Renewed in Spirit

Some reflections on faith and trust

Rev. Mark Duncan Allan

bible

  • A LITTLE FAITH

    “Have faith”. Maybe somebody has said that to us.  Maybe we have said it to ourselves.  Most of us would say we have faith, but aren’t there times when we wish our faith was deeper and greater?  Aren’t there moments when we think our faith isn’t as strong as it should be, or as robust Read more

  • One Year

    One year ago, this very day, I was already awake at 4AM when it was time to get ready to go to the hospital to have a cancerous tumor on my left kidney removed.    My wife Barb, and my son (who had flown halfway around the world to be there), were with me.  In the Read more

  • Rolling the Stone Away

    The way John begins his account of that first Easter is like this –  “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.” Easter begins in the darkness. On that Sunday, when Mary woke Read more

  • A Dark Day

    Each year of my ministry we offered a Maundy Thursday service of Tenebrae.  I have to admit that it was always one of the least attended services of the year, but it was also one that I found the most meaningful.  Yes, the last hours of Jesus’ life and his crucifixion are hard to hear Read more

  • Finding Faith in the Wilderness

    Recently, while flying home from Saudi Arabia, just as Lent was beginning, I looked out the plane window as we passed over the Sinai. This is the region where the Book of Exodus tells us that Moses and the Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years. The landscape I saw was stark and barren—truly a Read more

  • Under Running laughter

    I once had a colleague in ministry who liked to ask people, “Where are you seeing God in your life these days?” I always appreciated the question, and I could see how it made people pause and really think about their answer. We can encounter God and his truth in many different ways—in his Word, Read more