Tracy's Blog

An old Easter worship chorus has been running through my mind today: "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" I think that the main point of Holy Week is to bring us imaginatively to the place and time of Christ's betrayal, suffering, death, and resurrection. The Church around the world sets apart this week to meditate on the narrative that has changed all of eternity. I hope that you are able to find some time to do that privately or with others. (By the way, if you have the opportunity to get to Highland Park Tues - Thurs evening between 6:30 - 8:30 pm, the "Journey with Jesus" prayer stations is worth experiencing.) The question still remains: "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" Not just imaginatively or reflectively, but really? Yes, my old self was there and as a result, my salvation and sanctification are possible. But that's not the only question in the song that needs to be answered: "Were you there when He rose up from ...

Stop, Look, and Listen. This morning Abigail went for her first bike ride of the year. She loves biking and is quite good at it so I was confident about letting her go down the street ahead of me. But I still reminded her to slow down and look before she crosses any intersections. Later on, I was praying about something I felt I didn't know how to do and I sensed the Lord saying to me, "Look to My Word, Listen to My people and My Spirit" as a way to learn. The old safety phrase came to my mind - Stop, Look, & Listen - and I wondered how it could apply to our spiritual lives, especially during this Lenten season. Here's what I've come up with. It's rather metaphorical but I hope you get the idea. And if you have another perspective on this idea, please share with us. As we are travelling through the journey of our life with God, it's important to take time to stop, look, and listen when we are about to step into any sort of potentially dangerous zone fo...

I know it has been a LONG time since I've blogged. Sorry about that. Selling our house and buying one in Manitoba has occupied alot of my attention in February but I praise God that we have done both. I wanted to write earlier in Lent and to use this George MacDonald quote as a springboard for discussion. "But I do not know how to awake and arise!" I will tell you. Get up, and do something the Master tells you; so make yourself his disciple at once. Instead of asking yourself whether you believe or not, ask yourself whether you have this day done one thing because he said, Do it, or once asbstained because he said, Do not do it. It is simply absurd to say you believe, or even want to believe in him, if you do not anything he tells you. If you can think of nothing he ever said as having had an atom of influence on your doing or not doing, you have too good ground to consider youself no disciple of his. But you can begin at once to be a disciple of the Living One - by obey...

How are you, Tracy?", I asked myself on the morning of January 1st as my family was sleeping away and I was journalling since I had to get up to go out with the dog. "I am very well for I am at peace with God", I answered. Peace with God. That's a phrase I've heard used over and over throughout my Christian walk. "Steps to Peace with God" is a tract that people use to share their faith (I seem to connect it to the Billy Graham Evangelist Association). And, yes, while the gospel can be explained in a few short pages, the astounding magnitude of it's significance is something that only eternity will grant us the capacity to fully comprehend. So, while I continue to remain on this side of eternity, I joyful welcome the progressive unfolding of the reality that I am at peace with God. What was I thinking about on New Year's morning? Specifically that peace with God matters more than peace with other people (although peace with others is possi...

So I didn't want to leave you mucking around in Gal. 5:19-21 for too long..... onto verses 22-23 . One of the most amazing things about our salvation is that we have not only been saved from our sin and rescued from destruction, we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit that we may truly live! Here is the comparison of the NIV and The Message on the fruit of the Spirit: NIV The Message Love Affection for Others Joy Exuberance about life Peace Serenity Patience A willingness to stick with things Kindness A sense of compassion in the heart goodness A conviction that basic holiness permeates things and people Faithfulness loyal commitments Gentelness not needing to force our way in life Self Control able to marshall and direct our energies wisely The one that stood out to me as odd was his translation of "goodness". I've always viewed it as goodness in the person who has the Holy Spirit, not a conviction about holiness in things and people. As I thought about it, I ...

Sometimes when I'm reading a passage in NIV and it is sounding so familiar that I can't really listen to it, I pull out another translation of the Bible. As I read the passage and find words I don't expect, it causes me to stop and consider what is being said and hopefully hear a fresh perspective. Currently, the translation that I pull out when I'm looking for a fresh perspective is Eugene Peterson's "The Message". When I read Galatians 5 in it, I thought, "this is my next blog". So, here is a comparison between the NIV and The Message on the acts of the sinful nature with a little commentary from me. Galatians 5:19-21 : the obvious acts of the sinful nature/of trying to get your own way all the time NIV The Message Sexual immorality Repetitive, loveless, cheap sex Impurity A stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage Debauchery Frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness Idolatry Trinket Gods Witchcraft Magic-show religion Hatred Parano...

As I start to write, I am well aware that it has been too long since my last post. "Well, there has been a lot going on," I tell myself. And it is true! There is the daily routine of childcare and housework and dog walking and errands and on and on. Plus deadlines for projects that dominate or the unfortunate situations (having a sick child was mine this week) that drain time and energy exponentially. It seems that life can get so full that it is a struggle to find time for some of the most important things.... like writing blogs, reading my Bible, and being still before God. And that's what the "Mary Minute" is all about. A couple of weeks ago, Jess and I were talking about the story of Mary and Martha from Luke 10:38-42. Not surprising, the affirmation that Mary received for sitting at Jesus' feet - in a posture of submissive learning - instead of rushing around dealing with the many details of meal preparation challenged us. Is it possible to l...