top of page
Search


johnvansloten
Dec 31, 20243 min read
A New Spiritual Lens for 2025
Over the past year I’ve been experimenting with church, trying to discern what a church-without-walls could look like. I tried hosting...
89 views0 comments


johnvansloten
Dec 13, 20243 min read
An Upside-down Church
The Upside Down Church , Dennis Oppenheim, Calgary, Alberta When I was a boy, I struggled to fit into the faith of my Dutch immigrant...
89 views0 comments


johnvansloten
Dec 6, 20242 min read
Celebrating Yourself (Down Syndrome Style)
Last night I attended an annual awards ceremony hosted by Edward’s day program, Chrysalis. For most of the night Edward was subdued,...
37 views1 comment


johnvansloten
Nov 30, 20243 min read
The Season of Small Things
Here's an article I wrote for the Calgary Herald on how a Foldscope paper microscope helps us bring the spirit of advent into sharper...
61 views0 comments


johnvansloten
Nov 29, 20244 min read
Receiving Edward's Forgiveness
Edward looked a bit shocked when he came up our walkway yesterday afternoon—an unsettled mix of exhaustion and pain. Stepping into the...
34 views0 comments


johnvansloten
Nov 18, 20243 min read
Will Edward Always Live With Us?
At the pool yesterday I talked with a father who was swimming with his disabled son. While I’d said ‘Hi’ many times over the years, this...
33 views0 comments

johnvansloten
Nov 2, 20241 min read
A Unexpected Antidote To My Panic Attacks (Herald Article)
My editor at the Calgary Herald asked if I could trim my blog post on this story from 1300 words to 800 words so that this version could...
32 views0 comments


johnvansloten
Oct 22, 20245 min read
When Edward Saved Me from a Panic Attack (original blog post)
Several years ago, I experienced my first panic attack; the first of a series that would upend my life for months. I didn’t understand...
204 views0 comments


johnvansloten
Oct 2, 20243 min read
Reaching Your Dreams
As I was sorting notes for my book on Edward’s life (‘Seeing God through Down Syndrome’), I came across a photo that was taken when he...
26 views0 comments


johnvansloten
Sep 26, 20243 min read
Kindling your Imagination
Over the past few weeks I’ve been slowly reading George MacDonald’s 19th century book, Phantastes— with the hope that it would kindle my...
16 views0 comments

johnvansloten
Sep 23, 20244 min read
Deconstructing Your Faith?
“In order to be prepared to hope in what does not deceive, we must first lose hope in everything that deceives.” Georges Bernanos If...
72 views0 comments


johnvansloten
Sep 18, 20243 min read
Judgmentalism (and Down syndrome)
Earlier this week, I was out walking with Edward, and we were listening (together) to Disney’s soundtrack, The Hunchback of Notre Dame ....
31 views0 comments

johnvansloten
Sep 12, 20242 min read
Will We Have Enough?
Will we have enough? I’ve been asking this question a lot lately—mostly in relation to finances. When God called me into the ministry 30...
66 views0 comments


johnvansloten
Jun 22, 20243 min read
A Water Crisis Wakeup Call
I wrote this OpEd for the Calgary Herald about the spiritual lessons of our city water crisis: I’ve always had unlimited access to fresh...
14 views0 comments

johnvansloten
Jun 8, 20243 min read
Finding God through Disability
Here's an article I wrote about how God has worked in our lives through our son Edward. When I first learned of my son’s Down syndrome...
72 views0 comments

johnvansloten
May 25, 20243 min read
What’s Keeping Us from Helping People Find a Home?
"We believe that everyone has a right to a roof over their head, as long as that roof doesn’t cast shade onto our residential status...
8 views0 comments


johnvansloten
May 18, 20244 min read
How God used Supertramp to Save my Life
This is a picture of Supertramp co-founder Roger Hodgson holding a screengrab of me preaching a sermon on him (taken by the CBC). The...
19 views0 comments


johnvansloten
May 4, 20241 min read
The Cautionary Parable of Bacteria that Cause Lyme Disease
Here's an OPED I wrote for the Calgary Herald on how biology and spirituality illumine one another re: the nature of parasitic brokeness.
12 views0 comments

johnvansloten
Apr 30, 20241 min read
The Parable of the Bacteria that Cause Lyme Disease
Here's the link to a cool interview I did with U of C researcher Dr. George Chaconas re: the spiritual lessons that the bacteria that...
12 views0 comments

johnvansloten
Apr 17, 20241 min read
A Review of my Book "God Speaks Science"
Here is a nice review of God Speaks Science by Christian Courier.
13 views0 comments
bottom of page