James & Carolanne

Is Zoom Safe?

In this time of social distancing, many people are searching for ways to connect by video conferencing and Zoom.us has become one of the popular choices. However, lately there have also been revelations that Zoom security is a huge problem.

Our Father's Rich Mercy

Scripture tells us that the rainbow is to be a reminder for us of God's restraint. Often I look around at the destruction and evil in our world today and wish for Jesus to return and "fix" everything. This was an amazing reminder of our Father's love for us.

Happy Easter!

Our family would like to wish you a very happy Easter celebration this year. For those who don't know, Easter is celebrated by Christians around the world in remembrance of Jesus' death and subsequent resurrection. As Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God who came to earth, lived a life without sin or fault, was captured, falsely judged, tortured and crucified on what we now call "good Friday" even though He...

Easter... What's the big deal?

You may be asking yourself... "What's the big deal about Easter?"  I'd like to tell you what it means to me. Easter is the time when I remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Jesus was born in Israel 2000(ish) years ago and claimed to be the son of God, come to save us from destruction.  He backed that claim up by performing many documented signs and miracles in the presence of many witnesses.  ...

Human Assembly Line

Imagine with me for a moment, a scene in the heavenlies, where humans are BUILT before being born in long assembly lines worked by angels, not unlike the construction of a modern racing car.  Of course, there would be multiple factories... one for the construction of brain tissue, another for building livers, and a special one near the center where hearts are developed and tested.  In fact, all the various pieces (many thousands in total)...

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

I want to talk today about the pharisee and the sinner from Luke 18. 9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner...

Trust in the Lord

I was given a verse this weekend: Prov. 3:5 - Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. I often miss this verse in my hurry to get to the next one, but there's some profound truth here.  Medical professionals tell us over and over again that stress is bad for your health.  For me, stress is usually the result of worry over some trivial thing or another. ...

Isaiah 22

I've been reading lately through the book of Isaiah.  In the past I avoided this book due to it being among those classified as "Prophetic Warnings and Doom" in my head.  Generally I try to avoid those due the danger of personal depression.  :)  However, I have learned to really enjoy Isaiah.  There are some great nuggets in there, and a LOT of prophecy pertaining to the coming of Christ and His reign.  There are...

God Loves You

God loves you.  Revolutionary isn't it.  It's so easy to say, yet so difficult to understand or comprehend.  I've been reading in Daniel lately and one of the things that stuck out to me was the language that is used to describe God's feelings about Daniel.  Daniel 9:20-23 says the following: 20 I went on praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people, pleading with the Lord my God for Jerusalem, his...

The Disobedient Man of God - 1 Kings 13

I just read the story of "the disobedient man of God" in 1 Kings 13 and I really don't understand it.  In the story, king Jeroboam is offering sacrifices to golden calves he made at Bethel, and an unnamed "man of God from Judah" is sent by God to denounce him.  The man of God does what he was told to do, and when invited to come and share a meal with the king, he...

Party in His Presence

I (James) have been reading through the Bible from the beginning and have been really enjoying it so far.  Recently, I was reading in Deuteronomy 14:22-27 and was surprised by something I had never noticed before. The verses are talking about how the Israelites are supposed to tithe 10%.  I guess I've always glossed over those verses: "... tithe 10% ... sacrifice it to God ... give to the priests..."  However, in reading it this...

God of Genocide

Is your Jesus capable of ordering the genocide of a people group or two? I've been reading through the Old Testament again recently and have been shocked by the violence that I read of God ordering His people to wipe out entire people groups. In the past I have read these passages and been pacified with the thought that "well, they were evil and deserved it" or "God was punishing them".  While this is true,...

Who do you smell like?

During our recent time at the Power to Change biennial Zone Conference I had an interesting conversation with one of our newer staff members.  He was telling me all about his favourite hobby restoring an old car.  His wife, apparently, doesn't share his same passion, referring to the vehicle as his "mistress".  She could always tell when he'd been spending time with "his mistress" because when he came in he brought with him a certain...

Genesis 29-30

I've been reading through Genesis the past few days and am currently on the story of Jacob in 29-30. Wow. What a hustler! The guy was a real player. Not only did he lie and cheat his way through most of the deals he was involved with, he also "got around". Just finished reading the story of Leah and Rachel. What a sordid affair! First he loves Rachel because she's beautiful and "has a sparkle...

The Rapture is Coming!

The rapture is coming tomorrow.  At least, that's what some Christians believe and have been preaching. Officially, the Bible teaches that we don't know the day or the hour when Christ will return.  It *could* be on May 21'st at 6:00 pm GMT, or it could be the day after, or next week, or in 2000 more years.  What we DO know for sure is that Christ WILL return someday, those who believe in Him...