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Today’s message at Grandview Baptist (the church I’ve been going to this year at Waterloo) went hand in hand with the message I heard last night by Craig Kielburger. The pastor spoke all about the “mission mindset” and how the only mindset that truly leads to a life of missions for God is a God-focused mindset. It seems pretty simple, but it was a powerful message in the context of what I had heard last night.

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’

“At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.’

“Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your…Continue Reading

I just got back from the seventh annual “St. Jerome’s Feast.” The food was amazing, and in addition to eating, we had the pleasure of listening to the guest speaker for the night, Craig Kielburger. Craig is the founder of an organization called Free the Children, an organization working to end child labour and improve primary education as well. Although only in his twenties, he has already received the Nelson Mandela Human Rights Award, the Order of Canada, the Human Rights Award from the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations, the World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of Children, and three Nobel Peace Prize nominations. It was quite an impressive evening.

What always seems to strike me during these types of presentations is the mental picture of all the people who have the guilt trip laid on them, donate their spare change, and then feel vindicated. I get this image in my mind of the people who go back “changed,” only to feel a whole lot better the next day and go on with their daily lives as if it had never occurred. They go back with $10 or $20 less in their wallets, a seemingly sufficient price to pay to have the guilt removed. It’s the binge-purge of our North American society.

Well that’s not what I want. I don’t want simply to give my one-time donation and leave it at that. I mean, I know every dollar, every cent counts, but too often those types of donations go to…Continue Reading