goodness – The Faith Cafe

Posted on May 26, 2025May 22, 2025 by Lori Cartmell

Who Loves You?

How many times today has someone told you that they love you?

If you have a loving family, you’ll probably hear them express their love for you frequently.

But what if your family ties are a bit strained? What if you don’t have many close relationships at all, and consider yourself to be fairly alone in the world?

Then you probably don’t hear the words “I love you” nearly enough.

There’s a remedy for that:

Open a Bible.

The unfailing love of God is a soundtrack that reverberates through the Scriptures.

It’s easy to find verses in the New Testament that exemplify God’s love:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

And of course: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

But what about the Old Testament?

Posted on October 7, 2024September 25, 2024 by Lori Cartmell

How to Win at Chess

Let’s assume you’ve challenged the all-time, undefeated World Chess Champion to a game.

You were confident in your chess skills, and figured that you had a fair chance of winning. The challenge seemed like a good idea at the time.

As the game progresses, however, you realize you’re vastly outmatched. You severely overestimated your abilities. The champion is on course to trounce you easily.

Worse still, you’d made a rash and cocky wager. You bet everything you had that you’d win: your house, your car, all your possessions.

Now you have a horrible sinking feeling, certain that you’re about to lose everything you own.

But then the chess champion does something unexpected.

He comes over to your side of the table, picks up one of your pieces, and makes a move for you.

Then he goes back to his side of the table and makes his own move.

This pattern repeats several times. Eventually you realize what he’s doing: he’s making very shrewd moves on your behalf, employing a strategy you’d never have thought of.

It slowly dawns on you that he’s opening up a path to victory for you.

The chess champion is actually helping you win! He’s doing for you what you had no possibility of doing for yourself.

After he’s won the game for you, the champion gives you a hearty handshake and a wink. All you can do is humbly thank him with profound gratitude. If it weren’t for his gracious actions, you’d have lost everything.

What’s the spiritual lesson for us here?

To ultimately “win” at life, you need God to be on both sides of the equation.

Posted on July 1, 2024June 29, 2024 by Lori Cartmell

What Is Your Inukshuk?

If you’re Canadian, you probably know what an inukshuk is.

If you’re not Canadian, then let me offer you my condolences. (Sorry! Just kidding!)

But seriously, as we Canadians celebrate our national birthday today, it seems apt to delve into the meaning behind this iconic symbol of the high north.

An inukshuk is a stone structure built by the Inuit and other peoples of the Arctic regions of North America. The stones may simply be stacked vertically, or they may take the form of a human figure.

The distinctive shape of the inukshuk is featured on the flag of Nunavut, a Canadian territory, and also served as the inspiration for the logo of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Inukshuks have been traditionally used by the Inuit people as landmarks for navigation, guideposts for travellers in a barren landscape. They might also mark out a sacred spot, or function as a commemorative sign.

I think we believers need “inukshuks” in our lives, don’t we?

Reminders of the things God has done for us, how far He’s brought us. Beacons to others travelling the same journey, showing them the path that leads to life.