The Weight of a Province, The Prayer for the Nation

Election fever is at an all-time high in Nanaimo this week. Never has so much in B.C. politics depended on the decision of just one Electoral District! There has been a steady flow of politicians, candidates and volunteers knocking on doors, making phone calls and putting up signs in this beautiful community on Vancouver Island. Many prognosticators say the race is too close to call, which I believe is always a positive for democracy. 

The Church has an awkward relationship with politics.  

In the Gospels, we see Jesus talking about building a Kingdom that is not of this world. Some take this to mean we should avoid getting too involved in the political process and give ourselves to pursuing loftier and more spiritual outcomes. The opposite extreme is seen in the cozy relationship shared by American Evangelicals with the GOP. Sadly, our brothers and sisters are selling their spiritual birthright for the promise of political influence and power. I believe this can only end badly for the credibility of the Church in North America.  

There is a better opportunity for us to engage in the political process, but it requires some fresh thinking on our part.  Here are a few things to think about:

1) PRAY: our greatest opportunity is to become a genuine prayer-force in our nation.  We have been given a unique role. No one else can do what we are able to do through prayer. What do you think God would do in response to the sincere prayers of His people on behalf of our nation?  

2) THINK VALUES: we need to think beyond our traditional political assumptions about who can best represent our values. Kingdom values are scattered throughout the political spectrum. Choose the ones that matter most to you and support them within the political context.

3) VOTE: the Bible calls us to be exemplary citizens, and we believe part of being a good citizen is voting at every opportunity. Be an informed voter and if you want to avoid the lineups, be an early voter.  The lines are rarely long at an advanced poll and your vote counts just as much!

4) SERVE: become a campaign worker/volunteer. Serve a political party as a member or on a party Board or.... take a giant leap and serve a community as a candidate/elected representative! Jesus taught and modelled service as a lifestyle. Follow His example!

Our team is praying for the community of Nanaimo. So, Nanaimo, the next move is yours.  We, along with several candidates, await your decision!

My Battle With Blue Monday

I’ve never been diagnosed with depression or anxiety, but as I look back at my life I see some patterns that would likely have qualified me if I had gone to talk with a professional.

For those of you that don’t know me, I’ve spent most of my life working as a pastor/minister. There are times it can be tremendously exciting and rewarding and other times where it can be soul-crushing. Everyone handles things differently and I handled it all very poorly. In the seasons where things were exciting and rewarding, I thought that if I just prayed and worked a little harder, things would be that much better. In the seasons where things were soul-crushing, I thought that if I just prayed and worked a little harder, things would improve and turn around. I learned some painful lessons about performance, prayer, God and people but I need to leave that for another day.

Proverbs tells us that ‘hope deferred makes the heart sick’. I kept hoping that things would improve and the more I hoped, the more they didn’t. In the meantime, I became miserable on the inside and on the outside. Anger, frustration and short temper became part of my brand, especially for those closest to me. (I had no idea how bad it was until long after the fact.) By the fall of 2005, I was in bad shape and needed to step away.

A change of career focus improved things somewhat, but the stress of building a ministry from scratch, some serious financial pressure and a lot of baggage from days gone by, made my inner world that much heavier and darker. To be clear, I had some wonderful people around me who loved me, accepted me and supported me who had no idea what was happening inside of me. It was just too embarrassing or painful to invite them into my that part of my world.

In the fall of 2010, my best friend looked me in the eye and said ‘I’m fat… you’re fat… we should do something about that!’ He proposed a friendly competition with some other ‘fat friends’ where we each put in $100 and the first person to lost 10% of their body weight won the prize.

While I didn’t win the grand prize, I did win the better prize. I began to run as a way to lose weight but quickly discovered that in addition to burning calories, my inner world was getting brighter. The more I ran, the more my mental health improved. I was more relaxed, more patient and basically had more ‘mental endurance’.

I know this isn’t a panacea for everyone and many suffer at a much deeper level than what I experienced, but it’s something that made a huge difference in my life. Part of it is just biology and physiology. I burned off a lot of the negative energy in my world just through burning calories. Part of it is intensely spiritual. I know this isn’t everyone’s ‘cup of tea’ but it happens to be part of mine. God did (and is still doing) a profound work in me in the time I’ve spent running.