Wilderness Wanderings

A Christian devotional for the wandering journey of the Christian life. New devotionals Monday, Wednesday & Friday, created by pastor Michael Bootsma of Immanuel Christian Reformed Church of Hamilton, occasionally featuring guests. The Sunday sermon at Immanuel is also downloaded. Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Of Opposistion and Peace 05/06/2026

Of Opposistion and Peace When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build…” But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God...” Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building (Ezra 4:1-4). There is opposition to the kingdom of God. Israel had returned from her exile in Babylon and begun to rebuild God’s temple. Immediately, enemies appear. This is normal. When Abram arrived in the land of promise, famine struck. When the Israelites got too numerous in Egypt, Pharaoh enslaved and killed them. All through their journey in the wilderness, they faced struggle and opposition. When Jesus was born, there was an immediate threat on his life. The post-Pentecost church encountered persecution before she had time to catch her breath. For generations, western civilization has been directed by people who by and large got their guidance from the Christian scriptures. In that cultural space the church grew lax, and church leaders exercised significant influence and even power in the public sphere. Generally, it was easy to be a Christian. Christians are now in the minority, and the church has lost her moral authority. In fact, by her own doing, the church has largely become suspect. Like in the days of Zerubbabel, we face extensive, sustained and somewhat organized opposition. This will not go away. Jesus himself told us that in this world we would face trouble (John 16:33). We haven’t taken him seriously. Thus, many Christians are unsure how to live in this new reality. So how should we respond? The returned exiles offer us a warning. People came to them offering help. What they really wanted was control and influence. They were folks who worshipped multiple gods and were inviting the returned Jews to compliment their worship of God by adding a few deities. Zerubbabel would not budge. We need a renewed call in the church to the Lordship of Christ, to living each day under the influence of his kingdom. A question: have you spend anytime in personal confession recently? Confession is about discerning the ways in which we do not live according to God’s Word. If we don’t take time for it, can we really say that we desire to worship God alone? When Jesus spoke to his disciples about having trouble in this world, he also encouraged them with this, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). When we face opposition, we do not need to respond in anger or with fear. Rather, we ought to ask Jesus to let his peace invade our hearts, so that we can respond with love and gentleness. We do not have to be afraid of the world because in the end, only Jesus’ kingdom will remain. And that kingdom comes in small acts of love and kindness by his followers. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May your day end with rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May you rest in his provision as he brings night, and then new dawn. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/41163820

Raise a Glass to the Lord! 05/04/2026

Raise a Glass to the Lord! For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete (Deuteronomy 16:15). Let us spend another week reflecting on Israelite feasting. We considered the emotional and ethical benefits of celebration. Today, let us reflect on the theological benefits—how did these feasts shape Israel’s relationship with God? God is host. The gathering is at his invitation, and it is celebrated “to the Lord”. He is the focus of the celebration. Why was this important? Israel’s economy originated from God; it was sustained by him, and it was for him. These celebrations were a specific occasion for the Israelite workers, farmers, business folk and others to recognize that God was worthy of harvest praise because he was blessing his people with abundance. Having settled in the promised land, Israel was faced with two temptations. God’s people face these same impulses today. First, that our wealth is the result of our own hard work; and second, that we have received our resources from some other source. Giving in to the first temptation results in pride and likely a selfish use of our wealth – “I made it, I get to use it as I see fit.” The second impulse breeds a desire to keep the source of our wealth happy so that the money keeps flowing our way. This, of course, is the same as the idolatry Israel struggled with throughout the Old Testament. Feasting in the presence of God was Israel’s method of directing hearts and hands toward the Lord. It also kept them from looking back to the economy of Egypt which was directed by Pharoah. There was no feasting in Egypt, as least, not for Israel. Harvest celebrations reminded Israel of her true master, the Lord God. He was generous. In many Christian communities, celebrations are frowned upon as frivolous. We act like the disciples when the woman anoints Jesus with perfume. “What a waste,” they say, “it should have been used to help the poor” (Mark 14). But Jesus commends her. Celebration of God’s good provisions is a healthy spiritual practice. As you live out this week, consider the material things God has blessed you with. Certainly, you may share them with the poor. But also consider how you will celebrate publicly the blessings God has given. Next time you plan a family feast, are there others that you should invite so that they can share in the harvest God has given you? Consider also how might the church develop the discipline of celebration. In what ways can we celebrate the wondrous redemption that God offers us in Christ Jesus? As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: Wherever God takes you this week, may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/41120660

Re-learning Sabbath 05/01/2026

Re-learning Sabbath It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp (Psalm 92:1-3). In the NIV Bible on my desk, this psalm is prefaced with, “A song for the Sabbath Day.” Among God’s people in the Old Testament, this psalm was the Sabbath psalm. As such, it ought to linger in the imagination of God’s people today to help us into a better Sabbath understanding. Among Christians, there are two dominate approaches to the Sabbath. In the first, we attempt to recreate as much of the Old Testament structure of the seventh day as we can. We do as little physical exertion as possible, refuse to buy and sell, and take a rest from making money. Anyone who does not make concerted effort towards this is deemed less spiritual. The challenge is that such commands were instituted through Moses for a society that was homogeneous. Everyone followed the same rule book. Since we do not live in monolithic communities, to recreate this is not possible. So, we tend to create our own rule books of Sabbath restrictions. The second approach is to ignore Sabbath completely. Such Christians may gather for communal worship on Sundays but otherwise give little consideration to what Sabbath keeping was meant to offer us. In both approaches, the teaching on Sabbath in Exodus and Deuteronomy is central and shapes how we understand the teachings regarding rest throughout scripture. What would happen if we allowed such passages as Psalm 92 to shape our practice of Sabbath? I suggest that it might deepen our appreciation of God’s Sabbath intentions. This Psalm lifts our eyes. It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night. This illustrates a central problem with focusing solely on one day of the week. We cannot become Sabbath people by putting all the emphasis on Sunday. The Sabbath day was designed as both a goal and a launching pad. The goal was a life of praise to God 24/7. To work towards that goal, a day of rest from income earning labour was instituted for Israel. If we never cease working, we will become people who believe that survival depends on our capabilities. The more we work the more our eyes are turned downward. Sabbath is God’s invitation to turn our eyes upward; to see him and to know him as the creator, sustainer and redeemer of this world and of our lives. Have a look at your calendar. Put some slots in there for lifting your eyes towards God; time to pay attention to him. If this is new for you, start small. Notice what rhythms and attitudes of your heart begin to change. As you journey on, receive Jesus’ invitation into this rest: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29). /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/41076890

God is Good 04/29/2026

God is Good With praise and thanksgiving, they sang to the Lord: “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy” (Ezra 3:11-12). “God is good, all the time; all the time, God is good.” Many of us have declared this. But some of us may not use it very well, that is, we only use it when we have experienced something which we consider good. For example: when someone is in a car accident but unhurt and the insurance payout is good. Or when someone loses a job but quickly gets a better one. Or when cancer treatments are successful so that the doctor declares ‘cancer free.’ Or when we think we failed a test, but the teacher gives us a B+. It’s vastly more difficult to say, ‘God is good,’ after the doctor says there is no more treatment, or the accident results in permanent injury, or the job lose results in extended unemployment, or the test result is a D-. So, this raises an important question: is God only good some of the time? Does God take time off from being good? Of course, he doesn’t. “God is good all the time.” This is what the Israelites were declaring as they rejoiced and cried together. They had returned from exile, cleaned up some of the rubble in Jerusalem and begun to rebuild the temple. When the foundation had been laid, they paused to give praise to God. They created a such a loud noise it could be heard for miles around. However, people heard both crying and rejoicing. The older folks had seen the temple that Solomon had built. This new one wasn’t going to be anything as grand as the old one. They recognized that Israel had been reduced to little more than a stump of the tree it had once been. The new temple was symptomatic of that. Yet, they declared, God is good. Why? Because God’s love endures forever. Those older folks new this better than the young. They were the ones who had seen Israel’s sin, and they knew that the exile had been a result of this sin. Israel had done it to herself. God should have given up on them. But he hadn’t. He had moved Cyrus to let Israel return to her own land, the land God had given them. God’s goodness was seen in his faithfulness despite Israel’s sin. God was and is good. They saw it in this new Jewish community centred in the temple. God’s goodness enables us to endure downturns. It is important to praise God, to declare that God is good, even when life is not. When we don’t feel like it, praise becomes an act of faith. It’s a declaration that God will see us through the darkness. And at times it is also a declaration that God will see us or a loved one through the vale of death. Jesus is our shepherd even then. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May your day end with rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May you rest in his provision as he brings night, and then new dawn. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/41050965

The Ethics of Celebration 04/27/2026

The Ethics of Celebration Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns (Deuteronomy 16:13-14). Last Monday, we reflected on the discipline of celebration to which God invited his newly freed people. We considered the emotional benefits of this worship practice. Today, let’s explore the ethical benefits of Israel’s feasting. These dinners focus attention on the food resting on the table, but also on the coworkers, neighbours and others gathered around it. The instructions read, “Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.” Many of us learn things best when we practice them. God was training his people into a new kind of economy, very different from that of Egypt. That was one of scarcity. There was not enough to go around. The Israelites, being slaves, certainly always got the leftovers, if there were any. But now these folks were to look around the table and understand that the purpose of there work was not their own profits, nor their own personal enrichment and security. The purpose of their labour is the flourishing of the whole community. The work of their hands would be blessed, and their joy would be complete, if their profits caused the community to flourish, and specifically, the vulnerable and the marginalized of that community. This celebration liturgy was training the landowners to see these others within the economy of God. These things were learned not by the preaching of the priest, nor the lecturing of the ethics professor. Rather, it was practiced as they saw, tasted, smelled and passed around the fruit of their labours. Since there were foreigners, it is very possible that there were language barriers, but sharing the produce of the farm, built community and countered individualism. Justice was tasted. By sharing their table, God’s people reached beyond the borders of race, ethnicity, class and gender. Obviously, we do not have such meals today. In fact, our practice of donations leans in the opposite direction. It separates giver from receiver. Giver and receiver rarely meet. God would have us change that, to offer gifts face to face. And to rejoice in the giving and receiving. Communities flourish when people know each other. We need to find ways to interact. For example, the Out of the Cold BBQs our church hosts during the summer offer times of interaction. Volunteering at Helping Hands or Neighbour 2 Neighbour are other venues to break social barriers. Jesus was known for eating with all sorts, accused of being a glutton and drunk. It was one of the things that led to his crucifixion. Still, we are to follow his example. How can you sit at table with other people? How can we share the bounty God has given us so that the community flourishes economically and socially? How can we celebrate together the good gifts of God? As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: Wherever God takes you this week, may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/41006475

Out of this World 04/26/2026

Uprooting Greed 04/24/2026

Uprooting Greed But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving (Ephesians 5:3-4). This is quite the list of impurities that Christians may get themselves involved in. Since, this Friday edition of Wilderness Wanderings focuses on rest and Sabbath, let us focus our attention on greed. James explores how greed destroys community. He writes, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God” (4:1-2). Peter offers a further warning when he writes about false prophets (think preachers), “With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood!” (2 Peter 2:14). There are many other such warnings in the New Testament, combining a variety of things we lust for. When we do not cut off such lusts at their root, they cause us to treat everything (and eventually everyone) as tradable commodities. Think of the pornography industry. More difficult to discern is how the accumulation of wealth by some, harms other people. Our society, like that of ancient Israel and like that of the early church, is one in which the accumulation of stuff (and people who do stuff for us) is rewarded. Success is still often measured by how much we have. This, despite all the evidence that this way of life does not sooth the restless heart. Many of our desires are artificial, conjured up by advertisement executives and by social media reels. Things we have not thought about possessing, suddenly become urgent needs. Greed permeates the very fabric of our common life. How should Christians, called to be salt and light in the world, resist the urges of greed that arise in our hearts? Our text offers us a very simple method: thanksgiving. Sabbath keeping has always been the way towards thanksgiving. Consider the two reasons given for it. In Exodus, we are told to remember that God rested from his work, reminding us that survival in this world is not dependent on our abilities. In Deuteronomy, we are to remember that we are people rescued by God. The goal of Sabbath keeping is to develop our dependence on God by refraining to do things that tempt us towards self-dependence. We come before God and give him thanks. Many commentators believe that when Paul wrote, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), he was not addressing the individual Christian but the worshipping community. Whereas there is room for collective grief and lament, the underlying and enduring tones of worship are joy and hope in the Lord. To give thanks and to rejoice in the Lord are the primary means to uproot greed. As you journey on, receive Jesus’ invitation into this rest: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29). /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40990660

Beginnings 04/22/2026

Beginnings Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices (Ezra 3:3). How do you start a new chapter in life? This is the question occupying the Jews returning from Babylon. They were few; their land was in rubbles, occupied by wild animals, weeds and foreigners. How should they begin the rebuild? They began with the altar, their place and means of prayer. Prayer came first. Even before the temple, they needed the altar. On that altar they offered their sacrifices of confession, of thanksgiving, of praise. What’s interesting is that Cyrus had sent them home to build a temple. Such a structure would bring prestige and financial benefit to him. He was not really interested in Israel’s God, certainly not in worshipping that God. He recognized that a flourishing Jewish community in Judea would be beneficial for him. That was his interest. But when the Israelites returned, they built the altar first and renewed the sacrifices which God had commanded, morning and evening. God was first. Their concern was to honor God in the manner that was pleasing to him. Several times in this chapter the author tells us, “They followed the instructions God had given to Moses”. All of that came before the temple. The temple was not necessary. The altar was. Prayer first. We can learn from these Israelites. We do not need an altar. Jesus told us that true worshippers, worship in spirit and in truth. And all who come to the father in his name will be received. “A broken and contrite heart, you, God, will not despise” (Psalm 51:17), wrote David. That is how these returning Israelites approached God. We can too. Also, they rebuilt the altar despite being afraid of the people around them. They were afraid of enemies who greatly outnumbered them. And they were afraid opposition would entice them into compromise. But the altar was the place from which they could pray for God to protect them from their enemies. Here, they could ask God to purify their hearts; to help them in their obedience. Fear drove them to their knees. The altar with its morning and evening sacrifices was a reminder that God was with them. Centuries prior, he had said, “For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly…before the Lord. There I will meet you and speak to you; there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory” (Ex. 38:42-43). This altar is no longer with us. It has been replaced by Christ himself. When we turn to him, we are in the presence of God. Turning to him, is always the first step. Its all that is needed in the face of fear. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May your day end with rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May you rest in his provision as he brings night, and then new dawn. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40953960

Celebrate! 04/20/2026

Celebrate! Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year…you and your household shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice. And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns…At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites…and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands” (Deuteronomy 14:23ff). We are far removed from the agricultural society of ancient Israel in which folks brought the produce of their farms to the tabernacle and the temple. This text has been used to promote the notion that Christians should give a ten percent tithe to the church. But that is likely a misuse since, in 2 Corinthians 8 & 9 and 1 Timothy 6, the New Testament offers different principles for giving. What we ought to consider in this text is the nature of the worship God invites Israel into. For lack of better language, God wants his people to hold a party in his honour. We might compare it to a family thanksgiving dinner to which all relatives are invited. Let’s not gloss over that provision is made for the temple workers and a host of others who don’t have their own resources. It’s a grand, lavish, generous party. Celebration is not a spiritual discipline many of us are familiar with. Our culture is dominated by self-serious productivity and efficiency. Christianity often follows this ethos. Certainly, there is value in productivity and in efficiency. But take a moment to imagine how Israel received this news. They had been slaves for generations. They had never had excess. They had never had resources or time to party. But now, God invites them into a new reality—a reality in which he would provide for them. This provision would be lavish—flowing with milk and honey—lavish enough that they would have time and resources to throw a rather large celebration, rejoicing in the life-giving economy of their God. Later, he will say, “Be joyful at your festival...For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete” (16:14–15). Consider the emotional benefits of this worship practice. As they worked, his people knew that God wanted them to enjoy the goodness of their Lord and to taste the flavour of good work well done. It reminded them that they should delight in their work. So different from Egypt. God delights in work that is both free and festive. Imagine the anticipation of these freed slaves as they consider having enough produce to share lavishly with others. As you begin a new week, take delight in your activity, whether its income earning work or not. The resources God gives you are to be enjoyed and shared. 2 Corinthians 9, which is all about generous giving, ends with this verse, “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (15). This reminds Christians that our joy and thanksgiving is rooted in the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. Our God is generous in spiritual and material gifts. So, let’s not be dour Christians. Let us rejoice. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: Wherever God takes you this week, may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40915230

Divine Laughter 04/19/2026

What Defines Your Life? 04/17/2026

What Defines Your Life? Then [Jesus] said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot” (Luke 12:15). John Calvin wrote, “The human heart is a perpetual idol factory”. Long before that, humans recognized that we have a built in need to worship something or someone. The 10 commandments are arranged around this need. The first three commandments challenge us to worship God well. That is no easy feat, for even our worship of God can become a matter of idolatry. When churches divide over the songs sung in worship, the instruments used to accompany singing, the colour of the carpet in the narthex—these divisions are often matters of idolatry, summed up in the simple phrase, “I want.” The last six commandments direct us in loving our neighbour well. What keeps us from loving our neighbour well? Isn’t it idolatry again? When money or sex or personal protection or pleasure become more important than our neighbour, we steal and lie and commit adultery and covet. “I want” becomes more important than either God or neighbour. This is what Jesus is addressing in his simple statement in our text, “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed”. The greedy man in Jesus’ parable is a huge success in his own eyes; but contrary to his own estimate, he is destined for death in his self-deceiving foolishness. Shortly, Jesus will tell his disciples, “Do not be anxious” (22). Do not worry about goods. The implication is that a lifestyle of gathering and than hoarding possessions leaves us anxious because we simply do not have enough; we always need more. We worship what we want. A non gathering, non anxious lifestyle is rooted in confidence that God provides what is needed as we redeploy our energy towards striving for his kingdom (31). Jesus invites us into a different, an alternative lifestyle from the Jones’ around us. Jesus recognizes that we do not get out of bed one morning and think to ourselves, “Today, I will be greedy.” Greed has a way of entering stealthily through the backroom window when we are not paying attention. We go about our daily routines, buying and selling, discipling our children, volunteering at schools, churches and mission agencies. As we go about doing all these good activities, we notice things we would like to possess. And desire grows. The antidote to greed lies right smack in between these two parts of the 10 commandments. It is that strange one about Sabbath. God invites us into a regular rhythm in which we cease from accumulating. It’s a time to give our heads a shake, to clear the fog, so that we can see the idols that have crept in through that back window. These idols are drawing our energy away from loving God and neighbour. Jesus said, “Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.” So, what defines your life? As you journey on, receive Jesus’ invitation into this rest: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29). /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40903355

So Few 04/15/2026

So Few The whole company numbered 42,360… (Ezra 2:64). Does that pique your curiosity? Do you want more information? This does not seem like much of a text for a devotional, “The whole company numbered 42, 360...” Stay with me for a moment. The book of Ezra is concerned with telling how the people of Israel returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity to rebuild the temple of God. The story recounts the challenges this community faced in the return and the rebuilding project. One of the first challenges was to ensure that those returning were descendants of Abraham and Sarah. Ezra 2 is a list of names of those who could trace their ancestry back. The list includes only men and totals 28,529. Add some women and children and the total Israelite returnees are 42,630. But why highlight this? Well, for two reasons. First, it tells us that God is true to his word. God had warned Israel that if they walked away from him, he would return the favour. If his people insisted on rejecting him, he would reject them. Moses warns, “The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you” (Deuteronomy 4:27). God fulfilled this warning. Israel insisted on worshipping other gods. And so, the Lord scattered them, only, 42 630 people returned. How decimated was Israel? When they entered the land under Joshua, the number of men was 601 730 (Numbers 26:44). From 600 000 men to 28, 500. That’s a huge reduction. This brings us to the second reason for paying attention to this abysmally small number of returnees. Humanly speaking, Israel doesn’t have a chance. The task before her is too large, the obstacles too insurmountable. But that is the point. It reminds us of something that keeps happening in the biblical story. Folks like Sarah, Hannah and Elizabeth were barren when they became pregnant with important people. The apostles had had no formal education, and yet they had the courage, wits and intellect to go head-to-head with the best of the Jewish establishment. You see, God can take nothing and make something wonderful out of it. This is something the church always needs to remember. God does not need large numbers or highly skilled people. Israel returned from Babylon greatly deduced in every way. Yet, she was still God’s people. God still used her to accomplish his purposes. Jesus said to his disciples that he will build his church. And he has. You may not have much to offer God. But that doesn’t matter. He can still use you for his kingdom. Trust him. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May your day end with rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May you rest in his provision as he brings night, and then new dawn. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40870220

Prayers that Shape Us 04/13/2026

Prayers that Shape Us “The Lord brought us out of Egypt…He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me” (Deuteronomy 26:8-9). Our text is part of the worship that God’s people began to practice once they were settled in the promised land. Take some time to read the whole chapter. There are lessons of faith to be learned from these ancient worship practices. These rituals reminded God’s people of their spiritual past but also of their economic past. Standing before the Lord, they recite a prayer recalling that Abraham was a “wandering Aramean” who had no land to work. They recall that their forefathers in Egypt were subjected to “harsh labour,” that they “cried out to the Lord,” who “heard our voice and saw our misery” and “brought us out of Egypt.” This prayer shaped Israel in several ways. First, the land on which they lived and which many of them farmed was a gift, not a possession. Without God’s intervention, they would be landless, wandering, and unemployed like their forefathers. This intervention impacted their economy in every way. How would it shape our lives if we remembered that all that we have belongs to God? And that he considers us valued stewards. Second, when God’s people are oppressed, subjected to hard labour, or woefully underemployed, they can cry out to God as his people did in Egypt. We are still tempted to believe that God has little investment in our economy. But that is not true. God continually cared about Israel’s economy and many of Jesus parables concerned economic matters. God is deeply concerned about our physical wellbeing and about our attitude towards wealth. Third, we serve a God who hears, sees, and responds to these vocational cries. Here, we are pressed to consider the shallowness of our faith. We use the phrase, “prayer works,” when we get the answer that we are praying for. But faith implies believing things about God even when we cannot see them. Faith is made real when we continue to trust in God even when the answer to our prayers appears to be silence. Fourth, these ancient prayers teach us that our profits ultimately come from neither the fruitfulness of nature nor the power of our hands alone. There is another actor in the economic equation. The fruits of our labour ultimately come from the continued action and intervention of God in our world and economy. We need to be formed so that we approach work as good and valuable but also, more importantly, to offer our work up as an instrument of worship and praise. Such prayers and offerings guide us into an economy of gratitude, to both God and neighbour. Profits should lead to praise. In times of wealth, gratitude is one of the first emotions to evaporate. The liturgy hinders that erosion. Offering our work to God, whether it be small or great by human standards, draws us into patterns and postures of gratitude, dependence and humility. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: Wherever God takes you this week, may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40804395

Respectable Evil 04/10/2026

Respectable Evil “Among my people are the wicked who lie in wait like men who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch people. Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not seek justice. They do not promote the case of the fatherless; they do not defend the just cause of the poor (Jeremiah 5:26-28). What Jeremiah reveals is unsettling. The wicked are not merely stumbling in the dark. They are hunters. Patient. Calculating. They “set traps”, catching people, not animals. Their houses swell with gain, like cages crowded with stolen life. It is not chaotic evil. It is organized, profitable, even respectable. Thus, dangerous. This passage was about Israel, so the church must see it as a mirror held up to our hearts. Sin in us is productive. We are capable of building systems, habits, and even reputations that quietly feed on injustice. The heart is a perpetual factory of idols. Here, we see one of its darker assembly lines: exploitation dressed up as success. Jeremiah accuses, “They do not defend the cause of the fatherless… they do not uphold the rights of the needy.” This is not merely about personal morality but covenantal failure. God’s people were called to reflect His character, and God’s character bends toward the vulnerable. To ignore them is not a small oversight. It is a denial of the God they claim to know. This is still true of God’s people today. So, these words invite examination. How do we benefit from unjust systems? Where might comfort have dulled our concern for the vulnerable? Sin often works like a quiet accountant, balancing our books to look legitimate while quietly erasing the poor from the ledger. But Christ came to give life, to all. Where traps are set, He is the One who was trapped in our place. At the cross, Jesus steps into the machinery of injustice and lets it crush Him, only to rise and break it open from the inside. The One who perfectly upheld the cause of the needy now gives His righteousness to those who have failed to do so, even us. What should we do? First, repent. Not vague regret, but a clear-eyed turning from the ways we have ignored, benefited from, or participated in injustice. Second, look for the Spirit’s renewal. In Christ, we are not left as we were. The Spirit reshapes us so that we begin, however imperfectly, to reflect God’s own heart. This is what Sabbath is for. As we pay attention to God, he shows us what cages need to be opened, what traps need to be dismantled so that the overlooked become visible. Sabbath helps us trust in God and pursue justice for our neighbour. As you journey on, receive Jesus’ invitation into this rest: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29). /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40794145

Who would have thought? 04/08/2026

Who would have thought? In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them (Ezra 1:1-3). The Bible is God’s self-revelation meaning it’s about him, not us. We tend to read scripture to fill our needs, looking for something relevant. God meets us in specific ways, yet we must remember that in Scripture God is revealing himself to us. The Bible is for us, but about God. The book of Psalms was likely arranged in the days of the return from Babylon. The psalter ends with a concern for God’s kingdom: “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations” (145:13). The returning exiles may have sung these songs as they made their way back to Jerusalem. The story of Israel’s return to Judah begins with “the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia”. Here is a clear example of God of standing above all human kings and kingdoms. Israel as a nation had been crushed, her people exported or killed, her cities and buildings reduced to rubble, her land given to foreigners. From a human perspective, Israel was dead. But now God moves the heart of king Cyrus, who proceeds to write a proclamation that all Jews who desire to return home may do so to rebuild the temple of God. How curious is that? The most powerful person in the region is moved by God to have God’s temple rebuilt. Not only that, but as the Jews pack up their belongings, their neighbours are to load them up with “gold and silver, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem” (4). Not only will the temple be rebuilt, but foreigners will cover the cost. We often say that God is sovereign, reigning over the nations. Here we see it. The temple did not spring up overnight. It took years of setbacks and political intrigue. But the story is told to encourage future generations of God followers that God is sovereign. Earlier, Daniel, while reading Jeremiah, discovered that the exile was to last 70 years. In response, Daniel prays. He confesses Israel’s sins, asks God to forgive and for God’s own sake, to do something (cf. Daniel 9). So here is the mystery of God’s sovereignty: our prayers are part of it. Sometimes we say, “God will do what God will do”, or some variation of that. But that is not quite right. God’s sovereignty includes our prayers. We participate in some manner. The world may seem mad to us; unstable. But God is in control. He moves the hearts of kings, bending them to accomplish his purposes. And he calls his people to pray. Pray with hope! As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May your day end with rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May you rest in his provision as he brings night, and then new dawn. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40764615

The Peace of the Pierced! 04/05/2026

Memorize It! 04/01/2026

Memorize It! I lift you high in praise, my God, O my King! and I’ll bless your name into eternity. I’ll bless you every day and keep it up from now to eternity (Psalm 145:1,2). Many of us think that repetition and memorization are for the birds. We don’t want to put the work into memorization and we get bored easily. Yet, God’s people have long observed that developing our spiritual selves is significantly aided by both repetition and memorization. Consider Psalm 145, an acrostic. In its original language, the poem had twenty-two lines; each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This was done to aid in the work of memorizing the song. I wonder how long it took the composer to put this all together. It was put together to be learned, even memorized. Things we memorize shape our thinking and character. As such, this psalm invites us to seriously contemplate a life given to praising God. Such a life does not come naturally. There are barriers, the biggest one being ourselves. I suspect that sloth is one of the more significant stumbling blocks. We don’t talk much about spiritual sloth these days; we probably should. We want our spiritual growth to happen like making coffee with a Keurig machine: stick in pod and press button. But the thing is, spiritual growth is more like making coffee from scratch; I mean from scratch: plant the seeds, tend the plants, harvest the beans, roast them, grind them, etc. Spiritual maturity takes time and effort. The move from selfishness to unbridled praise of God does not happen instantaneously or without sustained effort. As an aid against sloth, let me suggest this: for one month read or sing or pray this Psalm in the morning and again in the evening, each day. Who knows, by the end you might have it memorized. After a month, you may find this beneficial enough to choose a different psalm. Praising God is more than silent prayers. It impacts how we work and how we entertain ourselves. It influences our spending habits and how we relate with friends and strangers. But do we really think that God is worthy of our praise? The praise of God is rooted in His character. As you read through the Psalm, note what it says about God. Often, we think that God is only concerned with “His people” or with “saving souls”. Here we are reminded that God is concerned for everything that He has made. Is our Christian witness hampered because we don’t care enough for “everything” God has made? Is our selfish way of living hindering our witness? Many of our evangelistic methods begin with calling people to be introspective. We want them to acknowledge their sinfulness. What if we began with God? What if we invited people to consider our God? If God is concerned with His creation, should Christians not care as well? Invitations to join us in caring, can be a way of opening spiritual conversations. Someone once wrote, “If Christians praised God more, the world would doubt Him less.” (Due to the Holy Weekend of Good Friday and Easter, Wilderness Wanderings will return next Wednesday). As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May your day end with rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May you rest in his provision as he brings night, and then new dawn. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40684835

What are You Bringing? 03/30/2026

What are You Bringing? Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you. And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you (Deuteronomy 16:9-11). Let’s take another look at worship services in ancient Israel. When you enter your worship space, what do you hold in your hands? Possibly a leaflet handed to you by an usher. If you are a parent, you might hold you child’s squirming hand, so she doesn’t run off to visit with a friend. In contrast, the Israelite worshipper had their hands full of their work. Along with fellow workers and family members, they brought into God’s holy presence the fruit of their labour. They had spent months selecting and preparing it. No one came empty handed before God. Further, it was not the priest, but the worker who initiated and designed worship. The bulk of the worship was not the spiritual insight of the priest, nor the songs composed by unknown artists, but the physical work of the laborer. Worship was not prepared and then consumer by the worshipper but prepared at home and brought along. Worship was initiated by the laity when the material for worship was ready. If the harvest was late, worship was late. The worker came to stand in the presence of God, therefore, the offering needed to be of such quality the worker felt comfortable with. It was not one size fits all. Each time of year brought unique offerings and the amount depended on income level. Further, wine, oil and bread—the merging of God’s creational gifts and human craftsmanship—were all to be brought into worship. God’s creation was developed, molded, transformed, glorified by human labour. While at worship, Israel was reminded that creation is good and that human craftsmanship is good. And combined, they are worthy of being offered to God. Through these rituals, the farmer was formed not only to approach work as good and valuable but also, more importantly, to offer that work up as worship and praise. The liturgy guided them into an economy of gratitude. In response to God’s economic blessing, they gave him thanks and shared with those in need. Worship developed patterns and postures of gratitude, dependence and humility in God’s people. We obviously should not try this at home. But how will we form habits of gratitude? Do we offer up the best of our labours to God in worship? How do we offer our daily living to God? Will you come to worship in thanksgiving for both the physical blessings and the spiritual blessings in Christ? What changes do you need to make so that you come to communal worship not grumbling and not haphazardly but to give thanks? Think about these things this week. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: Wherever God takes you today (this week), may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40643120

The Antidote to Weariness 03/29/2026

Empty Mansions 03/27/2026

Empty Mansions Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land. The Lord Almighty has declared, “Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants. A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine; a homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain” (Isaiah 5:8-10). These ancient words judge our own culture. Whereas, our rural areas were once occupied by many small family farms, they are now littered with large houses surrounded by manicured lawns and gardens producing nothing of value. Many a retired couple lives in a house much larger than the one they raised their children in. Our text speaks to greed for bigger houses and more land. The rich buy it, dispossessing the former owners one by one until at last the rich live alone on a vast estate, the former owners reduced to serfdom. This sin was particularly offensive to God because in the covenant the land is his. He gives it in the form of grants to his people, to be maintained in the respective families for all time. This reinforced the idea of dependence on God and a means of subsistence for the small landowner. Such sins of greed are rooted in a failure to admit that God has the right to establish limits for us. The desire for more is coupled with the failure to recognize that our desires are insatiable and that the only way to control them is a conscious decision to stop. Self-indulgence is possible for all of us when my needs are all-important. Who has the right to tell me enough is enough? Soon, comfort, pleasure, and security become absolute goals, and whatever seems to increase them we seek to acquire. But God announces a judgement that fits the crime. Just as the rich dispossessed others, they will be dispossessed, and all the land acquired will produce almost nothing. Would God say that same thing about rural displacement and urban gentrification that dislocates the poor and the vulnerable? Such extravagances are unsustainable. Many large and beautiful houses will be destroyed or vacated. The abandoned agricultural land will fail to produce. What should we do when our own hearts move toward this sin of greed? The answer is simple, “Sabbath.” Stop working. Only then do we have time to remember that we do not control our own destiny. During sabbath we learn to rely on God. While at rest, we have time to know that God is able to take care of us. Today, Christian’s need to reacquaint themselves with Sabbath. It’s meant to be like a factory reset—putting us back in line with God. It is not a day of drudgery to be endured, but rather a day to celebrate our God who provides. God puts a stop sign before our desires to acquire and warns that ignoring that sign will have dire consequences. Sabbath also gives us time to see our neighbour, to notice their needs. Then we realize that out our excess God desires to care for that neighbour. That is why an offering is taken during worship services. What will you bring to God this weekend, to bless your neighbour in need? As you journey on, receive Jesus’ invitation into this rest: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29). /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40622965

Praise the Lord! 03/25/2026

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life. The Lord reigns forever, your God, O [church], for all generations. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 146:1, 2, 10). When we think of spiritual disciplines, prayer, scripture reading, silence, retreats, often come to mind. But that’s a rather narrow perspective. The Bible includes a more robust list. One of which is the discipline of praising God. “Praise the Lord,” is the resounding call of many psalms. It’s a discipline we ought to take up. Most often we only lift our praises when we feel like it. But these psalms do not ask us if we feel like it. They tell us to “Praise the Lord!” Just do it! Notice how the Psalmist begins, “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!” Is it possible that the psalmist doesn’t really feel like it? Thus, he must remind himself to get to it. Just to do it! And then he makes this commitment, “I will praise the Lord all my life.” This is why I say that praising God is a spiritual discipline. We need to commit ourselves to doing it, whether we want to or not. This Psalm leans toward evangelism. It’s a word that unnerves many. We see it as something separate from the rest of our faith; something we will get to once we are ready or mature enough, or the Spirit has made us bold enough. It conjures up the image of trying to convince strangers to become Christians. The Bible persistently gives a different slant to evangelism. The word means ‘to tell a great story or news.’ If our favourite sports team wins the championship, we like to tell stories of how it happened. And who hasn’t heard the story of the fish that just keeps getting bigger? The Hebrew verb for praise, HALAL, means to make a show, to boast, to rave, to celebrate, perhaps even to be clamorously foolish--an image that may offer a fair description of the exultant experience of the first Christian Pentecost. Add the Hebrew word for God to Halal and we get Hallelujah! These psalms tell us to declare the things that God has done. That is how Israel used them. They were sung as expressions of the joy of the exiles coming home from Babylon. God had set them free. He had brought them home. The story needed to be told. Likewise, evangelism is telling good news, stories of hope. Therefore, Psalm 146 gives helpful advice for us. Evangelism begins with a commitment to praise God. When our goal is to declare the praise of God every day, someone is bound to hear it. What stories about God do you have? How will you tell them? Surely, if we have become children of God through faith in Jesus, we have some stories to tell. Remember that there is a larger story: God’s story. Our stories are part of his story. So, whatever happens, remember, "Praise the Lord, O my soul!" As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May your day end with rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May you rest in his provision as he brings night, and then new dawn. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40608245

Delight God 03/23/2026

Delight God …take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name…Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household. (Deuteronomy 26:2, 10, 11). In homes with young children, many a refrigerator is adorned with the children’s creative work. Parents give crafting material to the children and likely teach them some basic skills. Yet, when the project is complete, the child runs to bring it to their parents, declaring, “Look what I made for you”. Together they delight over it. Could it be that this family ritual is modelled after God’s relationship with us? In our text, it is not childish craft projects, but the very work of their hands that the Israelites were to bring before the Lord and rejoice. We often skim over the Mosaic law, believing that it is all irrelevant to us. Or, to say it more theologically, it is all fulfilled in Christ. This may be true, but there is much here that can nurture our souls. Take a moment to imagine that you are a farmer. You tend your herds. You till your fields; you plant your seeds. Day after day, you watch your flocks grow and your crops develop. As you watch and tend and nurture, you keep looking for that animal and that crop that is the best, the closest to perfect. You take special care of that animal and crop. That is what you will take with you to worship. That is what you will offer to God. And together with others, you will rejoice over what God has given to you. We often imagine God with eyes, watching over us. The Israelites also imagined God with nostrils breathing in the aromas of their worship, which was the fruit of their work. Their offerings were a pleasing aroma to him. Jesus taught us to address God as Father and John teaches that believers in Jesus are children of God. When we think of God as our father, we often think of how God the father gave up his only begotten son for our salvation, and we think of God’s fatherly arms comforting us in our pains and sorrows. These are real things that God does. But the Israelites knew something else about God: he cares about the things we do from day to day. When we do them well, they are a pleasing aroma that he breaths in through his nostrils. God actually cares about the little things we work on. As you do the little things of life this week, know that God is there watching and waiting. Not to judge, but to delight in you and your work. Don’t leave them behind when you come to worship. Bring them along and offer them to him. Rejoice with him, in the good things you bring. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: Wherever God takes you today (this week), may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40560885

A System that Covets 03/20/2026

A System that Covets Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes; they rob them of their inheritance. Therefore, the Lord says: “I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves (Micah 2:1-3). Several times, I have connected coveting with a lack of rest. Today, I draw your attention to another Old Testament passage that makes this connection. A lack of rest does not refer to insomnia, nor, simply to a weekly ‘non-work’ day. The Bible lays out a more robust understanding of rest. It is a full-bodied trust in God that he will provide and care for us. A trust so deep that we leave behind any desires for sin, enabling us to pursue the righteousness of God’s kingdom. In our text, Micah laments that Israel absolutely refuses to accept this invitation to rest. Instead, those with means—land, money, influence, power—spend their nights plotting how to get more land, money, influence and power. They wake, leaping into action to carry out their plans. Because they already have land, money, influence and power, they have the means to implement their schemes. These evil schemers accumulate possessions at the expense of others. This is not just a violation of the command to love your neighbour, but also of the command to love God above all else. You see, God had given to each Israelite family land through which he would provide for them. These evil schemers are seizing property God had given to others, leaving these others with nothing. They were thumbing their noses at God. It’s probable that few, if any, of us spend our nights contemplating how to defraud our neighbours. Yet it happens around us. Walter Brueggemann says, “the poetry concerns the entire system that runs roughshod over” those who have less means—less land, less money, less influence, less power (Sabbath as Resistance). This system of coveting is bound to creep into our hearts if we do not take time to rest. Sabbath keeping as I have described it is incredibly important in resisting the influences of the culture in which we live. Micah adds a warning. God will not stand by and let this continue. He will come in judgement. He will strip those who use their means—land, money, influence, power—for evil purposes. The Lord God will remove their means—land, money, influence, power. If we are concerned about the “entire system” of our day, let us do two things. One, lean into this profound biblical rest in which we trust in God so that we heed his command, “You shall not covet.” And two, pray that God will come and set things right. In the days of our text, he used the Assyrians. They were brutal. Pray that God will use a gentler means to set things right today. As you journey on, receive Jesus’ invitation into this rest: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29). /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40544825

Are you Hungry? 03/18/2026

Are you Hungry? Praise the Lord! He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. Praise the Lord (Psalm 147:1, 19). Our text says that God has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. There is a back story to this. The Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. What kind of songs were composed on that journey? Psalm 90 might have been. Think about that trip. Hundreds of thousands of people plus animals. I’ve walked in that wilderness. There is no food. No crops were planted or harvested. How could all these Israelites survive for 40 years? God fed them. Each day he provided bread! And they lived! Israel’s experience in the wilderness was all about God’s provision. Though Israel often forgot this season which fashioned them into a nation, the memory kept resurfacing. God reminded them. Their composers kept referring to it as they sang new songs. God builds His people by providing for them. Psalm 147 is part of the long tradition embedding this truth in the souls of God’s people. What truth? Moses explains, “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna…to teach you that people do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:2,3). And so physical provision became combined with the spiritual provision of God’s Word. Isaiah 55:10,11 offers this: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” So, God’s provision is two-fold: physical and spiritual. We learn about one from the other. But notice this: while in the desert, the Israelites had to gather the food and prepare it before they could eat it. Once in the promised land, they became farmers. Even though they tilled their fields and cared for their flocks, they were to remember that God provided for them. Likewise, our spiritual food does not simple fall into our hearts. There is work to be done to receive it. The public gathering of God’s people for worship has always been an essential means for receiving that food. How does God provide for you? Our text says, Praise the Lord! He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel (Psalm 147:1, 19). We are not Jacob or Israel. But we are God’s church. He offers us His Word. Have we gone out to gather and prepare it, so we can eat? Have we gotten lazy? How hungry are you for God’s provision? How often do we praise God for his spiritual provisions? Do we eagerly reach for it? God provides, so let’s eat. And then praise him for the nourishment he has provided. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May your day end with rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May you rest in his provision as he brings night, and then new dawn. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40513220

Dress Rehearsal 03/16/2026

Dress Rehearsal You must not live according to the customs of the nations…You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.” (Leviticus 20:23,26). The laws of Leviticus are helpful to read when having trouble sleeping. Few Christians eagerly use them for devotional purposes. Those of us who read the Bible from cover to cover are glad to be done with the book. Many never spend any time there. So why is Leviticus in the Bible? Could it have value for us today? The second verse in our text, “You are to be holy…because I am holy”, is quoted several times in the New Testament. Our first verse gives context to this holiness. We tend to spiritualize the call to holiness, not recognizing that it a call to shape our daily lives accordingly. Israel’s economy was supposed to be different from that of the nations around her. Others were supposed to experience her way of commerce to be strange. These are the things that were to set her apart from other people. The unique ways in which the Israelite workers exchanged goods, farmed their fields, paid their servants, wove garments, prepared food, cared for their animals and took rest periods at peak agricultural times distinguished them. This unique way of doing business would be constantly challenged by their neighbours. So how was Israel to maintain her uniqueness? Walter Brueggemann argues that it was through the regular and repeated practice of worship. “It is in worship, not contextless, cerebral activity, that Israel worked out her peculiar identity and sustained her odd life in the world.” It was through the liturgy that all of life—international relations, political, personal—was brought under the rule of God. This is a challenge for those of you who stayed home from worship yesterday because it was just easier. Worship is not meant to be easy, nor just watched from afar. It is meant to reshape our living and our values. Worship is to be acted out together—a dress rehearsal for Monday living. As you enter a new week, how did communal worship bring all of life under the rule of God? How were you challenged to reshape your living so that it more fully aligns with the values of God’s Kingdom that he is establishing through Christ? How will you respond to the holiness call? As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: Wherever God takes you today (this week), may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40445830

Let's Sow! 03/15/2026

The Lost Art of Waiting 03/13/2026

The Lost Art of Waiting I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning (Psalm 130:5, 6). When is the last time you waited? Just waited. Waited without doing something to distract yourself. No cellphone, no magazine, nothing. You just sat and waited…patiently. Waiting is a waste of time! That is the motto of our age. But is it a good one? Anyone remember when the Internet was slow? Today, 2 seconds or less is required for a website to load. If it takes 2.5 seconds, we’ve already moved on to one faster. Google engineers say that web surfers lose patience in the time it takes to blink an eye. This is true, even though history notes that Rene Descartes, Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla made important discoveries when they were doing nothing, daydreaming. We also know that unstructured, unmediated time is especially important for the development of creativity in children. Social science studies find that patient people are more cooperative. How did they develop patience? They learned to wait. Yet we consider waiting a waste of time. Technological advances have raised expectations for quick satisfaction. This is not good for our spirits. Waiting reminds us that we are creatures, not the Creator. We do not command time, circumstances, or outcomes. Abraham waited years for the promised child. Joseph endured imprisonment before God raised him up. David was anointed king long before he ever sat on the throne. In each case, the delay shaped their character. Waiting sanded down the rough edges of self-reliance. Psalm 130 calls us to wait; to wait on the Lord; living before him in expectation, to anticipate his coming. Like watchmen waiting for the morning. In the darkest hours, it seems like the sun will never rise. It can seem so during the dark hours of grieving. It can seem so when we are living with the consequences of our sin. But morning will come. There is a myth in American folk religion that God helps those who help themselves. But the Biblical truth is that he helps those who can't help themselves. The problem is that it often takes a long time for us to realize this. So, God makes us wait before he redeems. However long the night seems, the morning will surely come! The darkness will not last one moment longer than the Father knows best. Then—morning! And it will be even more glorious because we needed to wait. So next time you are waiting and tempted to pull out that cell phone, stow it away. Learn to wait. Learn patience. Embrace the anticipation of our Father’s redemption. The Holy Spirit has always done his best work in the nothingness. As you journey on, receive Jesus’ invitation: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29). /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40414330

Praise the Lord! 03/11/2026

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! And he has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his faithful servants, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 148:1,14). In this psalm, all creation sings the praise of God. We, the children of God, are the last, singing the “Amen!” But why are we so slow to do it? Why does it take so much effort for us to praise God? The psalter ends with five entire psalms calling us to ‘Praise the Lord.’ Five! Why does it not come naturally to us? The answer is that all of creation is now subject to bondage and decay (Romans 8:20-21). Along with the rest of God’s created order, we are subject to the power of sin. Thus, we say, “I don’t want to! I want to do my own thing. I don’t want to worship God.” We’ve all been in a room of people, haven’t we, when someone new walks in and immediately draws everyone’s attention. In some small way, we’d all like to be that person, that centre of attention. Praising God gives him attention. It puts him at the centre. It’s difficult to do. So, what do we do? Is there a way forward? The psalm’s ending gives us a clue: “And he has raised up for his people a horn” (14). This line is quoted by Zachariah who was temporarily mute because he didn’t believe the angel Gabriel. After his son’s birth, he sings, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us” (Luke 1:68-69). ‘Horn’ is an image for strength. Now listen to this, from Luke 11, Jesus said, “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder” (20-22). Jesus’ implication was clear. “I am the stronger one,” he says, “I have come to bind Satan.” Paul builds on this when he writes, “At one time you were dead in your sins. Your desires controlled by sin… But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave us all our sins…He has taken it away and nailed it to the cross. He took away the weapons of the powers and authorities. He made a public show of them. He won the battle over them by dying on the cross” (Col. 2:13-15). There we have it. The way out of sin is not within us. It is not to try harder. Rather, it is to look to Jesus. We move towards praising God by believing that Jesus has bound the powers that keep our eyes focussed on this earth and our misery. Because Jesus has released us, we can look up again. Romans 8 also tells us that the creation waits in hope for liberation. The one through whom the creation was formed has gone through death to liberate all things. Christ frees us from the bondage of all hostile powers. Jesus reconciles us and all creation to our Creator God. Followers of Jesus sing Psalm 148 in anticipation of all creation being free to sing the praise of God again. So, let’s sing this psalm. Let’s sing the last songs of the psalter in anticipation of Christ’s final and full victory. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: “May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40386050

New Work 03/09/2026

New Work The Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give…Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them” (Exodus 25:1,2,8). Generations of slavery did more than destroy and demean the honour of Israel’s work. It also inhibited Israel’s worship of her God. Oppressed workers find it very difficult to offer their work as worship. The fruit of Israel’s labor was directed to the glory of Pharaoh. How could they direct the fruit of their labour to the glory of the Lord? Free and holy work can be offered as worship. Not by their own choice, slaves participate in an idolatrous system. God liberated Israelite workers in part so that they could offer their work as worship to him. God begins to shape this new economy in the hearts of his people by inviting them to give a free will offering. Then, they were to take these gifts to construct a sanctuary for God to dwell among them. Take a moment to ponder the scene: liberated slaves are invited to freely offer their unique gifts, skills, craftsmanship, and artistic wisdom to adorn God’s house. Those blistered hands that once built houses for dead Pharaoh, hands that stacked stones to serve his imperial and violent glory—build or die—these hands are now invited to freely offer their skill, insight, and creative touch to the construction of God’s house. Imagine, their first free work is a house of worship—a place for God to dwell with them. It is decorated with color, made with hands that are rested and free. In Egypt, Israel did ‘hard labour’. To counter the demeaning work of Egypt, God invites them into this project to create a space for communion—“I will dwell among them.” The oppressive and predatory patterns of Pharaoh’s economy would stick to Israel for centuries. She would constantly be tempted to slide back into economic patterns of hoarding and scarcity. With it came the impulse to treat people like Pharaoh had handled them. Her liturgies were resources to resist this. Sabbath worship was a reminder for workers to reject economic patterns of grasping and an invitation to walk deeper into God’s economy of grace. The regular observance of rest, the yearly celebration of harvests, and the public confessions of marketplace greed were designed to bring these freed slaves into a new economy through worship. The offerings God invited Israel to bring were the treasures the Egyptians had given them as they marched out of town (12:36). The tabernacle reminded Israel that she had not left Egypt emptyhanded, that God had ways of providing beyond human imagination. As you live out this week, consider how you can direct the fruit of your labour to the glory of the Lord? How will you resist the temptation to hoard resources because it’s too difficult to believe that God will provide? How can you promote conditions were workers and work are valued? As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: Wherever God takes you today (this week), may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. /episode/index/show/icrchww/id/40344175

Its Messy 03/08/2026

Wilderness Wanderings

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