The Right Footwear

April 29, 2026

14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 
-Ephesians 6:14-15 (NIV)

I really could spend months preaching on the full armor of God as described in Ephesians 6 but for now, I want to focus on footwear!  Often having the right footwear makes all the difference in a task.  Can you imagine if construction workers didn’t wear steel-toed safety boots and instead wore ballerina slippers?  Can you imagine if Olympic runners ran while wearing snowshoes?  Can you imagine wearing sandals in minus 40 degree Celsius weather?  Can you imagine mountain climbers wearing diving scuba fins on their feet when trying to climb Mount Everest?  These scenarios sound ridiculous, don’t they?  In otherer words, what’s on your feet is important and I’m not talking about fashion here!

2,000+ years ago Roman soldiers wore sandals or boots called caligae.  At the time, they were standard military grade footwear made with tough leather.  Amongst the many features of them including being lightweight and ventilated, arguably the most important feature was they were made with many spikes or studs on the bottom of the soles.  These spikes enabled Roman soldiers to be steady on their feet, to rarely lose traction and to protect the soldiers from losing their footing.  This was a big advantage going into battle against enemies that were flat footed (no pun intended) and not having any spiked soles.  These military grade boots helped to enable Roman soldiers to always be ready for battle!  Enemies of Rome could attack at any time and the soldiers were ready to defend for it.

As Christians, we are to adopt the same readiness!  We never know when the enemy (satan) will attack.  And his strategies are cunning and many.  But when we apply this idea of always being ready for battle with the concept of the gospel of peace, that seems like two things that don’t go together.  How can one be ready to go into battle at any time, and at the same time be fitted with peace?

The Greek word for peace used here is eirēnēsand can be translated as tranquility, harmony, and wholeness but it’s also a peace that leads to salvation!  There are various states and levels of peace, but the peace of Jesus Chris is unique, and this kind of peace is only something that Jesus provides!  It is the good news (gospel) of salvific peace and wholeness that we are to adorn ourselves with at all times.  Of course, I believe this only happens by spending immense deep and quiet times with Jesus Christ.  Admittedly, I need to work on that myself and at times if I don’t spend enough significant quiet time with Jesus on a regular basis, I run the risk of “running on empty fumes” or in other words, operating on no remaining energy and resources.  It’s like going into battle wearing the wrong footwear!

And where else have we heard to always be ready or always be prepared?  Let’s look at 1 Peter 3:15-16 that tells us, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”  Let’s remember that Jesus and the salvation that he brings is the reason for unending and ultimate hope, regardless of the circumstances around us.  Knowing that statement alone should give us all the peace we need!  So do you have the right footwear on?

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These Eyes

April 22, 2026

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

-Matthew 6:22-23 (NIV)

I had a good talk the other day with a friend, and we were rattling off any television shows or movies we were watching lately.  Seemingly each of us took turns sharing a movie or television show, and the other would often respond with, “I just can’t watch that because it’s too violent” or “I had to stop because it portrayed too much sexual innuendos” or some other form of vulgarity.  After a few minutes I shared, “Lately my wife and I just basically watch cooking or baking competition television shows”, but then my friend quickly pointed out even these shows only select certain contestants.  In fact and when I watch these shows with my wife, we often joke saying something like, “She’s the one the cameraman will often zoom in on” and “That’s the one that will start arguments and drama – you always need one of those” and then you have the whole “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI)/”Environmental, Social, and Governance” (ESG) scenarios that are allegedly rumoured.  If you haven’t heard of both DEI and ESG, I encourage you to research them.  They may sound like good ideas to some, but if you ask me, they really promote greater division, anger and hostility towards various marginalized people (and this could be anyone in any gender, ethnicity, age, etc.).  I could go on and on about DEI/ESG vs. good ol’ meritocracy and equality vs equity, but that may be for another day and often these conversions are not fruitful.

From a Christian perspective, are we the only ones that think there’s almost nothing good on television and the movies lately?  It’s sad to realize that basically any good television shows or movies are twenty+ years old (of course there are exceptions).

I’m reminded now of our passage from Matthew 6:22-23.  For me personally, the reality is I’m also seeing less films as attractive, and more repulsive because I’m moving deeper into a relationship with Jesus Christ whereby every day the Holy Spirit leads me in paths of righteousness (Psa. 23:3).  Over the years and off and on, I took various positions in limiting what I see on the big or small screen.  Sometimes I’d purposely stop watching all action movies/tv shows, or other movies/tv shows past a certain rating (such as anything past a G or PG rating).  This period would go for a very long time, and then when I flip the TV channels and see a glimpse of a racy show, or when an ad would come across my screen with extreme violence, I clearly remember when I felt morally violated, disgusted and in complete shock.

And you know what? Being disgusted that way is a GOOD THING!

The problem is for most people in the world, we’ve become too desensitized and bombarded with graphic content thinking this is normal, acceptable and even praised!  And I find often we don’t realize this until we purposely take an active stand and remove ourselves from such content for a significant period.  They say your eyes are windows to the soul and most likely linked to our Matthew passage.  It is definitely true!  Now please examine yourselves:  Do you or someone you love have an unhealthy desire to indulge in certain violent, racy or other inappropriate ads, video games, magazines, movies, tv shows or other forms of media?  Do they follow certain celebrities or musicians seemingly pushing this narrative too?  Don’t even get me started with popular pop music out there!  There’s too much out there.  Now what are you going to do about it?  Pray, seek God’s help and actively stay away from it?  The good news is, the damage is not permanent and God can change those desires such that you naturally no longer want to be exposed to those things and will naturally avoid it.  God fights your battles for you!  God gives you the power to change and we are powerless without his intervention – trust me on that!
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Why Did You Doubt?

April 15, 2026

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

-Matthew 14:22-33 (NIV)

“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off.  You sit still and trust the engineer.”

-Corrie Ten Boom (Dutch Christian and Holocaust survivor)

What a profound quote by Corrie Ten Boom.  In a similar sense and in terms of all of creation itself, we really tend to forget the master engineer, architect, designer, scheduler, installer and builder is God!  We also tend to forget with our very lives, God knows, God cares and he’s in control!

It’s so easy for us to focus on God when there’s nothing else to focus on, nothing else to attend to, and nothing else that takes up our time and resources, but then as soon as there’s a bump in the road or when there’s a turn in the direction we thought we were going in life, we tend to question, doubt, worry, panic and sometimes even get upset and angry.  That’s usually definitely the case when we go through “tunnels” in our lives.  Now I’ve personally taken the VIA Rail train from Toronto to Montreal before but never had the opportunity to take a train through a tunnel.  I have however been in cars going through the following long tunnels:

Boston – Driven through the Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Tunnel going 2.4 km

Montreal – Driven through the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel going 1.4 km

Hong Kong – Rode a taxi through the Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok Tunnel going 35 km

I think my wife fell asleep at the time, but I clearly remember going through this super long tunnel in Hong Kong at night, and on the same taxi ride, I recall we were on the Tsing Ma Bridge apparently measuring 206 meters (676 feet) tall, reportedly cited as being twice the height of the Eiffel Tower – designed to be the equivalent of 60 stories.  Both experiences on the same taxi ride were very unnerving.  During the long tunnel ride I kept thinking, “Oh, what if the car breaks down or another car ahead of us breaks down?  Then we’d all be stuck in this tunnel with no way to turn around.”  During the ride on the bridge and suddenly seeing very tall skyscrapers below us (yes, I saw below us), I never got a good feeling either….but in either case, I completely trusted the engineer (even though I didn’t like being there).

All jokes aside and when we go through difficulties in life, it really does feel like we’re going through tunnels or perhaps it feels like strong winds coming at us as in the case of Peter walking on water.  The neat part of the story is Peter did walk on water for a time, but he could only do so because God enabled him and his gaze was focused on Jesus in faith.  But that feeling didn’t last long since Peter stopped focusing on Jesus, became afraid (verse 30), let his temporary circumstances and surroundings get the best of him and focused on those things rather than Jesus.  And did you catch the response of Jesus in verses 27 and 31?  Jesus didn’t ever mention Peter couldn’t walk on water.  Instead, and when we combine these two verses, Jesus told Peter to take courage and not doubt.  In the end, Peter didn’t succeed in continuing to walk on water towards Jesus because he lacked faith, not that he had zero faith, but that he had little faith.  He still recognized Jesus as the one who could save him evidenced by him crying out, “Lord, save me!” (verse 30), but he lacked in greater faith!

Isn’t that how life often is?  To believers out there: Oh, so you’re a Christian? Great!  But where and how great is your faith when the strong winds of life smack you in the face?  Where and how great is your faith when waves keep crashing into you?  Where and how great is your faith when you go through a dark tunnel?  We may not like life’s circumstances when we go through them and we certainly can’t ignore them, but Jesus never tells us to focus on them.  Jesus also never tells us we won’t go through difficult events in life, no matter how hard they are (sickness, loss of loved ones, financial hardships, relational strains, etc.) but Jesus already proved who he is (Lord, Master, Saviour and God) and he says all he needs to say in verse 29 by saying, “Come”.

Now maybe none of us will walk on water, but we ALL need to come to Jesus regardless of life’s temporal circumstances.  Believe me, God knows, God cares and he’s in control!

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Burning Hearts

April 8, 2026

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.  17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”  They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

19 “What things?” he asked.  “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.  30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”  33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

-Luke 24:13-35 (NIV)

It is true!He is risen!  He is risen indeed!  The resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter is not a normal and mundane event!  Then why do so many people treat this event so casually?

--- SIN ---

Though Jesus Christ overcame the penalty for all sin (death) and took upon himself all punishment (the wrath of God) on the cross once and for all, we’re still in the process of continually being sanctified (being made progressively holy/set apart from the world and to God) with the help of the Holy Spirit.  This means while in this lifetime we constantly battle our flesh (our sinful nature), the world and the devil.  While we are positionally holy and righteous (made right and therefore justified by the work of Jesus on the cross), we unfortunately continue to stumble to sin, but by the power of the Holy Spirit we also continue to sin less and continually do so, to be more obedient to God in a process (Rom. 6:16-22).

Because ofthis, I’m not surprised so many Christians are not excited about worshipping God on a Sunday or any other day of the week.  I’m not surprised that so many of us struggle to read scripture daily, showing a lack of desire.  I’m not surprised many Christians make excuses and are not disciplined in our spiritual walks with Christ.  I’m not surprised many of us have repetitive sins and spiritual strongholds in our lives.  And additionally, I’m saddened.  It’s as if though our hearts are burning for Jesus at one moment, and then we’re spiritually cold the next moment. 

If you askmethe times when we’re spiritually cold are not too different to the two disciples mentioned in our text today.  Note: these disciples are not the eleven original disciples of Jesus, but by now news about Jesus spread.  And when Jesus is directly with us and making his presence known to us as believing Christians, doesn’t our hearts stir and burn with desire for him like in verse 32?  When we hear God’s word (scripture), don’t we feel more awake than ever before?  If not, what’s stopping us from feeling that way again and craving more of these times?  Once again, the answer is SIN!

The more times we spend with Jesus and hear his Word, the more that desire to spend intimate time with Jesus grows…but we must FIGHT FOR OUR SANCTIFICATION and keep up that discipline to spend time with Jesus.  Pray that the Holy Spirit makes that desire grow and pray the Holy Spirit opens our eyes and illuminates Jesus in our hearts more.

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The Betrayal

April 1, 2026

21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”

22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”

25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

-John 13:21-30 (NIV)

When it comes to holiness and living faithful, many of us tend to think we’re a lot better than the reality about ourselves.  Many of us tend to think we live faithfully, others don’t live as faithfully and we’re better than others – in other words a false sense of self-righteousness is more common than you’d ever imagine.  And despite our best attempts at living faithful lives with integrity, falling to temptation and sin can happen at any time and it could happen to any of us! 

Is it so shocking then that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus?  Judas Iscariot was there present and active during almost all of the recorded miracles and teachings of Jesus before his crucifixion.  He was almost certainly there for the feeding of the 5000, the feeding of the 4000, the calming of the storm, when Jesus walked on water, raised Lazarus from the dead, healing of the infirmities with people (blind, sick, paralyzed, deaf), casting out of demons, etc.  But he wasn’t the only one that surprisingly betrayed Jesus – so did Peter (Matt. 26:73-74, Lk. 22:56-58), and Peter was thought to be a part of Jesus’ close inner circle with James (son of Zebedee) and John (brother of James).  And it’s ironic that in verse 24 in our text, Peter asked Jesus who is the one that would betray Jesus, not knowing he himself would also betray Jesus later.  Actually, the whole world betrayed Jesus and everyone deserted him!

The world that he loved and full of the people that he loved, and they all denied him, ran away from him, abandoned and deserted him!

While indeed Satan entered him and thus, he was possessed by Satan, Judas Iscariot nonetheless had the chance to repent and ask God for forgiveness.  He surely felt remorse, but he didn’t turn to God for forgiveness and ultimately ended his life.  John 17:12 refers to Judas Iscariot as the “son of perdition” meaning the one doomed to destruction and destined to hell.

This contrasts with Peter that rejected Jesus later on.  While scripture doesn’t exactly describe an outward confession or prayer for forgiveness from Peter, we can understand that Peter’s weeping (Lk. 22:62, Mat. 26:75) can be understood as his complete sorrow, change of heart and dependence on Jesus Christ.

Now here’s the question to reflect on:  Not if, but when you fall into sin will you be like Peter or Judas Iscariot?  Both felt remorse, but Peter turned back to Jesus and Jesus reinstated him (Jn. 21:15-19).

As we reflect on Holy Week and the amazing work of Jesus on the cross, his resurrection, ascension and glorification, may we keep asking God for forgiveness and turning back to Jesus in complete trust and guidance over and over again.
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