I do not even pretend to know everything about God and how He works. I am surprised sometimes with the things that have happened in my own life, despite my own limitations and failings. I have had my ...Read More
I have been called a devil, but I am not the devil. However, let’s for a moment, for the sake of this story, pretend I was in fact the real devil. If, as the father of lies and deceit, my purpos...Read More
I have seen this sign and similar bumper-sticker sayings in the past. I am sure it is unintentional but this group is doing more to promote faith than destroy it. By talking about ‘good’ t...Read More
I love stats at times. I use them all the time when talking about youth and young adult rentention in the church today. Sometimes I believe people think I must be quite depressed as I have spent a sig...Read More
[youtuber vimeo=’http://vimeo.com/65575367#at=0′] This is video featuring David Overholt. It is an explantation of what the Haemorrhaging Faith survey is and also why it is so very relevan...Read More
‘Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.’ Carl Sagan Science is built on facts. Or perhaps for some it is the discovery of those facts,...Read More
A truth from the Hemorrhaging Faith Survey – Young people who are engaged in the church today are far more likely to say that they have personally experienced the love and acceptance of God, as ...Read More
Dr Andy Bannister was one of the people we asked to give some input for the Before You Say Goodbye Project. He was asked this question, ‘Hasn’t science disproven God?’ Here is his re...Read More
Lost in Transition Talk about surprises. It has been a long held belief that most young people walk away from their faith after high school and into young adulthood. While it is true there is a decrea...Read More
Who do you want to be like? As a skateboarder there are a few guys I have always idolized. I am amazed at the things they can do and wish I had the same skills they do. You likely have your own people...Read More
In Before You Say Goodbye we have included stories of real Canadian youth and young adults. Ashley’s faith journey is one we could all learn from. Watch her video below. I was born with Cerebral...Read More
Some things change for the better. In the last few years the Gideons have taken huge strides in becoming relevant to the younger generations in Canada. Some people just know them for putting Bibles in...Read More
After a year of work we have finally finished putting together a one of kind resource for Canadian Youth and Young Adults. It is a web-interactive magazine style book that is a proactive response to t...Read More
Life doesn’t always go as planned. It seems that trouble finds us. If it hasn’t yet, it will. Pain, suffering, sickness, loneliness, and death are all coming. It seems when we go through these thi...Read More
There are so many great stories of things our youth and young adults are doing across our nation. Very often there is a focus on why churches are losing this age group. However, did you ever stop to c...Read More
Before You Say Goodbye tells the stories of just some of the incredible things happening with youth and young adults across our nation. Some are in print, but we also have many links to videos, in t...Read More
I had heard all my life that people learn from their mistakes. That some people have to learn the hard way. There is a level of truth to these statements, but in some cases it is not true at all. One ...Read More
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYAv4Q9dg70′] Last year I had several people ask me this question. ‘Why are you a Christian? There doesn’t seem to be any proo...Read More
Good….. You have likely been told to be good. To do good. You likely got rewarded for being good when you were kid. You may have received money for getting good grades in school. We also...Read More
There has been a long pause between my posts on this topic. We have been in the middle of a fundraising / building project for our church and youth centre the last few months and I put blogging aside ...Read More
Too much evidence. For the past weeks I have been posting thoughts I have on why I believe in God. I know many people who have issues with the idea of a god(s) because they believe they have not seen,...Read More
For the past several years of my life I have studied, read, and listened to just about every book, research paper, blog, and video that I have been able to about why all young people do not remain in ...Read More
Several weeks ago I decided to answer a challenge. How do you know God is real? People question is it just a feeling? Is our faith only in the ‘unseen?’ Just Emotions? Knowledge? A...Read More
Over the past years I have traveled to areas of the world and seen unimaginable poverty in many places. I have been to countries where lives have been ripped apart by war. I have sat with sick and t...Read More
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvUFGo-SXBc Promo Video for the new ‘Beautiful Christ’ book. It is subtitled, ‘Why I believe, in an age of skeptics’. There are many objections ...Read More
I have found some very interesting challenges online lately. I am presently trying a new weight loss one. I will let you know how that one works out. I have also challenged myself to try and explain...Read More
Everyone has an idea or definition of what a church is. There are many who don’t want any part of any church because of the experiences they had in one. It seems the actions of many have tainted...Read More
It was seven years ago my wife, kids, dog, cat, and I moved to Glace Bay to work towards starting a new church. Recently I was asked, ‘Why do I think our new church start would succeed?’ I...Read More
Dear Senior Pastor and Leadership Team, My name is David Sawler. I am senior leader of a Church in Glace Bay, NS. For the past decade of my life I have been studying and speaking on the topic of why a...Read More
For several years I was lead short term mission teams to areas surrounding Monterrey, Mexico. During most of our trips we stopped by a particular orphanage run by several Catholic Nuns. The children l...Read More
For most of my life I have be involved with various extreme sports. If there is something I love it is to go fast. Whether it has been mountain biking, snowboarding, four wheeling, or being on my ...Read More
What is wrong with this picture? A lesson on young people. This picture, or ones like it, are hanging in churches and homes all over the world. Every time I see one I am slightly annoyed. Not becaus...Read More
Some may think this would be a strange topic to bring up being as I am a person of Faith, a Christian, a Pastor, and I writer on such issues. However, no matter how odd you think it may be, I have a...Read More
Just a few thoughts from my upcoming book release ‘The Beautiful Christ’ It seems no one wants to be religious anymore. Christopher Hitchens has called religion, ‘the root of all e...Read More
Some rambling from my book – ‘The Disciple’ Recently a pastor told me about a difficult time his church had gone through. A large portion of the church members had left after a ser...Read More
From the upcoming Beautiful Christ Book – Discussing Christ through the objections people have to faith, religion, and Christianity. Much of the Bible is the history of God’s people. Jus...Read More
To even bring this up in various settings as I travel it has brought up much emotion. To openly mention it, and discuss it, seems to be quite offensive, as we certainly hold the Bible in highest reg...Read More
There has always been challenges to Christianity, religion, and faith throughout history. Most of the arguments are not new. However, today, there is a change. There is actually something new. ...Read More
Before I start into this I better say, ‘I know nothing can kill the Church.’ However, we certainly can do some things which make it harder for local faith communities to exist long term. Recentl...Read More
On several occasions I have had the opportunity to visit orphanages in developing countries. I have seen first hand how the love of a few has saved the lives of many. Recently I spent a day at an orph...Read More
Several years ago as I was working with a team at a YWAM base in Monterrey, Mexico. Some of the staff told us about a woman we needed to meet. They drove me and a few of my team to her modest hous...Read More
Idea – Buy a Dog Life can be lonely by yourself. In our own walk to be people who bless those around us it seems sometimes extremely difficult to make inroads with others. We need to find conn...Read More
A small piece from ‘the Disciple’ At the last supper, Jesus says to His disciples, ‘I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have ca...Read More
While many people list many reasons why they believe people leave the Church, where I live in Nova Scotia, we seem to have one reoccurring theme right now. Most would say it is because of the failings...Read More