By Rev. Dr. Ed and Janice Hird -an article published in the Light Magazine How many Mennonite or Mennonite heritage people do you know?  In the Fraser Valley alone, there are at least 24 Mennonite Churches, led by over 100 pastors.  Menno Simons has birthed a remarkable Mennonite movement of around 200,000 in Canada and over two million people in at least 86 countries. There are now more African Mennonites than in all of North America. If you attend a church, like millions of Baptist, Pentecostal, Alliance, or independent congregations that practice believer’s baptism, you ..read more

  ate Economics By Rev. Dr. Ed & Janice Hird -an article published in the March 2024 Light Magazine Many people nowadays have little idea how Adam Smith’s economic ideas have shaped their lives for good. Can a rediscovery of the real Adam Smith rescue our muddled Canadian economy? In 1776, Smith’s second book The Wealth of the Nations was so popular that he became known as the Father of Economics and the Father of Capitalism.  For some people today, Capitalism has become a negative word associated with Scrooge-like greed and cutthroat business practices. Karl Marx blamed capit ..read more

         Recently, as an experienced writer, I was asked to participate in the evaluation of poetry. I felt ill equipped for the job but promised to at least read over the poems and offer my reflections on them.             In my personal writing history, I have never made a serious attempt to create poetry, although I have been aware at times that when I am engrossed in writing about something about which I feel passionate, I can begin to sound poetic in the choice of metaphors and descriptors that I use to ..read more

By Rev. Dr. Ed & Janice Hird   Born in Emden, Germany in 1931, Max Lange was indoctrinated in the Hitler Youth as a young boy. When his Lutheran pastor in April 1945 denounced Hitler and the Nazis from the pulpit for the crimes against the Jews, Max didn’t believe it. He used to warn his mother against the crime of secretly listening to the BBC.    At age 22, Max went to work in Liberia where he met the world-renounced Christian philanthropist and inventor R.G. Letourneau. After going to work for the Letourneau Foundation, Max heard the gospel and met Jesus personally i ..read more

  My Perspective--Layered with Grief and Understanding This past week fellow storytellers and I learned of the traumatic brain injury of the youngest son of one of our guild members. Mom, Dad and family waited by the hospital bedside of their son and brother who was hooked up to life support. Would his condition get better or worsen? The medical staff offered little hope. Naturally each person of our guild responded with different words. All kind and thoughtful, and many offered to pray. The son’s condition, and that of his family, weighed on my spirit all week. I wanted to do more, but p ..read more

  Abraham Lincoln’s Freeing Encounter with Christ By Rev. Dr. Ed & Janice Hird -previously published in the June 2023 Light Magazine   At Mount Rushmore, Abraham Lincoln’s face is chiseled into the rockface.  Leo Tolstoy called him “a Christ in miniature, a saint of humanity.”  Historian David S. Reynolds remarked there was only one historical figure, Jesus Christ, with more books written about him than Lincoln.   Why have more than 14,000 books been written about Abraham Lincoln since his death in 1865? As a young man, Lincoln was soundly defeated politica ..read more

  David Kitz, Chair of the Word Guild, spoke at the Faith Inspiring Creativity, sponsored by the Surrey Christian Writers Group and Inscribe Christian Fellowship https://thewordguild.com/ https://surreywritersnorthof60.wordpress.com/ https://inscribe.org/ 1) Greetings by David Kitz at The Word Guild Conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebJ4syF2uUo 2)David Kitz: Developing Your Platform as a writer/ blogger (pt 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-bhuPiGk1M 3)David Kitz: Developing Your Platform as a writer/ blogger (pt 2) https://youtu.be/XA5Epw22qzA 4) David Kit ..read more

  By the Rev. Dr. Ed Hird Once every year, billions of people around the world pause to remember the mystery of Easter. Most people love Easter: bunnies, chocolate, eggs, bonnets, lilies, flower crosses, and joyful singing. In the air, you can sense victory and resurrection and new life. No wonder that churches have many visitors on Easter Sunday. I have always enjoyed Easter, especially for the chocolate.  Just like Christmas, Easter has its food connection and its spiritual connection.  Most people love to eat.  Easter family gatherings invariably involve lots of deliciou ..read more

  By Rev Dr Ed & Janice Hird -an article for the Light Magazine Many of us as children read Robert Louis Stevenson’s best-selling books like Treasure Island, Kidnapped,and a Children’s Garden of Verses. He was a popular celebrity in his own time. Arthur Conan Doyle, of Sherlock Holmes fame, wrote to Stevenson speaking of “all the pleasure you have given me during my lifetime–more than any other living man has done.” Rudyard Kipling called him ‘his idol’.  GK Chesterton said that Stevenson "seemed to pick the right word up on the point of his pen, like a man playing pick ..read more

  By Rev. Dr. Ed & Janice Hird -an article for the Light Magazine You can bet that the increase in gambling is harming many Canadian families.  We have personally seen many marriages break up.  Wives are not happy to lose their houses to their husband’s gambling addiction. The Bible in 1 Tim 6:9 warns against falling into the trap of temptation, and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. Since the COVID restrictions were implemented in 2020, those gambling four or more times a week has increased from 23% to 32%.  Online g ..read more