Kevin Dibbley

                  I have a funny memory that serves as a helpful illustration to me demonstrating the invasive nature of sin. Several years ago, I was fishing with a friend in northwestern Ontario and I hooked into a lively fish. As the fish battled with me, I said to Norm "I think that this is a bass." Norm had owned a cabin on the lake for several decades and he replied, "There are no bass in this lake." It was a pristine Lake Trout lake and was known for big Lake Trout and huge Northern Pike. A few seconds later, I looked at the wide eyes of my friend as I held a nice little Smallmouth bass in my hand. That was the first bass that he had ever seen caught in this lake.             Today, the lake is overrun with Smallies. They came in. They took over. They were an aggressive and highly successful invasive species. You can find them in just abo...

                      As the horrific violence and brutality of the latest religious monster called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria plays out daily before our eyes in the media, the need to think Christianly rather than instinctively is crucial. To think and then to respond as a Christian takes careful and continuous meditation on the teaching of Christ and the Scriptures. Often, our initial impulses are less than godly and are driven more by fear, anger (that may be justifiable), weariness with the widespread brokenness of the world, or hopelessness as we witness the propensity for human depravity to return each generation in its vilest forms when our longing is to see wickedness vanquished forever.             The call of Christ upon our lives is to go out into the world but our impulse can be to pull back and bec...

Here is a great quote from the Puritan pastor Richard Sibbes from his excellent work "Glorious Freedom: The Excellency of Gospel above the Law." In this quote, he teaches why the ascended Christ is of far greater benefit to the believer than the earthly Christ, now that the earthly Christ has finished the work of the cross. I have long thought that Christians should spend a great deal of time reflecting on the fact that Jesus is ascended and now reigns forever for us with all power and authority. Jesus said in John 16 that it was better that He go because then He could send us His Holy Spirit. Richard Sibbes reflects on how much better is now for the believer to have Christ high in the heavens like the sun being high in the sky: "As that glorious creature the sun by the advantage it hath being placed in the heavens above us, is able to shine upon the greatest part of the earth at all times; and we need not call the sun down from its place to come into our ...

Today, the children return to class at Los Pinares Academy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The first day back is always an exciting and nervous day for kids and parents. However, it is also a big day for teachers, especially if you are a teacher who wants to make a genuine lifelong difference in the lives of these young souls who are precious to God in heaven and therefore, extremely valuable to you. I thought I would send a note to my daughter, Lauren, who is teaching fourth grade. I know she takes her ministry very seriously and so today will be a big day. Dear Laur, Here are just a few words of encouragement as you jump into another school year: 1. Remember that God has planned this year to the smallest detail. Every blessing and trial, every interruption and school wide event is under the sovereignty of a God who has given Himself to do us great good. I read Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening" yesterday and found great encouragement fr...

" Doubtless the shadow of anticipated trouble is, to timorous minds, a more prolific source of sorrow than the trouble itself, but faith puts a strengthening plaister to the back of courage, and throws out of the window the dregs of the cup of trembling." C.H.Spurgeon             John Piper has a great line in which he says " Books don't change people. Sentences do. " That, of course, is a paraphrase but it is also a line that has changed me. I linger over sentences. My opening quote from the famous 19th century British preacher, Charles Spurgeon, reminded me of another line that gripped me many years ago. It was from an eighteenth century French Jesuit named Jean Nicholas Grou who I know nothing more about than this one quote. He wrote " The chief pang of most trials is not so much the actual suffering itself as our own spirit of resistance to it ."          ...

                  I have spent the past three weeks in England. Ten of those days were participating in the C.S. Lewis Foundation's Summer Institutes, Oxbridge 2014: Reclaiming the Virtues. If you have ever spent anytime at Oxford or Cambridge, you will know that July is a time when the streets are buzzing with crowds of people who are taking in the historical sites, enrolled in summer classes and programs, or enjoying the numerous plays and concerts offered here. The narrow sidewalks are filled with representatives of all the nations of the earth.             There are also bicycles galore. My initial worry, as a North American, was that I might get run over on the side of a street by a passing automobile since I tend to look in the wrong direction. However, I learned quickly that you usually hear a car coming. It is the myriad of c...

        I have quite a few friends and family who have had or about to have children. This past week, my friend Josh Etter and his wife Kate just had a little girl. I thought that I would send write a few thoughts to Josh just to encourage him in this often daunting task of being a dad raising a daughter. I hope it is encouraging. It is pretty simple but here are a few pieces of advice from a guy whose girls are now grown up. 1. Get ready to be blessed. You will be more blessed, helped, and humbled by raising your child than you can imagine. The miracle of birth and watching your wife deliver your first child will certainly do all those things for you. No doubt, you feel blessed and encouraged by the grace of God right now as you hold this new life. Certainly, you are humbled by the enormous privilege and responsibility to care for this little soul and by the sacrifice your wife has already just made. Get ready. This is just the beginn...

                   The past several days, I have been hanging out in St. Joseph's hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota with my wife's family. At this very moment, we are in the waiting room as Granny is undergoing open heart surgery. As we have been sitting here, I have been thinking about the Holy Spirit. This was prompted by a sermon that we listened to this past week  but also by something else quite remarkable: witnessing the incredible number of "helpers" who have been ministering to my mother-in-law as she prepared to receive a new heart valve.             Yesterday, a steady flow of people came in and out of the hospital room. There was the nutritionist bringing dinner, a vanilla "Boost" drink, and a lacto-bacillus pill. A nurses' aide drew blood from Granny's finger to check on her sugar levels since she has needed insulin. Th...

                   I just happen to be in the Los Angeles area as the huge scandal erupted around comments made by Donald Sterling. It has been the dominant story now for days, not only here, but across the nation. In a nutshell, Sterling, the owner of the NBA Clippers, was recorded privately telling his "girlfriend" that he preferred that she not be seen publicly associating with "black people".  The reaction has been swift, widespread, and unequivocal. Yesterday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life, fined him a few million dollars, and declared that steps would be taken to force Sterling to relinquish his ownership of the LA Clipper franchise.             From a Christian perspective, there is much to applaud in the unwavering and immediate response to such blatant racism. In fact, there is so much that we a...