Loss can be a devastating experience in life but God provides and fulfills the void in our lives with a much greater and deeper satisfaction IN Him and BY Him. Read our sister Nicole’s story on how she found faith and love in God in the midst of her loss.
I didn’t grow up in a Christian home like all my Christian friends. My mom used to be a Christian, but now she has stopped going to church and I’m not quite sure why. My brother is younger than I am and generally I just don’t have a lot of guidance from my family about God. I was born in Vancouver, British Colombia and I moved around a little when I was younger, getting schooled in the US for a year, and I eventually moved to Jasper, Alberta while I was in grade 1-3. While I was there, a lot of the people I met were Catholics or Christians. Despite all this, I didn’t know much about Christianity and no one ever came up to me to share God’s Word. Religion and God wasn’t a topic discussed much for those that are 6 year old. I just didn’t know anything really and thinking about God never really occurred to me as a young child.
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What great joy and blessing to the soul is it to witness children worshipping God! And even more so generation with generation worshipping the same God with the same purpose, voice, and heart. Read about our voice Sandy’s experience with bringing her children to worship in community.
“One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.” - Mark 10:13-16 (NLT)
I had a great experience on new years eve or you could even call it an experiment. Our church held our first ever (I think) 6-hour straight worship service to welcome the new year.
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We often get caught up in focusing on and controlling our lives until something happens to remind us that our time is limited. Watch this video testimony as Jenny shares of how God helped her come to realize the urgency and importance of sharing the Gospel.
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Waiting patiently is one of the most challenging thing to do in life and yet it is something we inevitably encounter time and time again. But indeed God’s goodness is worth waiting and hoping for because He knows our needs and what’s best. Read about how our editor Darren wrestled through this and Scripture encouraged him the past several months.
My friend recently gave me a Charlie Brown desk figurine. It depicts Linus sitting forlornly beside a washing machine as his beloved blanket is being washed. The caption chiseled into the bottom reads “The best things in life are worth waiting for.”
It seemed like I’d been waiting forever, about several different things. The main one on my mind was school. In late January and early February I submitted my applications to three grad schools. Many other decisions, such as where I would live, short-term missions, and working, all hinged on whether I was accepted to start school full-time in September. Thus began an extended period of waiting.
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Everyone deserves more than just a second chance and our relentless God gave many ‘second chances’ to our beloved brother Gabe as he has journeyed through life to figure out his identity in Christ. We praise our awesome Lord because truly in Christ we ARE a new creation - the old has passed and the new has come!
How many of you struggle with your identity? If someone asked you to share with them about who you are, would you be able to do that? What are the things that you would identify yourself with? Growing up, I came to recognize that one consequence (and I’m sure there are many more) of an identity struggle is rebellion.
Growing up, I struggled with submitting to most if not all of those that had authority over me. In grade 3, I started an Asian gang (LOL – I can laugh about this now) and we called ourselves the Secret Agents. Sounds corny but at that age, it was the coolest thing. Whenever our Caucasian classmates teased us about our eyes or accent, we would beat them up during recess or drag them across the playing field. If we found dog poop, we would drag them over the poop.
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What is your favorite event at church? For many, it will be baptisms, when a person publicly declares their faith; the outward proclamation of their inward conversion by the power of the Holy Spirit. In today’s post our friend Alysha shares about her love of baptisms.
Rob and I were talking the other day about baptisms because they are having a baptism service sometime soon at our church. I get pretty excited about baptisms. That might be an understatement; I get outright ecstatic! I can’t help it. From inside my heart joy bubbles as people talk about what God is doing in their lives. I want to get up and dance and sing and wiggle … much of which would be frowned upon in some churches. I would actually dare to say that I like baptisms more than weddings. Rob was a little shocked by this, as he should be because it’s not baptism blogs that I get lost in from time to time. If they had them I’d read them. Anyone know of any?
When I was baptized I cried so many joyful tears. The feeling of God’s presence embraced me and that was a feeling that I carried with me through later years when I would forget what overwhelming joy in God’s presence felt like.
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How does a person move from “living in the ways of the world” to being “alive in Christ”? (Eph 2:2,5) In today’s testimony to God’s grace, our friend Honey shares her personal journey of faith from not knowing God to being embraced by His generous love.
I grew up in a devout Buddhist family. My parents would teach their kids many things about Buddhist religious beliefs. As kids, we were told to do as they say, pray, meditate, and remember the 10 rules of Buddhism. Although I knew the 10 rules, I never felt any personal connection with the Buddhist gods.
Ironically, during my elementary school years, I attended a private Catholic school called St. Francis Xavier School. We Buddhist kids were taught that God created the world in seven days, Virgin Mary is the mother of Jesus, and that Moses saved a bunch of people in Egypt. My curiosity about Christianity grew: I wanted to know who God was. What does he look like? Is he a person? I wanted to know more but I didn’t know how.
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How can you adequately convey what God has done to transform your life? As much as words can seem inadequate, we know that God has revealed His timeless truth to us through His Son (whom John calls “the Word became flesh”). Here Mark Cantos gives his spoken-word testimony of how God worked in him to turn his life around.
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Why did Paul feel the need to admonish his protege Timothy, saying “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” (1 Tim 4:12) In today’s post, WitnessTO editor Tiff shares about her experiences as a young Christian living in Toronto.
How many times have we thought that we were too young or too insignificant to make a difference?
That’s what I’ve always thought at the back of my mind. It wasn’t that I looked down on myself, I just thought that there would be somebody else, or there would be some other time when I’m older when I’ll be able to answer God’s call.
But He challenged me head on on that thought.
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Have you ever grappled with the question, “Who am I?” Our editor Tim shares how a talent show reminded him of his struggle in finding acceptance and affirmation from others. Ultimately he found his true identity as a beloved child of God, whom Christ adopted through His death on the cross.
Recently I attended my church’s high school fellowship talent show. The theme for the night was “IDENTITY CHRIST-IS”. The night was filled the youths and counsellors singing, dancing, and acting. It was intertwined with sharing about their own struggles with finding their own identity.
It was an incredible blessing to see each of them share not only their talents but their lives with those present. One by one, they allowed others to see the cracks and baggage they carried each day.
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