One of the most foundational truths I have come to know about God is that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” What that means is that God desires to be made much of by us (to be glorified or honoured) but that this is done by us finding the deepest JOY and satisfaction in him. Not dry begrudging religiosity but deep and profound joy. It is not that we desire too much pleasure and need to beat ourselves into submission and desire less. We do not desire pleasure enough because if we did, … Continue reading Desiring God.. in Farsi.. for my Persian friends

Post Christmas I have been reading a few good books. I will post a list of my 2012 recommendations on here shortly but this is one I have been particularly enjoying this week. Henry Cloud is a trained psychologist and is a consultant to business leaders, CEOs of fortune 500 companies and many other organizations helping people change and grow to be more effective. His practical explanations, years of experience, and insightful writing make his book a useful and challenging read. The key area that he sees people be “stuck” i.e. be hindered in their effectiveness in work, in relationships and in life is … Continue reading "Integrity – The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality" – book recommendation

Continue reading Snowwww in Ohio! 🙂 (surprise surprise)

I first encountered Deitrich Bonhoeffer through his book The Cost of Discipleship when I was  perhaps 18 or 19. A German pastor who stayed through the horrors of the holocaust to preach against the evils happening in his land and help the people. He was eventually put into prison and killed for being involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler. The opening line to his book still rings in my head. He lived out a radical real faith in Jesus.  Christmas in a Cold Prison by Tony Reinke | December 20, 2012 Subscribe to…    Dietrich Bonhoeffer awoke December 25, 1943 on a hard … Continue reading Letters from prison at Christmas : Bonhoeffer

These are the shadows of the things that have been That they are what they are, do not blame me! – the ghost of Christmas past  My favourite Christmas memories involve a family reunion on my dad’s side of the family that happened yearly for most of my childhood just weeks before Christmas where we rented the Firestone shelter house, brought tons of food to share and ate and chatted for hours. It had a crackling fire and I remember running around the giant room madly with my cousins playing while the 50- 80 grown ups from the extended family … Continue reading Christmas Memories and the Costs of following Emmanuel

I was in high school when the Columbine shootings happened. I still remember the horror of it all. Their high school was so much like mine. I was the same age as so many of the kids who were killed. I remember the names of one of the girls: Rachel Scott. We were the same age. She was a Christian. She would have been graduating a few months later like I did. She didn’t. I heard her dad speak two years after it happened. I remember him reading from her diary entries from just days before she was shot. Two … Continue reading “Please treat our community with kindness" – Sadness, Fools and God in the Midst of Tragedy