Encourage the Good

David is confident that God will look after all who trust in him. He encourages the people to remember and proclaim what God has done. One of the techniques that we talk about in coaching sports is using memory to store away a process or an attitude. Under pressure if things are going awry we try to access that memory to mentally recover, replicate patterns of behaviour and boost performance.  Rem...

“The Big and the Small of it” God’s glory is not confined to the earth but is clearly visible in the heavens. The next line is interesting because it speaks of God establishing a stronghold against his enemies. Were this to be a physical structure it would be a fortress or a walled city, an impregnable place of security for His people. But this castle is not built of stone it is established throug...

“ Seeking Sanctuary” Where do we find shelter, security and safety when we are facing storms? Where do we find sanctuary when we are pursued by our enemies? The answer in this Psalm is that refuge is not found in a place but in a person. We spend a lot of emotional, mental and physical energy trying frantically to make things better. Running from that which would overwhelm us or trying to defeat t...

“Through Snot and Tears” Pain can attune us to our deepest needs and elevate our hidden fears. This is a great encouragement to me. This is someone the Bible describes as being someone after God’s own heart. Here we see a leader chosen by God, a hero of the faith, a mighty warrior and we hear him letting it all out through snot and tears. There is no quick fix, no snap out of it, no pull yourself...

 “Lamentable ” This is a lament, a passionate expression of loss, grief and sorrow. It is easier to listen to songs of celebration, laughter and love but often pain is our portion and lament our only lullaby. In this psalm we hear, through the pain, a cry for help. In conflict it is easy to allow our behaviour to replicate that of our enemies. To return hate with hate, arrogance with arrogance, se...

“A Song to Sing Quietly” How long will you love delusions and seek false Gods?  It is not sustainable because these things are not sustaining because they are not real or true.  How easy it is to fall in love with our own imaginings, to start to believe our own narratives, to become unable to see clearly. These false ideas will inevitably lead us away from the one true God and to seek or manufactu...

“Leadership under Seige” When we have supporting evidence and things feel good and are going well it is easy to think we are walking by faith. But when all is well we often walk by sight and draw confidence from the visible. But the real test of faith comes when we are faced with circumstances that cause us to question God’s character and commitment to us. It is the storm that tests the depth of o...

“On Good Government” This conspiracy of nations and plot of peoples is in VAIN. Their manifesto is based on a lie. The lie is that they will deliver freedom and end enslavement. They propagate a false idea about God Their propaganda says that is that it is God who oppresses and that they will set free when it is actually the reverse of that which is true. This is the second of a series that began...

“ Am I more like the chaff or more like the tree?” The contrast to the fruitfulness of the tree is the rootlessness of the chaff, stripped of use and goodness and blown away by the wind. It is a depressing conclusion. That those who live away from God who keep in step with the majority and walk in wickedness and sinfulness will not be able to face the righteous judgement that comes to all people....

One of the things I have been learning about since coming to Canada is the Underground Railroad. This was a network that was created to help escaped slaves find their way to freedom.  The Underground Railroad was neither a railway nor was it literally underground. Rather it was a movement where people of different political persuasions, faith convictions and ethnic backgrounds found common cause i...

New Year is always an appropriate time to look back and look forward. This year begins with some hope that the tide may be turning in the global pandemic but we continue to face substantial disruptions and uncertainty. Four old poems may help us navigate as we seek to move forward together into 2021.

You might have heard this story. It’s certainly been told for a while. My memory is a little fuzzy. I may be getting some of the details muddled, with things that have been occupying my mind recently.  From what I can recall, it goes something like this... I redid the audio for this and published it in the Episode “Christmas Special”