Hopewit

  “ God calls us to be followers of Jesus Christ and, by the power of the Holy Spirit to grow as communities of grace, joy and peace so that God’s healing and hope flow through us to the world.” There are plenty of clichés going around regarding the gun-control controversy. For instance, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” and on the other side, a parable that goes something like this: if a kid is hitting other kids on the playground with a stick, you don’t give everyone a stick to protect themselves against him, nor do you choose some “good kids” and give them really big sticks to protect the vulnerable, YOU TAKE AWAY THE BOY’S STICK. Both carry enough logic to draw nods; they make sense. Repeating them over and over again, however, doesn’t explain the fact that the US has conflated the ownership of lethal weaponry with freedom , has made the “right to bear arms” a central political stance . . . and is experiencing an unbelievable epidemic of “people ...

Taboga Island, Panama, 2017 Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. (Proverbs 21:21 NIV) If only it were so. If only living by maxims, proverbs, folk and conventional wisdom would make life as predictable as “if you have twenty chickens and you buy twenty more, you will have forty chickens and twice as many eggs, twice as much income as you had before.” Life just ain’t as mathematical as the wisdom of Proverbs implies. Chickens get diseases and die, markets rise and fall, foxes get into the hen house, ducks might be a better choice altogether.      In today’s Western world, a badly skewed “market-system” governs the bulk of public affairs. It’s not hard to imagine—given this environment—that the greedy and sly son of a deceased mine owner will inherit the gold while the son who “pursues righteousness and love” will end up with the shaft. Prosperity in the proverb had better mean “prosperity of spirit,” because wealth a...

O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah. They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear? But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision. Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence. The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies. (Psalm 59:5-10, KJV) Psalm 59 is a song, an ancient hymn meant to be sung, not primarily read as we now do. I’d love to hear it as it might have been heard at King Solomon’s court, accompanied by the instruments of the day. The “Selah” is Hebrew and may either be a musical direction or a sacred salutation, almost like the “Amen” with which we’re familiar. For hundreds of years now, Protestant churches generally have held in c...

Panama City from the Pacific approach For it is written:     “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;      the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.  (1 Corinthians 1:19-21, NIV) Paul’s primary purpose in the passage quoted above seems to be to reassure the church in Corinth that the message on which they’ve set their hopes is God’s wisdom , that it is not foolishness as unbelieving neighbours may claim. In his letter, Isaiah 29 is referenced, a chapter in which the prophet chastises his people for basing their “wisdom” on earthly, human assumptions while ignoring “the scroll,” the revelations of God apprehen...

All flowers are roses, except these. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4) “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12) It’s not hard to infer from the first chapter of James that a prolonged walk down easy street is bound to leave us juvenile, flabby and—in the Kingdom of God—pretty much weaklings. Conversely, being beset by and overcoming trials that require muscle and stick-to-itiveness lends maturity, strength and fulfillment. Of course, we all know that building physical muscle doesn’t happen in the recliner; to build strength requires exercise, exertion, perseverance. But how ...

Saskatchewan Cacti - Grasslands National Park “If anyone says ‘I love God’ and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And the commandment we have from him is this: that the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian too.” (1 John 4:20-21, NET) “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” (1 John 4:20-21, NIV) It seems simple on its surface: You say you love God, then demonstrate it in love for your faith family members. Conversely, mistreatment of your fellow Christians puts your love for God in doubt. Let’s assume for the moment that “love” here doesn’t mean “warm, fuzzy feeling,” but rather the active an...

  But now—apart from the law—the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3: 21-26, NIV) New Year, 2018.  My 76 th .  If New Year with its resolutions to do better actually produced a “step up” from the previous year, I should be a pretty remarkable person by now. A...