janice Deighton “Time” marches on for everyone. Time. We are all on a pathway that leads to the end of time for this life. When I was younger, like many, I never gave it a moment’s thought. So where am I headed now in what will probably be the last 20 years of my life (give or take)? I have lived 62 years and am not a person who is in any major or even minor ministry in a church family. I'm not a part of the respected “mature women's” group giving out advice to the younger women. I have a feeling I was just a bit too unconventional to be considered for the role of a women's “Christian mentor.” They say everyone has “gifts,” but I find a lot of what is being shared these days about church families helping people find their place in the church ringing a bit hollow. For me it consisted of only filling out surveys to identify your spiritual gifts, and then sadly ending the conversation after the results were read. This happened several times over the years. I have had to walk a very singular and independent spiritual walk over the years. I have had to stand on my own around people who were interested more in socializing than deep spiritual conversation. My church incorporated a monthly “course” that gave opportunity for people to have a deeper spiritual experience with God. I attended, looking forward to the conversation and gleaming some nuggets for myself, only to find many struggling with the idea and they didn't seem to be getting out of it what the author intended. I found it sad, and frustrating and eventually I stopped attending. Whether right or wrong, I did not return for the last two meetings. I still suffer the odd pang of guilt from that choice. So what does a 62 year old women do when her gifts have not been made use of by church family and she now fills a seat in each service taking care of her own spirituality? Well, I asked God that question and I can only share what I feel He has brought to mind. I was reminded that I had a very deep and spiritually satisfying upbringing at the age of 20 and for the following 8 years. This spiritual foundation was set so solid that no challenge has ever rocked it. I was reminded that few Christians have been so blessed. I felt the Lord say that I have had input into many people's lives where they could not find the answer within their church family, without always being aware of it. I have been blessed when the Lord chose me to express His heart by helping to lead others to salvation in Him. These have been awesome experiences as they then joined a church family, returned to, or changed churches to continue their own spiritual journey. So after some thought, I had to admit I was looking for affirmation from my somewhat distant church family instead of turning to the only one who sees me inside and out - God. So if you find—like myself—your journey with the Lord has not resulted in you being surrounded with deep spiritual friendships found in your church family, you are not alone. Even Jesus wasn't well understood by most. Please, I am not saying I walk like Jesus Himself, just saying that he empathizes with my life experiences. So take heart. Keep true to the person God has made you. God made you the way you are for a reason, the best thing you can do is figure out what that reason is. Do not conform, not just to this world but to any social images and parts people play in church. As Christian we can be focused on having to live in this world while striving to be separate from world. Part of that is not participating in what we believe is ungodly behaviour or having wrong priorities. But just because something happens within the church, doesn’t make it right, and just because something happens outside the church doesn’t make it wrong. Behaviours can be “normalized” and go unquestioned. We have developed our own “culture” and I slowly realized I could no longer participate in some of it. It just felt too uncomfortable. Seek God and His will in Scripture, let Him fill your heart and let your actions come out of that. When He becomes your deepest friend that words cannot describe, you’re freed to be authentic, meaning everything God intended you to be. Sounds “cliche”, but that person God wants you to be, may come as a complete surprise even to you. No one would guess at 62 years of age that I am an older married Baptist woman. Why? Because my conversation, some of my outward dress and personal spiritual life are not typically “Baptist”. Most Christians I have met over the years in various denominations have spent most of the available time they have for church, in organized activities or attending potlucks in homes or church. I have a lot of difficulties with this. I am not comfortable getting together for mainly food and then a brief Bible study after. I am not sure what purpose this serves and it is certainly not reaching the lost as new unbelievers rarely, in my experiences, have shown up. I have enough teaching to carry me through till the Lord takes me home. I fellowship with non-Christians most and mentor a new Christian in my home because she feels uncomfortable in a church setting because of very severe negative experiences. We fellowship in restaurants, parks, pubs and shortly will be with her and her non-Christian partner playing cards some evenings where they will drink their beer, he will smoke and my husband and I will probably have wine or a cocktail only because we are not beer enthusiasts. I get together with other Christians weekly with her so she has a sense of family but nothing sanctioned by our Church. Do I go out with Christian friends just for fun? Absolutely! It is re-energizing, stress relieving and a very spiritually healthy thing to do. I find during those times some of the most important things in our lives are shared and I end up taking home lots of laughter as well as some meaningful and challenging thoughts. Wonderful times. Would I attend Bible study like meeting? Yes, if people had studied ahead of time and shared what the Lord had shown them. People sharing their lives this way has been an incredibly enriching experience for me. Can all believers do this? Absolutely. We all have the same Holy Spirit leading and teaching us. Just read Paul’s admonishment in Hebrews 5:12. I am not a card carrying “member” of a church although I have a church family and feel very much a part of it. It is enough for me that I am a member of the body of Christ. I have found most “denominations” find my type of commitment inadequate. Our commitment often goes unrecognized because we are labelled as those who lack the required commitment. There is a joy and freedom in being who God made you, which for me meant living and thinking outside the conventional Christian framework and yet still recognizing these brothers and sisters in Christ are all still my personal Christian family in the larger context of us all being a member in the body of Christ. I now understand this is to be the place where I am supposed to live, even within a denomination. And despite pressures around me saying, “conform” in order to be fully accepted into a particular church , I have had a modicum of success of being the person I believe God wants me to be for Him and for all those He loves. Hopefully, I can continue to grow in my walk with the Lord and be faithful to path He has put me on. So be courageous and bring into the light, those no one else sees, who happen to be unique in their own way, and like yourself are an integral part of the family of God. These have just been some reflections from an ‘older person’ who has decided her life has less regrets than what she originally thought.  Janice has been married to a now retired high school teacher for 42 years. She is a mother of 3 girls and grandmother of 3 girls and a boy. After completing a BA in Child Psychology she decided to stay home when her own children arrived, home school for the formative years and run a child daycare in her home. Over the next 32 years, she has had the pleasure of helping to raise over 70 children in her home. She is still doing daycare at present but only part-time as she "tries" to move into retirement. Having been a Christian since the age of 10, she has had a passionate love of God and has experienced Him and His family in a variety of church settings that have been wonderfully unique and challenging.
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Charlotte O In the American South, children are taught to address their elders as ma’am or sir. It can sound endearing to my more casual northern ears, but there is a special term for this type of appellation. It’s called an honorific, and it can make or break relationships in some cultures. In Japan or Korea, two individuals need to know their relative age and social status so they can use the correct language when talking to each other, particularly in the context of commerce. Anyone trying to do international business will hopefully get a cultural crash course in such things as how low to bow, whether to bow or shake hands at all, what kinds of gifts might be expected upon meeting, and the proper titles that should be used to address someone. Where I live, people tend to default to Mr. or Sir, or if they’re in a shop or restaurant; “Boss.” I had an experience while traveling recently where the owner of the bed and breakfast I was staying at asked me to call him “coach” instead of “boss.” It turned out he’s a dive instructor, and led our group out snorkeling. It created a sense of respect—or even trust—on the excursion, because in my mind I was already thinking of him as the coach. On that same trip, our group ate at this hole-in-the-wall type restaurant run by a lone elderly man who took great pride in the 10-course feast he cooked up for us. In chatting with him later, he asked us to call him “cousin” instead of boss. It seemed fitting, as the experience really did feel more like a family meal than a quick service transaction. Another jewelry vendor I chatted with turned out to be a mother tongue instructor at the local elementary school. Suddenly it was not a transactional relationship anymore, but we could converse as educator to educator about things of interest to us both. I thought of each of these people I met briefly on my trip cultural informants, but their stories stayed with me because I did have a name (or title) to pair with that experience or conversation. While these “island life” stories might serve to highlight some fun experiences, the deeper truth they reveal is something I’d like to explore. The names we choose to use when talking about others, or even just in our own minds, significantly alter how we approach our relationship to them. In the Bible, there are so many names for God, each revealing different aspects of God’s character. A quick Google search reveals such results as “72 names of God in Hebrew,” “900+ names and titles of God,” and “Seven names of God which are so holy they cannot be erased once written down.” Thinking on these names is a helpful spiritual practice at different times, but even the word God can mean very different things to different people. Stepping outside of Christianity for a minute, we might hear people referring to the universe, or the forces of good, or someone up there. But what does God ask us to call him? His answer sounds surprisingly similar to these things. The first story that comes to mind is Moses and the burning bush. When faced with this consuming fire, Moses wanted to know whom he should tell the people he’d heard from. Maybe he was hoping for something like “The Destroyer” or “The Breaker of Chains” (after all, this was the God of a slave nation). Maybe he was expecting it to be the God of the sun, moon or stars, since he’d grown up in Egypt where such things were worshipped as deities. Instead the answer is, simply “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). But the words and context are loaded with meaning that is anything but simple. The very source of existence is not impersonal after all, but cares about the plight of the oppressed. God is a relational God, and in this passage reminds the people of his promises to the forefathers of the nation. This God is a God who does not forget. This article is not meant to be an exercise in Old Testament scholarship though. In addition to asking what we should call God, we can also ask what does God call us? Jesus answers this question in John 15:15 (NIV) when he says “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” Songs are sung about this. Sermons are written about this. But what would our lives look like if we let this title of ‘friend’ dictate how we relate to Jesus? A friend is someone who we trust, love spending time with, can’t wait to share things with, and much more. As I illustrated in the beginning of this post, language can be used to create—or keep—a proper transactional distance or it can bring about a closer relationship based on trust, intimacy and common ground. Maybe this is why the Holy Spirit helps us when we pray and cry out “Abba, Father,” bridging the gap between our sin, our suffering, and the forgiving God who is longing to bring is near to him. Spend some time this week thinking on what words you use in your conversations with and about God. What do they reveal about you and your relationship with God? I have a theory that different denominations and generations have preferred terms for the Lord that they use in prayer or talk but it’s speculation based purely on patterns I’ve observed. However, if there are certain terms that elicit negative associations for you, be comforted that the Creator goes by many names. Remember, the words we choose to sing, say, and think create meaning and reality deeper than our awareness, defining the way we act and relate. P.S. I used the word God 19 times in this 900-word article. Perhaps that reveals something about me.  Charlotte is on the Editorial team at boldcupofcoffee.com and currently works with a non-profit organization in Taiwan where she teaches, leads English Bible studies, writes educational materials, trains teachers, poses for pictures, and a bunch of other stuff too. She is originally from Canada, spending significant amounts of time in all three westernmost provinces and the idea of home has become quite fluid. She has learned that life overseas is not as exotic as people may think, but life with God is a daily adventure.
Brian Mcnarry In 2005 Stephen Colbert launched a new word into the common vocabulary of North America during the premier episode of the Colbert Report. Only one year later this word would be deemed the “Word of the Year” by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. How does a word go from its first utterance on a popular TV show to word of the year that quickly? It must resonate with a large portion of the population, and become used in many different mediums. This word that Colbert created to describe what he saw happening in the world today, is none other than truthiness. Colbert defined truthiness as the belief that a statement is true based upon the intuition or perceptions of the listener, regardless of any logic, intellectual examination, or facts that are contrary to the statement. What’s fascinating, is that Colbert accurately recognized and promoted an entirely new ‘third category’ of truth. Now I’m sure we can look back through history and find the concept in many other decades and times, but in our recent memory and current culture, Colbert has the unique distinction of bringing this back into the common vernacular. Allow me to give a two sentence recap of objective and subjective truth before I make the comparison to truthiness truth. An objective truth is something that is true no matter what a person’s experience is. For example, the statement; “humans need oxygen to survive” is objectively true because it is always true regardless of what we may believe on the subject. A subjective truth is something that is true based upon one’s personal experience, e.g. “Starbucks is better coffee than Tim Hortons.” Now just take a beat and put down your pitchfork. remember that I said this is subjectively true, not objectively true. This is true for me based on my personal experiences and preferences. But if I try to force my subjective truth onto you as an objective truth, then I’ve crossed the line from truth into falsehood. Then there’s the third category of what Stephen Colbert called ”truthiness,” a statement that purely feels true, but can have no basis in objective—or even subjective—truth. An example of this would be if I really passionately said to you “Sharks are the most dangerous animal in the world, they’re big, powerful, fast, can sniff out blood from miles away, and have jaws designed to tear flesh apart to maim and kill.” This might feel true, and maybe I’ve convinced you to accept this as true, but in reality the simple mosquito is way more dangerous to human life. (The World Health Organization estimates that 725,000 people per year die of mosquito borne diseases each year, a lot higher than the 6-8 deaths worldwide due to sharks.) So if our world is constantly shouting a mix of objective, subjective, and truthiness truth at us, how do we figure out the difference so that we can be informed and educated? I wish there was a simple test that I could give you that would figure it out and give you a green, yellow, or red light answer, but no such thing exists. Instead we have to discern and wrestle through the information we are presented with to decide what is true and what is false. Discernment (the act of deciding what is true and what is not), can be difficult, but it is vitally important to having a clear understanding of the world. This isn’t a new phenomenon, but the current state of politics and world affairs is certainly bringing it to the forefront. If we go all the way back in time to the New Testament letter to the Hebrew believers, we see this tension already happening. The recipients of this letter were a group of early Christians who were considering renouncing their faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Saviour, and returning to Judaism. After laying out the initial evidence for why Jesus is the Messiah in chapters 1 to 5, chapter 5 ends with this statement: There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. - Hebrews 5:11-14 NLT (emphasis added) I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to be called “spiritually dull” and told that I “don’t seem to listen.” These words are a harsh rebuke, but the reason for this rebuke is that the recipients have not grown in maturity. The effect of maturity is plainly laid out in verse 14: Mature believers are ones who have learned the skill of deciding between right and wrong, or in other words, between true and false. Knowing the differences between what is true and false is not something that instantly happens. Discerning truth takes training and that it needs to be regarded as a skill to be developed with time and practice. We can’t just wake up one day and expect to instantly be able to cut through all the noise, falsehoods, and truthiness in the world to get to truth all by itself. Part of the process of growing in our discernment of truth, means that we will encounter truth that makes us reevaluate our previously held beliefs and understandings. Sometimes our old view is simply wrong and must be replaced, or maybe it was just incomplete and will become resilient as we learn more about the topic at hand. So how do we actually take steps to move forward to maturity and growing our skill as people who discern the truth? I don’t think I have all the answers, but there are some common starting points that I hope you’ll consider acting on in your daily life. 1. If we want to see truth in the world, then we need to be truth. Instead of starting with other people who may be spreading false content, start with your own actions. Ask this question: When I say something, post something, or write something, am I being truthful? Take social media for example: We can’t control the actions of other people, nor can we control what other people or organizations say, post, or share. So say this with me: “I am not the internet truth police.” But what I can do, is make sure that everything I say, write, post, and share online is true. Being an internet truth warrior who calls out and attacks content online, even if it is a blatant lie, rarely gets results. Sharing and promoting truth will always be more effective than attacking and tearing down what is false. 2. When we encounter ‘truth’ that makes us scratch our heads, ask questions that will get us to the truth. Remember what Hebrews said about discerning right from wrong and true from false; this is a learned skill that is achieved through growing to maturity. When someone makes a statement, (be it in person, a blog, a tweet, or a Facebook post) that you feel unsure about, take the time to research it and get to the bottom of it. Asking questions and seeking out answers is how we learn, and as we learn we grow. Part of asking questions is considering the source that the information comes from, and looking for collaborating sources. With how vast the internet is, it’s highly unlikely you’re the first person to ever ask this question. And as you dig toward the bottom and find truth, don’t be afraid of nuance. The truth we work toward may not be as simple and catchy as the tweet that gets reshared thousands of times. This means it will take effort to get past the sound bites, and into more thorough treatments of the truth. If you want to avoid bias, look for multiple sources from different perspectives. If you’re looking into a news item, find multiple sources from different organizations and filter them against each other. 3. When dealing with social media, pause and ask: Does this need to be shared?* This comes back to my first point about needing to be truthful if we want to see truth in the world. When it comes to social media we can click the share or retweet buttons in a fraction of a second, but if we pause to ask “am I promoting truth by sharing this post?” We could make a huge difference in the content that gets shared to our friends and family each day. *Editor’s Note: Unless it’s from Bold Cup of Coffee, then it’s always good to share. 4. Don’t be a jerk. Being a jerk is rarely equated with maturity. Even when someone is completely true and right about what they are saying, if they are offensive and a jerk about it, no one is likely to listen to them. Now you might want to respond by saying “but isn’t it the most loving and caring thing to point out when other people are wrong?” Well yes, but this is only partially true. The true test of if you are being loving in your actions if the recipient feels loved by your actions. You may have all the best intentions in the world of being loving and honest, but if you’re a jerk about it, then no one will listen. Remember this: We will have a greater influence in our culture by being truthful, than we will by tearing down untruths. I hope that this gives you some framework and deciding what is true, and some first steps you can try in your daily life. Discerning what is true and what is false is a skill that is getting increasingly more important in the pace of today’s world. It will take effort on your part, but the result of that work can shape our world for the better.  Brian's whole understanding of faith and Christianity changed when he started to encounter what it means to live life with God instead of for God. One thing that Brian is passionate about is walking with people as they explore their faith in Christ and learning how to honestly seek God in the midst of our doubts and fears. Brian is the Pastor of Grand Valley Community Church in Brandon Manitoba. He is married to Nikki and they have one daughter named Olivia. When Brian isn't working on a sermon at a Starbucks or at home with his family, you can usually find him fly fishing or building model air planes. To read more of Brian's articles, click here.
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Robert Dodman Let me start off by saying that I am not a teacher or leader within the walls of my church. I have no formal college or university degree from any institution. What I do have is a history that drives my intent to write this article. I was born and raised in a small town in northern Alberta, Canada where I still live today. As long as I can remember I have desired to know God. My mom tells me that I had received salvation on a family trip when I was four. When I was eight years old I started walking to the church that I still attend. Watching the ebb and flow of people in my community and the church has revealed a few things to me. One of the things that rears its head no matter where you are, is that people can respond poorly to those in leadership. The sister issue to this is the desire of people to see the power removed from these positions or stated another way a push toward self rule. Now by having lived in the same town my entire life it may seem that I could not be aware of the issues in other cities, towns, or churches. While that may have been true a few years ago, the advent of our connected generation has made it possible to interact with people in many different locations and with many different views (such as the group within Bold Cup of Coffee). What never ceases to amaze me is the similarity of problems that are within any group of people, whether they be Christian or secular, employees or volunteers. As a person, with a history of being under the authority of leaders and teachers, at times I had misgivings or dislike for the character of the leader I was required to submit to. At other times I gave improper responses to those in authority over me. I also learned by watching how other people responded to their authorities, with all the varying degrees of success and failure. How many times have we stood around the water cooler, sat at a coffee table, or ate in a work lunchroom, and listened to people tear apart any person that may have an ounce of authority or that may take charge in a situation? This shows the true colours of the human spirit. The disregard we have for ‘minor’ laws like speed limits, copyrights, seat belts, and the way we chafe at correction and instruction all speak to this truth. Ever since that fateful day when mankind willfully and knowingly rebelled against the command of God, we have been doing this to each other. This attitude has been smuggled into the four walls of the church, and is unknowingly carried within the heart. This is just what Satan intended when he asked that pivotal question: “Did God REALLY say……?” Within the initial question that the serpent asked is the very groundwork for the lack of faith in authority that we see today. In a society where rebels, anti-heroes, and villains are applauded and even idolized, authority and leadership are touchy subjects. Movies and TV shows reinforce this by casting authorities in a negative light and making all people that reject them heroes. The attitudes that are applauded in such films are disdain of parents, hatred of police, rejection of law, distrust of government, or rejection of rule, but If we travel those roads I fear we are in trouble. This stands in stark contrast to the instruction given to the church in Hebrews 5:8 that Jesus learned obedience through the things that he suffered, and the example of the Bereans, who studied the scriptures to see that these things are so (Acts 17:10-11). They questioned, yes, but they were not rebellious, they searched for answers. The message of the world may be to question authority, but are we not told to weigh all things against the authority of scripture? If this is true it doesn't mean that we are to blindly obey all edicts from our earthly authorities. We are to be aware of those that are over us and respect them highly for the work they do (1 Thess. 5:12-13). But the Apostles gave us this caveat in Acts 5:29: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Authorities on earth are all human and will have flaws. There are abuses by authority, but do we not also abuse our grace at times? Life is a balancing act, and the balance between total blind submission and complete rebellion is tricky to be sure. But I believe that we are better to err toward submission than rebellion, as there are blessings associated with obedience but we are warned about rebellion. None of us have this perfectly practiced, but do we not deceive ourselves when we think that disobedience is a Godly trait? When we enter this battle between our natural rebellious nature and the submission to a loving God that we are called to in scripture, we find ourselves in a tangled web of emotions, traditions, teachings, deceptions, and opinions. With all of that against us, can we humble ourselves and ask for the light of scripture and power of God to free us from our desires, so that we will see authority the way God meant for us to see it?  Husband to Ana, the love of his life, and father to two awesome boys: Eliot and Josue, Robert is a Born Again, spirit filled, tongue talking, believer in Christ Jesus the Risen Lord and Saviour. A hands on worker, and lifelong learner, he is drawn to those that can challenge thinking and increase knowledge. Having an overly analytical mind, he tries to remain relevant on earth while thinking deeply on things of life and faith.
Charlotte O It’s a scene we’ve seen at countless church service, camps and concerts. The speaker tells everyone to close their eyes and raise their hands (or stand) if they want to accept Jesus. It’s a scene we’ve seen because it’s probably going to show up in promotional videos and newsletters to supporters (making a bit of a liar of the speaker who says “no one is watching except God”). It’s a moment we rejoice and celebrate over, and rightly so: young souls have begun a journey with God by responding to a gospel plea. It may even be a moment from your own life. I’ve been part of a team praying in the back in that moment. I’ve been a leader saying the words of a prayer line by line on stage for others to repeat. And I must confess, I’ve wondered if it’s all just manipulation. Before you dismiss my cynicism, let’s honestly consider a few factors for a moment: authority, peer pressure, and fear. Authority Before we start counting our numbers, we should think about what it really means for children to raise their hands when asked by an adult to do so. Children who are taught from a young age to listen to their elders and teachers, to be compliant with what the grownups say, and to be “good.” Are they really able to understand the significance of what they are being asked to do? And at what age? There are droves of books about this, to be sure, but is really important to consider the power differential in place. Are we inviting or commanding? Do children feel they truly have a choice? Or do they feel they might gain favor with you if they do raise their hand? Suddenly this simple action has gotten a lot more complicated. Peer Pressure To add to that, young people care a LOT about what others think, especially their peers. Sure, eyes are closed, but you can hear the movement around you as others stand. There may even be prompts, such as “Anyone else?” I’ve experienced this first-hand in scenarios of speaking in tongues, bible memorization, baptism and other Christian contexts too. You wouldn’t want to be the only one who raised your hand, or didn’t! As an adult, you may not be able to do much about the peer pressure factor, but it is something that could be activated depending on the words you choose. When a child sees others being praised by an adult, they may want to copy that behavior in order to get the same preferential treatment. Fear If you died tonight, do you know where you would go? Giving someone a choice between heaven and hell is kind of a no-brainer. But does framing the message in those terms really help bring people into relationship with God? It’s pretty hard to have a relationship with someone you’re terrified of. This is not a post about the existence of hell, but what we believe about heaven, hell, and the end times will certainly have a huge effect on how we present the gospel message. Is someone who says a prayer once automatically saved from hell, even if they never enter a church or give another thought to God for the rest of their life? Is there a discernable moment between unsaved and saved? Again, it really depends on what you believe, but I would love to see us presenting a God so good (because He IS) that the offer of knowing him and being known by him sends us running to his love and salvation rather than desperately praying to escape his judgment. Does this mean we should stop? Some might say yes. But with all that I’ve written, I want to say that I believe children’s ministry is important work. I regularly pray for people to come to know God at an early age, because I truly believe it will transform them and give them strength for the trials of life to come. But I want that journey to be authentic. I think it does more harm than good when kids are pressured or guilted into an acceptance of God. However, many well-intentioned people have added factors of power, pressure and fear of punishment to their presentation of the gospel, maybe without even realizing the impact it can have. Finally, it’s disingenuous when we focus so much on numbers. Above all, I am aware that I have no business judging the salvation of another person. As Romans 10:9 reminds us, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” It is a privilege to be one who can give that invitation, but what happens in the heart of someone else has absolutely nothing to do with me.  Charlotte is on the Editorial team at boldcupofcoffee.com and currently works with a non-profit organization in Taiwan where she teaches, leads English Bible studies, writes educational materials, trains teachers, poses for pictures, and a bunch of other stuff too. She is originally from Canada, spending significant amounts of time in all three westernmost provinces and the idea of home has become quite fluid. She has learned that life overseas is not as exotic as people may think, but life with God is a daily adventure. Read more article by Charlotte.
Kevin Seguin I don't understand Christian vegetarians and vegans. That's not entirely true, I understand people who want to lead a healthy lifestyle and see vegetarianism and veganism as a pathway towards that. What I truly don't understand is how people who believe the Bible to be true can possibly have an ethical problem with the concept of eating meat. Here's why: That cow/pig/chicken is dead. More than that, it has never been alive. This isn't only livestock I'm talking about, but rather every member of the animal kingdom including man's best friend himself, your dog. Not only will your dog not go to heaven, I contend that it was never “alive” (at least for the purposes I’ll be making here) to begin with. That's right, I'm that guy. I'm the guy who's going to tell his kids; no, our bearded dragon won't be waiting for you in heaven and neither will either of your fish or that butterfly we nursed from an egg. There are a couple reasons why I'm this kind of killjoy, this kind of spoilsport. The first is that it is the truth and I make it a policy not to lie to my kids. The second is a little more serious; believing that our pets will be in heaven devalues human life. But let's deal with the fun one first. So why do I say these horrible things about our best friends? About our companions who never judge and only ever accept us? Besides, how can I say they're not alive when clearly, I mean, look at them...running around, jumping, eating, breathing! They “live” in the biological sense, yes, but I would argue that the “life” of a dog is closer to the “life” of a tree than a human. Let me explain. In Genesis 1 God creates everything. He forms the world and then He fills it with stuff. He fills it with water, air, dirt, plants, animals, and, most importantly, with us. In Genesis 2, we get a bit of a closer look into that process. In the Genesis 2, we get an up close and personal description of the creation of Humans. Here's the interesting thing about that: God breathes life into humans and humanity. We get "the breath of life".
The breath of life was given to you and to me, we are the image bearers – the standard bearers of God. Your cat may believe it is a god, but that doesn’t make it so. We are 'alive' in a way that the rest of the animal kingdom is not. We possess the breath of life, the Imago Dei. That's worth something. We live in a funny world now too. We live in a world that devalues the lives that it ought to protect and over-values lives that frankly do not have the same value as a human life. Life comes from God. He is the creator and sustainer of life. Shouldn't He also be the one to define it? God gives the breath of life to humans, and I'd argue that makes us special. It puts us above other created things (such as plants and animals) on an existential level. I am alive in a way that a dog, cow, or tree will never and can never be. Now, none of this is ever to negate the responsibility we have to steward all of creation. It is wrong to mistreat or cause unnecessary suffering to an animal though not because of the outcome for the animal, rather because of what it says about the person. The person who takes pleasure in destruction—pleasure in causing pain is much more in need of rescue than the breath-of-life-less animal they are injuring. But I'm biased. I'm a meat-eater. So I would love to have some dialogue with a Christian vegetarian or vegan. Help me to understand why you view life this way. Who knows? Unlikely as it is, you might convince me! Because as far as I understand life in the Bible, your dog is dead, and it always has been.  As a Biblical conservative, a cultural Liberal, a husband, a dad, and a pastor, I want to see the church act differently in the world. My big passion in ministry is to see how believers can bring the Gospel into the world around them while pursuing the lost art of winsomeness. It is what fuels me and drives me to write. Engaging culture with the truth of the Gospel in a way that is winsome, wise, and as Colossians 4:6 directs us: “seasoned with salt.” It’s my hope that what I say here helps you not only in your own faith, but helps you share it more effectively and fruitfully.
Kevin Seguin Have you ever had someone ask you to pray for them? Of course, you have, we all have. If you are like me, you've agreed to pray, why wouldn't you? Also if you're like me, you're not 100% when it comes to actually remembering to pray for the thing you said you'd pray for. This happened to me recently; it was kind of a big deal. Friends of my wife and I were pregnant. More than that, labour had begun. My wife was with her friend and I was at work. I got a text message. Essentially, things weren't going exactly to plan, and I was asked to pray. "Of course!" I said. I meant it. It was important. I didn't though. In the moment where I agreed to pray, I couldn't. I was at work and my attention was pulled towards something where I couldn't split my focus. By the time I had the opportunity, of course, I had forgotten. By the time I did remember to pray for my friends, the request was moot. Nothing bad had happened, no one was ill or sick. Mom and baby were fine. No serious issues. The guilt I felt though was real. I said I'd pray and I didn't, and it was important and I dropped the ball. Have you ever been there? Where I was in that moment? That sense of failure and unfaithfulness? I dropped the ball. But the Lord never drops it. God literally never drops the ball. I considered listing a number of Bible verses about how God is faithful and fulfils His promises...But then I'd just be listing most of the verses in the Bible! God is faithful. It's just what He is! That realization was a blessing to my heart. God's faithfulness isn't dependant on mine. That baby, and my friends' fates don't depend on whether or not I prayed. This is a relief. Now, there are a few things I want to avoid here. First, this isn't to absolve me of wrongdoing. I should have prayed because I believe people ought to do the things they commit to doing. That was certainly a failure on my part. Second, I don't want to go too far down a rabbit trail about God's sovereignty and fate. Yes, this child's fate was known before the foundation of the earth, that doesn't change the fact that I should have prayed. But God is faithful when my faithfulness is lacking. That's my point here. Many people talk a lot about prayer, and what its purpose is. It's not to change God's mind, and it's not to ensure His faithfulness. Prayer is (among other things) about your heart. Yes, God wants us to pray for others, for the sick, for our leaders, and those who don't yet know Him. In all those things, however, God will ultimately do what He desires. God doesn't do what we want unless what we want agrees with what He wants. That's why I say prayer is about our hearts. As we pray throughout our lives, if we see and take note of how God responds with intentionality, eventually our hearts become conformed more and more to His desires. So for me, seeing God be faithful when I had failed was mind-blowing and prompted a moment of worship and repentance for me. God is faithful, even (perhaps especially) when I am not. Amen to that.  As a Biblical conservative, a cultural Liberal, a husband, a dad, and a pastor, I want to see the church act differently in the world. My big passion in ministry is to see how believers can bring the Gospel into the world around them while pursuing the lost art of winsomeness. It is what fuels me and drives me to write. Engaging culture with the truth of the Gospel in a way that is winsome, wise, and as Colossians 4:6 directs us: “seasoned with salt.” It’s my hope that what I say here helps you not only in your own faith, but helps you share it more effectively and fruitfully.
 I had the privilege, recently, to see something that doesn't happen every day. Our church's lead pastor had the opportunity to baptize his son. It was a beautiful moment in the life of the church. Our pastor, who usually is a picture of composure on the platform, was noticeably emotional, and his voice even cracked a few times as he prepared to baptize his boy. As a guy who has served as a pastor in the past, it was emotional for me as well. I look forward with hope and anticipation to the day where, Lord willing, I'll have the chance to baptize my own kids. It was great to be a witness to God's faithfulness in my pastor's life, and look ahead to hopefully celebrating that same kind of faithfulness in my own some day in the future. Except it might not happen. I may not have the occasion or opportunity to baptize my own kids. Setting aside, for a moment, the possibility that my own kids don't become believers, I'm not a pastor right now, and there are zero guarantees that I will be when they are ready. And after all, only pastors baptize right? I was baptized by my pastor, the same one from my story above. and I'd wager that those of you reading, especially from a believer's baptism perspective, have also been baptized by your pastor or some other formal leader within your church. Perhaps a deacon, elder, or ministry leader. But why do we do it this way? Why do pastors baptize? I imagine there are many reasons for this, and most of them are good. Pastors baptize because they are the 'face' of the church. They're visible, and accustomed to doing this type of thing in front of a crowd. Many people would say that baptisms are a crucial part of a pastor's job. I'd agree. I'd even add that it is one of the happiest duties of a pastor. The more Liturgical or "High Churches" tend to list baptism as a sacrament and thus, reserve it for ordained ministers. But I am increasingly convinced that when we insist, or worse relegate, baptism to the office of pastor or "ministry leader" we lose something meaningful that we were each meant to experience as individual believers. Let me show you what I mean. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." This oft-quoted passage in Matthew is, of course, the first part of the great commission. In this passage, Jesus is speaking to the eleven remaining disciples and letting them know what the next part of the mission is. Namely: "Go tell everyone about me and the Good News of what I've done. When they believe, baptize them." Shouldn't we all then be baptizing new believers as the Lord gives us the opportunity? More importantly, why do we let our pastors hog all the fun? Now, it can certainly be argued that Jesus, here, was speaking to the eleven and that His instruction was to and for them and for modern day church leaders by extension. However, nobody says that about evangelism, or about sharing our faith in general, no, that is for all of us and rightly so. If we are all called to share our faith with others, why don't we get the opportunity to "close the deal" as it were? When I was in ministry, baptism was a great joy that I had, but I always encouraged the people I baptized to choose someone else to baptize them. Someone who was important or instrumental in their faith journeys. Nobody ever took me up on it; in fact, most of them looked at me funny for even suggesting it. Now, don't misunderstand me. I don't think it's wrong that pastors baptize, nor do I believe that baptism ought to be foisted upon all of the members of Christianity, many of whom are already bashful or insecure about sharing their faith in the first place. What I am advocating here is a focused effort to bring people into one of the most important facets of Christian life. Baptizing new believers. If you are a pastor reading this, consider asking baptismal candidates (or whatever phrase your church uses) if there is anyone they would like to baptize them or even "co-baptize" and have two people baptizing one candidate. Assuming, of course, the person baptizing is a baptized believer themselves. If you are reading this and considering baptism, think about this. Who was important in your journey to this point? Who was it who showed you Christ so clearly so that you now want to be publicly numbered among His people? Would you consider asking them to play a role in this big moment in your life? Baptism is a step of obedience for a believer and an important one at that. But perhaps God is asking you to be obedient in taking this step of maturity as well. If you are a follower of Christ, don't think about this as "one more thing I'm supposed to do now." Think of it more like: "Getting to reap the first fruits of the harvest." One of the things pastors struggle with is breaking through the "sacred/secular" divide. Your pastors desperately want you to become more active in the life of the church. This might just be one chink in that divide that might be the easiest to lose.  As a Biblical conservative, a cultural Liberal, a husband, a dad, and a pastor, I want to see the church act differently in the world. My big passion in ministry is to see how believers can bring the Gospel into the world around them while pursuing the lost art of winsomeness. It is what fuels me and drives me to write. Engaging culture with the truth of the Gospel in a way that is winsome, wise, and as Colossians 4:6 directs us: “seasoned with salt.” It’s my hope that what I say here helps you not only in your own faith, but helps you share it more effectively and fruitfully.
Kevin Seguin Well, it has happened again. Somebody said something, tweeted something, wrote a cartoon, produced a piece of art, or otherwise presented an opinion. Then their world exploded. It's an all too common story these days and a recent personal experience gave me a new perspective on the issue. I was recently involved in a discussion which, while it remained civil, didn't seem to produce much fruit at the end of the day. The specific topic doesn't matter so much because I think we've all had similar experiences. Out of the whole experience, the phrase that stuck out to me the most was this one: "Your intent doesn't matter nearly as much as the impact it has on [others]." This phrase crystallized a thought I had been having for a while but couldn't quite put my finger on. I had, like many of you, been frustrated by the new cultural reality that "No matter what you say, SOMEBODY is going to be offended." This competition between a speaker's intent and the impact of their words helped me to understand something profound about our culture. We have become truly intellectually lazy. We are confronted with so much information and data these days, that it is much easier to simply be offended by something that we disagree with or that challenges our worldview. It's simpler to be blindly offended than to try and dig into what was said, interpret it correctly, and gain an understanding of the other person and their thoughts. We still might be offended, but at least it will be offence at what the author meant to say. When I was a young boy my mother used to tell me not to "judge someone else until I've walked a mile in their moccasins." These days she'd be accused of cultural appropriation. Her intent however, wasn't to appropriate native culture, but rather to teach me the importance of understanding the other side of an issue before coming to a conclusion myself. In my experience, this is something that vast swathes of people are no longer interested in doing. Words have power. Nobody who is being honest denies that. Words also, however, have many meanings, and their meanings become even broader when we see the context in which they are written. Additionally, we communicate more and more in text form, even though we know that most of our communication and meaning comes from non-verbal cues and body language. It's much easier to read words on a page and decide what they mean to us rather than spending the time and effort to figure out what the writer meant to say. The power of words is almost immeasurable. A misinterpreted statement can lead to someone's entire life being ruined. Remember Justine Sacco? How about the meme one dumb tweet spawned #hasjustinelanded? For the unfamiliar, Sacco was a PR rep who tweeted a really poorly thought-out joke that went super-viral while she was on a plane. Jon Ronson wrote a great piece on the whole affair. Ronson raises a few great points about public shaming, its history, and punishments fitting their crimes. I really encourage you to read it. We ought to take the time and care to read things well, to suss out the meaning that the writers intend, to make sure we get the intended meaning right before we get offended and call down the wrath of the internet on people. Am I defending the Sacco tweet? Of course not, it was (and still remains) a stupid joke that went beyond its intended audience. Someone in PR really ought to have known better, but should she really have had to lose her job over it? Does that punishment fit that crime? The impact that our words have matters, it matters a great deal. But does it matter more than the intent? Allow me to submit that it does not. Intent matters more. Intent ought to matter much more! If we get the intent wrong, the impact we feel, especially when we are wronged or offended, is manufactured by us. It isn't real. It's "fake offense." There is a lot to be offended by in the world today. We have much more power to effect change through the Internet today than ever. Let's not misuse that power. Let's make sure we get offended for the right reasons, and let's seek justice for the truly wronged.  As a Biblical conservative, a cultural Liberal, a husband, a dad, and a pastor, I want to see the church act differently in the world. My big passion in ministry is to see how believers can bring the Gospel into the world around them while pursuing the lost art of winsomeness. It is what fuels me and drives me to write. Engaging culture with the truth of the Gospel in a way that is winsome, wise, and as Colossians 4:6 directs us: “seasoned with salt.” It’s my hope that what I say here helps you not only in your own faith, but helps you share it more effectively and fruitfully.
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