2024-01-22 07:04
The word shalom is a rich and heavily loaded word. It is impossible to simply insert an english word to use in its place. We have tried to do this by using the word “peace”… Read More
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A Living Alternative - Our Missional Pilgrimage Blog
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the missional thoughts and practices of an inner city pastor, church planter and missionary.
2023-11-21 05:17
Sign up for our daily advent devotionals. The daily devotionals will start on November 27, and you’ll receive a new one each morning until December 24.
Advent 2023 De… Read More
2023-06-23 09:45
We took nothing. We didn’t have the capacity to come alongside a neighbour in need, so I inquired with another neighbour, who was coming out of her own struggles. Katie* had just separ… Read More
2023-06-12 10:00
Could Jesus be saying that entering the house of another is like entering the holy temple? That living in our neighbourhood is sacred work in a sacred place?
“Carry no purse, no bag… Read More
2023-05-15 13:15
We’ve all heard the expression “the tail is wagging the dog.” In an organization it implies that something secondary, that should be responding to the primary thing, has ta… Read More
2023-02-06 06:00
Isaiah 9:2 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”
Matthew 4:16 “the people… Read More
2023-01-13 21:04
My husband and I live in an amazing neighbourhood with many good friends scattered throughout. We have a lot of fun here, but sometimes it can be challenging when people aren’t coopera… Read More
2023-01-11 18:18
Why did it take so long? At 57, I may finally be learning one of the reasons that God gave me two ears and only one mouth.
Years ago I was helping to lead a Church Planting Canada Assessm… Read More
2022-12-19 20:19
razed; razing
transitive verb: to destroy to the ground: DEMOLISH
If the Kingdom of God exists where the King is presently reigning, than it may be possible to under… Read More
2022-12-09 07:49
“Advent! A holy season in which we connect again with our “inconsolable longing,” as C.S. Lewis called it our yearning for the One who is to come and is also, mysteriously… Read More
2022-12-02 20:32
Snowmageddon? Is that even a word? In Vancouver this week, it was a reality. The first snow of the year produced total mayhem on the roads, with a promise of more to come.
I am not talkin… Read More
2022-11-21 07:24
Five years ago, I was inspired by Kristin Schell’s little film The Turquoise Table. The premise is that during her prayer time she would often ask God to help her connect with neighbou… Read More
2022-11-18 20:08
The first week of Advent traditionally focuses on HOPE. We hold onto hope even as we live in a time of unsettling ambiguity. Our day to day lives have been significantly “disrupted&rdq&hell…Read More
2022-11-17 23:07
Many of your neighbours may have no idea what Advent is, but most of them likely get into the holiday spirit and are eager to give, gather and share some holiday cheer! All of this makes it… Read More
2022-11-14 18:59
I am blessed. I get front row seats to watch God at work in an increasing number of churches as we seek to join with what God is doing in our neighbourhoods.
Years ago, I remember Stuart… Read More
2022-11-11 00:36
The other day I was walking home from work for lunch, (a practice I began during COVID and have kept up on fair weather days) and a neighbour about 5 blocks down from where I live greeted me… Read More
2022-11-09 19:10
In a recent online gathering, we had an inspiring and challenging conversation prompted by one participant’s reflections o… Read More
2021-12-16 12:25
Dear Friend of Forge,
What gift are you asking for this Christmas? My kids have hounded me for a list, but I have already had an incredibly rich season in receiving 4 gifts from the Lord… Read More
2021-11-25 14:43
This year Advent has a different feel for me, perhaps it does for you as well. Fears of another covid Christmas, the ongoing pain and grief of loss, the weight of so many things wrong in the… Read More
2021-11-12 15:01
It’s early on a Sunday morning. While out for a walk to process, pray and clear my head, I came upon these trees in one of the parks near my home. I was struck by their frosty beauty a… Read More
2021-10-25 13:11
I invite you to join me in engaging art as a way of reflection and discernment. It may feel awkward for those who tend to use the logical left brain more often, but we all have creative righ… Read More
2021-10-18 15:45
I was reading an article put out by Christianity Today that was titled “Is Evangelicalism Due for a hundred-Year Schism?” In it the author writes this:
…historian of Am… Read More
2021-09-24 12:37
I just didn’t see this coming. Maybe others did. But not me. I knew our world was in trouble and something had to give. But I was thinking maybe something in the realm of epic natural… Read More
2021-09-20 19:36
It has been said that ‘although it only took 40 days for the Jews to get out of Egypt, it took 40 years for Egypt to get out of the Jews.’ When I am asked “what have you le… Read More
2021-09-13 13:20
Summer went quickly and the work ahead feels overwhelming. In the past week, I have spoken to movement leaders in The US and in Australia, in Wales and in England, who are telling the story… Read More
2021-05-27 18:04
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!The post Hello world! first appeared on Forge Canada Read More
2021-03-08 20:20
When it comes to stopping the spread there are three key actions to keep in mind:
Keep IsolatedIf you go out keep your distance and do not touch other people.Wear a mask around othersThis… Read More
2021-03-02 21:10
Written by Heather Card.
And who is my neighbour?
A young woman wrote a Facebook post that was a veiled reference to her struggle with anxiety, but the hashtags scattered among her rec… Read More
2021-02-12 17:14
I love seeing my friend’s artwork which they post online. Pen and ink drawings, water colours, quilting, landscape art – I’ve got some very talented friends. Back in high s… Read More
2020-05-22 14:13
When it comes to keeping in step with the Spirit, discernment is a key piece in knowing what we should be doing. This is true for individuals who desire to follow Jesus into the world, but i… Read More
2020-05-08 12:51
Over the last 8 weeks as we have encountered “staying in place,” I have heard church leaders from across the country asking a lot of questions. Why wouldn’t we? We have bee… Read More
2020-04-09 12:31
It is 28 years since I planted Southside Community Church in Burnaby, BC. I did not know what I was doing, so my mentor, John Zimmerman, advised that I walk the neighbourhood for several mon… Read More
2020-03-13 12:59
The spread of COVID-19 has everyone from governments and business to families and churches trying to tell what the future holds and how they should respond. We’ve been confronted with… Read More
2020-01-31 16:18
Editor’s Note:
We at Forge are excited about what God is doing in Canada. There are increasing number of key leaders within our own country who are helping to shape the church as we g… Read More
2020-01-06 20:24
Happy New Year to you from Vancouver.
Linked In reminded me this last weekend that it has been 20 years since God birthed Forge in Canada. Linked In actually congratulated me on it b… Read More
2019-12-20 19:01
It’s always winter but never Christmas It seems this curse just can’t be lifted Yet in the midst of all this ice and snow Our hearts stay warm cause they are filled with hope
… Read More
2019-12-13 16:14
Advent was not a season that I recognized growing up. I was part of a conservative evangelical tradition that, for one reason or another, eschewed the liturgical calendar. As I’ve aged… Read More
2019-12-06 13:19
“Perfection in rags.” That was how my friend Justyn Rees described the incarnation of Christ this last week. Brilliant. Inspiring. Worthy of our worship. Glorious. Jesus –… Read More
2019-11-30 00:02
Advent is a season of preparation and waiting – an invitation for us to reconsider with fresh eyes the birth of Christ. During our lives, we may experience times of waiting. Waiting fo… Read More
2016-09-14 12:00
The Church As Movement: Starting & Sustaining Missional-Incarnational Communitiesby JR Woodward & Dan White Jr. (foreword by Alan Hirsch)InterVarsity Press (Aug. 14, 2016), 240 pg.
I… Read More
2016-08-23 14:44
This last year has been a year of firsts for me on many fronts. The most significant has been the publication of my first work of fiction, “The Last Verdict”. Not only was this m… Read More
2016-07-15 00:31
What would you do if your child was murdered?
What would you do if your child was convicted of murder?
Alice Goodman has known great loss. Since the brutal murder of her daughter Madeline d… Read More
2016-06-21 20:37
2016-06-16 00:14
Greetings from Winnipeg’s West End! Recently, while at a conference we were approached by several people who mentioned how much they love to read our updates about Micah, especially… Read More
2016-06-06 11:53
“I don’t need an alarm clock. My ideas wake me.”
—Ray Bradbury Read More
2016-06-03 21:03
Take a couple of minutes and watch this video by Hank Green. It’s all about finding meaning in our lives. I think it is helpful. What do you think? Read More
2016-06-01 16:50
Since the release of my novella, “The Last Verdict”, I have received a surprising number of emails from readers who were deeply impacted by the book. Almost every one of them hav… Read More
2016-05-30 11:52
“We’re past the age of heroes and hero kings. … Most of our lives are basically mundane and dull, and it’s up to the writer to find ways to make them interesting.&rd&hell…Read More
2016-05-23 11:50
“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.”
—Virginia Woolf Read More
2016-05-18 12:30
2016-05-16 12:00
“Marketing is not what lures a writer to this pursuit.
Marketing is the adversary that arrives smuggled
inside the Trojan Horse of one’s creative impulse.”
–Jane Frie… Read More
2016-05-10 14:44
Some simple, yet very wise writing advice from Ta-Nehisi Coates: Read More
2016-05-09 12:00
“If you’re trying to add something to your life without subtracting something else,
there’s a good chance the stuff that’s already there will win.”–Ed Cyz… Read More
2016-05-06 16:59
Only One More Week Until The Launch Of…
The Introvert Writer:Being Your Creative BestBy Being Your Truest Self
In an extrovert’s world, discover how to thrive as an introvert w… Read More
2016-05-06 01:18
The struggle is real, my friends. But don’t fret! It’s not as hard as you think. Writing guru, Joanna Penn, points us in the right direction:
“You pick up a book because th… Read More
2016-05-03 15:27
In a recent article on Glimmer Train, writer Roxana Robinson said:
“All the fiction I write arises from the same sort of impulse: it’s a feeling of discomfort, a kind of unspecif… Read More
2016-05-03 15:27
In a recent article on Glimmer Train, writer Roxana Robinson said:
“All the fiction I write arises from the same sort of impulse: it’s a feeling of discomfort, a kind of unspecif… Read More
2016-05-02 12:00
“But then why do we write if not to tackle the fears that others look to us to conquer?”Joanna Penn, Author 2.0 Blueprint Read More
2016-04-29 22:53
Looking for a great read this weekend? Look no further!
For this weekend only, “The Last Verdict” Kindle ebook is on sale for only 99cent. That’s 65% off retail!
Buy Now! Read More
2016-04-28 15:44
The internet is a blessing and a curse to emerging writers. It is a blessing because it gives us access to an endless source of incredibly helpful content on writing, amazing research materi… Read More
2016-04-27 12:00
A brilliant mind.
(Why not gets something great to read for before the weekend arrives?) Read More
2016-04-26 13:52
The following is an excerpt from “The Introvert Writer”, now available for pre-order:
Even with our best efforts to make and protect the needed space to write, sometimes it is no… Read More
2016-04-25 12:00
“There is more hope in honest brokenness than in the pretense of false wholeness.”
-Jamie Arpin-Ricci, from “Vulnerable Faith” Read More
2016-04-23 13:10
I am excited to announce that I am getting close to releasing my new ebook, “The Introvert Writer”, a resource that helps writers who identify as introverts to make the most of t… Read More
2016-04-20 14:50
While I have recently shifted in my writing career to try my hand at fiction, most of my published work has been non-fiction. I started out writing for newspapers and the occasional magazine… Read More
2016-04-18 18:03
I am excited to announce that my new novella, “The Sinner Saint” (Paraclete Press), will be releasing very soon. The book cover (pictured above) was actually my design. The publi… Read More
2016-04-15 18:08
If you follow my blog posts on writing, you will know that I am a big fan of Jane Friedman, a writing & publishing expert. I am especially a strong proponent of her “How To Publish… Read More
2016-04-13 22:24
I have to apologize for the blog silence this week. We have been hosting a Métis speaker this week who has been sharing in our community about indigenous worldview and concepts of jus… Read More
2016-04-07 14:33
It’s happened to me so many times and it is so disconcert: I’m talking with friends in a restaurant, deeply engaged in the conversation. I reach over for my Coke without even loo… Read More
2016-04-06 18:39
I am an introvert.
When you read these words, how do you hear them? Does it somehow sound confessional, as though I am admitting a personal failing? In truth, many people feel this way… Read More
2016-04-04 19:05
I’m excited to announce that Andrew Mugford has won the giveaway for “The Last Verdict”. The contest reached nearly 7000 people, with nearly 700 likes from all over the wor… Read More
2016-03-30 21:19
Whether you are self-publishing your book or going through the traditional publishing world, the responsibility market your own book has never been greater. In fact, one of the most common m… Read More
2016-03-28 14:03
While I have published books through traditional publishing, I have been dipping my toes into the world of self-publishing with the release of my new novella, “The Last Verdict”… Read More
2016-03-25 13:13
I am thrilled to let you know that “The Last Verdict” Kindle ebook edition is now available at all international Amazon sites. If you are looking for something to read over this… Read More
2016-03-22 20:58
One of the most important element of any book is the front cover (see my post on the topic here). This is especially important for self-published titles because nothing sets you apart (in a… Read More
2016-03-20 13:50
The following post was written on March 21st, 2012, the day after my friend, Matthew Puckett, was killed by the state of Mississippi. The last thing asked of me before he died was that we wo… Read More
2016-03-18 13:59
There is a brilliant scene in one of my favorite movies “The Big Kahuna”, where Phil (played by Danny Devito), a seasoned marketing rep for an industrial lubricant company, is ta… Read More
2016-03-16 14:05
Yesterday was a big day for me, as “The Last Verdict” finally went live. If you haven’t heard about the book yet, check out the launch page here. However, today’s pos… Read More
2016-03-14 15:36
There is nothing quite like a good story. As I mentioned in the last post, there are many writers who are fantastic story tellers and so, despite less proficiency as writers from a literary… Read More
2016-03-12 16:20
At the heart of good writing is story telling. In fact, the latter is often more important than the former. I’ve read my novels by mediocre writers in the literary sense of the word, b… Read More
2016-03-10 15:59
You might be wondering why I am returning to the topic of your story’s beginning again, given that I have written about twice in the recent future- first, with the 8-Word Spark exercis… Read More
2016-03-06 19:38
This weekend, my wife and I took our 8 year old son, Micah, to see Disney’s newest animated film, “Zootopia”. The movie proved to be a fun, fast-paced buddy-cop story that… Read More
2016-03-05 15:06
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”-Maya Angelou Read More
2016-03-02 15:19
Have you ever started reading a novel and found that the story didn’t seem to work? Perhaps there was a plot that the characters moved through, but somehow it felt disjointed and even… Read More
2016-02-29 21:41
Last week, my wife showed me a clip from the X Factor of an early audition by a young singer name Jake Quickenden. During the audition, the judges stop Jake in the midst of his performance… Read More
2016-02-26 18:27
Writing under a pen name is something that has always intrigued me. I first discovered the concept when I was a young reader and came across a novel by Richard Bachman at the local library… Read More
2016-02-25 19:21
I got a real treat this week when the first physical copy of “The Last Verdict” arrived in the mail. It’s just an advanced proof (and the cover art is not the same as the f… Read More
2016-02-23 15:21
As much as I am a great aficionado of literary fiction, I am also a shameless fan of popular fiction. In fact, popular fiction has played a big role in influencing my writing and my life.&nb&hell…Read More
2016-02-22 15:10
Last year saw a new record in the American justice system. Nearly 150 people were exonerated for wrongful convictions, with the average prison stay for these victims of the system being 14 y… Read More
2016-02-17 17:52
“If a nation loses its storytellers, it loses its childhood.” —Peter Handke
With my first novella, The Last Verdict, releasing in the coming weeks, several people have been… Read More
2016-02-16 16:42
It is with great excitement that I can publicly share with you the title for my forthcoming novella. While subscribers have known for a while now, I thought it was time to share the exciting… Read More
2016-02-14 14:31
Just kidding! Hope you all have a lovely day Read More
2016-02-11 18:52
Sorry, folks! This flu has me beat at the moment, so I am going to be absent from the blog until Monday. Thanks for checking in! Read More
2016-02-10 15:16
Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man’s gift and that man’s scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such th… Read More
2016-02-09 15:30
That is the question!
Well, at least it is the question that I have for you. I’ve really enjoyed making videos over the last few years. However, due to my video editing software becomi… Read More
2016-02-09 03:33
When it rains, it pours! This week has been a big one for me and writing, so I wanted to share all the good news. So let’s dive right in:
Readers Email List:
Today I sent out my very f… Read More
2016-02-08 04:08
I’m getting quite tired of the ridiculous, antiquated ways gender is handled in so many religious circles. Here’s a video I put out a while ago that addresses it briefly: Read More
2016-02-06 16:05
I remember it clearly: We were watching TV when, during the commercials, a trailer began to play. It immediately caught out attention, the sights and sounds and story line drawing us in bodi… Read More
2016-02-05 22:14
As you have probably noticed, my site has taken a very intentional turn towards topics concerning the writing life. This is largely due to the fact that I have been working very hard over th… Read More
2016-02-04 17:23
When it comes to reading in the electronic age, I find myself in the middle of the road. On one hand, I look the feel of a good quality book of bound paper in my hands. On the other ha… Read More
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