's Prison Alpha Coordinators, John and Roxana Kreklo and a large Edmonton-area church, regarding an upcoming event, probably in late August. I will post more details when they are firmed up. The event will focus more on Alpha International's Caring for Ex-Offenders (CFEO) ministry, rather than the actual Prison Alpha program. The CFEO program takes much more of a commitment and much more of a community than merely running Alpha in a jail. That is not to belittle Prison Alpha itself. It is a very valuable and worthwhile ministry. As you may know, I ran Alpha in a Provincial jail for about three years, a number of years ago. I found it very rewarding and a complete blessing to have been involved in such a ministry. I have posted on some of my thoughts and experiences here . The CFEO ministry, however, is a much broader thing. It has been said that a prisoner's rehabilitation begins, not the day...

Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,     for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings     until the disaster has passed. (Psalm 57:1)   This verse has special meaning to me because it helped me through a very difficult time of my life. I think of it now, not only for anyone who may be going through a difficult time, but for our brothers and sisters, Christians in the Middle East (Mosul, where apparently Christians and any sign of their existence are being eradicated from the city) and Nigeria, for instance, who may also be going through struggles we cannot even imagine.   Yesterday’s lectionary reading was from Romans 8, about the sufferings of this present time not being worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us, and the creation itself groaning to be set free from its bondage to corruption when Christ returns to set everything right. I can imagine these Christians in Mosul pleadin...

I remember an incident very clearly. It was Sunday, the day after our Alpha weekend away. We always end our retreat Saturday night, and feel it important to be in church together the next day. A woman who had come to faith in Christ on the weekend was walking with me after the service up the side aisle of our church. She was my age at the time. (Well, I suppose she would still be my age now, wouldn't she?) In any case, her eyes were full of tears; the tears that only the Holy Spirit can bring; tears of joy of the knowledge of God, of sin forgiven and at the beauty of a brand new relationship with the God you had no concept of so short a time before. And at the same time, tears of grief; grief at the realization of the price paid by the one you now recognize as your Saviour for your redemption. And she was saying, "John, I feel my entire life to this point has been a waste." I answered, "No, your entire life up to now has been in preparation for this very moment....

I had two conversations yesterday. Well, actually I had more than two, but two in particular stood out. One was with the pastor of an ethnic church and the other with the minister of a church in a mainline protestant denomination. The purpose of my calls were to both give and get feedback regarding Alpha during the Alberta2013 initiative last fall. The two conversations could practically have been played on top of each other in sync.  Both loved the Alpha material. Both were aware of Alpha's excellent reputation as an evangelistic tool. Both said that those who attended the course enjoyed it. But both were disappointed in the numbers. Both complained that their people didn't invite others to join them. Both seemed to have expected that the ads and publicity would have been enough to bring people through their doors. Well I, and anyone else in the Alpha organization will be the first to tell you that that is an unreasonable expectation.  All the ads do, and all they are i...

I was thinking again about how I, as an Alpha person should interact with atheists sceptics or even seekers. Should I preach hellfire and brimstone? Frankly, I don't think that works very well anymore. I'm not sure that Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, preached before a crowd of today's non-believers would meet with the same response as when Jonathan Edwards first delivered it. So here is an approach I think might be reasonable, at least to those with ears to hear. My real objective is to get people at least questioning, to the point that they may want to come to an Alpha to hear more. I believe there is a God who created the atoms and molecules that go together to make up everything we see around us. I believe this God has offered us the opportunity for a relationship with him, by entering this world in the person of His son, Jesus Christ and dying on the cross. I believe we are free either to accept or to reject this relationship. I believe this life is not t...

Back stiff and sore from my so-called holidays. Actually it was not too bad. It was just the odd morning that I had trouble moving, but we moved all the furniture out of one house and into another, then drywalled 2 rooms in the new basement.. Hanging the board was kind of fun, but the up and down off the chair, mudding, taping and sanding was the worst part. So... back to Alpha stuff. Some of the team nationally are thinking things are going to slow down during the summer, and I guess that's the case, but I will still have a few irons in the fire, so to speak. Arranging regional feedback meetings in various areas, such as Lacombe, Tofield, Cold Lake, Didsbury, etc. working with one of our large churches in Edmonton to arrange a one-day conference for Prison Alpha, which I hope our National Coordinators, John and Roxanne Kreklo can attend. An evening of training for a Chinese church. Hopefully getting a team in place for my own church for the fall. I've been in touch with a numb...