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A Firm Foundation for the New Year
There seems to be a feeling of flux right now in the world. I’m sure you’ve felt it. A feeling of instability in our hearts, community, country, and world. There are people going through relationship transitions as the dynamics of their marriage, friendships, partnerships and workplace change around them. Some are facing personal transitions…
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When Should a Christian Leave their Church or Denomination? (Post-CLRA Meeting Report with Q&A)
Update on CLRA Meeting I thought it important to start with a quick update on the meeting Jason and I went to this week. I don’t want to take up the whole sermon time with it, but it’s important, and you are all invested in what is happening so I want to make…
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Elijah: A Nature Like Ours – Burnout, Depression & The Let-Down Effect
Turn with me to 1 Kings 18:1–40 and I want to read two stories about the prophet Elijah today, but we need to read a large section so we can get the whole story. A lot has already happened up to this point, but you’ll figure out how things are going as we…
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The Resurrection is EVERYTHING. (HC:LD17a)
A lot of us are like those two followers walking down the road to Emmaus. They start out, perplexed, anxious, disappointed in how things have turned out, confused about God’s plan, talking to one another about things they don’t understand, and hoping that if they keep walking away, that somehow they will…
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EPIC (for Palm Sunday)
Chapter 1: The Beginning “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) This is the start of our story. Notice how I said that it’s the start of our story. Not the beginning of The Whole story. Just our part. God is eternal, existing before there was either heaven…
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Masturbation: A Conversation
**Content Warning: This post may be a little graphic.** Seeing the title of this post may be a little surprising to you but it’s a topic that I’ve been meaning to cover for a long time. And since I don’t have to prepare a sermon this week I thought that this would be a…
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Contemplating Sin & Rebirth (Lent 2019)
“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God,…
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Lent & The Beatitudes (Lent 2019)
“Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the…
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A Family for Christmas (Christmas Eve Sermon)
Every year around Christmas time people all over the world set up nativity scenes – and there’s a huge variety. There are old-timey ones that have great detail and classic poses, modern, new ones that are more simple, even impressionistic, and there are the weird and silly ones. We have a Little People set…
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Jesus of the Advent Candles
Over the past while our church has been going through a study of the Heidelberg Catechism, a 400-year-old summary of the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. When we paused for Christmas a couple weeks ago we were only on Day 8, but we’ve already covered a LOT of material. We covered the bad…
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Finding Hope at Christmas
*Sorry, no audio.* Have you ever read the book of Malachi? It’s the last book of the Old Testament and sort of has the qualities of a sunrise. You’ve heard that phrase, “It’s always darkest before the dawn” and this little book reads like that. It starts off super dark but ends with a…
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Remembrance Day: Martyrdom, Suffering & Hope
John McCrae and Flanders Fields In Canada and around the world, the poppy has long been a symbol of the immeasurable sacrifice made by those who have died defending and preserving the rights and freedoms of others. It was a Canadian physician, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae who made it a symbol of Remembrance Day.…
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Awesome Wrath, Amazing Grace (Thanksgiving)
Audio: Text: How many here have Instagram? I do. I’m pretty much done with Facebook these days, and I’ve mostly shifted over to Instagram. I like it a little more because it’s a little more dumbed down. There’s not as much going on in the feed as there is on Facebook. It’s just a…
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Why Do Christians Serve Others? (Volunteer Appreciation Sunday)
Audio: Text: Macy’s story is packed with some wonderful truths. First, that we never really know what’s going on in people’s lives, do we? We are pretty amazing at covering up our feelings and putting on a brave face for the world. Macy cried herself to sleep every night but didn’t want to share…
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How to Prepare for The Lord’s Supper
Audio: Text: Tonight we are going to be doing something a little special, something we haven’t done since I’ve been the pastor here, and that is to have an evening communion service. It’s interesting how this happened. Some people came to me and said that they felt like they wanted to “change up communion”.…
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Big Book Bundle Sale!
I recently decided to stop working with my publisher and get the rights back to my book so I could sell it myself. The biggest reason was that their printing and shipping costs made my book far too expensive. But I’ve got some great news! When I closed out my arrangement they had a…
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In Defence of Mothers
Audio: Text: https://player.rightnow.org/133700 It’s my contention that in North America today, particularly in Ontario, the role of the parent is deeply undervalued. I could talk all day about the epidemic of absentee fathers, broken marriages, and the dismantling of the traditional family that is causing the foundations of our civilization to crumble – but…
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CT 100th Episode Merch Sale!
We’re SUPER EXCITED to announce the Carnivore Theology 100th Episode Store! Shirts, sweaters, totes, and mugs of all shapes, sizes and colours! Check it out!!! We’re only doing a short, 21 day run on these, so order soon (ends Oct 16, 2017)! Here’s the Link (Not sure why it says it’s ended because it doesn’t end…
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Good Christian Sex
Audio: Text: A couple weeks ago I gave a sermon on the topic of sexual immorality which led to some pretty strong and varied reactions. Some people appreciated confronting the topic of pornography from the pulpit while others claimed it was. I want you to know that whenever I preach my intention is never…
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BIG Season Finale C.T. Q&A
The BIG SEASON FINALE Episode for Carnivore Theology is coming very soon and we want to jam-pack it with as many no-holds-barred Q&A as we can fit! No topic is out of bounds! So if you’ve been sitting on a question that was too hard, weird, silly or deep, now is the time to…
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Appetites Out of Control: The Personal and Cultural Effects of Pornography
Audio: Text: “‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated by anything. ‘Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food’—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual…
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The Good News (Why The Resurrection Means Everything)
Audio: Text: The Gospel Truth Today I want to talk about the “Gospel”. That word has been hijacked a bit by our culture so I want, at the outset, to clarify what that word even means. The term “The Gospel Truth” has actually become an idiom in our culture – meaning a group of…
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How To Face Discouragement
Audio: Text: Nehemiah So Far If you don’t know Nehemiah’s story, I highly recommend you give it a read, but let me give you a summary of what is going on up until this point. Nehemiah was a Jewish man who had risen to prominence in the Persian Empire to become one of…
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Will You Help Carnivore Theology Keep Going?
Hi, friends! We love providing the Carnivore Theology Podcast and Videos to you for free, but we have some production costs that come up each year and are wondering if you’d help us. Our goal is to raise $200 to pay for the web address, file hosting, blog site, and if there’s any left…
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Get My Latest Book Free!
Exciting News! My latest book “The Foundations: An Introduction to What a Christian Needs, Knows & Does” now available for download on your e-reader — and it’s FREE! Click here to go to the download page to learn more: https://artofthechristianninja.com/my-books/ Introduction: Jesus, in John 10:10, says that He has come to give…
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CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT (Carnivore Theology Ep. 87)
IT’S CONTEST TIME! Here’s how it works: Listen to/watch the next episode of Carnivore Theology (#88) AND watch the next CT Short (#15). There will be a SECRET PHRASE in BOTH of them. To enter the contest SHARE the episode OR the CT Short on social media (Facebook or Twitter) and INCLUDE BOTH SECRET…
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Christians & Depression III: Jesus Knows How You Feel
Sermon Audio: Sermon Text: We’ve been talking for the past few weeks about Mental Illness and Depression, something that is all too common in our community. We’ve talked about what Depression is, what causes it, and a bit of what it’s like to live with it. Last week we talked about the stigma of…
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Christians & Depression II: Fighting The Stigma
*Sorry, no audio. Tattoos & Human Branding I don’t have any tattoos, but I know lots of people who do – and a few that don’t have one yet but want one. As far as the Bible goes, there’s no problem with getting or having a tattoo, so long as it’s not done in…
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Christians & Depression: A Few Things Your Pastor Wants You to Know
Sermon Audio: Sermon Text: Well, we took down the Christmas decorations at home this week. No more tree, lights, or socks on the wall (nothing says Christmas like decorating the wall with fancy socks you’ll never wear, right?). The socks have been replaced with our standard portrait, the tree has been boxed up and…
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Why Our Church Has a Membership Covenant
Sermon Audio: Sermon Text: When we become Christians we enter into a new family called the Church of Jesus Christ. When we put our faith in Jesus, God takes us out from under the condemnation we find under His Law grants us forgiveness through Jesus, and then makes us a part of His Kingdom.…
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Reflections from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (Christmas Day Sermon for Kids)
Sermon Audio: Sermon Text: How many of you watched a Christmas movie this year? We have a tradition at my house, though we haven’t been the best at it this year, of watching Christmas movies throughout the month of December. We like the fun ones like Elf, Santa The Clause, Home Alone, Miracle on…
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BLACK FRIDAY BOOK DEAL!
Hi, everyone! I just wanted to pass along that my publishers have allowed me to put my “The Art of the Christian Ninja” book on a 40% off sale from Back Friday to Cyber Monday. Visit http://wipfandstock.com/the-art-of-the-christian-ninja.html and use discount code: CONF to get the deal! Above is a little video explaining what it’s all about!…
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“The Art of the Christian Ninja” Book NOW AVAILABLE!
If you’ve been following along over the past year or so, then you already know about the successful Kickstarter Campaign and most of the journey towards publishing , but I wanted to let you know that “The Art of the Christian Ninja” book is now OFFICIALLY available for purchase! Click Here to Read an Excerpt (used by permission…
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Mind Your Buckets: What You Need to Know to Get Your Priorities Straight
I was given the opportunity to be a special speaker this week and as I was preparing my sermon, I ended up stopping and thinking: “You know what, the talk I just wrote for this other group really lines up to what we’re talking about in 1st Corinthians. Maybe I should just share this…
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Sharing Our Faith Can be Scary (Kid’s Sermon)
We just had Halloween a couple weeks ago, and of course that strange season is one where people talk about scary things like ghosts and vampires and zombies. Who here went trick-or-treating? Did you see anything scary? Well, I went digging around on the internet to learn about some different things that people are…
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God and The Great Pumpkin
You’ve probably heard of Charles Shultz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip and cartoon series. Many people know and love his Christmas special, but another classic is the Halloween one called “It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”. The Charlie Brown Christmas was extremely popular and the CBS Company was more than happy to air…
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Love Does (AWANA Kid’s Talk)
When I was asked to speak here this evening, I grabbed onto a theme that I’d already spoke to another group about. They’re going through a book called “Love Does” and discussing what it means to love people in a real, hands-on, practical, concrete, expressive, applied way. I really appreciate that theme and was…
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A Parable of Unforgiveness (The Story of Peter and Frank)
Once upon a time there were two young men named Peter and Frank. Peter and Frank were friends. Not good friends, not best friends, just friends. They saw each other at school, occasionally played on the same teams in sports, and were generally friendly to each other. Peter never gave Frank much thought –…
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Pornography, the Rape Myth and 50 Shades of Grey
I don’t really want to talk about this and I’m fairly sure that there are some who don’t want to hear it, but we must address the evil, insidious, and deceptive sin of pornography. This week, just in time for Valentine’s Day, a movie called 50 Shades of Grey will be released. This movie…
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From Superbowl to Suicide
I don’t follow the NFL, but I do enjoy watching the spectacle of the Superbowl each year. Unfortunately, in my mind, the fun and excitement that comes with the word Superbowl, will always be attached to a much more ominous word: suicide. I can’t remember where I heard it, but at some point in…
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2014 Readers Survey
2014 has been an amazing year for AOTCN. We’ve launched new features, had lots of great feedback, and have tripled the readership since it started. Praise God and thank you so much! I want to make the site, experience and content better and better, so it would be very helpful if you could take…
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Scrutinizing Our Path as the New Year Approaches
Podcast Audio: Ant City “For Christmas one year we bought our children what was called, ‘Ant City.’ This consisted of clear plastic plates on either side, filled with sand and ants. From our vantage point outside and above, we could see what these busy little creatures were doing underground. We watched as they tunneled…
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10 Weapons for Your Personal War on Porn
I recently sent this to a struggling friend and was convicted to share it on the blog in hope of helping others. These are practical ways that I’ve learned to combat the temptation to view pornography. Hopefully they will help you too. 1. Have Consistent Daily Devotions – If you’re reading God’s Word and talking to Him every…
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Be the Background (Life is Better There)
Every now and again I have the wonderful privilege of speaking to a group of AWANA children. Here’s a talk I gave recently (based on this previous post). Podcast Audio: Background is Important Cartoons wouldn’t be the same without the background, would they? You’d see the characters doing things, but you wouldn’t know where…
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Why Do People Hate Christians?
Podcast Audio: “He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such…
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Where is God When Bad Things Happen? (Or, If God is Good, Why Does Evil Exist?)
Don’t forget to enter the “Be the New Podcast Intro Voice” Contest! Podcast Audio: Don’t You Care? “On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats…
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Contest: Be the New Podcast Intro Voice!
Podcast Audio: Be the New Intro Voice for the Art of the Christian Ninja Podcast! Despite what you’ve heard, I don’t love listening to the sound of my own voice, so I’m looking for someone to introduce the podcast. I was going to do this quietly, but I think it would be way more…
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The Demise of Biblical Manhood (a Father’s Day Sermon)
Podcast Audio: The Same Message I’ve been reading a lot about men these days. I just finished The Screwtape Letters and The Abolition of Man by CS Lewis, Happy Happy Happy by Phil Robertson, and am half-way though Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men by Stephen Mansfield. Mansfield is a New York Times best selling…