Canadian Evangelism

I was at an event the other night when the teaching was on Acts 3 - 4; the healing of the lame man at the temple gate. This verse stuck out to me.       When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)     This should be true today about Christians. People should be astonished at the effect Jesus has on our lives.   Jesus also said: ...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8) What I find interesting is that where Jesus' Great Commission  (Matthew 28: 16 - 20)  is a command - "Go!", his statement from Acts, above, is merely a statement of reality: "You will be my witnesses." The question is will we be good witnesses or bad. Will we be effective or ineffective?...

"...wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.   For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie..." (2 Thessalonians 2: 10b - 11) I believe a great delusion has fallen on our culture, and it has happened so quickly that it can only be supernatural in nature. What used to be known as good is now called evil.  Mere disagreement is now called hate. "Tolerance" once correctly defined as allowing others, and respecting the rights of others, to believe differently, has come to mean absolute acceptance of all thoughts and behaviours as completely valid. The only thing now considered wrong is disagreement with those who think that all things are acceptable. And it has happened with amazing rapidity - within a few years even. At the same time, a veil seems to have fallen over people's eyes to prevent them from seeing the truth. Facebook is filled with peopl...

Try Alpha this fall. Find one here. Blessings, John

Okay, so I know it sounds like the title of a honkytonk country song, and you may wonder what these old high school yearbook pictures have to do with anything, but I'll get to that. I was invited to speak on Sunday at First Baptist Church in Smoky Lake  Alberta. I have posted before on this church, and we did indeed meet in their new facility, even though it is still a work in progress and there was no heat. It was a bit cool but that did not dampen the worship within. Smoky Lake Baptist has been a strong Alpha church for many years, ever since a couple of key Alpha people arrived there from Fort McMurray - Ross and Val Whitelaw. My message was the text of a breakout I hope to present at next year's Break Forth ; "Communicating the Relevance of the Gospel in a Changing Culture." The talk went well and was well received. The only glitch was the uni-directional mic I used. As I turned my head to various sides of the room the sound would become louder or softer. Eva sai...

This was my trip today; from home to Morinville, to Gibbons, to Fort Saskatchewan and back to home again. I know the map says an hour and forty five minutes but it actually took me longer than that because, you see, I stopped at a few churches on the way. My day started when I arrived on the dot of ten, their opening time, at The Father's House in Morinville.   Whenever I walk through a church door and people don't know who I am, I have a sense they might feel like I might upon seeing some kind of salesperson approaching my own front door. Not exactly a trusting look - somewhat skeptical perhaps. I don't want to single out The Father's House because it happens many times. In any case, I was greeted cordially, and introduced myself as being with Alpha Canada. Genuine smiles broke out instantly. "This is a very timely visit," said the Associate Pastor who greeted me. He went on to say they were just discussing what to do with some of their small groups this fall...

I posted this picture on my facebook page yesterday, along with this commentary; With Sam Nikkel and Eva (who took the pic) at McKernan Baptist at 'Meet our Missionary.' Yes I am counted as one of their missionaries and today I was, 'Missionary du Jour. ' McKernan has a wonderful brand new facility , in an established neighbourhood in Edmonton, and I think many might attribute at least some of their growth to their relationship with Alpha for over a decade. Sam has been a long-time Alpha enthusiast and supporter. Thanks Sam and McKernan. I really value our relationship. Blessings, John

From time to time I get discouraged. Doesn't everybody - from time to time that is? Often I get frustrated at how many people don't return my calls or respond to my e-mails. Sometimes I think it might be better not to try to make appointments, but just to drop in unexpectedly. I've actually had success using this tactic, and one of my favourite things to do is to go to a particular community and just walk in through church doors. In 5 years I've only had one what I would consider negative response. I even forget where, exactly, but it was a rather fundamentalist church who wanted nothing to do with Alpha because Catholics used it too. I resisted the temptation to come back with the snappy rejoinder, "Catholics also use the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation. Do you reject it as well?" But I digress. A couple of weeks ago I telephoned a church in Edmonton hoping to speak with the Pastor. He was on holidays; could I call back the following week? No problem...