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Uncertainty and the power of an unfinished story

March 4, 2025

Sometimes uncertainty gets the best of me.

I lose sight of my true hope.

When that happens I become 

short sighted, and lose the long view.

That’s when I feel stuck. That’s when

decisions are dangerous.

Fortunately it’s usually only for a bit, 

but not for long.

How about you?

Revelation is the last of the books in the Bible.

It’s the “end of the story.”

Does reading Revelation scare you or comfort you?

When I was 15 it scared me.

But now I take comfort from the book of Revelation. 

God has written one ending for us but it’s also a new beginning.

Even now God is not finished with you or with me.

When Jesus takes hold of you

He takes hold of you as the master craftsmen.

You and I are God’s workmanship.

He’s the author of our faith.

He’s the potter with the clay.

He’s the stone mason.

He’s the carpenter.

From the day you trusted Him till now 

He’s still working on you.

And you — 

you are still writing a story with Him.

The Apostle Paul knew this truth.

So, he kept praying for people.

“I thank my God every time I remember you.

In all my prayers for all of you,

I always pray with joy

because of your partnership in the gospel 

from the first until now,

being confident of this,

that He who began a good work in you

will carry it on to completion until 

the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:3-6)

When Jesus takes hold of you

He takes hold of you for good.

Joseph couldn’t see the good 

from the cistern, from the caravan,

from the prison, from the palace.

But he saw the good years later

when he looked into the eyes of his brothers.

“You intended to harm me, 

but God intended it for good, 

to accomplish what is now being done,

the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:19-20)

Mary faced uncertainty as she

processed the inconceivable,

but she was able to trust the 

God who fulfills His promises. 

So she said, 

“I am the Lord’s servant. 

May your word

to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:18)

What uncertainty are you facing today?

I am not thrilled with the 

tariffs nor the rhetoric filling 

our ears these days. But,

my heart is steady. I serve the God

of our unfinished story. 

I’m not thrilled when family 

and friends face difficulty 

but I keep on keeping on 

in prayer

and presence if I am able.

Jesus is my certain hope through

these uncertainties. 

So I have hope.

I’m hoping to write with Christ Jesus

on the hearts of many. 

I’m hoping Origin continues to 

welcome students into His Kingdom.

I’m hoping Jesus empowers me

to live His way of love.

And my hope is sure.

Is yours?

I’m so grateful for the people

on both sides of the border

who have been steady friends,

advisors, encouragers, family,

and prayer warriors.

(See 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20)

“For what is our hope, our joy,

our crown in which we will glory

in the presence of our Lord Jesus

when he comes?

Is it not you?

Indeed you are our glory and joy.”

Our story is not done yet!

To be continued…

Change, Discipleship

The Cornerstone of Character

February 7, 2025

You memorized your favourite verses in Proverbs 3 because of the big decisions you were facing. But the good news is: there’s more to them than that! You are on the way to deep character formation!

The Book of Proverbs is a call to ordinary people who want to to live the good life. The Proverbs read quick and quippy. I tried to read them daily for at least three years of my university days, soaking up what I thought was God’s common sense.

Philosophers engage themselves with the question buried within the Proverbs: What is the good life? But typically our modern philosophers have fewer pithy sayings and many many more long sentences!

The writers of the Proverbs envision the good life as the pursuit of wisdom especially as it is expressed in relationships. They hold up the tension and the dangers of decision making for youth with regard to wanting everything quickly: fast wealth, fast pleasure, fast friendship, fast power.

Here wisdom is not neutral but is active in the world. Wisdom calls out to us and seeks to persuade us.

See, there is no agnosticism in the Proverbs. The vision of a good life proceeds from knowing God who has created the world and established a covenant with His people.

Wisdom proceeds from God but it is the character of a person expressed in life that reveals the cracks in their own character.

The Prelude to Your Favourite Verses

I have loved Chapter 3 for years. It holds a favourite set of verses quoted by myself and many of my friends:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on you own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV

But the prelude to these verses interests me deeply:

“My son do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet  of your heart.

Then you will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and man.” Proverbs 3:1-4, NIV

For the past year I’ve been watching the construction of Menno Hall at the corner of University Boulevard and Wesbrook with intense interest. When the hole was dug for the foundation I realized, “Here is earth that has not been observed in tens of thousands of years. Bedrock.”

What is going to be constructed above and in view of everyone requires going down, and down and down to what is not normally observable.

Likewise, what the Lord can construct in a person and through their life requires going down down down.

And there —  at the most vulnerable intersections of our lives — He wants love and faithfulness. The neck is in view of others but the heart is only in His view and your view.

Going Deep to The Heart

The “father’s instruction” in the Proverbs says, “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” 

The neck moderates the life giving flow of our lives: what comes in and what goes out. Love and faithfulness creates openness to receive what is good and it generates generosity to give what is good. By contrast we could hang anger, anxiety, and angst around our necks; these will only serve to reinforce a character that is becoming more disordered, selfish, and deceptive.

So, the Proverb Giver goes deeper and deeper to the heart. 

The heart is the seat of our affections and will; yet, it is a tablet upon which we may write.

This is an extraordinary vision: at the foundation of our life, at the foundation of our character, we can have a say. We can begin to rewrite the fundamental character of our lives. 

But how? Aren’t those scripts set early in our childhood development? Are we hopelessly set because of the presence of or lack of good attachment? Are we doomed to be fools?

The Proverb Giver doesn’t think you are beyond hope. He seems to think you can do this wise thing:

“Write love and faithfulness on the tablet of your heart.”

But how shall we write on the tablet of our heart?

And here is where our favourite verse leads the answer to this question: ”Trust in the LORD with all your heart, in all your ways acknowledge Him…”

Begin with “trusting the LORD.” Take up the fundamental issue of attachment to God, by getting to know the covenant making God and trusting Him. Get to know God; He is full of love and faithfulness. Get to know Him by submitting your way to Him and then by watching Him lay out a path of life before you.

Continue writing by being humble. “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.” Proverbs 3:7

Keep on writing by being generous: “Honour the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops…” Proverbs 3:9

And, don’t stop writing love and faithfulness on your heart when things are difficult: “…Do not despise the LORD’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves.”

And just in case this pursuit of wisdom seems elusive like Eden’s tree of life, the Proverb Giver reminds us that “By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations…” Proverbs 3:18,19

Whoa! You are not engaged in the transformation of your foundations by yourself! It is God who helps you. It is God who created the foundations of all creation with a wise word, who can set (reset) your foundations too.

Peace, Prosperity, Rest

This “love and faithfulness” approach to life yields “peace and prosperity” Proverbs 3:2. This approach to life generates restful sleep even in a violent world:

“When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down your sleep will be sweet.” Proverbs 3:24

Does love and faithfulness toward God and people generate less worry? Does knowing your life is in the hands of the loving and faithful God generate peace?

Are you in search of the good life? “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the table of your heart.”

We write the story of our heart in our relationships. The Proverbs Giver knows this too. For continuing on in Chapter Three he takes up our relationships with neighbours. A heart of love and faithfulness is grown and proven in the nature of our neighbourliness.

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.”

“Do not say to your neighbour, ‘Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you’ — when you already have it with you.”

“Do not plot harm against your neighbour, who lives trustfully near you.”

“Do accuse anyone for no reason — when they have done you no harm.”

“Do not envy the violent or choose any of their ways.”

Wisdom from Heaven

The Apostle Paul would later write that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ (Colossians 2). James would urge the followers of Jesus to demonstrate wisdom from heaven (James 3). But first he knew that the disordered heart need God’s grace.

Jesus creates love and faithfulness. Jesus establishes His love and His faithfulness in our hearts by grace. This grace provides a regeneration of life, a resetting of our character’s foundation. Both love and faithfulness are a fruit of His Spirit in the life of His people (Galatians 5:21-22).

And, we participate with Jesus in this work. Our commitments with Him give the Spirit access to dig deep and re-form character.

Recently I’ve been thinking about the next 25 years of life with Jesus and in relationships. I surely want love and faithfulness to be set in the bedrock of my character more and more each day I live.

So, I am praying, asking God to keep on forming His own steady loving character in me too. Through prayer, through commitments, through relationships I’m writing on the tablet of my heart with Him.

What do you think? Are love and faithfulness meant to be the cornerstones of human character?

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases.” Lamentations 3:22

“I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness know through all generations…. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, LORD.” Psalm 89:1,14-15

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5

“My goal… is that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:2,3

Change

New Year’s Resolutions or Not?

December 28, 2024

Want to find some emotion at your next party? Ask this:

When it comes to New Year’s resolutions are you a “Resounding Yes” or an “Emphatic No?”

I’m a “It depends.”  It depends on how you do it.

Over the years some commitments I have made in the first month of the year have brought wonderful improvement in my relationships and in my general sense of well-being. Other resolutions were forgotten by the second week.

I’ve tried New Year’s resolutions a lot of ways. Here’s the kind that don’t seem to last for me.

1. The List. A list of four habits, one for each significant are of my life that I hope to add in.
2. The Great Ambition. A goal for the year.
3. The Word for the Year. A word that I study and reflect on all year.

These have had varying degrees of impact on my life. Mostly limited.

But here’s what has worked the best. This is how I have arrived at resolutions that stick.

The Adjustment

About 20 years ago I had recurring back pain. I was in agony and wobbling around. Nothing I tried was making that sciatica better. 

A friend introduced me to a Registered Message Therapist. I was sceptical but hopeful. 

Wow! Patricia worked the geometry of the body. Sometimes I wondered, “Why is she working over there?” And when I asked, she said simply, “It’s connected.” Afterwards she would explain how that spot was connected to the pain I was having. 

At some point when I was doing much better Patricia said, “You are probably going to have to do these exercises for the rest of your life.” She taught them to me. And she tried to get me to pay attention to the signs in my body that demanded that I give it attention and do those stretches.

That’s the adjustment: Pay attention, anticipate the moves, then adjust.

I learned to pay attention to the signs AND anticipate making an adjustment.

One of the signs that a resolution may be in order is an internal sense of pain or dissatisfaction about an area of my life.  

Develop a Resolution Process

What I’m describing is a New Year’s resolution process.

I usually ask this question in the last and first weeks of the year. For me, I pray about this question and wait and listen. Some years there’s nothing new. In other years what I want becomes very clear because it’s connected to grander vision of my life and relationships.

Taking note of the “pain” I ask, 

“What do I hope is true about my life and relationships in the future and how is this pain connected to it?

Then I ask a series of questions:

What can I adjust in my behaviours to get there?
Who can help me get there?
What do I need to learn that will help me get there and keep me there?
What skill(s) do I need to acquire?
What kind of growth in my character or devotion may be required?
What routines or new behaviour could be added to my life to move this along?
What ques will I establish to prompt me daily?

At some point once I have identified the set of helpful behaviours, I will say to myself something like, “I’m the kind of person that ________________________.” By then I’m on the way to becoming that kind of person.

I’ve used variations of this process now many times. With the help of God, my wife, family, friends, the “new years resolutions” have become creations for a way of life. 

This process has been implemented for:

Connecting more deeply with God.
Flossing my teeth twice a day.
Becoming a vegan.
Dealing with debt.
Adapting my leadership with a team.
Making a significant change in my job.
Dealing with piles of laundry and dishes.
Establishing home workout routines.
Building a self-funded retirement account.
Learning to listen.
Adjusting my parenting as the children grow.

I’m a firm believer in small steps. I regularly remind myself: Never underestimate the accumulative affect of small steps in the right direction!

So what’s your approach to New Year’s Resolutions?

Change

Confident Hope

November 14, 2024

Last night Origin Church prayed for the church as we do on each Wednesday evening. We asked God to give the church confident hope. The Apostle Paul modelled the prayer:

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13, NLT

We began our evening together by rejoicing in the assignment of Jesus as the LORD’s Servant in Isaiah 49:1-7. The breadth of the LORD’s commission is astonishing. The Messiah says,

“And now the LORD speaks — the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him. The LORD has honoured me, and my God has given me strength. He says, ‘You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.'” Isaiah 49:5-6, NLT

He goes continues:

“The LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations, to the one who is the servant of rulers: ‘Kings will stand at attention when you pass by. Princes will also blow low because of the LORD, th faithful one, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” Isaiah 49:7

Confident hope.

This quality characterized the life of Christ Jesus. Though facing rejection from family and His hometown, though serving under Roman rulers in Israel, He drew Israel to Himself, and became a light to the Gentiles. He will bring God’s salvation to the ends of the earth.

Confident hope.

Paul writes to the Gentile and Jewish followers of Jesus gathering in the house churches of Rome. He commends the servant life of Christ to them. He writes:

“We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.” Romans 15:1-2

Confident hope.

“For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, ‘The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.’ Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.” Romans 15:3-4

Confident hope.

“May God, who gives this patience and encouragement help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:5-6

Confident hope.

“Therefore accept each other just as Christ accepted you so that God will be given glory. Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for her mercies to them.” Romans 15:7-9

Confident hope.

Oh how we need confident hope today. Come Holy Spirit come. Come from our Heavenly Father and from the Lord Jesus who gave Himself in service to us. We trust you O God! Fill us with joy and peace. Fill your church with the harmony formed by your acceptance. The miracle of repentance is something we share no matter where we came from. And now by your power cause us to overflow with confident hope as we serve before those in our city and workplaces who might be like kings and queens and rulers of another kingdom. We need not worry about what to say. We need not worry about how to act. We have confident hope that you will grant us what is needed in every situation because we trust in you. And may your salvation come to the ends of the earth even as you raise up servants for yourself everywhere.

Church, Jesus, Society

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Outposts of His Kingdom

November 13, 2024 0 Comments

I’ve been reading The Scandal of the Kingdom, by Dallas Willard. The book has been published posthumously. I can hear his voice in every sentence. It is a refreshing reminder of the simple but profound ways Dallas could speak and write. Here’s an encouraging word about the church:

“The church consists basically of those who have been called out by God to join together to become outposts of his kingdom. It is first and foremost the calling of human beings to God that constitutes the church, and the Lord adds daily to the church, as we’re told in the book of Acts. The people of God are to be a touchpoint between heaven and earth, where the healing of the cross and the resurrection can save the lost and grow them into the fullness of human beings in Christ.”

p. 100, The Scandal of the Kingdom

Church