Encouragement Archives | Council Fire

January 25, 2026

January 25, 2026

Promises Kept

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” Genesis 8:22 (NIV) It was early September and as the first green tree morphed to yellow, the thought came to me, “Here we go again. Pretty soon the snow’ll be flying!” In Cree we’d say, “Kiiyipa wii mispoon.” No matter how you say it, there’s no getting around the changing seasons! The changing tree color brought to mind the passage in Genesis 8:22 of how the seasons came to be. It came out of God’s promise made to Noah […]

January 24, 2026

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January 24, 2026

Yesterday, Today, and Forever

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 (NIV) The Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. How can you know Him? By getting into His Word. It talks about Him forgiving our sins as far as the east is from the west. They are gone forever! We sin because of our human nature. I’m not saying it’s okay, but when we sin we need to go quickly to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. God’s Word says that He is faithful to forgive our sins. He did that yesterday. He’s doing […]

January 23, 2026

January 23, 2026

We Have This Hope…

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.” Hebrews 6:19-20 (NIV) The human soul . . . my soul, your soul . . . is most precious to God Almighty in all His creation. He created the human soul in His likeness and image to live forever and ever, eternally! Jesus said, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36, NIV). The word forfeit means “losing.” The sober thought […]

January 21, 2026

Reconciliation

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart; but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21 (NIV) In the past few years, much has been said regarding reconciliation between residential school survivors and the government. I held all that rhetoric at arm’s length until last year. Two incidents opened up feelings that were hidden away under years of denial and suspicion. The first incident was the recounting of my Day School experience. Memories of small children housed in a one-room school with rows of desks for grades 1-6. Everything that happened in that room was a common experience. […]

January 20, 2026

January 20, 2026

Poverty or Plenty

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Philippians 4:11 (NIV) Have you ever been flat broke? There’ve been a few times I’ve been there, and it’s not a real enjoyable place to be. At the other end of that gamut is having more than enough, which is a whole lot more comfortable and easier to appreciate! The Apostle Paul, like most of us, didn’t have a whole lot of trouble dealing with the upper end of the “poverty to plenty” spectrum—that wouldn’t have been an issue. Writing […]

January 19, 2026

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January 19, 2026

Run the Race You Know You Can’t Win

“When I fall, I shall arise.” Micah 7:8b (KJV) It doesn’t take courage to run the race you know you will win. It takes courage to run the race you know you can’t win. When my daughter, Storm, was in school she joined the track team. She was small for her age and she had asthma. She would enter every event and she always came in last . . . and not just “last,” but sometimes minutes behind the winner. At times it was painful to watch her struggling to cross the finish line when every breath was an effort. […]

January 17, 2026

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January 17, 2026

Pontius Pilate Stands His Ground

“The chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, the Roman Governor, ‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews,” but, “He said I am the King of the Jews.” ’ Pilate answered, ‘What I have written, I have written.’ ” John 19:21-22 (NKJV) When asked, “Why do you believe in the white man’s God?” by those who reject Christianity, many if not most Native/Indigenous Christians may feel a level of discomfort. The long history of mistreatment of Native peoples by Euro-Americans on many levels speaks for itself, and many still feel the psychological lashes of that brutal and unfortunate […]

January 15, 2026

January 15, 2026

Never Saw It Coming

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) When my father passed away in 2019, it was the first time in my parents’ 57 years of marriage that my mother would be alone. We had assured my father not to worry, that my four brothers and one sister and I would take care of her. We were all taught that in the first year we should let the grieving grieve. So, we let our mother do that and, like we promised […]

January 14, 2026

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January 14, 2026

The Message and the Method

“YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (NIV, caps my own) Time has a way of changing things—well, not everything, but some things. One of the things that sometimes needs to change is the way we do ministry. I remember back in the early 1980s, reading some of the writings of NEFC Founder, Tom Francis, and his successor, Joseph Jolly. There was a section in our NEFC objectives that said: “NEFC yearns to share the Gospel in every Native community in Canada.” My unspoken thought […]