In the 1977 classic movie “Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope”,  

there is a climactic fight between the wise old Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi  

and his former apprentice, the evil Darth Vader.

It seems the old man is hopelessly outmatched in the fight,  

but he speaks these cryptic words to his opponent: “If you strike me down,  

I...

Acts 11:1-18

God’s love is greater than we can imagine.

-

A few weeks ago, I attended my first ever protest.

I wouldn’t describe myself as an activist, but there I was,  

on Weber Street,  

waving a sign and chanting along with the crowd.

End of April, the Trustees of the Waterloo Catholic School Board  

were voting to ban the...

[Sing:]

Love, love me do

You know I love you,

I'll always be true,

So please, …

love me do

Many of you could sing along with that early Beatles classic from 1963.

And in a bit of a sacrilegious imagination,  

I picture Jesus and Peter singing this song to each other  

with Thomas on harmonica and Nathanael on drums.

Of course they...

The Conversion of St. Paul

Galatians 1 and Acts 9

Preached at First United Church, Waterloo (March 25, 2025) as part of the mid-week Lenten Series

I want to start by thanking Pastor Hoeun and the good people  

of First United for hosting our service this evening.  

It’s nice to be back preaching here  

after our pulpit exchange in...

The Canadian Black History Month “honours the legacy and contributions of Black people in Canada and their communities” and the 2025 theme is “black legacy and leadership: celebrating Canadian history and uplifting future generations”.

On this Black History Sunday I’ll present two great examples of black legacy and leadership.

You can see their...

—

Back in High School, a song popular with myself  

and my classmates was

Haddaways: “What is Love, (baby don’t hurt me)  

don’t hurt me no more.”

This Eurodance classic was made even more popular a while later  

by comedian Jim Carrey, just Google “Jim Carrey head dance”  

and you’ll know what I mean.

While the lyrics are...

Third Sunday after Epiphany

January 26, 2025

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

Psalm 19

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Luke 4:14-21

A highlight for me this week was meeting up with two childhood friends.  

Our meet ups are infrequent yet consistent.  

Time and space dictate the possibilities because

my childhood besties have move around the world - ...

—

I want to begin by saying what an honour and privilege it is  

to be invited by your minister Hoeun to preach and lead worship  

here at First United,  

while he is busy at St. Matthews.

Thank you.

Thank you also to Kathleen for the invitation to perform some pieces  

I’ve wanted to play for some time.

Pulpit exchanges are...

The song I played earlier,

You raise me up https: www.youtube.com watch?v=4skT6igCK7g

is a song composed by Norwegian artist Rolf Lovland with lyricist Brendan Graham in 2002.

“You Raise me up” was performed first at Lovland’s mother’s funeral.  

It’s a very popular song,  

having been covered by over five...

Seeing Mary as a fierce, active follower of God 

can summon us to focus

This evening less on “silent night, holy night”

And more on shattering vanilla hetero-normativity,

Demolishing white cis privilege, for example.

It might provoke us to move beyond

weepy nostalgia for past structures

Into disrupting systems of oppression, 

(Which keep the power amongst the powerful).

It means less listening and trusting in oligarchs and strongmen

and more listening and trusting in God.