on coffee

Monday, February 03, 2025

Praying for Goma, DRC

There has been a major escalation of the crisis in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After years of conflict, a rebel group, M23, out of Rwanda has now claimed control of the provincial capital, which has caused hundreds of thousands to be displaced.

I have a friend, who lives in Uganda and travels regularly into the DRC to encourage and support the Congolese followers of Jesus.

Over two million residents are in the dark without electricity or Internet access.
Gunshots and explosions are everywhere.
Many humanitarian aid agencies are based in Goma and cannot provide assistance.
There are dead bodies in the streets
Hospitals are overwhelmed by casualties.
Many are without access to food, water, or shelter.

A bit of background.

The Rwandan and Ugandan wars of aggression and plunder have ebbed and flowed for nearly three decades. Both countries have invaded the Congo twice, 1996 and 1998, fought each other on Congolese soil over mineral resources (2000), and have sponsored militia groups inside Congo for decades. What we are witnessing today, is the latest escalation of a persistent crisis enabled by their western backers – US, UK, EU, France – to name a few. Ugandan troops are now in the DRC at the request of the government to help fight the rebels.

The United Nations Security Council has held two emergency sessions to address the crisis in the Congo. Virtually all of the nations have called for Rwanda to withdraw its soldiers from the DRC and stop supporting the M23. However, no concrete action has yet to be taken in spite of the pleas of the DRC's foreign minister. Germany and the United Kingdom appear to be taking baby steps to possibly withhold aid from Rwanda.

For over six decades, the DRC has been denied the fundamental rights of peace, democracy, and justice. From the assassination of Patrice Emery Lumumba to the ongoing plunder of its vast resources, has remained at the mercy of Western-backed dictators, foreign-sponsored militias, and multinational corporations, all seeking to exploit its immense wealth—at great cost to the Congolese.

Keep Congo in your Prayers!

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Doug Ford asking for a new mandate

Doug Ford was happy to do all of this and more without asking for a mandate from the electorate

Doug Ford has announced that Ontarians will go to the polls on 27 February 2025. Even though an election is not required until June 2026, Ford says he needs “a strong mandate” from the people to deal with Donald Trump and his proposed tariffs. This is definitely not because of an imminent RCMP investigation or because once Pierre Poilievre becomes PM, Ontario voters will likely vote against the party in power in Ottawa just as they have in every election for decades.

So here is a little fun refresher at some of the things Doug Ford was happy to do without asking our permission.

Immediately closed the Science Centre because of a minor roof issue
Sold off Ontario Place to a spa company while spending billions of dollars of taxpayer money to fund the construction of their facility
Underfunded provincial healthcare by 3.5 billion in 2020 alone (In fairness there wasn’t much need for public healthcare spending during a pandemic or anything). There really can be a whole list of healthcare blunders by this government
Forced people to wade through Staples stores to access provincial services
Invoked the Notwithstanding Clause to override individual rights
Spent hundreds of millions to get beer into convenience stores a bit earlier than he would have been able to otherwise
Repeatedly interfered in Toronto municipal politics because he’s still mad that the city wouldn’t elect him mayor
Abolished Rent Control (this one he specifically promised not to do)
Sold off the Greenbelt to developers who happened to be very generous gift givers at his daughter’s wedding
Appointed unqualified friends and supporters to plum positions making hundreds of thousands a year

And there is more. But, of course, all of these pale in importance to the need to stand up to Donald Trump on tariffs, a position basically everyone in Canada except Danielle Smith agrees on.

Oh, and by the way this election will cost us $189 million, according to Elections Ontario.

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

more than we can handle

In the midst of his missionary journeys, the apostle Paul encountered countless troubles, nearly being killed on several occasions. In his second letter to the Corinthians, he describes one of those times:

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. (2 Corinthians 1:8–11, NIV).

Let me make three quick observations on this brief passage.

Paul and those who were with him were burdened beyond their strength “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.” We are not alone when we feel completely overwhelmed by the stuff that happens in life.
Having utterly depleted his own resources, Paul was forced to rely on God. This is so true to life; we would much rather rely on ourselves, our routines, our basic cheeriness, even our theological assumptions. When all that is taken away, we are forced to rely on God, who, of course, turns out to be the only reliable one, anyway.
Today, no matter what is happening or not happening in our world, I pray that we will be able to remember God’s track record of provision and trustworthiness, and be moved to say with Paul, “On Him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.” We need this encouragement from one another.

Friday, January 03, 2025

Shout Joy

By Madeline L’Engle

O sing unto God
and sing praises unto his Name
magnify him that rideth upon the heavens
praise him in his Name
Jah!

shout it
cry it aloud upon the wind
take the tail of his steed
and fling across the sky
in his wild wake
Jah!

he cannot be caught
he cannot be fled
he cannot be known
nor his knowledge escaped
the light of his Name
blinds the brilliance of stars
Jah!

catch the falling dragon
ride between his flailing wings
leap between the jaws of the lion
grasp the horn of the unicorn
calling with mighty voice
Jah!

caught in star flame
whipped by comet lash
rejoice before him
cry above the voices of the cherubim
shout alongside the seraphim
Jah!

bellow joy behind kings
scattered by the quaking of his hills
fleeing before his fire
rush like snow through his thunderous flame
crying with gladness
adoration of his Name
God is Lord
Jah!

Wednesday, January 01, 2025

christmas disturbs us

"When Herod realised that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi." Matthew 2:16

Christmas disturbs us.

The Herod episode is disturbing.

Why was Herod disturbed by the news of the Messiah’s birth?

This is the long-awaited one, the fulfilment of all those prophecies.
These stargazers have arrived from the east to herald it in.

but instead of celebrating, Herod is spooked and Matthew says, “all of Jerusalem with him.”

Herod gathered all the religious leaders and they opened the Scripture to find the meaning of all these nativity stories. They looked into Micah’s prophecy and there it was,

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,” Matthew 2:6 - Micah 5:2,4

When the Magi don’t return, as Herod had asked them to, he explodes in anger.

Like some Game Of Thrones scene you can see him check the scroll again, swipe the table clean, cups and bowls smashing and splintering and the sacred papyrus rip, like the veil in the temple later would.
Herod summoned his troops whose horses hooves thunder out of Jerusalem to go and kill all the babies, under two years of age, in the Bethlehem area.

It is a challenge for those of us who have the truth, who look it up, who turn the pages of the Holy Scriptures.

Herod’s problem was not that he didn’t have the truth.

Herod had too much truth.

He knew that this baby was going to change everything.

This was going to demand changes: personally, materially and politically and he wasn’t up for the truth to have its way.

What about us?

Are there places in our lives where we have the truth but refuse to welcome it into our lives?

No, we don’t kill Jesus, we sing carols about him, but do we kill his revolution?

John Stott said that the greatest evangelical heresy of the 20th Century was our lack of social justice. I remember it being labelled a “social gospel” like it was the heresy.
Was that a misunderstanding of the Scriptures or just that the cost of getting involved in God’s Kingdom coming and his will being done on earth would impinge too much on our comfortable lives?

What other Jesus truth do we dismiss seemingly as wrong but actually just because we do not want to surrender to it?

Loving our [pick your descriptor - Palestinian (or any other people), sleeping rough (or any other pushed aside group), NDP (or any other political descriptor] neighbours?

Herod knew the truth but couldn’t handle the price this baby would cost him.

And us?

East Africa virus

Ebola

Ebola disease is caused by a group of viruses, known as orthoebolaviruses. These viruses can cause serious illness that, without treatment, can cause death. Orthoebolaviruses were discovered in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and are found primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.
There have been outbreaks in Uganda.

Mpox

Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) is a viral disease that can cause a painful rash, fever, and swollen lymph nodes. It's caused by the monkeypox virus, which is part of the Poxviridae family, along with the variola virus (smallpox), vaccinia virus, and cowpox virus.
Primarily found in the DRC. The virus spread to Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda.

Dinga Dinga

Dinga Dinga is a mysterious illness that has affected people in the Bundibugyo district of Uganda. The name translates to "shaking like dancing" and refers to the disease's most notable symptom: uncontrollable shaking that resembles dancing. Other symptoms include: fever, extreme weakness, and severe paralysis.

unknown

A flu-like disease has killed dozens of people in two weeks in November 2024 in the Panzi health zone of Kwango province, southwestern Congo. Symptoms include fever, headache, cough and anaemia.

Thursday, December 26, 2024

Boxing Day

The day after Christmas is known in Canada and other places as Boxing Day.

It is also the Feast of Stephen - the first martyr. It's a day to remember suffering Christians around the world. And that number increases all the time.

You can read about Stephen in Acts chapters 6 & 7, where his defence and death by stoning is covered.

Stephen was a Hellenized Jew. That was a group of Jewish people who copied Greek culture but didn’t necessarily come from Greek ancestry. After his conversion to Christianity Stephen was selected as one of the men to look after the distribution of food serving Jerusalem’s Hellenist Jewish converts.

Stephen also preached in his community. He discussed matters with people from the synagogue’s Diaspora Jews. Diaspora Jews were those dispersed after the Babylonian exile outside of Palestine or modern day Israel. This caused problems because of religious, philosophical and political belief in Jewish society.

Stephen, in one of his debates, so outraged them that he was arrested and charged with blasphemy. His defence implied that the temple was idolatrous, likened to the Golden Calf that Aaron had made in the wilderness. Afterwards he was taken out of the city and stoned to death. This was witnessed and assented to by a young man named Saul of Tarsus who went on to have the dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus and become St. Paul.

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC – OCTOBER 17, 2018: The stoning of St. Stephen fresco in the church Kostel Svatého Cyrila Metodeje by S. G. Rudl (1896).

When Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg, he introduced many Germanic traditions into fashionable society. Christmas trees and Christmas cards are just two of those. The tradition of Boxing Day, although not directly attributed to the Victorian era, did come into practice at this time, possibly as early as the 1830s.

Boxing Day was a day when people in service were given time off to spend with their families. The people that they were in service to, would give them food (leftovers from their Christmas Day feasting) in some kind of box for their family. From this we get the name Boxing Day.

So boxing day has nothing to do with boxing & shoving for big sales. It has to do with sharing with and blessing others.

The carol “Good King Wenceslas” is a St Stephens Day carol and traditionally sung on that day and not on Christmas Day. The carol is about Wenceslas, who was a king of Bohemia (part of modern day Czechia), giving to a person in need.

Other reference to boxes and Boxing Day may come from the fact that churches used to have boxes to take collections from people throughout the year. These were opened on December 26 and the money given to the poor.

Sunday, December 22, 2024

Advent 4

Links to the series on Advent in Revelation can be found in these places

blog: oncoffee
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mbells
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/mbells.bsky.social
X: x.com/mbells
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@michaelalanbells

Thursday, December 19, 2024

A Christmas Sermon from 380AD

A Christmas Sermon by St. Gregory of Nazianzus (AD 380)

Christ is born, glorify Him. Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him. Christ on earth, be exalted. Sing to the Lord, all the whole earth; and that I may join both in one word, let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in the flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with trembling because of your sins, with joy because of your hope.

Again, the darkness is past; again, Light is made; again, Egypt is punished with darkness; again, Israel is enlightened by a pillar. The people who sat in the darkness of ignorance, let them see the great Light full of knowledge. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. The letter gives way, the Spirit comes to the front. The shadows flee away, the truth comes in on them. Melchizedek is concluded. He who was without Mother becomes without Father (without mother of His former state, without father of His second).

The laws of nature are upset; the world above must be filled. Christ commands it, let us not set ourselves against Him. O, clap your hands together, all you people, because unto us a Child is born, and a Son given unto us, whose government is upon His shoulder (for with the cross, it is raised up), and His name is called The Angel of the Great Counsel of the Father.

Let John cry, prepare the way of the Lord; I, too, will cry the power of this Day. He who is not carnal is Incarnate; the Son of God becomes the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Let the Jews be offended, let the Greeks deride; let heretics talk until their tongues ache. Then shall they believe, when they see Him ascending into heaven; and if not then, yet when they see Him coming out of heaven and sitting as Judge.

This is our present Festival; it is this which we are celebrating today, the Coming of God to Man, that we might go forth, or rather (for this is the more proper expression) that we might go back to God—that putting off of the old man, we might put on the new; and that as we died in Adam, so we might live in Christ, being born with Christ and crucified with Him and buried with Him and rising with Him. For I must undergo the beautiful conversion, and as the painful succeeded the more blissful, so must the more blissful come out of the painful.

For where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; and if a taste condemned us, how much more does the passion of Christ justify us? Therefore, let us keep the Feast, not after the manner of a heathen festival, but after a godly sort; not after the way of the world, but in a fashion above the world; not as our own, but as belonging to Him who is ours, or rather as our master's; not as of weakness, but as of healing; not as of creation, but of re-creation.