Pointes Of View

Stories shape the world. You’ll find stories here of how Christian faith catalyzes values, relationships and purpose.  Check out the popular posts page, for a curated list of top articles.

For more information about North Pointe visit our main website – www.np.church

Subscribe

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Get updates by email. We respect your privacy and never share your email.  Unsubscribe anytime.  

Uncategorized

Priority Matters

Around the middle of August every year, I get a growing sense of expectation. Summer is awesome (it’s BY FAR my favourite season), but there is something to be said for getting back into some of the regular rhythms and routines that September naturally brings. It is an opportunity to hit the reset button on the year, 2/3 of the way through. What a deal! Never Too Late to Make a Change So if 2019 hasn’t been all that you had hoped, or if you really need to bear down to make some changes in your personal life, now is the time to do it. However, if you are going to make positive changes, makes sure your priority is Jesus.…
Michael Voll
August 18, 2019
Uncategorized

True Wisdom

Experts have charted the progression of knowledge that the world has produced, and the rate that is has grown over the last several thousand years. It's quite startling. Knowledge Growth Up until about 1900, knowledge doubled approximately every hundred years. By 1950, it was doubling every 25 years. In the year 2000, knowledge doubled every year….and now it sees to be doubling EVERY DAY. Wow. Mind Blown! Regression? With all of this knowledge, you would think that the human race would be progressing. It doesn’t seem to be that way. While we may be gaining knowledge, it seems we have not gained wisdom. There is a big difference between knowledge and wisdom. The Bible tells us that “Knowledge puffs up”…
Michael Voll
August 10, 2019
Uncategorized

Taming the Tongue

I was five years old when I first saw fire damage. A house in our neighborhood went up in flames and before long it was burned down to the studs. Little was left except for the charred remains of what was furniture, walls, flooring, and memories. My dad walked me through it a few days after the fire and it was an eerie experience. Total Devastation Fire devastates. As Albertans, we have experienced large fires in the last few years. Slave Lake, Fort Mac, and the number of forest fires in the northern parts of our Province that have blanketed our open sky with smoke and threatened to block out all sunlight from our summer. For those far away from…
Michael Voll
July 31, 2019
Uncategorized

Faith and Good Deeds

Milk and cookies, popcorn and the movies, love and marriage. They go together. You just can’t have one without the other (or at least it’s not nearly as fun!) The Perfect Pair In the last few weeks, we have been learning some unCommon Sense that comes straight from the Bible in the New Testament book of James. This tiny book packs a powerful punch of wisdom that sometimes has us shouting “Amen!” then crying “Ouch!” This week we will be talking about the dynamic pairing of faith and good deeds, two things that are inseparable in the life of any healthy and thriving follower of Jesus. If we say we have faith in God it needs to be demonstrated in…
Michael Voll
July 24, 2019
Uncategorized

Playing Favourites

Some of the most frequently asked questions adults ask kids (and kids ask each other) begins with these three words: What’s your favorite______________? You Must Have a Favourite... We ask about a person’s favourite colour, food, sport, subject in school and movie. From our earliest years, we are ingrained to choose a preference in almost every area of life. If you say you don’t have a favourite song, you might be met with incredulity…”You don’t have a favourite song? What’s wrong with you?” Unfortunately, what starts out as being a harmless way to start or keep a discussion going can quickly become something more destructive if taken too far. Preference Over People We begin to choose sides, and before long…
Michael Voll
July 18, 2019
Uncategorized

Follow Through

Follow-through is a powerful thing. Big Plans, No Results There are many people who make grandiose plans or set lofty goals. They look really good on paper, but they would look even better in reality. If these plans and goals were completed who knows how the course of history would be altered? Anyone involved in sports knows that the power is in the follow-through. Whether that is shooting a puck, throwing a football or swinging a bat or golf club, the follow-through is vital to success. The same holds true with our faith. Faith That Finishes Faith comes from hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). One of the main ways that we hear the voice of God is through…
Michael Voll
July 11, 2019
Uncategorized

unCommon Sense

Common sense doesn’t seem to be all that common anymore. Maybe it never was, or it left the building with Elvis. Common Sense Essentially common sense is sound judgment in practical matters. There are literally millions of YouTube videos documenting the lack of common sense in our world. Some of them funny, and some of them painful to watch. I’m sure ER doctors and nurses could tell us many stories of good times gone wrong, often involving adults on skateboards or trampolines. A little bit of common sense would have saved a world of hurt. In our next sermon series at North Pointe, we will be looking through the New Testament book of James. Throughout this short book, we are…
Michael Voll
July 4, 2019
Uncategorized

Finding the Rest of Your Life

It’s kind of funny that God had to command us to rest. Let’s be honest, we probably all have a friend, family member or co-worker who could use a reminder TO work. Seems like rest is something that many people in our culture have mastered. True Rest However, on closer inspection, it is a lack of true rest that has us running around like chickens with our heads cut off (how's that for ugly imagery!). Many people are busy, but not really going anywhere. We are restless. Jumping from one project to another, trying to find meaning and enjoyment, but often missing out on both in the blur of busyness. That’s a problem. One that God wants to help us…
Michael Voll
June 27, 2019
Uncategorized

It’s Time to Renew!

Summertime in Alberta is very special. After months of cold weather and staying indoors, everything and everyone comes alive. Days are long and the nights are warm (especially if you are able to sit around a fire with friends!). Pause? Many things are put on pause during the months of July and August so we can squeeze the most fun out of the season. Sometimes it seems that we even put our relationship with God on pause. We don’t do this on purpose, it just happens. We slide into a rhythm of camping, vacationing or staycationing. Then we forget to keep up disciplines that we put in place throughout the year. Bible reading, prayer and being encouraged by other believers…
Michael Voll
June 20, 2019
Uncategorized

My Dad is Stronger than Your Dad!

As a young child, I idolized my dad. I wanted to be just like him in every way. To be able to fix cars like him and to know the things he did about history.  Mostly, I just wanted to be tough like him. My dad was the toughest guy around. I knew he could beat anyone in a fight. In fact, I was so convinced of this that I got into a fight with three of my best friends about who had the toughest dad. I won. LOL. I don’t think my experience is all that unique. Young children often look up to their parents, and young boys, in particular, seem to look up to the strength they find…
Michael Voll
June 13, 2019