Church ← Julian Freeman

Driving the Churches Away

Sep

2012

I’m very thankful for my friend Tim Challies for many reasons (on personal, church, and global-internet levels). Today I’m thankful for him taking up our cause on his blog. Over the past couple of weeks our church has been thrust into a very difficult situation as the Toronto District School Board has raised our rent ...

What’s Outside the Cookie Cutter

Aug

2012

Imagine for a second that you’re inept in the kitchen (for some of us, that’s not much of a stretch). Picture this: you need to make one cookie. It has to be in a specific shape. Thankfully, you have the right cookie cutter and the right ingredients. But one problem remains: how do you make ...

Sleeping While the Kingdom Grows

Aug

2012

My family just returned from a couple weeks of vacation. It was a glorious opportunity to play, to sleep, to relax, to read good books, to spend time together — in short, to rest. What a blessing to be able to experience something of the balance that God intended when he established the rhythm of ...

Why Backyards Matter

May

2012

What would you see if you looked in my backyard? A sandbox, a patio, some trees, a garden, a shed, some room for the kids to run, and a fence to keep them from running too far. At least, that’s what you’d see at first glance. But if you looked closer, you’d see more. Upon ...

It’s a Strange Thing Being a Pastor

Apr

2012

Being a pastor is a strange thing. We proclaim a message with the power of God to change people, but we can’t even change ourselves. We call others to perfection, as Jesus did, but our lives are full of imperfection. We must shepherd like the Shepherd though we’re just one of the sheep. We seek ...

Please Pray for Your Pastor

Apr

2012

Back at the end of February Stephen Altrogge wrote a very helpful post titled, ‘The Best Thing You Can Do for Your Pastor.’ In it he reminded us of the truth of 2 Corinthians 1.11: You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted ...

Are We Suffocating Christian Children?

Mar

2012

Are We Asking the Wrong Question? Last week Tim posted an interesting collection of articles relating to the issue of baptism. Specifically, the issue being debated was, ‘At what age should we baptize?’ That in itself is an interesting question, because it is one that the Bible never asks or answers. Age is never given ...