Just a couple of weeks ago we were given the opportunity to see something that has never happened before – a man walked across the Niagara Falls on a high-wire, and not the small falls that our American friends have, but the large beautiful Horseshoe falls in Canada.

Recently I have been reading the writings from some of our early church fathers. These were the leaders of the church in the second and third century. Some were only a generation or two removed from Jesus and His disciples. In particular I have been reading the letters of Iraeneous, who was the Bishop of Lyons towards the end of the second century. Some reports say that as a young boy he was a disciple of a man named Polycarp who was a direct disciple of the apostle John.

I want you to imagine something with me. Imagine you had a long-lost relative named Uncle George. He was your mother’s cousin three times removed. (I don’t know if that makes him your uncle or not, but that’s not the point of this story). Your Uncle George had lost contact with your side of the family so growing up you didn’t even know you had an Uncle George. I keep using the past tense with Uncle George because many years ago he passed away and since he was a very wealthy man, with no family of his own, he left you $10,000,000 in a trust.

Yesterday our government released the details of the federal budget. And like the Ontario government earlier this week and every other government and business in the world, they hope to be able to save money through finding greater operational efficiency. Meaning, they hope to be able to do more for less simply by doing things better and smarter.

I have a surprise for you. My favourite verse is Galatians 2:20. Ok, if you know me or much about the ministry of Crossways to Life then that probably didn’t surprise you, knock you off your seat or cause you to spit out your morning coffee. (If it did I apologize.)

“You think I’m teaching cheap grace? That’s too bad. I was trying to teach that grace is free!” That was the remark I heard once from someone teaching a conference on grace. But is that really true? Is grace really free? Well the answer depends.