Often men and women leave Sunday morning wounded over what seems to be innocent words of observation. It may surprise some that Sunday morning etiquette matters, and the old carpentry proverb of wisdom, "measure twice, cut once," should be applied to our speech in how we talk to one another. Each Sunday, we gather together with the expectation of neighborly love, wisdom, and speech. However, each Sunday, the lack of care over the words spoken is unloving, not very neighborly,

Have you ever heard of the 1985 Venture Chemical accident? To heat paraffin wax, engineers designed an outer jacket working with an inner jacket to heat the material. There was a specific purpose to the design, as it was imperative that the pressure remained at 33.75 psi. That is an important number, not over, not under, but operating capacity. When the accident occurred, the estimated pressure was at 135 psi, causing a rupture, releasing the molten paraffin wax, leading to d

A contractor was hired to fix an old home in desperate need of renovation. Around halfway through the project, the neighbors started talking. One man said, “I heard he is using cheap materials and pocketing the difference.” Another neighbor said, “My cousin said, ‘he cuts corners all the time.’ You cannot trust someone who does that!” And another neighbor mentioned, “When I pulled in yesterday, he was not there. I wonder where he was?” One rumor became two. Two became five, f

I want you to picture yourself in British Parliament many years ago, sitting there listening to the debates on the abolition of the slave trade. After years of going back and forth, there is an expectation that common sense would prevail, yet a member rises to propose a Bill that would prohibit the sale of child slaves, but only on Sunday. To your amazement, the legislative assembly applauds the Bill as “a good start and move towards a better path.” As the room hushes, debate

May I interfere in your life today? In doing so, I must be honest: I want to make you think and possibly make you uncomfortable. Ready? What primary role does your pastor fulfill? Your options are limited. Is he primarily the CEO or the (under)shepherd? As a pastor, and as a brother in Christ who gets to spend time with pastors, I can say with confidence, “Many congregations expect pastors to function primarily as executives, entrepreneurs, marketers, and organizational leade

Have you heard of the incident at the Versailles Wedding Hall in Jerusalem in 2001? Sadly, the name is associated with one of Israel's deadliest civilian building disasters. Many who were there to celebrate in joy the coming together of two people in their union vows resulted in 23 people losing their lives, and hundreds more were injured. What caused this collapse? After investigation, it turns out it was due to unsafe structural design and the use of a lightweight floor con

For those of you who do not follow sports, I want to introduce Richard Jewell. Richard is not a professional athlete, nor has he competed as an athlete in any Olympic event, but he has been part of the Olympics. Richard Jewell was a security agent at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA. Richard was the man who discovered a pipe bomb that was intended to harm many individuals. Yet, because of his bravery and quick actions, he stopped what cou

As a pastor of a healthy church in Mississauga and as someone engaged in church planting in rural Ontario in partnership with Send Network, I am a busy man. On top of this, I am renovating our home, completing my doctoral studies, and attempting to remain faithful in my responsibilities as a husband and dad. I share all of this not to boast, but to express why many well-meaning people determine that such a schedule is the reason I experience weekly exhaustion, irritability, a