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The Gospel in the Canyon
The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ must be proclaimed around the world; however, it must begin with us in our canyon. In order for us to understand the gospel, we must have a proper understanding of the Word of God. The purpose of this blog is to engage the reader and to inspire the reader to explore the Scriptures to, like the Bereans, see if these things are so. If you as the reader come away with a greater hunger to devote more time to God's Word, the Bible, then I believe this blog has fulfilled its intent.
JOSHUA VAN VLACK
Pastor, Canyon Bible Fellowship
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Advent Week - Christ
For the past six years, our church has hosted a Christmas Eve candlelight service. This tradition actually goes back to when I was deployed to Qatar in 2019. The Christmas Eve service I conducted there, I brought to our church when I returned. The service is simple: the reading of the Christmas story of Luke and Matthew interspersed with the singing of carols and a devotional at the end based on one of the carols. We have added one thing to this that is different from wha
Joshua Van Vlack
23 hours ago2 min read
Advent Week - Peace
Quite a number of years ago, back when VHS tapes were still a thing, I was taking an independent study class through Eastern Oregon University. On one of the video-taped lectures, the professor posed the following challenge to the students in the class: define the word 'peace' by what it is rather than by what it is not. This is a difficult thing to do, because we often want to describe peace as the absence of conflict or the cessation of hostilities. Yet both of these descri
Joshua Van Vlack
Dec 232 min read
Advent Week - Joy
By now, we're waist-deep into the Christmas season. The radio is playing an endless loop of timeless holiday songs. One of the classics, "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," describes the happiness that comes along with the season in different ways: "A pair of Hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots is the wish of Barney and Ben. Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk is the hope for Janice and Jen. And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again!" In
Joshua Van Vlack
Dec 162 min read
Advent Week - Faith
This season of the year, perhaps more than most, has given us a wide range of movies to watch. One of the classic films is "Miracle on 34 th Street." As the film opens, the man who was supposed to play Santa Claus in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is drunk, and another man, who gives his name as "Kris Kringle" is pressed in to play the role. A little girl, Susan, doesn't believe in Santa Clause because her mother, Doris, says that such belief is unreasonable. A lawyer, a
Joshua Van Vlack
Dec 92 min read
Advent Week - Hope
Advent season has begun, and you've undoubtedly started hanging Christmas lights and listening to Christmas music. The first week of Advent focuses on the theme of hope. Perhaps for you, the season is less about being hopeful and more about feeling hopeless . Hope may seem more like trying to grasp at a whisp of smoke. You know it's there, but there is no way you can wrap you hand, let alone your head, around it. Hope, many people believe, is simply wishful thinking. Yet thi
Joshua Van Vlack
Dec 22 min read
Giving Thanks
It was a cold windswept day as a group of men pulled their cloaks a little tighter around them. Gray clouds blanketed the sky, broken up by the occasional patch of blue. They had made landfall far north of their intended destination, but at least they were on firm ground for the first time in months. For this, they could be thankful at least. After all they had endured transiting the turbulent Atlantic Ocean, it felt good to be on land again. Although the Pilgrims did not kno
Joshua Van Vlack
Nov 252 min read
Faithfulness in Small Things
As I was sitting at my desk this morning checking my email, I noticed one email from Church Answers included a blog article from Thom Rainer, entitled "The Urgent Need for Smaller Churches." The article opens with this interesting statistic, "In a report titled 'America: A Nation of Small Towns,' [the United States Census Bureau] noted that 76% of all incorporated places - nearly 19,500 of them - have fewer than 5,000 residents. Even more astonishing, almost 42% of incorporat
Joshua Van Vlack
Nov 182 min read
Remembering Faithful Servants
Yesterday was Veteran's Day. Like many on our calendar, it is a day where we take time to reflect and remember all that has taken place so that we might be free. Veteran's Day is different from Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day in one particular way. On Armed Forces Day, we remember those who are currently serving in our nation's military. On Memorial Day, we honor those who died in service to our country. However, on Veteran's Day, we remember those who have served in the mi
Joshua Van Vlack
Nov 122 min read
The Sacred and the Secular
As I write this, it is the first Tuesday in November, and which we all know means Election Day. With it being an off-year election, there typically isn't much to vote on. As a matter of fact, my ballot only had one item. Still, I dutifully marked my ballot and dropped it off at the closest designated drop-off place. As I think about it, I miss the old days of going to a polling place, walking in, finding my name on the list, getting my ballot, and filling it out there. There
Joshua Van Vlack
Nov 42 min read
Joyful Endurance
Freddie Freeman's walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 18th inning, October 27, 2025. (Photo Courtesy of Scripps News) Last night was epic. For those who aren't baseball fans, last night witnessed the longest game in World Series history. A marathon showdown between my beloved Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays went an astounding 18 innings. That's twice the length of a normal game. The game was filled with emotional highs and lows, with the only run scored aft
Joshua Van Vlack
Oct 282 min read
Fruit of the Vine
I am not a wine drinker. In fact, I have never consumed a recreational alcoholic beverage of any kind in my life. However, I do know that we live in some of the best wine country in the world. If you drive up from Albany to Salem, I-5 passes through Willamette Valley Vineyards. I had the opportunity to attend an even there many years ago, and I was amazed at the work that goes into maintaining the vines. The image of vines is a common one throughout the Bible. The words 'v
Joshua Van Vlack
Oct 212 min read
What About Me?
I've never been much of a country music fan. I know in some circles that is tantamount to heresy. However, I have enjoyed some of Toby Keith's songs from time to time, particularly his patriotic songs like "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" and especially "American Soldier." However, one of his songs, I think, captures an important aspect of fallen human nature. The chorus of his song "I Wanna Talk About Me" goes like this, "I wanna talk about me, I wanna talk about i. Wa
Joshua Van Vlack
Oct 142 min read
Sharing the Excitement
Solar Eclipse 2017 How many of you remember the solar eclipse of 2017? Karen and I were living in Keizer at the time, and this placed...
Joshua Van Vlack
Oct 72 min read
A Place of Worship
This past Friday, my wife and I, along with our exchange student and another couple from our church, had the privilege of taking the...
Joshua Van Vlack
Sep 302 min read
What Is Hope?
How many ways do we use the word 'hope'? I hope my Dodgers will be healthy enough going into the playoffs to win another World Series...
Joshua Van Vlack
Sep 222 min read
Faithful Endurance
This week has been a challenging week for many of us for a variety of reasons. Certainly, a number of people are still processing the...
Joshua Van Vlack
Sep 162 min read
Stolen Valor
I just recently discovered something about the Oregon State Fair that I never knew. On Labor Day, veterans and first responders and their...
Joshua Van Vlack
Sep 92 min read
Cross Cultural
A new phase of the year has begun. Kids are starting back to school, and the relative simplicity of the summer is transitioning to...
Joshua Van Vlack
Sep 22 min read
Christ and Family
This past week, I took some time away from the office to tackle some honey-do chores, work on a project, and help my parents prepare for...
Joshua Van Vlack
Aug 263 min read
Justice from the Heart
Distributive, retributive, procedural, economic, restorative, corrective, social, political. What do these words have in common? They...
Joshua Van Vlack
Aug 122 min read
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