Joseph, sitting there in an Egyptian jail, was God's man of the hour, God's agent to accomplish some much-needed changes in his world. They simply needed to be directed by God, do as God said, and let Him do the rest. I pray that God will do the same with us.

One of the things that really attracted me to Christianity as an adult--in particular certain expressions of it--was that it produced results. From my time with the Jesus People and with MRA (Moral Re-Armament, the parent group of Alcoholics Anonymous) I saw people getting saved, healed, and delivered. I saw incredible answers to prayer and dramatic examples of how God had truly directed people's lives. It was a kind of robust, dynamic Christianity that I had never seen during my upbringing in the Anglican Church, something that I truly believe to still be possible today. In fact, I happen to think that God desires it.

Surely Jesus and the four men in Capernaum were 'holy disruptors', used by God's to overturn things and produce results. They simply needed to be directed by God, do as God said, and let Him do the rest. I pray that God will do the same with us.

Someone once described me as a 'spiritual magpie' in that I love picking up bits and pieces of information and stowing them away in the nest of my brain. I think that this description is probably quite accurate as I do in fact love learning and accumulating information and knowledge. But then, with this, comes a couple of attendant problems. First off, how do we assess the accuracy and worth of that information or knowledge, and secondly, how do we know how to make use of it. That is where wisdom comes in.

But even here, there is a problem. There is the 'wisdom' that our world holds on to and is guided by and then there is the wisdom that comes from God. There is often a difference between the two because our world's wisdom, our society's wisdom, is often based on a set of values or parameters or assumptions that do not align up with God's. That is the problem addressed in today's meditation. But, as I suggest in my meditation, the answer to this problem is to make sure that we spend quality time with God and with His word. That way His wisdom becomes ingrained in us and part of our very way of thinking, deciding and acting.

I have read the stories of Jesus calling the four fishermen, Peter, Andrew, James and John, but had never thought of their time with Jesus as a kind of mentorship. Of course, most of us have called it discipleship, but somehow that lacks the modern, contemporary 'feel' of mentorship. And neither does it have the sense of friendship and intimacy, the sense of intentionally 'being together' that is embedded in the modern idea of mentorship.

Somehow I think that this practice of mentorship has far too often been neglected within the modern church. We speak of discipleship programs but often this is more institutional, more 'organized', more 'scheduled.' There is less of the day-to-day 'hanging out together', working together, experiencing today, that Jesus and His disciples, or Paul and his coworkers, enjoyed back then.

Today's psalm and meditation focus on what has to be a recurrent situation for almost all of us. What do we do or say when 'all hell seems to break loose, when troubles and difficulties seem to multiply endlessly and for no discernible reason, and none of it seems to be our fault? That was the situation that had enveloped ancient Israel. While they did what many people have done over the years, and that is, to question where God was in all this, they did not, as a consequence, give up on God. Instead, they kept faithful to God, but also kept faithful in prayer, demanding that He act in their situation and help them. It is a good model and example for all of us.

Temptation is something that we all know all too well, and may often feel totally alone in it. To me, it comes as a great comfort, and help, to know that Jesus has also experienced it, in fact, in every way that we do. And what is even more reassuring is that He faced it, and overcame it, equipped with no resources other than the ones that we have available to us.

When things are topsy turvey, problems seem rampant, and everything seems to be in disarray, it is easy to wonder where God is and what God is doing. Many of the past 'greats' of the Christian faith experienced this on a personal basis, but now, for many of us, this has come down to rest on a larger, more societal and global levels. It is easy to question, and doubt, at times like this.

Our psalmist encountered this on a personal level, but regardless of his doubts and regardless of the fact that God seemed to be absent and uninvolved, still persisted in his faith in God, still persisted in prayer, and still persisted in holding on to God. To me, that adamant faith is certainly 'something' for our times, something worth imitating in our lives.

This season of Lent is set aside as a time for prayer and reflection and self-examination. Today's passage from Ezekiel, and its ensuing meditation, speak both of the need for consistency within our day to day lives, but also of the possibility of change and the promise of God to assist us in that change. All of this is more than welcome news in this season as we seek to be more faithful followers and disciples of Christ and grow closer to Him. May this be of assistance to you as you go about this.

I like to joke that I never, ever lose my focus, because, after all, it is the name of the make of the car that I drive, a Ford Focus. But then, if truth be told, I do lose it from time to time, especially in large supermarket parking lots. My car is of a make, model and colour (robin's egg blue) that is very similar to a large number of other cars in this city.

But losing focus doesn't apply only to my car. It is something that happens far too easily to all of us, and so it is most appropriate, and helpful, that we address this issue now during Lent, this time of self-examination and repentance. It is an ideal time to take stock of our lives, particularly on what things we hold to be important in our lives. Hopefully today's mediation will be of assistance in this.

Way back in 1973 American psychologist Karl A. Menninger wrote a book entitled, "Whatever Became of Sin?" In it, he exposes the way that any mention of 'sin' has fallen out of fashion, even within Christian circles, and laments its demise. Sin, he said, is now called by a number of other names, fault, indiscretion, accident, etc. but seldom named as sin. If that was true back then, I think that it probably even truer today. It is a word scarcely named today.

But yet, our souls do name it, even if secretly and unintentionally. All of us are probably far too aware of it and aware of its manifestations and consequences within our lives, and regret its influence. Today's psalm deals with it, not by covering it up, but by revealing how God intends to help us with it, namely by forgiving us, setting us free from its power and helping us to move on. I hope you find this meditation helpful and inspiring.

Remaining faithful to God, to Jesus Christ and to His people, has to be one of the most difficult things that we humans ever have to face. In today's passage we see how Pontius Pilate flubbed it, and are reminded of how Peter and the rest of the Twelve did so as well. And, of course, they are not the only ones. We are just as susceptible. But like Peter and the others we have the grace of God at our disposal. God will help us if only we let Him.

In this meditation, we look at the unity, servanthood and mutual care and support that should characterize the church. Sadly, this often seems far too absent in our world today, and far too often even in the church. I am looking with hope and expectancy to see this change as each of us, albeit with the help and guidance of God, do our best to be that change, and to make it happen.

To me, the Transfiguration and the ensuing deliverance of the demon-possessed boy invoke something of a sense of wonder and excitement, and hopefully, a sense of expectancy--namely that God has acted in the past, and still is acting even today.

Both my meditation and the one from the Forward Day by Day devotional speak of the importance of encouragement and of how a little bit of encouragement makes all the difference along the way. Paul speaks of the way that Lois and Eunice imparted their faith to Timothy and encouraged him along the way, and Paul himself does the same thing via his letter. He wants Timothy to remain strong and faithful, and not grow disillusioned or disappointed through the things he's going through. He reminds Timothy and us that God has entrusted to us a great and wonderful treasure, one that we should never give up. He counsels him to be faithful no matter what, knowing that the Holy Spirit is there to help and strengthen him. And the same goes for us. This 'season', this time of life in our world, may be incredibly tiresome, even frightening, but the same God is there to help us through it, if only we remain rooted and steadfast in Him.

Lent will rather quickly be upon us, and as such, constitutes a very good time to re-examine our lives, our priorities and our habits. In the latter case, Psalm 19 says some very pertinent things about our habits, particularly those that 'happen' to be sinful. Verse 13, in the Contemporary English Version (CEV), says 'don't let me do wrong on purpose.' (Other translations render this as 'presumptuous sins' or 'wilful sins'.) That is clear enough, but what about those sins referred to in verse 12, as 'when I sin without knowing it' (translated as 'hidden faults' or 'secret faults' in several other translations)?

It is those inadvertent or unintentional sins that are the subject of today's meditation, sins of word perhaps, or of association, or even of goals or of purchases. Anyway, I think that here is lots of food for thought, reflection and prayer. Happy going.

A widely held, but totally erroneous--and terribly misleading and destructive--notion is that only certain people are 'called' to ministry, and that only certain activities actually 'qualify' as ministry. This notion, as I said, is erroneous and destructive--because it leaves out many people and much of life. I like to think that all of us are involved in ministry and that all of our lives and work qualify. Here I think back to a couple of past parishioners. One was a school nurse who'd never thought of her work in attending to students' medical and health needs, and often their emotional and social needs as well (such as offering a listening ear or a comforting hug or holding the student's hand) as ministry. Or the president of the Alberta Cattleman's Association who likewise never thought of his role there as ministry. And yet he was largely in large of maintaining standards and requirements for the industry.

Today we look at Matthias--and his also-ran, Justus. They show up very, very briefly in the annals of history, but then are gone, seemingly unimportant, unnoticed and forgotten. But I believe their ministries--and the ministries of each one of us--are important, and necessary, in God's eyes, and likewise important, and necessary, for our church and our world. So, take heart and continue on: you are important.

When trouble and difficulties seem to swirl around us continually, it is sometimes hard to keep our focus on God, and choose to keep on trusting in Him and in His word. Psalm 119 always seems to have a myriad of messages for us, but this is the one that seemed to leap out at me today: to keep on trusting Him no matter what.

Today's passage, and meditation, strike at the heart of our Christian lives. How do we love people with whom we profoundly disagree--and may, at times, be openly critical and hostile toward their beliefs and the choices they have made? We have already seen this with regards to covid and the resulting restrictions but now are faced with it in even greater clarity with regards to the Ottawa truck protest and its allies. I know that families and friendships have been split over this and communities as well (such as Coutts, Alberta). (One Ontario senator was actually caught on tape publicly denouncing his own wife for holding a view that is contrary to his. I must say that I would not want to be his household just now!) But there's the rub: just how do we love those, including our fellow Christians, with whom we profoundly disagree? I'm afraid that I don't have a final answer, but maybe it's something that we can work on, together. My prayers are with us all as we try to do this.

Today's meditation also addresses the question of our openness to what God is saying, especially on the question of our obeying Him and trusting in His word and His wisdom, and allowing Him to correct and guide us. I suspect that we are not always very good at this, preferring instead to trust in our own wisdom and understanding.