Canadian Evangelism

I heard Ravi Zacharias say something that I thought was quite profound: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me." Jesus spoke these words so that we would never have to. This Passion week, ponder what Christ has done for us and be grateful. Then think of how we can communicate this greatest of all news to those who have not yet heard. #Runalpha Blessings, John

There was a Dial deodorant soap commercial when I was younger. Their slogan was, "Aren't you glad you use Dial? Don't you wish everybody did?" Well, that's my slogan now; "Aren't you glad you know the Lord? Don't you wish everybody did?" I'm thinking about three things; Love, Evangelization  Alpha. In that order. Because that's the order of their priority. 1a) The greatest of these is love. First the love of God for us. Before we knew Him, He loved us. He so loved the world that He sent His only Son so that whoever came to believe in him would not perish but have eternal life, and while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That is the greatest love. 1b)Next, our love for God. When we realize His love for us, then what He did in expressing that love - sending His son to die, and when He fills us with His Holy Spirit, we realize the true depth of this love and we want to repay that love by serving and glorifying Him. 1c)Then our love ...

Nelson LaPerle, a non-practising Catholic, is happy he attended the recent Alpha program at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Sherwood Park. So begins this article from The Western Catholic Reporter, dated January 20, 2014. So, why am I just getting around to mentioning it now? Well, the issue in which it appeared as a front page story was part of a stack of material that John Kuran, Faith Permeation Coordinator for the Holy Family Catholic School Board, Peace River, brought in with him to our recent meeting (mentioned in my previous post.) I expect it will be part of his, "ammunition" when he approaches the powers that be in his circle of influence to make Alpha an important tool in evangelizing the Peace Region of Alberta. Praying for his (and His) success. Blessings, John

This is a picture of St Paul's , a small country church on Goodwin Road, visible from Hwy 43 between Debolt and the Smoky River Valley on the way to Grande Prairie. I'm not sure I've ever noticed it before, even though it is plainly visible from the highway. I learned about it from the Rev. Rose Howell at St Anne's Anglican in Valleyview, as it is part of her charge. The church is not in use at the moment, because it has no running water, just a 25 meter walk to an outhouse, and is heated by an old wood-burning stove. But I thought I'd check it out anyway. There was a fresh 10 cm of snow on the ground, and the only tracks in the snow (before mine) were animal tracks. I was unable to get past the foyer, but took a couple of pictures through a window. The pews are all in place, and here is one picture that turned out (others didn't as there was too much reflection in the window glass). Note the ancient pump organ  in the bottom left. Once again, I find myself thin...

A rhetorical question of course. Does He make things work together according to His will? Rhetorical again. Of course He does! In preparation for an upcoming trip to Grande Prairie and the Peace Country. I fired off a letter last week to both new and experienced Alpha churches in those areas and enroute, offering to pay a visit and chat about Alpha. One of them was to a teacher in a First Nations school where she was running the Youth Film Series for her junior high kids. Here initial reply was, "Yes!!!!!!!!!," with a promise to fill in details with a longer reply later. It turns out that my e-mail may have been one of those wonderful, "God coincidences," (coincidence #8970). She really felt the need for a conversation. Her community was really hurting and she was finding things really challenging. Three of her kids, just in grade 7, had lost family members to suicide since Christmas! She needed help. This was last week, before my trip to the Youth conference in Ca...

"...I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me —the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace." (Acts 20:24) I was at a CWYC training conference in Calgary this past Friday and Saturday. Being a youth conference, the focus was on Amy Croy, my Alpha for Youth coach for Alberta, and Ben Woodman, one half of the starring Youth Film Series team (along with Jason Ballard). I was the token old guy. There were many highlights, but one was one of the speakers who quoted the above verse as his "life verse." I thought it was perfect for where I am right now. I've had a pretty good life, and I can realistically admit that most of it is over. But my desire is that whatever is left, I live for God and His glory. How that will look, I don't quite know. I am happy to carry on doing what I'm doing for Alpha, for as long as God or my National Director will have me. After that, wh...