National Call to Prayer Jan 20 - 30, 2021

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful"

Colossians 4:2

If ever there has been a moment in the history of our Canadian Vineyard Family that we are critically aware of our need for God's wisdom, it's now. Pressed on every side and daily challenged in the midst of Global upheaval, we are reaching out for the enabling of the Spirit to maintain a... more

Love has come. Love is coming.

Here we are, embarking on the final movement of the Advent season, the fourth candle. This final beacon, lit in the last watch of the night, waits for the break of dawn. It completes the circle of light and awaits the lighting of the central candle, the Christ candle.  And so, the stage is set. The voices of the ancient prophets rest and wait.

Of course, the practices and... more

Much like the angelic proclamation to the shepherds, advent speaks of the truth that in Jesus a great joy has been given to us. But in a year where fear, tension, anxiety, and conflicts rule our news feed, sometimes we need some assistance in our ability to receive and rest in this joy.

Set aside a moment of time to do one of the following reflection exercises with your family, or on your own. As you... more

"The real voyage of discovery consists

not in seeking new landscapes,

but in having new eyes."

-Marcel Proust

Though we may pray and hope and plead and beg, none of us can escape the hard things in life. Death, sickness, injuries, pain, loss - these things have a way of finding us all.

And hasn't 2020 confirmed this; life can be awfully hard.

But thankfully, there is always more than one dynamic at... more

I find myself noticing things this Christmas season that I haven't before.

Take Joseph. Ya, that guy, the non-biological father of Jesus. How often I have overlooked him at Christmas. Like what happened in a story I heard this week of a mother who called the church office to let the staff know that her son who was playing the role of Joseph in the kids Christmas Musical had fallen ill and would be... more

Somewhere cramped and stale, in the thick of deep darkness, or perhaps under the suffocating heat of midday. Maybe in the first flickers of new-day light, or lost and silenced by the fervent scurry of a whirling and chaotic world on the move, a baby has been born.

This baby is for us, for all of us.

A woman's cry, shifting livestock feet and swatting tails, an unsure father, the heaving waves of ... more

"The shipwrecked at the stable kneel in the presence of mystery. God entered into our world not with the crushing impact of unbearable glory, but in the way of weakness, vulnerability and need. On a wintry night in an obscure cave, the infant Jesus was a humble, naked, helpless God who allowed us to get close to him."  Brennan Manning

As we all turn our calendars to December, we are collectively and... more

A Jewish boy – a divine Son. He comes.

Immanuel, God with us.

Waiting in Mary's womb.

Immanuel.

He would breathe earths air. He would walk this soil. He would live – here.

Immanuel.

He would speak as a prophet. He would instruct and learn out of His experience as human. Obedience through suffering. Engraving a new covenant. A new way. His way. The way of love.

Immanuel.

Priestly empathy. Listening... more

I have been musing a lot lately on this quote from Walter Brueggemann, "The prophetic tasks of the church are to tell the truth in a society that lives in illusion, grieve in a society that practices denial, and express hope in a society that lives in despair."

As we head into Advent 2020, I can't help but think of how critical it is that we as Christ's followers allow the apocalypse of this past year... more

Lately we have found ourselves in a number of prayer meetings, representing different settings, as well as different facets of the church. In all these interactions there is a clear sense of awakening to prayer. We have helped host and been participants in international, national, regional and local prayer calls within our Vineyard family as well as with groups like the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.more

Several  weeks ago David and I were privileged to be a part of an "adoption" ceremony that was hosted on line to welcome the New Joy Community in Surrey, B.C  into our Canadian Vineyard Family.  Members of the Foundations Team, the B.C. Regional Team and others from around the country were on deck to take part in this fun event.

In preparation for the call, I set aside some time to wait, listen and ask... more

Well it certainly has been the most interesting of times to have been hidden away. The three months went by a lot quicker than we could have ever anticipated and we are deeply grateful for the time we had to lay low, recalibrate and rest. As we slinked into the shadows COVID was in full swing, the protests both south and north of the border had begun while both Canada and the US were trying to find... more