I remember once, I was at home by myself, and I started playing piano (not very well, mind you: Vicki is the piano player in our house). So there I was enjoying playing, I’d hit my stride, I was caught up in playing, I was “in the zone” when Vicki came home and realized I didn’t hear her come in. So, she walked right up beside me  Read More

Six years ago my husband announced he was going to take some classes in making stained glass. Who randomly decides to do this!? I can understand taking up baking or even dance but stained glass? It wasn’t on my radar but not wanting to be left out of this new adventure, I tagged along. I was transported to a world where words like “fid, foiling, and patina” became part of my vocabulary. It wasn’t long before I could mentally walk through each step of creating a piece of stained glass from scoring the glass to polishing it.  Read More

Have you ever been travelling in a foreign country when you heard a language from your home country? I’m not sure there’s a sweeter sound in the world than hearing a language you understand, in a place you didn’t expect to hear it. All of a sudden, you’re no longer alone and on your own. There are roughly 7,000 languages in the world, but the language you understand, the language that you learned to speak when you grew up, that language is the sweetest.  Read More

As Pentecostals, we believe that the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit is for all believers. Speaking in tongues is a sign of this infilling. It is evidence that the Holy Spirit has filled us. If he fills us, he lives inside us. This is the fellowship that we want with God. It’s important for us to understand why we need this infilling and how we receive it. Why are we filled with the Holy Spirit? In short, because we need help.  Read More

I remember my grandmother and other ladies in the various churches I’ve been a part of have had different bible verses framed in needlepoint around her house. In all my time, in every church I’ve been a part of, I have never seen any of the verses in Acts 1:15-26 needlepointed anywhere. Ever. (And, understandably) But consider this: these verses talk about how the followers of Jesus handled a vacant leadership position.  Read More

Prayer is essential to our relationship with God because it keeps us centred on His will and purpose for our lives. We need to remember God loves when we pray and He hears when we call on Him. Prayers offered in faith open the floodgates of heaven causing incredible change and remarkable results. Prayer is a conversation that involves talking and listening. Just as...  Read More

I love those moments when you’re with good friends after dinner telling stories and the friendship hangs in the air like a magic trick and you stay there and enjoy the moment so you don’t do anything to break the spell. In those moments, it doesn’t matter how early the alarm is going to ring the next day. It’s the type of comfort that happens when you’re with people who know you and love you, and you know them and love them too.  Read More

Growing up in the church, this particular piece of scripture was quite familiar to me. So many times I heard, “and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” This was often the scripture used to send people into the mission field in far off countries – Jesus had called people to go to the “ends of the earth”. But what I love about this scripture is that Jesus doesn’t just call us to “the ends of the earth”. He starts off by stating that we (through the power of the Holy Spirit) will be witnesses in Jerusalem. You can probably see where I’m going with this.  Read More

If you want to know Christ more, or do the will of the Father, get to know the Holy Spirit; He will help you. He is a person, and He is waiting right now for you to welcome Him into your life so He can reveal the Father and help you reflect Jesus Christ. When you really know the Spirit, you will glorify Jesus Christ because the Holy Spirit within you will glorify God the Son. It is only natural. We can carry out the great commission in the same way the early church did because...  Read More

Many years ago, while attending bible college, I was going through a difficult time in my personal life, and it was affecting my relationships and daily routine. The joy and passion I once had for serving God had waned, and I felt distant from Him. I longed for a renewed sense of purpose and direction. I tried to cope with it on my own, but I eventually realized that I needed help. A mentor and friend encouraged me to...  Read More

Waiting can be hard. I remember significant moments in my life, and most of them involved waiting for the moment to arrive. I remember waiting for my driver’s licence, for graduation, for my first day at work, for my wedding day. I remember waiting for exciting news, and I remember waiting for news that was more . . . anxious. What happens to you while you wait is an interesting thing – your mind bounces around ideas, you start imagining what’s going to happen, sometimes it’s the best-case scenario, sometimes it’s the worst-case scenario. But when the day finally comes, there are details that you couldn’t have guessed, and sometimes, it’s completely different than every prediction you made.  Read More

40 days after Easter, Jesus ascended into heaven – but not before telling the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the fulfillment of a promise from God. 10 days later, the Disciples were together in Jerusalem for a festival called Pentecost and experienced the fulfillment of the promise: the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (you could also call it “the immersion in the Holy Spirit”).Over the next 10 days...  Read More