Posts by Pastor Ken

I cringe at the thought of guided group tours. I also clutch my wallet tightly. I just don’t like the idea of paying someone to stuff me in a bus or a boat and ferry me around telling me what to look at. And yet somehow, I was persuaded to take my family on the…

Jesus was on his way home, and choosing to take the quick route, was passing through the region of Samaria. This was the land of the Samaritans, a people despised by Jews, half-breeds due to the Jewish people intermingling with Gentiles long ago when Israel’s northern kingdom was conquered. We’re told Jesus was weary. Imagine…

The following article was published on the faith page of the Winnipeg Free Press on May 1, 2020. I had just finished a very encouraging conversation. It was in mid-March, and a friend in my congregation was going through a difficult time. We got together for an evening to talk. It was quite late when…

It doesn’t feel a stretch to think of living in a growing pandemic as being like entering a wilderness – it’s full of unknowns, there’s a harshness about it, it’s a place of isolation. And it can also involve loss. I don’t mean loss of life, though that’s a reality, but I mean a loss…

Picture this… I’m imagining Jesus out at sea in a creaky, smelly old fishing boat. The waves are happily slapping up against its wooden bow as an exhausted crew “put out into the deep” where Jesus wanted them to let down their nets despite the long fruitless night they’d already endured (Luke 5:1-11). The expressions on the…

I think I’ve got a silly notion in my head that if an all-powerful God has a sovereign Plan, then His Plan should be accomplished the way a missile takes a straight and steady path toward its target. I mean, when the great God who created all things sets His will to do something, how…

Can you imagine Jesus having a moment of uninterrupted downtime while sitting amidst a crowd of people? It always seems like the crowds would never leave Him alone. But in Mark 12:41, we’re told that “He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money in the offering box” (Mark 12:41) as if…

I continually forget how radical God’s grace is. It’s like the thick haze of my own regrets makes it difficult to see clearly as I squint amidst the clutter of my own bad attitudes and blunders. God’s grace just doesn’t compute in such circumstances. That’s why I need regular reminders of how amazing it is!…

As I began reading Psalm 125 this morning, the first verse gave me the impression that my life is only as stable as my capacity to trust in the Lord. In other words, it sounds like it’s all up to me: “Those who trust in the Lord are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved…

Imagine this with me…  A great galleon has battened down and stowed its sails amidst the tearing winds and driving rain of a raging storm. As the winds roar and the ship rises and falls upon the heavy seas, a stout chain of impressive length glimmers in the spray as it vanishes beneath the angry…