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.

My Neighbour's Keeper 02/27/2026

My Neighbour's Keeper “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Deuteronomy 5:21). It is commonly understood that the fourth commandment, the one about resting on the Sabbath, is the glue that binds the ten together. It reaches back, gathering our relationship with God into full expression on this day of joyous rest. “Joyous?” you ask. It was meant to be. As God delighted in his creation in Genesis, so his covenant people were invited, once a week, to delight in God’s sustaining of his creation. However, this commandment also reaches forward and sets the stage for the last six. The second half of the ten explore what it means to love our neighbour, culminating in the prohibition against coveting our neighbour’s possessions. It anticipates a peaceable household and neighbourhood and sets out a discipline of mind and a limit on accumulation of possessions that will serve that peace. Without this discipline and limit, neighbourhoods get destroyed as coveting generates mistrust and sets neighbours against each other. Some have suggested that this tenth commandment is different from the others because it involves only intent. But that is limiting the scope of the Biblical language. In the biblical tradition, coveting includes both an attitude of craving and a forceful action to secure what is craved. Surely the commandment includes both the discipline, not allowing our minds to desire something that is not ours, and the limit, not taking something that belongs to our neighbour. House and wife are included in this commandment according to ancient understanding, not our estimation of them. House refers to all that belonged to a village household which could include various buildings, animals, land, servants and several generations of descendants. Wife should not be considered as property but as belonging with the male head of the household. The poem regarding ‘A Noble Wife’ in Proverbs 31 presents a severe conundrum for Biblical interpreters, but it does give a sense of the value a wife might have in Israel, giving insight into why she is mentioned here. The entire list of items mentioned in this commandment refer to a household’s economic viability—the means of production. In view is probably an agrarian village with many vulnerable peasants who lived with little margin for loss. Three times the term neighbour is dropped into this command. It is all about respecting the neighbour and by extension preserving, honouring and enhancing the neighbourhood. As we enjoy God’s sustaining graces on the Sabbath, we are invited to ponder what it means for us to help sustain our neighbours. Some questions we might ponder: how is my accumulation of possessions hindering the welfare of my neighbours? What thing(s) am I craving? What am I doing to promote the welfare of my neighbourhood? Jesus reminds us that loving our neighbour is the second greatest commandment. This is not primarily a feeling of goodwill, but an active contribution to my neighbour’s life on this planet. As you journey on, hear 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/40243800

Just Do It 02/25/2026

Just Do It Praise the Lord (Psalm 150:1). Once, I took a two-week class with the late Dallas Willard. He began with two instructions. Each of us was to sleep 10 hours a night and we were to find a lonely place and shout Psalms 145-150 to the Lord. He explained that fatigue was one of the greatest problems in the North American church today, especially among church leaders. Fatigue hinders our ability to pay proper attention to things, especially to our own hearts and to the quiet movements of God’s Spirit. Willard also explained that praising God is difficult. We resist. It helps if our bodies lead the way. Further, the ending of the book of Psalms is raucous. It demands energy. Sitting quietly at the kitchen table whispering these psalms just won’t do. At the end of the Psalter, we are given a glimpse of what is happening everywhere, all the time: the worship of God. Psalm 150 is probably the most challenging of all the psalms: it’s not about you, it’s not about me, it’s about God; all about God! Why do Christians gather for worship services? Not primarily for our own sake, but because God is worthy of our worship. This psalm gives us the basics of worship. First, where is God to be praised? In his sanctuary, in his mighty heavens, of course. This is God’s throne room from where he rules the universe. Remembering where he is causes us to look up to him and away from ourselves. Second, why should we worship him? “Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.” This is a summation of his powerful rule and provision. We are allowed to fill in some details from our own lives. Third, the ‘how of worship’ gets a bit chaotic. “Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.” As I said, its raucous. All the stops are pulled out. Finally, the psalm asks ‘Who? Who should praise the Lord?” And the answer is: everything. “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” A lot has been said about God in all these psalms; we know the reasons to praise God. Just do it. Our praise of God is more than music, more than worship services. We believe that everything Christians do ought to be worship. ‘We are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices” (Romans 12:2). Everything is to be done to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). Such living is normally fuelled by communal worship services. What keeps you from ‘just doing it.’ Find ways to pay more attention to God and to yourself. And praise the Lord! Just do it! 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/40218505

Work is Sacred 02/23/2026

Work is Sacred The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (Genesis 2:15). In her book, Letters to a Diminished Church, Dorothy Sayers has a few paragraphs about work. She argues that our financial system has subordinated people to economics. Workers are merely part of the machine in which they can earn a paycheque sufficient for living and some leisure time. The worker does not recognize the work as valuable. She quotes a very able surgeon to show the results of this system: “What is happening is that nobody works for the sake of getting the thing done. The result of the work is a by-product; the aim of the work is to make money to do something else. Doctors practice medicine not primarily to relieve suffering, but to make a living—the cure of the patient is something that happens on the way. Lawyers accept briefs not because they have a passion for justice, but because the law is the profession that enables them to live.” The modern tendency is to identify work with employment. In this view, work is not the expression of our creative energy in the service of society, but only something we do to obtain money and leisure. Sayers also argues that Christians have been implicit. It might be that we have spent too much time with Genesis 3 in which work is named a hardship and a judgment on sin. We need to recover the Christian understanding of work related to the “doctrines of the creative energy of God and the divine image in humanity”. These Monday Avodah meditations are an effort in reclaiming a Christian view of work, which can be summed up simply as: work is sacred. In our society, work and money are woven tightly together. Christians ought to raise the alarm and make efforts to untie the knots. In the Biblical view, work is a good in itself. Many things beyond making money should be considered work. It is not primarily to make a living, but a result of being made in God’s image. Thus, to do something well is sufficient, it gives glory to God. Fighting against the economic machine of our society feels futile. But let me make a few suggestions to swim against the stream. First, let us develop and maintain a robust view of humanity and of work. Our value is not in what we earn, but as image bearers of God. Everything that contributes to the flourishing of society ought to be labeled work. Second, wherever we have influence, we should advocate both for proper conditions of employment and for work that we can put our whole heart into. Both the worker and the work need to be valued. Third, treat all people with dignity all the time. These things may appear small and insignificant. But let us remember that we live for a king who uses small things to great ends. Jessus spoke about small seeds. They have great potential. 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/40178795

The Battle Within 02/22/2026

Sabbath Multitasking Taken to Task 02/20/2026

Sabbath Multitasking Taken to Task When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”—skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat (Amos 8:5-6). Amos’ oracles regarding Israel are eerily descriptive of our own economy. He describes those who are numbed by their obsession with making money. They have such tunnel focus that they do not notice that their extravagant lifestyle is based on cheap labour. The economy operates to trample, ruin the poor and needy (4). He warns that sooner or later this will evoke social crisis. A society that refuses Sabbath restfulness for everyone is bound to fail (8-12). Earlier he charged Israel with this offense, “You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph” (6:6). There is at least one major difference between then and now. At least I hope there is. The exploiters did not notice—they were at worship, keeping Sabbath! But they want it done with so they can rush back to resume commerce. While keeping Sabbath, their imaginations were scheming how to get richer. Amos accuses Israel of multitasking. They are fulfilling Sabbath laws while at the same time plotting to make a bundle. It makes one wonder if Jesus had this sermon in mind when he said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life…” (Matthew 6:24-25). The appearance is one of rest, but the reality is profound social restlessness. Its not just trade, but distorted, dishonest trade that they are longing for. The poor are made into a tradable commodity. They are reduced to an equivalency for a pair of shoes or a silver coin. Everything has become a commodity and there are no more neighbours. What can we do to stand apart from the tide of our own economy? Let me suggest two things. First, that we make good use of Sabbath time, taking Jesus words to heart, “We cannot serve God and money”. We need to ask ourselves how important money has become for us. Money is not evil, but the love of money is the root of many evils. Has our love for God softened? Is greed creeping up the ladder to bump God off the throne? Sabbath keeping is meant to dispel worry as we learn again to trust in God. A second suggestion is that we consider carefully how we view people. We encounter so many people in the span of week, that we no longer notice them. They become commodities to be used. To love our neighbour, we must notice their humanity. When life is all about hurry, hurry, hurry, people get in the way. We deal with them as interruptions rather than as neighbours God has placed on our path. When God is our first priority, seeing our neighbour becomes natural. So, as you end this week, plan to take time for Sabbath. As you journey on, hear 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/40167395

Desire for God 02/18/2026

Desire for God My heart is filled with longing for your laws at all times…LORD, I call out to you with all my heart (Psalm 119:20, 145). One more reflection on Psalm 119. Via this Psalm we have explored what it might mean that David was ‘a man after God’s own heart’ (Acts 13:22). We have looked at four things that may have caused God to describe him this way: obedience, humility, integrity and worship. Today, something that brings these different things together. Not something at the top of the list, but something, pardon the pun, that lies at the heart of the matter. Years ago, I read a book called, When Did We Start Forgetting God? It argues that Christians talk a lot about God and do lots of things for God, but we have, in large part, forgotten him. It suggested that a church that has not forgotten God exhibits one principal characteristic: a desire for God—a desire so intense it sometimes looks like drunkenness or even madness. That is what is missing in much of Christendom today. We have lost our desire for God. It is easier for us to be doing things for God and to be talking and yes, preaching and preparing devotions about God, than to fan into flame a desire for him. If you doubt me, listen to David, “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1). “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). We see this in the New Testament where, Paul writes, “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him” (Philippians 3:8-9). I could go on. There are many other examples of this in the Bible. They are rooted in the summary of the law as Jesus gives it, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” (Mark 12:30). I hinted at this in my previous devotions. But I think that any reflections on what it means to be a person after God’s own heart that does not ponder this, a deep desire for God, falls short. It is this longing for him, that causes God to describe David this way. If someone were to ask you, ‘What do you want more than anything?” Would you answer simply, “God!”? I’m not sure many of us Christians would answer that way. Our desires wander so easily. Thus, I invite you to pray for yourself, pray for your church leaders, pray for the church, that the Holy Spirit would fill us with the desire that filled David. 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/40142480

Begin with Hope 02/16/2026

Begin with Hope “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters…You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands (Isaiah 55:1, 12). On Friday, we considered the opening verses of Isaiah 55. Today, we focus on verse 12. This is not merely a poetic flourish. It is the picture of what happens when God restores his people. Those who once walked in exile now walk in freedom. The journey with God is not a forced march but a joyful procession. Joy becomes the atmosphere; peace becomes the guide. Notice that creation itself joins the celebration. Mountains sing. Trees clap. The world is portrayed as a grand sanctuary echoing with praise because God is making all things right. When the Lord redeems his people, the effects ripple outward. Salvation is never small or private. It touches hearts, communities, and ultimately the whole creation which already longs for renewal. It’s important to pay attention to what lies between the invitation that opens the chapter and the sending that draws it to a close. Three things are considered. First, God renews his covenant with his people. In the covenant, he both calls them to himself and sends them out as his witnesses. Second, God calls his people to leave behind their wicked ways; to repent of their unrighteous thoughts. This call is companioned with the promise of forgiveness. His mercy will cover our sin. We may feel burdened by regret, worry, or weariness. Yet God promises a future shaped not by fear but by joy, not by chaos but by peace. He leads his people forward, not alone but surrounded by the testimony of his faithfulness. Third, God reminds us of his powerful Word. That Word we know as both his creating and redeeming Word. It is beyond our comprehension in power, potential and mercy. Here is an invitation not to understand but to trust that Word. A Word that not only redeems us but transforms all of creation. Hopefully, you had opportunity to join God’s people in worship this past weekend. And hopefully, you caught glimpses of these things. In worship, God’s covenant with us is renewed, we hear his call to holiness, and we enter a new week with hopefulness and courage. God goes before us with his redeeming and transforming Word. Walk with this vision before you: a path lined with singing hills and applauding trees. Even when the road feels ordinary or uncertain, God is still leading. His redemption turns journeys of struggle into pilgrimages of praise. And as we follow him, our lives begin to echo the song of creation itself, proclaiming that the Lord is faithful and his restoration is sure. 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/40101995

Eat it! 02/13/2026

Eat it! “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live” (Isaiah 55:1-3). God’s invitation in our text is worth repeated reflection and meditation. It needs savouring. It requires deep breathing so that we discern its various aromas. It must seep down into our hearts to expose all the ways in which we labour for things that do not satisfy. We must sit with it long enough to experience its fullness. As it fills us, the empty food we’ve eaten is revealed for its deception. Year’s ago, someone paraphrased it like this, “The Sabbath day is God’s market day for the week’s provision wherein God will have us come to him and buy of him, without silver or money, the bread of angels, and water of life, the wine of the sacrament, and milk of the Word to feed our souls; tried gold to enrich our faith; precious eye-salve to heal our spiritual blindness; and the white clothing of Christ’s righteousness to cover our filthy nakedness.” More recently, Eugene Peterson offered this paraphrase, “Hey there! All who are thirsty, come to the water! Are you penniless? Come anyway—buy and eat! Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk. Buy without money—everything’s free! Why do you spend your money on junk food, your hard-earned cash on cotton candy? Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best, fill yourself with only the finest. Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.” On God’s market day, we need to cease our serving so we can be served. We need to cease our grasping so we can reflect on what we’ve been given. We need to stop talking, so we can hear Jesus say, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” There’s no need to fight for our clothing in the sanctuary; here we are clothed in Christ. In the sanctuary we are immersed in God’s strange and upside-down economy in which the currency of the world has no value. On Sunday, we must cease in our calling to do our work, that the Lord may do his work in us. If all of life is worship, the sanctuary is the place where we learn how. In other words, gathered worship equips us for our scattered worship in the world. The sanctuary practices us into the gracious work of God. I’ve used the words Sunday and sanctuary intentionally, yet recognizing that some must work on Sundays, and some are not physically able to come to public worship. For various reasons, the perceived need for public worship has been diminishing. But there is good reason to refresh the discipline. The church has long recognized that God does not form individual Christians, but he forms a people, his people. We need each other and we are formed together. Public worship functions like a training ground, a spiritual gymnasium for our souls. We come for eye surgery. We cannot return to the world until our priesthood has been repaired. We come to be ministered to so that we can minister outside the sanctuary. As you journey on, hear 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/40089160

Worship 02/11/2026

Worship “Your covenant laws are your gift to me forever. They fill my heart with joy” (Psalm 119:111). The past few Wednesday’s, we have wondered what God meant when he called David, “a man after my own heart.” I say, ‘wondered’, because the Bible does not define this phrase. We are, of course, not talking about things we need for salvation. Rather, these are things God saw in David that delighted him. We should want God to delight in us, as well. Three delights have been mentioned: obedience, humility, and integrity. Today, we conclude with this: David worshipped God. Some of you may think of David and his harp, during the various stages of his life, shepherd, outlaw, king, composing psalms that are dear to God’s people still today. Psalm 8, “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth”. Psalm 139, “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me”. Psalm 32, “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing.” Psalm 24, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it…” And so many more. We may also think about the joy filled worship of God’s gathered church. For us, worship is hearts and hands lifted to God in praise, knees bowed in prayer and confession, ears listening attentively to his Word read and expounded, hands offering service and gifts of money and mouths building up the people with words of encouragement and with prayer. However, we must consider that participating in corporate worship services do not make us worshippers of God. Plenty of times in the Bible, God chastises his people for engaging in the formal acts of worship but not worshipping him at all. Take some time to read through Amos 5, Isaiah 58 and Matthew 6. David was a worshipper of God not because he composed songs that became part of the Bible. Rather, he was a worshipper because he loved God and his love led him to obey God. I encourage you to be part of a community gathered in Christ’s name in which your love for God is fanned into the flame of obedience. A community where the grace of God in Christ is proclaimed, received and lived. In such communities, Jesus’ words come to fulfillment, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me…streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37,38). We cannot worship God and not go forth to bless those around us. Are you seeking to delight God? Here are four qualities that God delights in and the Spirit grows in us: obedience, humility, integrity, worship. 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/40063645

All of Life 02/09/2026

All of Life Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart… (Psalm 15:1-2). It’s difficult to know where and when it started. Maybe it was the monastic movements in which people retreated to the wilderness to focus on personal holiness. Maybe it was the division between clergy and laity that intensified during the Middle Ages. What ever its origins, the problem persists. I’m thinking about the continued divide between the sacred and the secular in which we separate corporate worship from life between worship occasions. That is not the way Old Testament writers understood life. A holy life was integrated, walking in the ways of the Lord consistently—in the temple, the home and the marketplace. Every aspect of life was to be marked by holiness, spiritual and material, private and public, liturgical and economic. All of life was holy, faithfully lived out before the face of God. When the Israelites gathered for worship, it was not an escape from the marketplace, the fields, or the political arena. Rather, worship engaged and challenged the economic, cultural, and political behaviours of God’s people. While at worship, his people declared that he alone was sovereign of their lives. He was Lord of family and agriculture, money and markets, armies and kings, and, oh yes, the weather. Israelite worship was considered an act of enthroning God (Psalm 29). He was declared king over private and public life. Singing together, worshipers were engaged in the liturgical act of submitting more areas of life to his sovereignty. Holiness flowed from the sanctuary into the network of relationships and activities. Both work and worship are named ‘avodah’, acts of service to God. So, as you enter a new week, how will you live? Will you commit to live before God in all you do? Will you pursue holiness at home and at work, in buying and in selling, with soul and with body? How will you prepare for the next corporate worship time? As you live out this week, pay attention to the temptations you face. Which ones do you give in to? Bring them into worship for confession. May only those without sin enter God’s holy place? That was never the case. The Israelites came to worship confessing their sins and receiving God’s liberating grace. We come the same way, covered by the blood of the Lamb. But those who have no desire to live integrated holy lives should not presume to worship a holy God. Let the days between corporate worship be days of preparation. Let your worship season your work and your work your worship. 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/40021925

What Good is Freedom? 02/08/2026

Don't Fake It 02/06/2026

Don't Fake It Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? (Isaiah 58:5-7). Isaiah at it again—many things lie between this text and the first chapter—yet, in both, he takes a strip off God’s people. Strictly speaking our text refers to fasting, not sabbath keeping. Yet rest is at the heart of God’s problem with his people. In particular, the lack of rest for their neighbours. Once again, they are doing all the right religious stuff. I’m reminded of a senior demon’s advice to his mentee, “As long as they retain externally the habits of a Christian, they can still be made to think of themselves as such.” It appears that the Israelites do want to get close to God, to be in covenant relationship with him. But there is something in the way, their attitudes towards their neighbours. Other folks are tools; tools for making a profit. And if these other folks do not have time for rest, who cares, ‘not my problem’. But, according to God, it is their problem. Ever since Cain asked the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” the answer is in plain sight. “Yes, I am.” We cannot worship God while ignoring our neighbour in need. In Galatians 5, Paul writes, “the only thing that matters is faith working itself out in love” (6). James wrote, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (1:27). John adds, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen” (1 John 4:20). The word ‘love’ used here is much stronger than how we usually use it. It includes the probability of suffering. Christ set the example for us: his patient work of healing the sick, even when tired. And we must not neglect his last days of suffering through torture and execution. This is the nature of the love we are to have for our neighbours. The two great commandments are to love God above all and neighbour as yourself. We cannot have one without the other. With so many neighbours in need, this is difficult stuff to deal with. It starts with the heart. A heart that knows it is deeply loved is a heart that seeks to love the neighbour. Start by worshipping the covenant God, see his concern for you. Those who love God through worship become filled with compassion for their neighbours. As you journey on, hear 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/40010890

Integrity 02/04/2026

Integrity I will praise you with an honest heart as I learn about how fair your decisions are (Psalm 119:7). A psalmist sang, “[God] chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skilful hands he led them” (Psalm 78:70-72). We considered obedience and humility. Integrity is a third quality David had that made him a person after God’s own heart. We should ask ourselves, “Is my heart turned towards God?” or to use New Testament language, “Am I looking towards Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith?” (Hebrews 12:2). Integrity is “the quality of being honest and living by moral principles” or “the state of being whole and undivided”. But there is more here. Saul would not take responsibility for his sin (1 Sam. 15:24-30). David was willing to confess his sin and take responsibility for it. In the matter of kingship in Israel, God was her king. But he anticipated that she would want a human king. So, he gave this instruction, “When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law... It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left” (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). There is no record of David writing the scroll. However, his many psalms convey a man who loved God’s law. When David was established as king of Israel, his first official act was to bring the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6). He established the worship of God as the central feature of his kingship, signalling to Israel that God was her true king. So, we might say, that a person of integrity is someone whose heart is aimed towards God in obedience and worship. But how do we get to such a place? I think Jesus leads us there in his conversation with that woman at the well in Samaria, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Jesus is making two points here. We have direct access to God through His Spirit and Jesus is the truth. However, we tend to hide the truth about ourselves from him. Like Saul, we want to make ourselves look better than we are. Christian integrity is honesty before God; to let God see the truth of who we are. Then he forgives and we can receive his grace. Have you made time for confession? Remember, God already knows more about you than you do yourself. Trying to hide ourselves from him is a futile exercise. Let him see our sins. Let him extend his grace to us. 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/39985110

Margin 02/02/2026

Margin Then [Jesus] said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:37-38). Years ago, on a flight to Los Angelos, I read a book called Margin. The author, Richard Swenson, M.D., argued that we fill our lives too full. He used the image of the old blue lined paper used for writing. It also had pink lines creating margins. One did not write in the margins. He urged his readers to maintain margins in their lives. If this was a needed reminder in 2002, surely it is as necessary today. I don’t think many of us have heeded his advise. It’s become such a norm for our schedules to be packed and for our attention to be pulled in many directions. This means we do not have time to notice the spiritual hunger in us or around us. But what if we made room? What if we slowed down enough to listen – not just to sermons and podcasts but to the people in our everyday lives? Creating margin is not just about better time management or learning how to balance it all – it’s a spiritual practice, a countercultural pursuit. It’s believing if we leave margin in our calendars, God will show us where He’s already moving. It’s replacing our fears of not doing enough with having the faith that Jesus has already finished the work of salvation and is presently doing more than we realize. Someone once said, “You don’t need to bring Jesus into your workplace – He’s already there.” What if we start praying that Jesus will help us join conversations he is already having with coworkers, neighbours, with strangers in line at the grocery store. What if God is already at work in our everyday lives, waiting for us to notice? This shift means intentionally creating space in our lives to pay attention to what God is doing. It could be taking a longer walk and praying as we go, asking God to open our eyes to someone who needs encouragement. It might mean setting aside an evening for inviting over a neighbour. It could look like asking the grocery clerk how their day is going and really listening to the answer. God’s mission doesn’t need superstars. It needs people willing to be present daily. It’s being attentive to the Spirit, available to others and being grounded in the belief Jesus is already leading the way. When we create margin to join Jesus in His work, we may find the stagnation that sometimes dogs our Christian life starts to crack open with wonder. Conversations happen, stories emerge, relationships get kindled, and joy re-enters. We’re no longer just surviving spiritually on our hamster wheels; we begin to thrive as we participate in harvesting adventures far bigger than ourselves. So, as we take Jesus at His word, let’s ask the Lord of the harvest to send us, and let’s slow down enough to follow Him. Not just in the rush of church activity, but in the quiet courage of everyday presence. Because the harvest is plentiful, and Jesus is already there. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: Wherever God takes you today, 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/39938620

Don't Grab the heavy Yoke 01/30/2026

Why Rest? 01/30/2026

Why Rest? [Israel] has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold—which they used for Baal,” [says the Lord God Almighty] (Hosea 2:8). Like last Friday’s, this text ought to make us uncomfortable. At the very least, it should make us do some serious self-examination. A thing that Christians ought to do regularly under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Again, Israel has been practicing all her religious rituals: the celebrations, festivals, Sabbaths, New Moons, etc. (2:11). From the outside, God’s people look very religious. They are doing their thing. However, their hearts are not in it. It’s not that they aren’t feeling God’s presence; its that they have no desire to feel God’s presence. The religious rituals God prescribed were intended for the people to give God thanks for his blessings, to publicly recognize that life and wellbeing were all a gift from his hand. Israel’s festivals and celebrations were opportunities to give God thanks for these things and to rejoice in their covenant relationship. Instead, the people had decided that it was really Baal who had blessed them with all these things. The took the things God gave them and offered them to Baal in thanksgiving. We should not read this text as an opportunity to turn our noses up at Old Testament Israel or to fill our hearts with pride, believing we behave better. It’s the weekend. In our culture, weekends are frequently filled with self-absorption. We have done a hard week’s work, now we deserve some down time. This is also true of church life. Various movements over the past decades have reduced church to an event that ‘I like.’ If I don’t like it, I’ll find a church I do like. It’s about what we humans like and don’t like. Israel was meant to gather to thank God and renew her covenant relationship with him. They gathered to acknowledge that they had broken covenant. They came to receive God’s grace and to be renewed in their covenant commitment. This should also be at the heart of Christian worship as we renew our life in Christ. This does not mean that we cannot rest or relax. Rather, it invites us into a rest that produces covenant renewal; that renews our relationship with God and our commitment to his ministry of reconciliation in this world. It’s not likely that any of us worship a Baal god. Our temptation is to worship ourselves and to think so highly of ourselves that we think God owes us good things. He ought to make our lives easier. Christian worship ought to humble us. As we lift our praises to God, we come to realize again how great he is and how small we are. So go worship this weekend, come worship the God of the Bible. Give him thanks for what we have received from him. He is our generous creator and sustainer. Come and be reconciled to him through Christ and join hands with others in worship – before him we are all equal. As you journey on, hear 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/39928615

Humble Hearts 01/28/2026

Humble Hearts I trust in you with all my heart. Don’t let me wander away from your commands (Psalm 119:10). “A man after my own heart”, God said of David. Is your heart healthy? Do our hearts align with God’s? A week ago, we explored one answer, David’s desire to be obedient to God’s law. On its surface, Psalm 119 is boring. It’s repetitive. But I think we miss the point. Its goal is not content but enchantment with the Word of God. It’s a carefully crafted poem which oozes with delight in how God has created and ordered the world. There is nothing better for the psalmist than to follow this God. Here is an invitation to catch the joy of obedience. If obedience is one aspect of a person after God’s own heart, close on its heels is humility. The delight in this psalm can only come from a place of willing submission to God. In our reflections on obedience, it was mentioned that David waited for God to put him on the throne of Israel. He would not claim it by force as his right. This was an act of humility towards God. In 1 Samuel 25, David is slighted by Nabal and sets out to get vengeance. On the way, he is intercepted by Nabal’s wife who begs her husband’s pardon. David recognizes that God has sent her to keep him from doing wrong and he let’s go of his desire for vengeance. Humility. There is the sordid tale of David sleeping with Uriah’s wife followed by a murderous cover up. When Nathan confronts him regarding this sin, David responds, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13). Humility. Later, David counts his fighting men. This displeases God, who forces him to choose which punishment Israel will endure. When David makes his choice he says, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great…” (2 Samuel 24:14). Humility. In each case of disobedience, David responded with an admission of guilt and a turning back to the Lord, something Saul refused to do. He made excuses (cf. 1 Sam 15:24-25). Humility before the Lord acknowledges our disobedience and then turns back towards obedience. Disobedience never has to be the last word. With God there is mercy, forgiveness. We do not need to approach God with fear in our disobedience, but rather, we may “enter boldly because of the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19). Our identity is formed by being God’s children, not by our disobedience. We are daughters and sons of the King. If you have wandered far from God, turn back. Humble yourself before him. God’s mercy is great. He loves you and wants nothing more than your face to be turned towards him. 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/39901970

An Invitation to the Depleted 01/26/2026

An Invitation to the Depleted “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live (Isaiah 55:1-3). Many things are expected and demanded of us. We have family obligations. Many of us are required to work for a living; this makes significant demands on us. When we don’t have such work, the demands are different but certainly not less stressful. Some of us volunteer in Thrift Stores, at service agencies and even for the congregations that we are part of. These things are good. It is good to be part of a family and contribute to its well being. Having a job that provides income as well as a means of contributing to the flourishing of society is also good. Being available to serve others reflects the mercy of our God. Contributing to the life of the church is one way in which we participate in the growth of God’s kingdom. These spaces also provide community for us and that too was declared by God to be good. All these good things can put strain on us. They become burdens that we become unable to lay down. They can sap our energy, control our emotions, dominate our lives. They can begin to act as idols that constantly demand increasingly more from us. They become irritants that cause resentment, anger, jealousy, and other fruits of the flesh to grow in our hearts, sometimes bursting forth in the most inopportune times. The world demands more of us, always more. And often, it gives very little back. We end up depleted and empty, hungering for something that will nourish us; fill us; satisfy. Into those demands, God speaks. No, God invites. He invites us to come. He invites those who have nothing, who are thirsty, poor, hungry, depleted from work that offers nothing in return. God offers us something the world cannot give: life, meaning, fulfilment. Jesus gave greater depth to these words when he said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me…rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit…” (John 7:37-39). God does not take us away from the demands of family or work or volunteering or church. Rather, he fills us with his life so that we can give life to others. He desires for the fruit of the Spirit to develop in us so that they can adorn the places we work and live and volunteer. He would fill us so that we can contribute not from our emptiness but from his fullness. With his filling, we discover that we are able and even eager to enter our spaces. We can contribute from his resources not our own; with his filling something supernatural is truly at work. Wherever God takes you this week, ask and he will fill you. Go then and bring his life into those places and communities. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: Wherever God takes you today, 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/39854040

Be Free! 01/25/2026

Sabbath Fruit 01/23/2026

Sabbath Fruit When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow (Isaiah 1:15-17). Do you know who made the clothes you are wearing? Do you know how much the server makes at your favourite restaurant? Do you know where the components of your cellphone come from? Do you know any of the people who were involved in assembling that wonderful little device? Do you know the farmers who produced the food you eat? Do you know if they were paid adequately for their produce or if they provided sufficiently for their workers? In our integrated economy there are many things we simple do not know. A century ago, such ignorance would have been unimaginable. But this is the world we live in – a world of unceasing productivity and commerce in which producer and consumer are severely separated. Many are exploited in the process. Thus, reading Isaiah 1 ought to make all Christians deeply uncomfortable. Israel was keeping Sabbath. Isaiah offers a grand list of liturgical practices that God’s people were faithfully participating in – offerings, incense, new moons, convocations, solemn assemblies, prayer and Sabbaths. But God was not happy with any of it. He was, in fact, utterly repulsed by it, wearied. Sabbath and all its liturgical practices were not having any effect on his people. It was all fake. Oh, they stopped working all right. At least with their bodies. But their minds were still fully engaged in profit making. Along with the unending meditation on the accumulation of goods, came anxiety. If the profits were not as high as anticipated, it might crimp the size of the new house. That anxiety produced plans for coercion and exploitation. Those with money and power often find ways to make more at the expense of others. The great festival of rest had become simply another venue for restlessness. Sabbath was meant to be a return to the covenant: dependence on God and concern for neighbour. But they had created a false dichotomy between the sacred and the secular. Sabbath was for paying attention to God, the rest of the week for making money. As a result, liturgical practices were cut off from the well-being of the neighbourhood and the protection of the vulnerable. God’s covenant with Israel insisted that those with resources cared for those who had less. They had lost this connection. In our society, with the distance between those who produce and those who buy it is easy for us to fall into a similar problem. Spiritual rest is about me and God. But if we truly pay attention to God, and not just ourselves, the Spirit will point us towards concern for our neighbour. As Paul once wrote, “The only thing that counts is faith working itself out in love” (Galatians 5:6). We can’t change the system. But we can ask God to show us how to have greater concern for our neighbour. We can expect Sabbath to change us. As you journey on, hear 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/39829445

Obedience as Thanksgiving 01/21/2026

Obedience as Thanksgiving My heart is filled with longing for your laws at all times (Psalm 119:20). I remember a group exercise, probably some ice breaker, in which we were asked what we would like on our tombstone. How is that a good icebreaker? Probably, to get into a conversation about legacy. I didn’t like it then and I still don’t. A more interesting question to ask is “What do people say about me right now?” but not as an icebreaker. David, the shepherd boy turned king, is introduced in the Bible not by name, but by what God says about him, ‘a man after my own heart’ or ‘a man who is dear to my heart’ (1 Samuel 13:14). That’s high honour. But no one defines what that means. So, let’s consider what it might mean, beginning with what seems like the most obvious: obedience. As that famous phrase from Psalm 119 puts it, “I have hidden your word in my heart”. In 2 Chronicles 16:9, we find this, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” When David sings the glory of God displayed in both the creation and in God’s law, he ends with this prayer, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight” (Psalm 19). That great psalm about God’s powerful and tender presence concludes with a prayer that God remove wrong from David’s heart (Psalm 139). We see David’s obedience clearly in the years before he becomes king. He does not grab the throne. God says, “You will be the next king.” But David recognizes that God needs to remove the current king before he can take the throne. Even though Saul has been rejected because he disobeyed God, David continues to honour him as king. David’s obedience foreshadows a central characteristic of Jesus himself. He claimed to have come to do the Father’s will (John 6:38). When on the cross he called out, “it is finished”, he was declaring that he had been obedient to the end. The pertinent question for us is, “How do we grow in obedience?” How do we become fully committed to God? Is it even possible to hum with the psalmist, “My heart is filled with longing for your laws at all times” (Psalm 119:20)? When we get started on this path, we often look to ourselves to get there. I don’t think that is what David did. In Psalm 19, David spends the bulk of the Psalm looking at what God has made and said. It is only when he has composed his praise, does he ask for a pure heart. We don’t get a longing for obedience by looking to ourselves. When we see God and who he is, our heart’s get stirred. So, where does your gaze linger? Is it time to look up again? As the writer of Hebrews once wrote, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…” (12:2). See him on the cross. See him alive, emerging from the tomb. See him enthroned in heaven. Then obedience is not to gain favour with God but becomes an act of thanksgiving. 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/39803115

Who are God's Missionaries? 01/19/2026

Who are God's Missionaries? But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). There is hymn that begins with: “The church is not a building; the church is not a steeple; the church is not a resting place; the church is a people.” And the refrain: “I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together! All who follow Jesus, all around the world! Yes, we're the church together!” Intuitively, many Christians recognize that these lyrics are true. But we struggle with putting them into practice. Let’s reflect on this challenge from the perspective of God’s mission of reconciling the world to himself. Let’s first think about the people who carry out God’s mission. I suspect that at least a few listeners will immediately think of pastors and missionaries as the agents of this mission. After all, these are the folks the church has set aside for God’s work. We send missionaries to the mission filed and appoint pastors to lead congregations. Its as if these people are the most important in the work of God. But this does not do justice to the Biblical story of God’s mission. We need to change are understanding. Anne Rowthron wrote, “Through its laity the church is present in every area of human activity. It is in offices, in schools and universities, in hospitals, in stores, in factories and hotels” (The Liberation of the Laity). We are all part of the priesthood of all believers. As such we have all been set apart, called by God and given a priestly authority to intercede on behalf of others and the world before him. Faithful people are living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God. Our skillful and worn hands praise God. Our priestly bodies, both in the sanctuary and on the factory floor, glorify God. We can be involved in God’s mission when we speak up and advocate for truth and justice in our daily work. As people reconciled to Christ we can work towards reconciliation in our spheres of influence. This usually begins with prayers of intercession. Our churches are often pastor centric, program centric, and building centric. This gives the impression that the focus of God’s work is in the building we label a church. Somehow, we need to broaden our perception of the church and God’s mission to include every Christian wherever they are. Not pastors, but the laity, are the primary agents of a church’s mission in the community. In Leviticus, God is described as breathing in the aromas of the sacrifices Israel offered (2:9; 3:5,16). God is still hovering over his priests breathing into his nostrils the pleasing aroma of their worshipful work. God does not simply mandate human work; God delights in human work. God accepts it with joy, not as mere obedience but as worship. The spaces which Christians spend their time are the primary spaces of a church’s mission. Where you spend your week is the mission field of God. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: Wherever God takes you today, 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/39749735

A Sabbath Keepers Welcome 01/16/2026

A Sabbath Keepers Welcome The Sovereign Lord declares—he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered” (Isaiah 56:8). In Deuteronomy, Moses prepares Israel to enter the land of promise. As they settle in, they will finally be able to develop the habits enabling them to be God’s holy people. Part of the preparation is defining who is in and who is out. Access to this holy people, and consequently to their God, is quite limited. All folks with mutilated genitalia and many foreigners are excluded (cf. Deuteronomy 23:1-8). Interactions with non-Israelites were strongly regulated to minimize the temptation to worship other gods. This history lies in the background of our text dealing with Israel settling back into the land after the Babylonian exile. Isaiah 56 has to do with who is in and who is out. It reads very differently than Deuteronomy. Here are a few verses, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths…And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him…all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain” (4,6,7). Wow. God specifically mentions those kept out in Deuteronomy. There is only one condition spelled out…keep Sabbath! This is the mark of membership, an act of generous incorporation that was previously unheard of. It allows the life of God’s Israel to spill over among those who have been excluded but are now to be welcomed. Sabbath becomes the requirement for membership because it represents a disengagement from the producer-consumer rat race of the empire, then and now. It demonstrates a visible trust in God rather than self. Members of any race or nation, any gender or social condition are welcomed so long as that person is defined by justice, mercy, and compassion, and not by competition, achievement, production or acquisition. Sabbath keeping is the link between loving God with our whole beings and loving our neighbours as ourselves. Jesus’ cousin, John, worked this out with those who thought they had an automatic in because of their heritage. He told them not to count on their lineage, instead they ought to concern themselves with fruit that comes from repentance (Matthew 3:8-10). What kind of fences do we put around church membership? How far are we willing to invite people in? Do we keep certain people at arms length? How long do people need to show up before they are no longer newcomers? Isaiah 56 prompts these kinds of questions. Further, John’s comment about fruit leads us to Galatians 5 where Paul gives an extensive list of sour grapes. These things, wrath, violence, lusts, envy are the product of the rat race. This is what grows in those who refuse Sabbath. In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit has room to grow in Sabbath keepers. What practices and habits do you have that enable you to step out of the rat race for the sake of Sabbath? There is great pressure to ignore Sabbath, even in the church. Isaiah calls us back to rest not as a burden but as a gift, as a means to joy in the Lord (7). As you journey on, hear 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/39731995

Ending Evil 01/14/2026

Ending Evil Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…Don’t pay back evil with evil…Don’t let evil overcome you. Overcome evil by doing good (Romans 12:14, 17, 21). What do we do in the face of evil? This is the question that ends Romans 12. Its not theoretical; its personal. “How should Christians respond when evil is done to us”? The answer is: “Don’t let evil overcome you. Overcome evil by doing good.” Evil is insidious. It begins small, a trickle, which, if not stopped, becomes a flood that fills us. In the end, it will overcome us. Evil works that way. It grows. It begins with a thought, a flash of anger and builds until it bursts out of us. It will grow and poison everything it touches. It is said that Eric and Dylan, perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre, were motivated by revenge. They felt mistreated, rejected, and abused, and this was a way of taking revenge and getting back—evil responding to evil, hate responding to hate. It was reported that, as they entered the building, they shouted, "This is for all the people who made fun of us all these years," and then they laughed and opened fire. They allowed hate to take root in their hearts, and it grew until the fruit of it erupted in violence. This idea lies at the heart of the epic fantasies The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Both stories also contain the Biblical antidote: love. How do we counter evil? By overcoming it with good. Paul has written about love, the agape of God towards us. We don’t deserve it, yet he gives it to us. God comes to us in the blood of Jesus and forgives all the evil we have done. He overcomes our evil with his goodness. This is God’s master plan of salvation. His purpose is to reclaim His creation from the control of evil, transform it, and bring it back under the sway of His righteousness. In other words, He will overcome the world’s evil with His good. In following the command of Christ to “bless and not curse” (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:28) and by returning good for evil, we do as God does, and we become active participants in His great plan for the world. Jesus experienced all the hatred and injustice and violence that the leaders of this world could pour out on him. He was victim of the mindless hate and the violence of the crowd and the Roman soldiers, who used him as an excuse to vent the hatred in their hearts. But Jesus did not take on and return their hate, and He did not let it change Him from His course of revealing the Father's love, His love even for God's enemies. Love is stronger than hate because hate enslaves, while love brings freedom. He forgave His enemies. Christ, when he died by submitting himself to the hatred of his accusers, offered us a solution to the hatred and injustice of the world. Without him, it is eye for an eye and tooth for tooth. But now there is a new way. This does not mean that justice has been abolished. But it means that we are relieved of the burden of justice. We can leave that to God. And we can love our enemies because God loves us. 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/39719355

Free to Work 01/12/2026

Free to Work For in [Christ] all things were created…all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together…For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Colossians 1:16-17, 19-20) Again, I want to address the question, “Why produce a weekly podcast on the subject of work?” Work must be understood here as more than what we do to earn a paycheck. It includes that, of course, but also other regular things we do to live in this world. Things like the laundry, the dishes, mowing the grass or shoveling snow. It includes driving our children or grandchildren to school or dance lessons. Often, we preachers make it sound like these are irrelevant to the mission of God in the world. That is wrong. Dorothy Sayers once advised preachers, When you find a [person] who is a Christian praising God by the excellence of their work—do not distract them and take them away from their proper vocation to address religious meetings... Let them serve God in the way to which God has called them... [Do] not take them away from it, so that they may do ecclesiastical work for you. But, if you have any power, see that [they] are set free to do their own work as well as it may be done. They are not there to serve you; they are there to serve God by serving their work (Creed or Chaos?). In these weekly podcasts addressing work, I hope to “set you free to do your work as well as it may be done…to serve God by serving your work”. I hope you come to understand more deeply that the mission of God includes your whole life. This mission includes the Great commission to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20) and the Great Commandment to love God and neighbour (Matthew 22:36-40). But it also includes the Cultural Mandate to explore, name, develop and cultivate the creation (Genesis 1:28). Neither the arrival of sin, nor the arrival of Jesus to redeem creation nullified that mandate. The Great Commission and the Great Commandment do not lessen the value of our work. What better way to participate in this mandate then to do our everyday, mundane, ordinary work well, offering it to God for his glory and for the good of humanity? When you are at work you are in a context where pastors and missionaries rarely if ever show up. It is in that place that God has called you to cultivate creation, love your neighbour and bear witness to the goodness of the gospel. The mission of God includes the renewal, restoration, and reformation of all things. All Christian, in all industries, are invited to participate in this comprehensive mission. Our workplaces are the critical spaces where we will either learn to follow Christ faithfully or walk away from him. Our workspaces are integral to the mission of God, no sideshow. There, you are at the leading edge of God’s reconciling work. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: Wherever God takes you today, 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/39683115

Be Free! 01/11/2026

What Kind of Rest? 01/09/2026

What Kind of Rest? For day after day, they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God (Isaiah 58:2). This is a difficult chapter to read. God is angry with is covenant people. Very angry. They show up for the appointed worship services and other religious festivals. They ask God for direction. They appear eager to come near to him. They love the Sabbath day. They do all the right things. There is just one problem. A rather large one. When they return to non-Sabbath activities, its as if the Sabbath never happened. Its as if they did not hear God’s direction. Its as if they never sought God or came near him. Going back to non-Sabbath matters, they exploit their workers and fight with each other. Not just verbal sparring, also fist fights. They refuse to share their food with the hungry or their homes with the poor wanderer. They think that God ought to be happy that they showed up for worship, that they took the day off to fast and pray. They cannot figure out why God is so unhappy with them. They are doing all the right religious things, but their hearts are far from God. They do not really care about what he says. They have forgotten that they are God’s light in the world. The way they are living is spreading darkness rather then light. Here is the point: their Sabbath keeping has had no effect on their hearts, or their minds or their bodies. It has not changed how they live or interact with others. They are not bringing any good into the world. It is left full of evil. So, what are your plans for this weekend? Party time, family time, alone time? None of these things are necessarily bad in and of themselves. Let me ask the question differently: when you have time off from the “work” of making a living, when you take time to rest in God, what is the point? Why do you do it? Somewhere along the way, the prayer that ends Psalm 139, should play a role. “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting” (23,24). God wants to change the way we think, react, and act. Let the Spirit loose when you meet with God. As you journey on, hear 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/39664020

Staying on the Altar 01/07/2026

Staying on the Altar Don’t pay back evil with evil…My dear friends, don’t try to get even. Leave room for God to show his anger…Scripture says, “If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. By doing those things, you will pile up burning coals on their heads.” Don’t let evil overcome you. Overcome evil by doing good (17-21). The Heidelberg Catechism teaches us that we have a natural tendency to hate God and our neighbor (A 5). That seems about right. To repay evil with good seems overly optimistic. Getting even is our natural bent. Have you ever seen a three-year-old, when another child takes his toy, offer a second as well? Hardly. The child immediately works to retrieve said toy, often violently. Whether its children playing in the park or adults striving to get ahead, we do not tolerate others doing us harm. Our immediate reaction is to seek retaliation. But God calls Christians to be different. This is one of the unique qualities of the followers of Jesus. Romans 12 begins with a view of God’s mercy, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him. This conclusion, “overcome evil by doing good”, is where we keep crawling off the alter! God wants us to return good for evil and we say, ‘fat chance’, we want justice, in other words, vengeance. In life, we encounter truly difficult people–individuals who wound us, wrong us, betray us, making us want to strike back. Justice, we think, demands that they know the harm they’ve caused and receive punishment. We believe that this is our right. Yet, as gospel people, a sincere, forgiving love should be our response. This is how we embody the gospel of our God in Christ: “overcoming evil with good.” This is what Jesus did in his ministry and, ultimately, in his death. Jesus met the evil of this world head on with love and grace, not balled-up fists and merciless judgment. Living in love and harmony with difficult and evil people is what it means to be caught up in the rhythms of the gospel. That’s who we are as Christian people. It’s wrong to get the greatest gift of God’s grace and then turn right around and take revenge on others. “My dear friends” could be translated, “my dear agape people”. Agape is that special, divine love that we get by grace alone. People who have been graced with God’s agape can’t turn around and live vengeful lives. Bad things happen. That is an unhappy fact of life in this world. The gospel calls us to absorb such evil, to show Christ to the world not just when doing that is easy but to display the grace of Jesus precisely when it is most difficult. Others will say we have a right to justice; to see the evil doer punished. The gospel demands something else. The only way into this life is to keep God’s mercy towards me clearly in view; to remain submitted to God’s way instead of the world’s system. We can’t do this on our own. But that has been Paul’s contention all along, “in view of God’s mercy.” We have received; therefore, we can give. 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/39634300

Finding Rest 01/05/2026

Finding Rest Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress; I will not be shaken (Psalm 62:5-6). Well, Advent and Christmas are behind us again. Our wall calendars have been exchanged for fresh ones (if we still use those). This means that Wilderness Wanderings returns to its Avodah series. A refresher is likely needed. What is this series about? Why return to it? Here is why: the rhythm of work and rest was established by God in the beginning. It was part of his declaration: “It is very good”. Since the fall, it has been especially important to maintain this rhythm. It keeps reminding us that we are creatures and not gods. As such, we are finite, limited. We need replenishing: physically and spiritually. Regular rest times put us in a place of dependence on God. Rest also puts our work in context. We are created to be productive, but not dependent on our productivity. When Israel was freed from Egypt, she was freed from endless work. All through the wilderness years, she learned to depend on God for sustenance. Certainly, we need to work to live in this world. But it is God who gives “the ability to produce wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18). Sabbath reminds us of this. Almost everything in our culture wars against this. There is massive pressure to work ourselves to death. Our culture says: you don’t have enough, work harder, buy more stuff, work harder to maintain your stuff, to enjoy your stuff, and to upgrade your stuff. Work even harder so you can leave a pot for your descendants, if you have had time to produce any. That’s crude. But it makes the point. Christians do well to be counter cultural on this. To delightfully rest for refreshment’s sake; resting so God can renew us. Many in our culture hate their work because they never rest. Work is only a means towards pleasure that in the end, disappoints and leaves one fatigued. Tired people do not enjoy life. We are constantly pressured to be busy, busy, busy. When we are not busy, we binge watch and doom scroll. In God’s invitation to rest, God wants us to join him in enjoying life, remembering that all of it is his gift to us. We teach children to be thankful for gifts received. Adults regularly need to relearn this. Thus, we return to Avodah, which is the Hebrew work translated both as work and as worship. On Mondays, I will give a meditation encouraging all of us to offer our ordinary weekly activities as sacrifices to God. As Paul once wrote, “whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). On Fridays, I will give a meditation encouraging us to take rest seriously, rest that refreshes. We all need to instruct ourselves, “Yes, my soul, find rest in God”; and remind ourselves, “my hope comes from him”. Some of us need to work on Sundays. This makes it even more important to build rest into schedules. Each Wednesday, a meditation from our Wilderness Wanderings archive will be published. 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/39592170

Growing Small 01/04/2026

Wilderness Wanderings

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