Month in Review: Favorite Watches, Listens: February 2022

Movies Help (2022) Directed by Marc Munden Who would have thought I would be ready for and fully emabracing a pandemic movie in the early goings of 2022. And yet here I am not only embracing it but fully feeling the emotional weight of its tightly woven and intimately drawn human drama. It really isContinue reading “Month in Review: Favorite Watches, Listens: February 2022”

Reflections on John 16: In this world you will have trouble. But take heart I have overcome the world

*this is the transcipt for a sermon I gave on John 16 on Sunday, March 6th, 2022. Back in the summer of 2021 Jen and I took advantage of the recently opened provincial borders to travel to Eastern Canada. We were definitely feeling the isolation of the last year with the ongoing pandemic. We wereContinue reading “Reflections on John 16: In this world you will have trouble. But take heart I have overcome the world”

Malcolm Gladwell and Talking to Strangers: Finding Order in the Disorder of our Living in this World Together

In his book Talking to Strangers, Canadian writer Malcolm Gladwell delves into the psychology of our togetherness which makes us human. His particular focus is on how it is that we relate to on another in a world filled with competing information. Understanding that we come together with “different assumptions, perspectives and backgrounds” and differentContinue reading “Malcolm Gladwell and Talking to Strangers: Finding Order in the Disorder of our Living in this World Together”

Ukraine, film travels, and locating a country through the story of its film industry

Watching the news this week and with everything happening in Ukraine caused me to look back on the film travels exercise I did in 2020, where I travelled the world through film researching individual film cultures, watching their films, and then reflecting on what I learned through my travels. One of the biggest things IContinue reading “Ukraine, film travels, and locating a country through the story of its film industry”

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart I have overcome the world: What John 16 Can Teach Us About Pandemics, Truth, Convoys and Freedom

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart I have overcome the world.”John 16:33 So much hinges on this small verse at the end of a section commonly understood to depict Jesus’ followers as standing opposed to a world that “hates” them and persecutes them for simply believing in Jesus. To be hatedContinue reading “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart I have overcome the world: What John 16 Can Teach Us About Pandemics, Truth, Convoys and Freedom”

Pandemics, Convoys, Freedoms and Fear: Some Thoughts on Being a Canadian and a Christian in a Divisive Climate

Some thoughts that came from a discussion with someone regarding what, if we could just take a step back from the highly charged division and speak honestly for a second, it is that I genuinely think, fear and wonder about coming out of this past week living and Canada and measuring the reality of theContinue reading “Pandemics, Convoys, Freedoms and Fear: Some Thoughts on Being a Canadian and a Christian in a Divisive Climate”

Favorite Watches, Reads and Listens: Month in Review for January 2022

Movies 1. The Face of Another (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1966))  The story follows two essential characters- a man with a facial disfigurement who gets a mask which he wears to cover up his blemishes, and a young woman with a scar that holds in its presence the larger story of war, post war reality, and socio-politicalContinue reading “Favorite Watches, Reads and Listens: Month in Review for January 2022”

John 3:1:21: Reimaging a Familiar Text As a Message of Hope For Our Present Times

John 3:1-21 New International Version Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”Continue reading “John 3:1:21: Reimaging a Familiar Text As a Message of Hope For Our Present Times”

Book Review: Delivered Out of Empire: Pivotal Moments in the Book of Exodus By Walter Brueggemann

It has been a while since I’ve read anything from Water Breuggemann, a celebrated scholar and theologian specializing in Old Testament texts. An interview awakened me to his new book Delivered Out of Empire: Pivotal Moments in the Book of Exodus and it is truly paradigm shifting inthe way it breaks open the Exodus storyContinue reading “Book Review: Delivered Out of Empire: Pivotal Moments in the Book of Exodus By Walter Brueggemann”

Circle (2015, Aaron Hann, Mario Mslcone): A Game of Life and Death, Winners and Losers and How Faith Disrupts the Rules of the Game

This is a really interesting concept that potentially gets bogged down by the weight of a few uncertain parts. I found that it’s far more interesting to ponder after the fact than to experience in the moment, and this is due to the fact that there isn’t a whole lot of mystery or even necessaryContinue reading “Circle (2015, Aaron Hann, Mario Mslcone): A Game of Life and Death, Winners and Losers and How Faith Disrupts the Rules of the Game”