In the sparkly season of Christmas, I often feel out of sync when life is stressful or dark or just full of emotions. I know that Christmas can be full of happiness for many people, but sometimes I just feel the pressure to do Christmas “right” when I can’t muster up the requisite joy on my own.
Read MoreToday’s reading in Isaiah is such a clear picture of a world I want to be a part of. Isaiah invites us to imagine a future in which God’s reign is at the centre of our world. A future where God’s judgment, true and just, begins to settle the disputes of many peoples.
Read MoreTomorrow is the beginning of Advent. Here on the New Leaf Blog, we are going to be journeying through Advent together with writers from across Canada. The New Leaf Network is a Canadian network spread across this northern country.
Read MoreAt a bible camp in 1978, I gave my heart to Jesus. It wasn’t because I learned how good he was or actually, anything about God. I just didn’t want to go to hell. I was taught a hyper-Arminian view of God in those days. This view is summarized by this: if you sin and suddenly die, you will go straight to hell. So my view of God
Read MoreOne of the common things that I hear when people talk to me about women being preachers, particularly among those new to the idea, is the statement: “I’ve never seen it.” Sometimes this is a statement meant to express a simple lack of experience, often said with regret. Other times it is meant to
Read MoreFor years, while my children were growing up, I had a tradition of sitting down, sometime over Christmas, and reading to them from William Kurelek’s, A Northern Nativity: Christmas Dreams of a Prairie Boy (1976). I didn’t grow up on the prairies but have lived there
Read MoreThe song “Linus and Lucy” made it’s television debut in 1965 as part of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Since then, the song has become one of the most recognizable tunes in the lexicon of popular jazz music and is now synonymous with Charles Schulz’s beloved Peanuts characters. People may recognize the religious significance of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special
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