The Plodding Preacher

The Antrim Coast on a beautiful day.  What a joy to be able to share such beauty in God's creation with family.

It has always been a strange thing for me to return to Northern Ireland, the place of my birth.  I was only four years old when my family emigrated from Belfast to Canada.  I have lived 47 years in my adopted country.  By every reasonable expectation, Canada ought to be the place where I feel most comfortable.  Yet every time I come to Northern Ireland, I come home.  I cannot adequately explain this sensation, but there is a feeling that I get here that I get nowhere else in the world.  It is home. I sometimes wonder if this is a tiny bit like what it will be my first day in heaven.  Though I may live 60, 70 or even 80 years in his world, I will immediately feel at home when I cross the threshold of Glory.  Though I have not been there yet, I believe that I will feel more at home than I have ever felt in this world. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.  Yes, we are of good cou

After 9 days in the United Kingdom, we have now visited four castles.  Today we were at Caer Laverock near Dumfries.  As we were visiting the castle it hit me that these grand structures are actually evidence for the Biblical doctrine of total depravity.  Castles speak of conflict.  They speak of the lengths one must take to stop someone from taking what is yours.  They bear evidence to the fact that no matter what lengths to which one goes, there is always someone who will go to greater lengths to destroy what is yours.  I wish it were not true, but evil is a part of this world.  It's power will only finally broken by the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gift of the Spirit to all who repent and believe. John Stott

I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.  I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. (Eze 34:14-15 ESV)   This has been our western view from our cottage this week in Scotland.  The peak is Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the U.K.

When through the woods and forest glades I wander and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees; when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, and hear the brook, and feel he gentle breeze; Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, how great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Meriam: “I am a Christian, and a Christian I shall remain” by   Jesse Johnson Meriam Yehya Ibrahim is married, 27-years-old, mother to a 20-month old son, 8-months pregnant, and last week was sentenced to death for being a Christian.   Her story is not all that uncommon. Her father was Muslim, and her mother was an ethnic Christian. As is common in much of the world—including the United States—Muslim men frequently marry non-Muslim women, because by Islamic tradition their children are considered Muslim. It frankly doesn’t matter what the children of that religious mish-mash marriage actually believe about God or faith; because the father was Muslim, so are the children. Period. These kind of marriage don’t often last—but that is not their point. Their point is simply to expand Islam through the children. Such was the case for Meriam. Her parents had two children, herself and a brother. Her father then left her mother to raise both of them. Her mother came to faith in Chr

    These are our closest neighbours this week.  We are in the beautiful, but very wet, Scottish Highlands.  The scenery has been breath-taking and the company has been wonderful.  However, we are all still a little bit jet-lagged and some things are more funny when you are tired.  Have you ever had the experience of driving through a puddle and accidentally splashing someone on the sidewalk?  Twice in the last twenty-four hours our dear little sheepie neighbours have been on the receiving end of my driving splashes.  I have never seen a lamb look so offended. 

The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to him is not to believe that he loves you. John Owen

I never really saw the excitement in staying up all night.  Oh, I suppose as a young person there was the little rebellion of not being subject to parent's rules about bedtime.  We somehow believed that grown-ups got to go to bed whenever they wanted.  What a joke.  We all need sleep. Having just spent the night flying to Scotland, I am reminded again that God made us with a need for rest.  Without rest our thinking is screwy, our tempers are short or we get giddy and silly.  We function best when we get the rest that God designed for us. And for those who have been praying for us - the Todd clan has arrived safely in Glasgow - and we are going to get some rest.

Tim Challies has made the task of blogging into an art-form.  His blogs are contemporary, relevant, thoughtful, and, best of all, thoroughly biblical.  Besides that, following his blog has two major perks.  Each week he includes a blog that lists the latest in good Christian books available at cut-rate prices on kindle.  As well, HE IS CANADIAN.  He ministers at a church in the GTA.  I know that is very nationalistic of me, but there are so few good Christian writers coming from a Canadian perspective that we must cherish those who minister to us north of the border. Tim Challies

The world correctly has been outraged by the kidnapping of the 276 Nigerian girls by the terrorist group Boko Haram.  We pray that God will protect them from these criminals who intend to sell them as sex slaves and deliver them to return to their families.  However, lost amid all the media attention on this case, is the reason these girls were kidnapped.  They are Christians.  Boko Haram is Muslim.  This is another incident of the horrendous persecution of the church of Jesus by Muslim insurgents and terrorists in Nigeria.  It infuriates me the way the press makes it appear that this is an equal opportunity conflict with vicious Christians on one side and vicious Muslims on the other.  It is not.  The only crime those on the Christian side of the conflict have been guilty of has been having faith in Jesus instead of Mohammed.  Those poor little girls have received this despicable treatment purely due to the fact that they are identified with Christ.

Have you noticed the change?  There was a time when the announcement of an impending birth would have brought nothing but joy and congratulations.  Not so any more.  Now people are concerned about how it might affect a person's lifestyle - "how can you possibly afford another?"  Or perhaps they worry about one more carbon footprint being forced on old mother earth.  It definitely will have an adverse effect upon your career.  The results of this change are evident every day in our world.  Children are disposable.  We abort them by the thousands for the sake of our lifestyle.  The ones we keep, we subject to social experimenting that would make some of the worst historical dictators blush.  How very sad.  I believe that each baby conceived in this world is a miracle of God's providence.  Hence, each and every one of them ought to be cherished as a special blessing given to us by God himself.  For those of us in Christ's church, the sound of that baby crying in

An ounce of mother is worth more than a pound of clergy. Spanish proverb

It is almost a joke to imagine I am introducing John MacArthur Jr. to you.  In our circles of evangelicalism his is a well known name.  He has spoken at the national convention of our Fellowship of Evangelical Baptists on at least three different occasions.  However, the last of these was almost twenty years ago.  I believe that is because we have changed as a Fellowship and have strayed from the message that Dr. MacArthur preaches.  Dr. MacArthur has served his congregation since 1969.  That, in itself, should commend this man's message to us. As a pastor, I appreciate his commitment to the expository preaching of the Bible.  He has published an entire New Testament commentary set based upon his faithful preaching of the text.  I have never met this man personally, but I have appreciated him laying down a faithful path which younger men, like myself, have been able to follow. Grace to You  

The news has been saturated these last few weeks with the story of a National Basketball Association owner who was recorded making some racist comments.  Everyone was bubbling over with righteous indignation and the hue and cry went up to punish him for his crimes.  Within a few short days the commissioner of the league passed down a sentence that included a 2.5 million dollar fine and a life-time ban from the league.  All the other owners were going to meet in order to determine whether he ought to even be allowed to continue owning the team. I do not wish to make any sort of direct comment on this situation.  However, I do want to make one observation.  The world considers the church to be self-righteous.  We are haters.  We are intolerant.  We do not offer any grace or mercy in our judgment.  Yet, may I observe that when the world's standard is violated, there is no room for forgiveness or repentance.  The ban was life-time.  There was no possibility of restoration or reconcil

  One of my brother-in-law's favourite hymns by an artist he appreciated.

The best we can hope for in this life is a knothole peek at the shining realities ahead. Yet a glimpse is enough. It's enough to convince our hearts that whatever sufferings and sorrows currently assail us aren't worthy of comparison to that which waits over the horizon. Joni Eareckson Tada

As I process the tragic events of this past week, the inevitable question becomes "Why?"  It is a question that is at once natural and normal and also one that very well could drive one to distraction.  As I go to God's Word, I find some clues and hints that might eventually lead to answering that question.  However, on the whole, I discover that it is a question in which Scripture does not place great interest.  Instead, the Bible focuses on "Who?" in times of great distress and tragedy.  Who - can we trust in such a time?  Who - will carry us through the grief that we are feeling?  Who - will keep His promises made to His children? I cannot answer why God has taken my brother-in-law Ken after just 57 years in this world, but I can answer who has taken him.  God - has taken him into his eternal home in heaven.  God - has given him joy for evermore.  God - has kept his promises made to Ken when he trusted his eternal destiny to Jesus Christ the Lord.  God - wi

Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. (Mar 10:29-30 ESV)   I have seen these verses in action this week.  As our family mourns the loss of our dear loved one, a multitude of brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers have rallied around us.  We have felt the love of the great family of God surround us and minister to us this week.  We have not been left alone in our grief, but have had the children of God mourn with us as we mourn.    What a blessing you all are.  I wish I could reach through the internet and hug each and every one of you.  You are God's precious gift to our family in this time and we thank God for you all.