I was blessed to give at New Life Camp for another round of junior campfire talks. This year was bee themed. We looked at the sting of death (1 Cor 15) and tasting and seeing that the LORD Is good (Ps 34:8).

Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. (Joel 1:3)

While speaking primarily to parents, every generation the church faces extinction and the Great Commission calls us to share the Good News with all ages, including children. While a whole family focus is important in evangelism, statistically 64% of Christians become a Christian before they are 18.
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God has been incredibly gracious to allow me to be involved in children’s (and youth) ministries through the years.

• This began as an older teenager teaching a children’s Sunday School class (Lord have mercy, there was so much about the Bible and theology that I didn’t know!);
• It continued as I led children from our local association on youth retreats (exhausting!);
• Soon after I became a youth pastor (sowing Gospel seeds in a liberal church);
• At my first solo pastorate I joined the board of YFC and got to know many community youth as our church developed fledgling ministries (including hosting its first VBS in some time. Praise God they have a healthy children’s ministry today).
• When I served as a pastor oversees, our Chapel didn’t have any children. However, the Lord enabled me to begin to take religious assemblies (corporate worship was/is still mandatory in schools there). This opened further doors to serve on the board of governors, bring in special puppet productions, doing other religious presentations and beginning a weekly in school Bible club for those in gr. 5—all with others from the chapel slowly getting involved. We also ran Townwell Tots and weekly shared the Gospel with 30+ for several years.
  • It was here I became a physical father and having a child of my own has taught me much about the spiritual needs of children. I also discovered two great children’s Bibles: The Big Picture Story Bible (0-3) and the Kingdom of God Children’s Bible (4-10).
• Upon coming to Markdale my son was the only regular child but by God’s grace we now have around 20 children. I’ve been involved in teaching children at our weekly afterschool club (King’s Kids), helping lead chapel for our homeschool hub (Fabulous Friday), speaking at New Life Camp junior camp fire weeks, engaging in our VBS and overseeing intergenerational worship, etc.

VBS 2026 gave me pause to look back and reflect upon my involvement in children’s ministries.
Apart from immense gratitude, what have I learned to value about this ministry?:

• Children are to be valued as a heritage from the Lord and not treated as a nuisance;
• I was saved as a child (8 turning 9) and the Lord can save them too;
• Teaching children forces you to be simple but not simplistic (distilling the Faith in age-appropriate ways);
• Children ask great (and hard) questions—it keeps you on your toes and growing too;
• It is an honour to help pass on the Faith and be part of their journey;

“Dear father, I pray for any child I have been able to minister to…and may we all treasure this important ministry and support it as the Lord enables.”

A sermon preached at Grey Gables for Canada Day.

On Wednesday, July 1, 2026, many will attend a bbq, some organized festivities and maybe even fireworks. It is Canada Day.

Did you know, however, that Canada Day used to be called Dominion Day as Canada’s formal name is ‘The Dominion of Canada.’[1] This name was suggested by the Father of Confederation, an evangelical Methodist, Leonard Tilley. It takes its inspiration from Ps 72:8, “He shall have dominion from sea to sea.” Christ was to have dominion over the country of Canada. The first Dominion Days were of little significance as our identity was caught up in Empire. However, after WWII Canada increasingly came to see itself as part of the Commonwealth but an independent country. The old Dominion ensign was replaced with a new national flag in 1965. A generation later, in 1982, Dominion Day was changed to Canada Day.

However, it was a late night and hot July day when the private members bill to change the name was introduced (the government bill never passed). Only 13 MPs were present when it passed all three readings. (The Opposition called the move, ‘sneaky.’[2]). It was part of Trudeau’s plan to recast Canada as a secular and multi-cultural country (aware of not only the Imperial but the Christian overtones of Dominion Day). While there were protests to bring back Dominion Day, most Canadians saw it as inevitable progress towards independent national identity. Most did not grasp the religious significance. Nostalgic bids to return to Dominion Day continue but lack any realistic political support.

However, as ‘Canada Day’ has come to be morally empty—Trudeau Jr. said Canada was a ‘post-national state’ with ‘no core identity, no mainstream in Canada’[3]—Dominion Day does become an attractive alternative. Sure, we can celebrate a vague sense of freedom, however, this is nothing close to as enriching as a country ruled by Christ and His laws.
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While Christ rules in heaven most Canadians reject Him in their heart. As always, the best expression of patriotism is to evangelistically proclaim the Lordship of Christ afresh until post-Christian Canada is reached for Christ. This is true love of neighbour. True dominion is not ultimately won in political arenas but experienced in one heart at a time. In the meantime, we can thank the Lord for our Christian heritage as we pray and work a revival of Christ’s dominion.


[1] While still technically true, use of Dominion was dropped in 1951.

[2] https://www.cbc.ca/archives/canada-day-1982-1.6496279

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/04/the-canada-experiment-is-this-the-worlds-first-postnational-country

A series of short devotionals given on an 11 km June youth outing on the Bruce Trail.

Lesson 1- Start
Welcome to the Bruce Trail! It is 933 km long. It goes all the way to the right to the Niagara River at Queenston Heights and all the way to the left to Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Penninsula. It is Canada’s longest hiking trail; but don’t worry, we’re only going to walk 11 km.

The Bible is full of the imagery of paths, trails, roads and races (c.f. Ps 119:105, Jn 14:6).

Today as we journey we’re going to pause to talk about Entering, Staying On and Finishing God’s Path.

Just like starting the trail, one has to personally enter onto God’s path. It is not enough to be from a Christian family. We must, each one, turn and trust in Jesus to become a Christian, enter the path and begin to follow Jesus.

At each stop a youth will read a short passage and then we’ll answer some simple questions as a group.

A youth reads: Matt 7:13-14
Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Questions: What is this passage saying, what do we need to know to be able to understand it better, what is it saying about God, us, and what is it asking us to do?

If you’ve already enter, praise the Lord for His salvation as you walk. If you’ve not enter, don’t think about anything else, as nothing more than this is so important.

Lesson 2- Middle
You have to be careful walking the Bruce Trail. There are lots of cliffs, roots, poison ivy, turns where you may get lost. You must follow the white blazes!

The same is true along God’s path. There are many trials and temptation in which Satan would slow us down or lead us astray. However, if we’d grow and become like Jesus we must continue to trust God’s word and walk in His ways.

A youth reads: Dt 5:32-33
“You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.”

Questions: What is this passage saying, what do we need to know to be able to understand it better, what is it saying about God, us, and what is it asking us to do?

Are we trusting the Lord and following His Word? Where may we need to turn back in our life? Let’s think about His way as we press on.

Lesson 3- Near the end
Almost 11 km is a lot of work!

So is life and following Jesus. It requires perseverance (thankfully something God provides for His children by His grace so that we persevere to the end).

Sometimes the Bible speaks about following Jesus as a path but sometimes as a race.

Anyone guess the world record for running the Bruce Trail? (A- 8 days, 17 hours). Only the one who perseveres and completes the race get’s the price of salvation.

A youth reads: 1 Cor 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

Questions: What is this passage saying, what do we need to know to be able to understand it better, what is it saying about God, us, and what is it asking us to do?

So let us not give up, let’s fix our eyes upon Jesus, ask for His help, and continue to follow him; persevering to the end to win the prize!

I’ve kept a blog as a spiritual discipline since 2015, including the 7 years since I have been at MBC. The blog is called Drippings from the Honeycomb (Ps 19:10b), as they are my reflections (drippings) from God’s Word (the honeycomb).

The blogs vary in length (short, medium and long) and in subjects (e.g. covering current events, theology, Bible passages, morality, church health, the Gospel, discipleship, FAQ, etc). Since coming to MBC there have been about 350 blogs posted. With the advent of AI you can now even go to Google and type “Markdale Baptist Church blog…what does Pastor Chris believe about _____” to get a summary and links. You can also find blogs through the search bar of our website (top right) or find different blogs by date or subject on the blog sidebar.
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While some special blogs take longer,[1] I usually invest 30-90 minutes each week on most.
While many outside of the church read the blog,[2] as a local shepherd, responsible for feeding his sheep, I write these blogs for MBC:

• Often to respond to questions I am asked
• To share responses I have given to someone for the benefit of all
• To share things that wouldn’t fit in a sermon that relate to what we are studying
• That speak into the present life of the church
• To share things I’ve been thinking about
• To cast vision
• So the sheep can know my heart
• So that people may have a steady diet of sound Christian material.

Thanks to all those who read the blog, and if you haven’t yet, I encourage you to take a look.


[1] For example, when Israel invaded Gaza I wanted to get my own head around the conflict and so shared my findings here.

[2] E.g. a blog called ‘What was Satan Doing in Heaven’ is the all time most viewed page on our website—obviously not all people from MBC!

Concluding our series on our church covenant (find earlier blogs here and our actual covenant here), we press into 1. 3.10:

We moreover engage, that when we remove from this place, we will as soon as possible unite with another other church, where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant, and the principles of God's Word.

When we moved overseas we not only needed to get a bank account, a phone, groceries and insurance but within weeks we’d not only found a local church but joined it. Baptism and membership are how we express our universal membership in the church (and how the church recognizes who represents Jesus, Mt 16:19, 18:18; Acts 2:41).[1] It isn’t optional but an elementary expression of Christian discipleship. It was so elementary for us it ranked high on our priority list.

Sadly, many Canadian ‘evangelicals’ believe differently than our church and so there is much we can do to encourage and teach on and live out church membership. A recent state of theology Canada survey found that only 37% (18–34), 33% (35-49), 23% (50–64) and 18% (65+) believe that every Christian has an obligation to join a local church (note this is lessens the older one is).[2]

Not only do we believe membership is a biblical principle (and that our covenant contains biblical principles), we also believe that the spirit of our covenant is important too: faithfulness, relationality, love, commitment, holiness, piety, generosity, etc.
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So may we all commit to a local church and may we all help each other faithfully fulfill our church covenant that expresses basic Christian responsibilities and privileges for our good and God’s glory.


[1] The Baptist Catechism, Question #101
What is the duty of such who are rightly baptized?
It is the duty of such who are rightly baptized to give up themselves to some particular and orderly church of Jesus Christ, that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.⁠¹⁠
¹ Acts 2:41–42; 5:13–14; 9:26; 1 Peter 2:5; Luke 1:6
https://baptistcatechism.org/101/

[2] Older Christians were more greatly influenced by anti-institutionalism and post-modernism; younger Christians desire cohesiveness in chaos. 

There is a very obvious sense that all time is to be used to God’s glory and so no time can be ‘Christian’ or ‘not-Christian’ time. A Christian is called to honour the Lord all of the time.
Nevertheless, how we use our time speaks volumes about our heart, maturity and spiritual progress. In Redeeming the Time, we explored what it looks like to not pass our time as the world does but instead to redeem it and use it for noble things and purposes.

Time is so important. Next to life itself it is the greatest gift. How we use it reveals who we honour, determine our spiritual health and chart the course of every other area of our life. Here I mean Christian time for ways in which we overtly spend our time engaged in public means of grace: weekly, monthly and yearly (there is of course daily too: personal and family reading of Scripture, prayer and singing).

(*What follows are the main public meetings of the church that we should intentionally build into our lives and is expressed in our church covenant pledge, “to attend all public meetings of the church.” 3.5). 

Monthly: Each month we also have the monthly corporate prayer meeting. While we pray together in other ways, this is an opportunity to gather expressly to pray for the life of the church and revival, etc. This is rooted in Acts and has a long history in our Reformation movement. It is when the church not only worships but prays together that you can see her heart (and her heart is in turn transformed in a common experience). A praying church is always a growing church.
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Yearly: Our quarterly members’ meetings are our opportunity to not only gather in fellowship (and usually teaching and singing) but to discern God’s will for our church. As elders-led congregationalists this is very important. We want to hear from and help our elders. We want to discuss the largest matters facing our church. We want to hear and discuss things together before the Lord, our head. As members of a local body it is vital that all members gather under Christ to discern His will.

These are the appointed main public gatherings of our church, which we should prioritize to attend regularly before we consider other ministries. (We should also have at least one area of the church in which we are serving). When we ‘seek ye first’ (Mt 6:33) God’s kingdom and righteousness in these ways, our week, month and year have a solid foundation from which to do other things.

Other: Once we are engaging in the basics then ask, what other time might I have to devote to other ministries. Maybe a receiving ministry (e.g. a special teaching event)? Maybe a  giving ministry (serving at King’s Kids)? Maybe one that gives and receives (like discipleship at a Life Group. We also need to be free to have enough time to respond opportunities to help others, invest in relationships or speak with those interested in Christ as they arise

Yet when we are redeeming the time and our Christian time is firmly rooted, we won’t have less time but the Lord will anchor and bless us so that we still have time for other things (c.f. Mt 6:33).  
How do you spend your Christian time? Please prioritize our morning and evening worship gatherings, our monthly prayer meeting and quarterly members’ meetings and build upward from there as you are able. 

Every believer receives the promised gift of the Holy Spirit at their conversion. The Spirit is given as a gift when they turn from sin and trust in the Gospel (Acts 2:38).
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Consider the following verses:

• Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. Ro 8:9b
• For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. 1 Cor 12:13a (note the synonymous use of baptism with conversion)
• In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Eph 1:13
• Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Gal 3:2–3 (v. 27 mentions baptism in the spirit as a synonym)
• These and many others represent being ‘baptized in the Spirit,’ which outwardly is followed by the ordinance of Baptism (Mt 3:11; Acts 1:5; 1 Cor 12:13)

But what about verses that seem to suggest a second experience (sometimes called ‘baptized in the Spirit’).[1] Here a simple principle of hermeneutics is most helpful. The principle is this: understand the less clear in light of the clearer. The clearer is that believers receive the Holy Spirit at conversion.

• Acts 2 is not normative because it was part of the inter-covenantal period and bore witness that the promised Holy Spirit had come. (Tongues passages also need to be understood in their context of real languages).
• Acts 8 is marked by tongues again as proof that salvation had broken a barrier and gone to the Samaritans.
• Acts 10 is again marked by tongues as proof that salvation had broken yet another barrier and gone to the Gentiles.

Do we all need to be baptized in the Spirit? Absolutely! And we are when we believe the Gospel! Like Acts 2:41–42+, this is progressively evidenced by new love for God and others (especially believers), a desire to grow in holiness, employing gifts for service, etc.

But what about experiences that look like a second experience? Someone’s spirituality that looked like a flatline and then suddenly, it spiked. How do you explain that? Sometimes it is in fact a nominal Christian being converted and at other times it is a sudden leap in Christian maturity.
What is clear is that all believer’s receive the Holy Spirit at conversion and then go on being filled with the Holy Spirit throughout their Christian walk (Eph 5:18).


[1] This theology also produces a Christian caste system not dissimilar to Catholicism (laity, clergy, saints). However, there are two types of Christians just those at differing level of maturity.