A Noble Theme

Hespeler, 25 June, 2017 © Scott McAndless – Aboriginal Sunday Joshua 9:1-20, Deuteronomy 28:1-6, 15-19 Joshua 9:1-2 Now when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon – the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites – heard of this, 2 they gathered together with one accord to fight Joshua and Israel. A nd it came to pass that a settler people came even unto this land and found that it was a rich and good – a land that was flowing with beaver pelts and lumber and many fish. And they knew that God had given this land to be a possession for them and for their children and for their children’s children until they became a people as numerous as the stars in the sky.       And lo there were nations that were in this land that God had given to the settlers. And these nations, the Iroquois, the Algonquin, the...

Introduction Video: Hespeler, 18 June 2017 © Scott McAndless – Fathers’ Day Galatians 5:13-14, Mark 9:33-37, Psalm 138 A s I’m sure we’ve all heard by now, Canada came into being 150 years less two weeks ago and the Dominion of Canada was actually created by an act of the British Parliament. But I don’t think that that was when Canada actually began. I believe that the Canada that I love actually began a few years earlier with a hearty greeting shouted from a rowboat.       Let me explain. You may recall from your high school history classes that the idea of Canada all began with the initiative of a group of people we lovingly call the Fathers of Confederation and a meeting in the City of Charlottetown in Prince Edward Island in the year the city of Charlottownhe 1864. They are called the Fathers of Confederation for two reasons. First of all, they were called fathers because they were all men because nobody in the world at that t...

Hespeler, June 4, 2017 © Scott McAndless Matthew 17:24-27, Psalm 72:1-14, Leviticus 19:33-34 A s you may have heard, the country of Canada is in the midst of celebrating a very significant anniversary. Less than one month from now it will be exactly 150 years since the confederation of t he Dominion of Canada. And everyone seems to want to get in on the celebration. There are merchandise and product tie-ins. You can buy everything from cans of Pepsi to bags of french-fries emblazoned with the Canada 150 logo. There are commemorative coins, shirts, ties and sandals. The government is giving away passes to national parks and millions of dollars in grants to creative people who can come up with some piece of art that can celebrate our country and its history (including, strangely, a giant rubber duck).       So I felt like I needed to be a part of all the hype. After all, I love my country and am proud and happy to enjo...

I have an undergraduate degree in Linguistics. You need to understand that about me right off the top. It means that I have been taught to approach language in very particular ways: scientific and analytical ways. But, having told you that about me, I'm going to confess something, I really don't get how people in the present discussion in the Presbyterian Church in Canada regarding LGBTQ issues get hung up over a definition. For example, in a recent blog post , Roland De Vries wrote this : The Life and Mission Agency of The Presbyterian Church in Canada is presenting the following recommendation to the General Assembly of the denomination in two weeks time. That clergy in The Presbyterian Church in Canada be permitted for pastoral reasons to bless same sex marriages conducted by civil authorities. ... there are serious problems with this recommendation, and perhaps the most serious problem is that it is not the half-measure it purports to be. In fact, if this recomme...

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada is coming up very soon.  This year there will be some debates on the agenda, yet again, about the place of LGBTQ people in the church.  So, of course, the discussion boards of the church had been pretty active lately with people posting and discussing these weighty matters.  I hardly want to spend all my time attending to these discussions, but I can’t help tuning in from time to time. Lately, as you may have noticed, people who are strongly opposed to making any changes in our policies at this time, had been taking to labeling those they disagree with as “revisionists.” I don’t want to presume that this is their intention, but I can’t help but notice it often comes across as a pejorative label. They seem to be thinking, every time that they say it, that they are the true believers and that those who disagree with them are merely revising a time honoured approach to the Bible and to truth. The other day, I stum...