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Mental Illness, Not a Death Sentence.

  I was touched with difficulty with my mental health in 1999, I was 25 years old. At first, I was angry and afraid, but eventually I came to peace with myself by accepting what was going on and receiving the help that was offered. I was originally told that there was no cure for what I was experiencing, but my faith told me God would see me through it. I was right. After all these years of caring for myself and receiving treatment, I have come to understand that you can still live a happy life, despite having problems with your mental health. I have met many people who suffer similarly and became their friends, and one of the things I have learned is that acceptance among peers is really important for those suffering with their mental health. Canada just conducted a committee and recommended that euthanasia should not be allowed for those whose sole cause is a mental illness. I agree. When I first dealt with my mental health in 1999, euthanasia was illegal in Canada, and I persona...
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“Soteriology”, The Christian Doctrine of Salvation.

  The Christian doctrine of salvation (known theologically as  soteriology ) is the belief that humanity is rescued from  sin  and its consequences—death and separation from God—through the life, death, and resurrection of  Jesus Christ . It is considered the core pillar of the Christian faith.  Why It Is Needed According to the Bible, the first humans (Adam and Eve) disobeyed God, bringing sin into the world. This concept is known as  original sin . Because God is perfect and holy, He cannot tolerate sin. Consequently, all humans are born with a broken nature and are spiritually separated from God, facing an eternal penalty.  How It Was Achieved Christians believe that humanity could not fix this problem on its own. Instead, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect, sinless life. Jesus willingly died on a cross to take the punishment for humanity's sins. Christians refer to this sacrificial act as  the Atonement . Three days later...
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Sacred Vulnerability

  As a disabled person and a Christian, I can talk about my faith and the sacredness of people living with a disability. I like to think that I am still capable of many things, and one of those things includes my faith. Jesus Christ came for the outcasts, and welcomed and healed those who were excluded from common society. Our current culture has lost the value that God puts on the vulnerable, and at the end of this age, we will be judged by how we treated the least of these.   God himself in the person of Jesus Christ became vulnerable when he was born in this world, and he especially became vulnerable when he died on the cross for our sins. Jesus Christ suffers with the vulnerable and the poor, because he identified with them when he was on earth. The bible says “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for there is the Kingdom of heaven.” There is a sacredness to vulnerability which should be reestablished and protected in our culture.  My vulnerability has allowed me to exper...
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Memory in the Lord

  When one gets redeemed their past, present and future are all forgiven. The memory of past sins are also cleansed by Christ. What makes this life unpleasant for some, is that they cannot erase the memory of past mistakes, probably because they have yet to repent of their sins. A life that is free from guilt can live in joy and freedom, whereas someone who is living with guilt looks back to the past which haunts them. God does not forget our sins unless we repent, even if our sins are not that bad, we still need to repent before God. How does one live in the world when their sins are forgiven, but lives in a very sinful environment? The bible says in Ezekiel 18:20 “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” God takes note of our righteousness but he also takes note of the wicke...
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Wars and Rumours of War.

  When Pope St. John Paul II was alive, he wrote an encyclical called Evangelium Vitae, which means “The Gospel of Life.” In it he warned of the culture of death that was beginning to take shape, and he warned of the dangers of accepting abortion and euthanasia, and other things, that if continued to be promoted and accepted would lead to a deterioration of the respect for the sanctity of life in all it’s stages. He warned that mankind would lose the awareness of God’s presence in a world that no longer respected life, and he warned that we would lose the sense of the presence of God and man, losing our sense of shared purpose and identity. We are all created in the image of God and carry that identity in our bodies and souls. When we forget God, we can do damage to the image of God within us and our fellow man. We separate ourselves from God, and no longer sense His nearness in our lives, and we end up turning a blind eye to the injustice, sin and atrocities in our world. We false...
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Not Holding Our Sins.

  We have either held a grudge ourselves or have witnessed other people holding a grudge or unforgiveness towards other people. If we have ever felt that someone was holding a grudge against us, we know the unpleasant feeling of wanting to be released from their hostility towards us. When we repent of our sins and come to faith in Christ, God in a very real sense releases us from his hostility and the enmity that we once experienced towards Him, and may have not even realize it.   In 2 Corinthians 5:19 it says “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”   What this means is that before accepting God’s salvation and forgiveness, we were indebted to God every time we sinned. Our sins were being counted and accumulated right until the point of our death and would be judged by God in a place called Hell for all eternity. Because we rejected God’s offer of salvatio...
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Uncle Brendan and Aunt Nancy.

  My uncle Brendan is my dad Wayne’s middle brother. When I was just a kid, he married my aunt Nancy. They lived together in London, Ontario. They never had any kids, but we would drive up there from Markham and visit them occasionally. One thing that stands out in my memory is the breakfast that they would cook us when we visited. My grandmother who passed away in 2019 also lived in London, as well as my uncle Ron, and my aunt Shelly. Brendan and Nancy would make the best breakfast with eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast, and I remember there being so much. They also shared the Catholic faith with me in a special way. I grew up Roman Catholic but I was a nominal Christian and I didn’t get born again until I was 21.   Being born again isn’t really a Catholic thing, Catholics believe you are born again at baptism, but my conversion at 21 just made me appreciate my faith in a deeper way. I still have conversations with my aunt Nancy about my faith, and I remember her telling me one...
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