Canadian Evangelism

Since my last post I have travelled to the Lakeland district of Alberta and to Lloydminster. The Pastors’ Appreciation Lunch at Bonnyville CommunityChurch included Pastors and church leaders from Cold Lake, Bonnyville, Lac LaBiche, Smoky Lake and points in between. This is an annual event put on by Pastor Ken Jagessar and is a wonderful opportunity for networking. I was able to give a brief presentation on Alpha, but already the Alpha activity in that area is extremely encouraging to me. Pastor Ken allows everyone in attendance to introduce themselves, and a few (like me) are given additional opportunity to expand on their ministries. I came away with the sense that there is much expectation of revival in that area and churches are of one accord in praying fervently for it. But no sooner did I return home than I read in the news of the Government’s shutdown of the Trinity Christian School Board in Cold Lake , in part because of apparent financial irregularities. Is this an attack of...

I listened in on our Alpha Youth Champions Webinar today. At left, in a screenshot of the call, is Tim Teakle, Youth Associate in Ontario, but who has been acting in rather a national capacity for the last while as Alpha Canada has been searching for a National Youth Director. Speaking of that, however, below is Alpha's brand new National Director for Youth, Tim Gonzales. The focus of the call was the encouragement and empowerment of students in high- and junior high schools to share Alpha with their friends in their schools, and to invite their friends into a conversation about life, faith and God. It is already happening in a number of schools across the country and our hope and prayer is that it will happen in many more. If I may say so, much of the impetus for the formation of this concept of a network of Youth Champions came from the passion of Alberta's own Youth Associate, Amy Croy, and her own heart to see students empowered to run Alpha in their schools. One...

Alpha in Prisons In a word, "Yes." One of my memories is of running Alpha for about three years at the Fort Saskatchewan (Alberta) jail and seeing wonderful results and lives changed among the inmates there. Did you know that statistically, as I understand it, among prisons in Canada, the average re-offending rate for released inmates is between 70 and 75%? However, the re-offending rate for those who have attended Alpha in prison and come to a genuine faith in Christ is about 8% (eight percent)! Isn’t that amazing? My friends and colleagues John and Roxana Kreklo are doing a great job of communicating this to prison officials across Canada. For the good of our country, pray that they, and we, make headway and inroads in this area. Friends, the solution to a great number of our society's problems is right in front of us, but do you think anything will be done about it? Do you think those with the power and position to act will do so? Aside from some kind of divine interv...

Disturbing the Peace Disturbing the Peace is one of the coolest names I can think of for a youth gathering. It has been held for the past 14 years in Grande Prairie, this year at Grande Prairie Alliance (GPA), but it attracts young people from churches all across the Peace Region, from Fort St John and Dawson Creek in BC to Peace River in Alberta.   I was up there this past weekend, not so much in an official capacity, but because two of my grandchildren were attending. They have recently found their way back to church and are attending GP Alliance. My granddaughter, 13, was baptised there a couple of weeks ago.   Having said that, there was an Alpha presence - Ben Woodman from our Youth Alpha Film Series was there, along with Dan Roe, who is involved in its production. It was good to see them both again so soon after our Alpha staff retreat and hear of their adventures in getting to Grande Prairie. Apparently their plane from Vancouver was rerouted due to weather concern...

How did we get to the point where everything seems to have been turned upside down, in so short a time? I can remember a time when a person running for political office would include, in their campaign pamphlet, a picture of them and their family coming down the steps of a church on a Sunday morning. Nowadays, a Christian faith seems to be anathema to great majority of the voting public. Holding an opinion in areas of sexuality and morality that most Canadians held not that long ago now earns one the accusation of, "hater." Now the reality of "assisted dying" is with us. I will not deign to judge the pain or agony, physical or emotional, of one who feels this to be the only option, but what I do fear is the retraction of the right of conscience for physicians who feel they cannot participate. Watch for it. Just as I'm sure as I can be that that same right of conscience will disappear for any religious leaders who feel  they must take a stand on the position of m...

No, it's not PC as in, "politically correct." Rather, it refers to the Presbyterian Church. I was invited to give a presentation on Alpha to members of the Edmonton-Lakeland Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Canada (PCC),at Callingwood Road Presbyterian Church in Edmonton. It was a 3-hour presentation, plus lunch, so it went from 10 to 2. I included a section explaining what Alpha is, why it's particularly effective for evangelizing in today's culture, and a session (see pic) on Alpha's model of prayer ministry. I must admit that I may be overly sensitive in one particular area of Alpha, and that is the subject of being filled with the Holy Spirit and receiving the gift of tongues; especially among mainline denominations. In fact, whether in my own Alpha small groups or speaking with some pastors who may not, or whose denominations may not, agree with Alpha's position on speaking in tongues, I always give them an, "out," so to speak. I te...