Author: thebarefootevangelist

Want to read the Bible? Start with Luke.

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We’ve all seen them, even those who are not interested in reading the Bible… those “Read the Bible in a Year” web lists and apps. I tried following one list once, and I could not get through it. And this was after I had one Master degree in Christianity (my Master of Divinity) under my belt and had experience in ministry.

The reason most people, me included, struggle and fail in this attempt is usually Numbers. Genesis is fine, lots of adventure, interesting characters. Exodus, story of this guy Moses, also a lot happening. Leviticus is judgy, lots of rules, and people certainly talk about it.

And then Numbers…. the most boring books in the Bible.

The thing is, the Bible is not a book in itself, it is a library. We have it in one collection with a different number of books depending on if you pick up a Protestant Bible, a Catholic Bible or an Orthodox Bible (I’ll explore those differences another time). But, the Bible is not something designed for you to read from cover to cover. Eventually it would be great if you get to reading it all, and certainly don’t do it without a guide of some kind, but reading it like a book will make you miss the entire point.

The Bible is a group of books written over hundreds of years, gathered and approved by different groups of people, and put in one place – known as a Codex – for ease of use, not because they tell a story front to back like a novel.

So why start with Luke? Of all the books in the Bible, Luke is the easiest to understand.

Luke is the social justice Gospel, the one that has instructions and stories of what to do to follow God’s desire that we help each other. Luke does not get spiritual or confusing like John, or overly poetic like Matthew. And it has more to it than Mark. It doesn’t have a secondary agenda like Revelation, nor is it answering questions like the letters of Paul – and we never got those questions to start. It’s not repeating the history and culture of a people so they won’t forget who they are, like the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament if that is how you were taught to identify it). Luke is simply plain old Social Gospel, and the book that reminds us that Jesus did things for others, so we should too.

Some of it will be confusing without the help of interpreters, after all it was written 2000 years ago and we have lost a lot of the cultural understanding from those days. But it is still the most plain language book in the Bible.

Sunday Reflection – Thanksgiving Sunday, October 12, 2025

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Giving thanks

Luke 17 11 On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus went along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men with leprosy came toward him. They stood at a distance 13 and shouted, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

14  Jesus looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”

On their way they were healed. 15 When one of them discovered that he was healed, he came back, shouting praises to God. 16 He bowed down at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was from the country of Samaria.

17 Jesus asked, “Weren’t ten men healed? Where are the other nine? 18 Why was this foreigner the only one who came back to thank God?” 19 Then Jesus told the man, “You may get up and go. Your faith has made you well.”

Kids Korner: Saying ‘Thank you’ (October 12th)

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Read Luke 17:11-19 with your family.

This is the story of ten people being made healthy, but only one of the ten returning to tell Jesus “thank you”.

Are we supposed to believe only one of them was grateful to Jesus for making them well? I do not think so. But I do think only one of them stopped for a minute and realized he forgot to do the gracious thing of giving thanks.

Every child has been reminded to say “thank you”. But no one reminds adults. Adults have to remember on their own. This man did.

Just because people did not say thank you does not mean they did not feel it, but it was still something Jesus wanted to hear.

Jesus told the man his faith had made him well. The faith of the other nine made them well also, but they never got to have the experience of Jesus telling them that was what happened, because they were too focused on something else.

Healing Ten with Leprosy Word SearchDownload

Cured man thanking Jesus colouring pageDownload

Publications (New)

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Life is an adventure, isn’t it?

After five years of being strictly a worship and storytelling website with a monthly podcast, The Barefoot Evangelist is expanding to include Publications and Faith Coaching. We are moving from a one-person production, two when you include The Preacher and The Pagan podcast, to a team.

To start us off we are presenting a workbook for older elementary age kids on Thanksgiving in Canada.

Here is the 10 page free version:

Thanksgiving in Canada (free)Download

A 19 page version with more information, a Canadian who’s who, and further activity pages is available for purchase.

We are still working out details and technicalities… all those great things that come with starting something new. But given the date and that Thanksgiving is this weekend, we did not want to wait any longer.

For purchase of the full version at $5, please go to the Publications tab to make the order and then the Contact tab to give us your information including the email where we can send the full publication.

Once we have the technical issues worked out, we will send the full copy again.

Thank you for supporting The Barefoot Evangelist, and tell your friends.

And Happy Thanksgiving!!

Faith Coaching (New)

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This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is faith-coaching-middle-age-blond-caucasian-woman-talking-to-person.png

Introducing My Faith Coaching Practice — Walking With You in Faith and Life

Over the years, I have had the privilege of walking with many people through seasons of doubt, transition, renewal, and spiritual growth. As a pastor, my deepest joy has always been that “A ha!” moment while helping others draw closer to God, find clarity in confusion, and cultivate a deeper, more resilient faith.

Now, I am stepping into a new chapter: offering Faith Coaching for individuals seeking guidance, spiritual encouragement, help for processing grief, and support in their faith journey.

What is Faith Coaching?

Faith coaching is not therapy. I want to be clear about that upfront.

I am not a licensed therapist, and coaching is not a substitute for mental health counseling. If you are navigating trauma, clinical depression, or mental illness, I encourage you to connect with a licensed mental health professional.

What I offer is something different — and deeply needed.

As a pastor with years of experience walking alongside people of faith (mostly Christian, though I welcome those from all backgrounds), I provide:

  • A safe and confidential space to explore your spiritual questions.
  • Practical guidance rooted in Scripture and wisdom.
  • Compassionate listening, prayer, and encouragement.
  • Help discerning next steps when life feels uncertain or overwhelming.
  • Hold you up while you process grief
  • Support in rebuilding or deepening your faith.

Whether you’re experiencing a shift in belief, going through a hard time, grieving loss, or just wanting to grow closer to God, I’m here to walk with you.

What It Costs

I aim to keep this service accessible while also honoring the time and preparation that goes into each session.

  • $40 (CAD) for a 30-minute session
  • $75 (CAD) for a 60-minute session
  • If your workplace offers EAP (Employee Assistance Program) benefits that cover coaching, I will bill at the market rate of $100–$150/hour (CAD), depending on the agreement with your provider.

Who This Is For

You don’t have to have everything figured out to begin. You may not even know exactly what you need — only that your soul is longing for something more.

This work is for anyone who:

  • Wants to grow in their faith (Christian or spiritual seekers)
  • Feels stuck, spiritually dry, or unsure how to pray
  • Needs a non-judgmental space to talk about God, life, death, and everything in between
  • Wants accountability in their spiritual walk
  • Has left church but not faith — and is wondering what’s next

Ready to Take the Next Step?

If this resonates with you, I invite you to reach out. Let’s schedule a time to talk and see if Faith Coaching might be the support you are looking for.

I am not here to fix you — but I am here to walk with you, listen deeply, and help you reconnect with the sacred in your life.

To contact me

Head over to the Contact page and send a message with a line or two about why you think you want to walk this path and what you hope you will find as you move forward.

Sunday Reflection – October 5, 2025

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Have pity on me

Luke 17 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Make our faith stronger!”

6 Jesus replied:

If you had faith no bigger than a tiny mustard seed, you could tell this mulberry tree to pull itself up, roots and all, and to plant itself in the ocean. And it would!

7 If your servant comes in from plowing or from taking care of the sheep, would you say, “Welcome! Come on in and have something to eat”? 8 No, you wouldn’t say that. You would say, “Prepare me something to eat. Get ready to serve me, so I can have my meal. Then later on you can eat and drink.” 9 Servants don’t deserve special thanks for doing what they are supposed to do. 10 And that’s how it should be with you. When you’ve done all you should, then say, “We are merely servants, and we have simply done our duty.”

Kids Korner: Growing our faith (October 5th)

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Read Luke 17:5-10 with your family.

In today’s story those closest to Jesus asked him to grow their faith bigger. The thing is Jesus cannot grow our faith, only we can do that through our choice to believe.

Jesus closest followers did not understand that and thought Jesus could help them have bigger faith, more faith.

Like Jesus did so often, he did not answer the question or request directly, but instead he pointed them in a different direction. Jesus talked about the mustard seed – the smallest planting seed they knew about in Jesus’ time. Jesus told them if they had faith as big as something that small, they could do wonderful things.

Through the parable of the mustard seed Jesus told his followers that they have a job to do and they have already started doing it. However, they would not be rewarded for just starting the job, they had to finish it. And even when they finished it, why should they look for a reward, especially when they only did the simple part of the job and did not put effort into it.

Jesus knew that faith was something that would only come when his followers put effort into believing in God, more than they were already doing.

Faith and Mustard Seeds Word SearchDownload
Faith and Mustard Seeds Colouring PageDownload

Why ‘barefoot’ and ‘evangelist’?

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I often get questions about why I chose the title Barefoot Evangelist for my website. The questions are mostly about the ‘evangelist’ part, if we are being honest.

The ‘barefoot’ is pretty straight forward. I prefer preaching in my bare feet, and once overheard a person in a church I preached at referring to me saying “you know, the one who preaches barefoot”. I liked it, and it was honest. There were already about eight “barefoot preachers” on social media at the time – most from Canada, interestingly enough – so I went with something else.

Evangelist…

I have had people not want to visit my website because they thought ‘evangelist’ automatically meant it was narrow minded, rightwing, conservative, and spoke of a doctrine of hate. A friend of mine said she encountered that when she recommended my website, and she quickly corrected their assumption. To the best of my knowledge that person listened, watched, and signed up to follow shortly afterwards.

Evangelist, evangelical, and evangelism are Christian words. It is unfortunate that these days they are associated with only one way of behaving that has nothing to do with the way people expect Jesus’ followers to act. Some who have never experienced people who are genuine Jesus followers assume that all Christians fall into that category, and that is both unfortunate and inaccurate.

There are many communities calling themselves Evangelical, and use the words evangelical and evangelism, who understand the historic meaning and therefore are using the word accurately.

Simply put, it means “Tellers of the story of Jesus” or “Tellers of the Good News”. That’s it.

Traditionally the assumed writers of the four Gospels have been referred to as Evangelists. Those who were travelling missionaries in the earliest days were also known as ‘evangelists’ because the task they took up was to share the story of Jesus and encourage people to follow Jesus’ teachings. The word appears in the Bible associated with certain people. In Acts 21:8 it is associated with a man named Phillip. In Ephesians 4:11, we read that with Ascension the Holy Spirit gave the gift of being an evangelist to some people. And in 2 Timothy 4:5, the writer told people to carry on with the work of being an evangelist even when the world was more interested in other teaching that ‘suited their own desires’.

To tell the story of Jesus makes us evangelists. Some of us do it casually, some of us more formally. But all of us who share the Good News of Jesus are by default, Evangelists.