Dear friends,
Though the weather might still seem like winter, we are once again at
Easter.
The events of Easter are reason for personal gratitude and response to our
Holy and Loving Heavenly Father in sending Christ to be our Saviour. They
are also Good News to all people, none of whom can know acceptance and peace
with God apart from Christ.
Thursday, the National Post newspaper published the findings of a recent
Angus Reid survey on the religious convictions of our nation. The survey is
headlined, “A spectrum of spirituality: Canadians keep the faith to varying
degrees, but few reject it entirely.” You can access here.
In a nutshell, Canadians, though they are not as active in church, still
have core beliefs.
I trust that you will find this both encouraging and challenging as you
proclaim the news of Christ’s gift and resurrection this weekend.
It brings me back to my post of last week, and the book, “Finding Church.”
Once again, perhaps people are not looking so much for programs and services
so much as they are looking for real and relevant faith. Authentic witness
is more important that programs and structures.
By the way, last week, I credited authorship of the book, “The Shack” to
Wayne Jacobsen. It is a complex story. While Jacobsen cites himself as the
author of the Shack in his book, “Finding Church,” in fact he was an editor
and perhaps a co-writer, or should I say a “re-writer.” Jacobsen lists,
“Wayne’s Other Titles,” and among the books, he includes, “The Shack (in
collaboration with Wm. Paul Young and Brad Cummings).
Here is what I found: “William Paul Young is the official author of The
Shack, but Wayne Jacobsen is one of its editors. According to a New York
Times article, Jacobsen spent 16 months helping to rewrite the first draft.
This would leave the logical conclusion that Jacobsen had some significant
influence on the final outcome of the book.” Here is the New York Times
article:
Five Minutes on Friday, April 14, 2017
My God bless you as you share the Good News of our Risen Saviour this
weekend!
In Jesus,
Rob
