In this short clip, Alan Hirsch discusses the difference between the church as communitas, not community. A communitas is a church steeped and driven by mission, not ministry. As a result, it isn’t afraid to take risks as it moves towards the future with an honest sense of adventure and creativity; qualities that often don’t […]

I’ve started to write this piece on at least half a dozen occasions and couldn’t quite figure out just where to start at trying to answer the question of what makes Christian social work Christian in 1000 words or less. First, I went with Jeremiah 29:7 around seeking the shalom of the city that I’ve […]

Last year while teaching a course called ‘Social Justice in the Gospels’ to a group of Christian street workers, a recurring question kept coming to the surface throughout every one of my lectures. The students wanted to articulate what makes their work, at one of Toronto’s largest inner city ministries, any different than their secular […]

David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream.  Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2010. The title alone had me hooked, let alone the subtitle.  Radical living for Christ means seeing the Gospel with fresh eyes and then allowing that same Gospel to transform everything about us; our goals, ambitions, resources and hopes. However, living […]

I’m into this great book entitled, “The Next Christians” by Gabe Lyons. His primary thesis in his newest book aims to “restore” U.S. evangelicalism by elevating a generation of leaders marked by six traits suitable for a postmodern, pluralistic, post-Christian America. Evangelicals will need to be “provoked, not offended; creators, not critics; called, not employed; […]

Some time ago, my wife and I had the privilege of attending the much-acclaimed theatrical presentation, The Lion King, at the Princess of Wales Theatre in downtown Toronto.  It was an event that we both eagerly anticipated, and one that would be immensely entertaining. After locating a suitable parking place underneath the theatre, we made […]

Change usually happens slowly in the Church. But a review of the past year’s research conducted by the Barna Group provides a time-lapse portrayal of how the religious environment in the U.S. is morphing into something new. Analyzing insights drawn from more than 5,000 non-proprietary interviews conducted over the past 11 months, George Barna indicated […]

If we could choose a phrase that captures the essence of our contemporary North American culture, it would be this one: “It’s all about ME.”  In this context, the ‘individual’ is King and Queen.  Individual rights can, and often do, trump those of the larger community.  What I want and believe is of greater importance […]

I still get excited every time I read the Bible during my daily devotional time.  Even though I may be reading a passage that I’ve encountered many times before, I usually end up learning something new.  On some occasions it could be a seemingly insignificant detail that I overlooked in previous readings.  At other times […]