Is God calling you?   When was the last time you asked somebody that question?   Perhaps you've never asked that question.   But as churches and church leaders in the CRCA this is a conversation we need to be having with more and more people.   We need to be talking with people about God's call on their lives.   And we need to be having serious conversations with young and older men about the possibility that God might be calling into full-time gospel work in the local church.   Seriously! Right now in the CRCA we have 22% of our churches actively looking for a...

When any company develops their marketing plan an essential step is to identify the target market.   A target market refers to a group of potential customers to whom a company wants to sell its products and services.   This target market would have similar characteristics such as age, martial status, education, religion, location, income, and lifestyle.    By defining a specific target market a company will be able to focus in on specific factors to reach and connect with customers through their sales and marketing efforts. Not knowing who the target market is could cost a lot of money and time for...

There are 90 days from Sunday 27 September 2020 to Christmas Day!   Many people are already talking, thinking, and planning for this annual celebration of Christ's birth, his advent into our world.  Much of the focus in the months ahead will be on decorating, travel, family get-togethers, and shopping.   In the midst of the pandemic there is still a lot of uncertainty about what can and cannot be done.   But here is something that might bring some certainty in the midst of all that we are going through, and make the celebration at Christmas that more significant this year.   What if...

How good is your aim?  In my youth I learned the art of archery.  It was all about the aim.   The goal was to hit bull's eye on the target.   Over the years my aim improved.    How good is your aim?  Not just when it comes to archery.   But your aim in life?   Your aim in ministry?   Your aim as a church?  Do you know your target and are you aiming to hit bull's eye? Our Lord Jesus has given us a target to aim for -- as individuals and also as congregations.   He taught us the great commandment which...

Hubs are a mainstay on the vast majority of cars, trucks, and motorcycles.  It is hard to imagine a vehicle without wheels.   You might think that the engine is the most critical component to any vehicle's drivetrain, but without wheels, a vehicle wouldn't be able to roll from place to place.   But in order to have functional, rolling wheels you need to have good hubs.    Without good hubs your vehicle will not perform properly.   Any potential for movement will be strictly limited.  Hubs are vitally important! A wheel hub is in the centre of the wheel.  The hub contains wheel bearings...

There is nothing more frustrating than working on puzzle and finding that a puzzle piece is missing.   You buy a box of puzzle pieces at a yard sale or op shop.   You work endless hours connecting all the puzzle pieces.   But the puzzle is never complete.  One or more of the pieces are missing. There can be missing pieces of the puzzle in a church as well.   In fact, this happens more often than not.   Every person in a church is a piece in the puzzle.   You are a puzzle piece.   Imagine if puzzle pieces are missing.   The church is never...

Sometimes it pays to take a second look.   Especially when you buy a used car.  In my teens I bought a 1970 VW Beetle.  It seemed okay at first glance.  I had an after school part-time job at a VW dealership.  When I showed my mechanic friends what I had bought, they all had a good chuckle.   The engine was only running on two cylinders, not four.   Perhaps I should have taken one of those mechanics with me when I looked for a car.  But I didn't have much time.   The car was a dud.   I should have taken a second...

I love watching a potter at her wheel giving shape to clod of clay. At first all you see is this clump of brown earth.  Moments later that useless lump takes the shape of a bowl, mug, vase, or some other useful vessel.   I tried my hand at pottery in highschool, but I soon realised that shaping clay was not my thing.  But anything pottery still gets my intrigue and our cupboards at home prove this to be true. The ways of God are compared to a potter giving shape to clay.   The apostle Paul compares God's sovereign way of working...

During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, there was a sheep ranch owned by a man named Ira Yates.  Mr. Yates wasn't able to make enough on his ranching operation to pay the principal and interest on the mortgage, so he was in danger of losing his ranch.  With little money for clothes or food, his family, like many others during the depression years, had to live on government subsidy.  Day after day, Yates would watch his sheep as they grazed over those rolling West Texas hills. He would rack his brain trying to figure out some way to pay all his...

Shortly after the USA in 1917 joined  the war in Europe, a magazine illustrator drew a picture featuring a stern-faced Uncle Sam pointing outward with his right index finger, his eyes glaring directly at the viewer. “I Want YOU for U.S. Army”.  Four million of those posters were distributed around the states to recruit people to join in the war.   More than two million Americans signed up as recruits to fight in France during the First World War. Recruitment is essential in the life of a church and ministry!   As CRCA churches we recognize the importance of recruitment.   In our TRAIN...

A real tendency in life is to keep looking back.   We tend to look back because we remember how life was different back then.  Perhaps we have fond memories of yesterday and how great things were.   With Mary Hopkins we sing, "Those were the days my friend ....  We'd sing and dance forever and a day."    Or we tend to look back with regret, for we remember our failures and struggles.  With David of old we might say,  "Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;" (Psalm 25:7)   Because of his grace and goodness, God tells us...

A badger will not back down.   Not even to a snake.   Honey badgers have a bite that makes cold-blooded enemies’ blood run even colder.   No amount of bee stings will cause the honey badger to retreat from a hoard of honey straight from the hive.  If cornered or trapped you will soon discover where we get the phrase:  "Mad as a sack of badgers!"   Related to their cousin the skunk, the badger is equipped with long, curved front claws and shovel-like back claws that help the mammals dig into burrows for prey, and strong jaws and sharp teeth that serve to...

50/50 might not seem like a good proposition.   Suppose like 27 year old Adam Lerner in the 2011 film 50/50 you discover you have cancer in your spine and the survival rate for your type of cancer is 50/50.  How would you feel?  Your mind might become like a pinball machine in your head.  Thoughts flip this way and then that way.   Back and forth.   Will you be alive in five years?  Perhaps yes; perhaps no!  Just a flip of the coin.  For anyone facing an illness or that of a loved one, 50/50 is not a good proposition. But there...

Cola is king in Australia.   Four of the five most popular soft drinks in Australia are cola flavoured.  Coca-Cola is by far the favourite cola drink.   Over 5 million Aussies drink Coca-Cola regularly.   Altogether, world wide, 1.7 billion servings of Coke products are consumed every day.   But did you know that COLA is also critical to growing a healthy church in the 21st century? Now stay with me.   I am not referring to the sugar laddened drink of choice for many Australians.   I am referring to the claim made by Dr. Darrel L. Johnson in his book Twenty-First Century Church Leadership ...

People all over the world are worried about getting infected!   And rightly so.   Today (23 June 2020) there are over 9 million confirmed cases in our world of people infected with the COVID-19 virus.   Almost a half million people have died.   A second wave of new cases has been identified in parts of Australia.   To help keep people safe the Australian government has encouraged people to get the COVIDSafe APP, a tool to help stop the spread of new infections.   We are told that this APP will help keep Australians safe by speeding up the process of notifying people who have been...

Over 2 million men in Australia are colour blind!   People who are colourblind usually have difficulty with the colours green, yellow, orange and red.  The area rug (as seen here) my wife Jeannie recently picked for our lounge area cannot really be appreciated by someone who is colour blind.   It was a bit of a stretch for someone like me, who usually sticks with browns, beiges, and greys.  But the colours sure brighten the room! A lot more men than women are colour blind.   While colour blindness affects 1 in 12 men, it only affects 1 in 200 women.  But with...

I never want to forget!  In my years of ministry I have met many people who have lost their memories.   You see this happen among many elderly people.  They simply do not remember the past.   They don't recognize their loved ones anymore.  You might have a long chat with them on the phone, but moments later the memory of your call has faded.  It is no wonder, then, that the ancient preacher warned us to "remember your creator in the days of your youth." (Ecclesiastes 12:1)   There will come a time for many when "the golden bowl is broken" (12:6), when...

I recently replaced three sections of the fence that borders our neighbour's property.  Due to the fence location, I first had to build each section and then lift each section into place.  How heavy could 3 rails and 25 fence palings be?  Well you can only imagine!   I could not do this alone.  Each section was too heavy.  Thankfully the couple next door and my wife Jeannie gave me a hand.  The ancient proverb is so true: "Two people are better than one, because they get more done by working together."  (Ecclesiastes 4:9 NCV)   Or as my parents used to say to me,...

How do you measure success?   How do you know whether or not you have healthy church growth?   I have wondered about these questions for years, and especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic.    For example, in my doctoral studies I explored the topic: "Preaching for Success".   How do you know whether or not you are accomplishing your goals in preaching?   And what goals/results should you be looking at?   The same is with growing healthy churches.  How do you know whether or not you are accomplishing your goals in church ministry?   And what goals/results should you be looking at? For many the...

When I was growing up building shelters was one of my favorite pastimes.  In the summer months I would head down to the nearby creek and build forts.   At our family home I built a special 'bunker' in our backyard.  It was filled with my stuff and it made for a fun-filled summer.  In our church's boy's club we learned how to build shelters for camping in the middle of a Canadian winter.  How I enjoyed those camp-outs -- even in several feet of snow!    Now we are told to "shelter-in-place".  The basics of a "shelter-in-place" order during the coronavirus...