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History

Carried

Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob,
all the remnant of the people of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since your birth,
and have carried since you were born.
Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
(Isaiah 46:3-4)

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
(Isaiah 53:4a)

*****

Around the year 1000, on a low-lying mountain and near to a trade route, a castle was built. Named Weinsberg Castle, it was situated in what is known today as Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Along the right bank of the Rhine, the area abutted Germany’s largest continuous forest, the Black Forest. It also boasted beautiful valleys and small lakes. Fruit was grown in these valleys and the region had a delightful profusion of vineyards. Weinsberg is, after all, translated as “wine mountain.” The rich, well-drained soil on its sides, plunges roots solidly and deeply downward to seek water. The vines, consequently, produce well-nourished grapes. Truly a wonderful piece of property and a pleasure to visit.

The Castle of Weinsberg does not stand on that mountain any longer, although if you were to pass along a nearby road, you could climb up and visit its ruins. There is a story about the importance of power, wealth and fame touching Weinsberg. It is a good story!

Feudal feuding

In the 1100s, two rival families in Europe were engaged in a feud. The names of these two families, were Welf and Hohenstaufen. Rather like the American Hatfield vs. McCoy disagreement, ongoing power struggles and quarrelling had long taken place in the Weinsberg Castle area. It was not always comfortable or safe to live in the shadow of this beautiful fortress. The Castle of Weinsberg, and its small surrounding town, belonged to the house of Welf, with Welf VI as its head. Conrad III was the head of the Hohenstaufen faction.

In 1138, anger came to a head for the two families due to the fact that Conrad III had just been elected the new Holy Roman Emperor, rather than Welf VI. Bloodshed rather than reconciliation loomed on the horizon. It appeared as if Conrad III, who laid siege to Weinsberg Castle in 1140, might triumph. But the small town and its castle stood firm. The house of Welf were an obstinate lot who refused to buckle, much to Conrad’s irritation.

Seemingly, relief appeared on the horizon for the Welf family. A relative was marching to their aid with an army at his side. However, the tide turned as this army was crushed by Conrad.

The siege of Weinsberg continued and turned out to be a brutal and protracted affair. Conrad III's forces employed a range of tactics to wear down the city's defenses. His army, comprised of heavily armored knights and skilled archers, surrounded the city, totally cutting off the castle’s supply lines, and blocking escape routes. Despite the defenders' valiant efforts, the relentless pressure eventually took its toll, and the once-formidable walls of Weinsberg Castle began to crumble.

The Welfs, whose ancestry could be traced back to Charlemagne (747-814), the first Holy Roman Emperor, were a proud family. By all rights, they should have conceded the battle. But they did not.

Conrad, angered by their obstinacy, vowed that he would make Castle Weinsberg an example to all his enemies. He sent this ultimatum to them:

“Unless you surrender, I am going to demolish the city, burn your houses and put you all to the sword.”

A boon granted

The citizens were, at this point, filled with terror and despair. Supplies were scarce and starvation hung in the air. The men of Weinsberg, knowing that further fighting was futile, sent a reply to the angry besieger. They asked for a pardon. But Conrad was inflexible at this point. He had been offended by the length of the siege, and it had rubbed him the wrong way. Then he received another message from the castle:

“We are not afraid to die and we are ready to continue fighting. We are even prepared to see the castle destroyed and our houses burned; but we are not prepared to see our women die. So, we beg that their lives be spared and that they be allowed to leave the castle.”

Conrad granted this request. And, perhaps suddenly struck by some compassion, he permitted an extra boon for the wives as well. Not only would he allow them to leave the castle unmolested, but he would also give them approval to carry out their most precious possession. But he stipulated that this possession had to be carried by them – carried without the help of carts or animals.

When Conrad’s message was read out loud in the town square, all the men nodded soberly. They agreed to his conditions and were happy their wives would be spared.

The Weinsberg women, including Welf VI’s wife, Uta, had also been listening to the message. Uta, at the time of her marriage to Welf, had been one of the richest heiresses in Germany. A wealthy, respected woman, she left the square solemnly, Conrad’s message ringing in her ears. Then she assembled with all the women of Weinsberg. Together they gravely and rationally conferred with one another, and they came to a decision about what they would carry out – about what their most treasured possession was.

Total agreement

The next morning, the gates of Weinsberg Castle were thrown wide open for the departure of the duchess and the other women, who would take, so it was thought, money and provisions for the journey ahead to safe territory. But Conrad III, and his army, were taken aback at what came through the gates. The first woman to appear was the Duchess Uta, and, on her shoulders, she bore her husband, Welf VI. Behind her came all the other women. Some of them, like Uta, carried their husbands; others carried parents, children, or sickly relatives on their backs.

Disregarding jewelry and personal safety, but counting loyalty and love for their husbands and others as their most precious possessions, the women bore fellow citizens on their shoulders. It was not an easy physical feat and it was one that might have been unacceptable to Conrad. As a matter of fact, Duke Friedrich, Conrad’s brother, commented disapprovingly that such things should not be allowed. The king, however, with a certain amount of admiration, showed favor to the women's cunning, and replied that it would not be fitting to change one’s royal word. He honored his agreement despite the fact that he had not foreseen the result.

The siege ended peacefully and the castle was later renamed Schloss Weibertreu, which means “castle of women’s faith,” symbolizing the bravery and loyalty of those women.

Another man

Although this story warms hearts and illustrates bravery, affection and compassion, there is a story, another story, which is greater and filled with more grace and love for saving family, than even these women were able to give.

This other story involves a man who, although he was of princely dynasty, did not have a particularly regal appearance. He was not popular either. The truth is that he was mocked by most. He was neither respected nor wanted. He did not impress his opponents. As a matter of fact, you could go so far as to say that he was despised and rejected by people. Yet, despite his high disapproval rating (even his few friends forsook him), this man walked freely, alone and of his own accord, towards a battlefield. This battlefield was a vineyard and it was called Gethsemane. Filled with dying branches, it was being besieged by the “god of this world,” by the “prince of the power of the air” – by the most hideous and evil host that ever was on earth. Incredibly, the man’s goal was to fight a battle by himself against this horrendous horde. Why? So that he could carry his family to safety away from this murderous throng.

In the darkness of the blackest of nights, the besieging army, carrying torches, spears and staves, met the solitary man.

And the man, walking boldly towards them, asked this opposing army a question. Twice he asked the same question: “Whom do you seek?”

When he was told that he was the one whom they wanted, the man answered by giving these amazing words of creation, redemption, and comfort: “I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.”

The voice of that man, the voice of Truth, echoes and resounds: “Let these men, let my people, go.”

Ecce Homo.

What the Man said then, is true today and will be true tomorrow. Jesus knows His people. They are part of His family. They are the branches in His vineyard, and He is the vine. They are a people freed, a people let go and they are His own. And He knows them even though they might be old and have gray hairs. His care extends beyond time and He carries them with love and purpose, even through extremely difficult and besieged times. He bears them in their griefs and He carries them in their sorrows, carries them to a heavenly mansion which He has prepared for them.

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History

Our heroes have feet of clay

You find them everywhere. They’re the people we look up to. They sing, they dance, they play hockey, they win battles and they found nations. They’re our heroes. You know the people: George Washington, Wayne Gretzky, Winston Churchill, or Ginger Rogers. They’re larger than life figures that do larger than life things flawlessly. We want to be like them. Unless you’re Canadian. When an Internet poll asked Canadians who their heroes were some of the results were predictable, like Terry Fox, but there were also a few less likely individuals. Don’t misunderstand: these people did some incredible things and were certainly larger than life. However, they were also hopelessly flawed. John A. One man who topped the list was Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A Macdonald. It is to Sir John A. that much of the credit goes for the founding of the Dominion of Canada in 1867. He helped pull together a disparate bunch of English Canadian Reformers and Tories and united them with French Canadian Bleus. Then he got the British to bully Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into a grand confederation of colonies that formed the nucleus of the present day Canada. While that’s impressive, Canadians know Sir John A. in a more intimate way than that. You see, as most Canadians are aware, Sir John was bounced from office in 1873 for the Pacific Railway Scandal that involved suggestions of bribes, patronage, and all kinds of corruption. Additionally, the prime minister was a habitual drunkard. It was no secret for he bragged about his drinking, yet Canadians forgave him, returning him and his party to office in 1878. There are other unusual Canadians as well. William Lyon Mackenzie King made the list of heroes for his impressive job of shepherding Canada through the Second World War. If that doesn’t sound impressive, keep in mind that when Prime Minister Borden tried to guide the country during the previous world war, he succeeded in alienating French speaking Quebec, and much of the farming population, as well as accidentally splitting the opposition Liberal party in two. King kept peace and tranquillity, while Borden created a political crisis that threatened to undo Canada. Though a master politician, Canadians were aware of King’s oddities, including consulting with mediums, and talking to his dead dog – stuffed and sitting on the mantle. Rebel Riel Louis Riel was also on the list of heroes. While the man who initiated the only rebellions Canada has ever had may seem an odd choice as a hero, to many Western Canadians Riel is exactly that. With his rebellions at Red River and then in the North West Territories, Riel was probably the first Westerner that ever made “the East” sit up and take notice, and to perpetually alienated Westerners, that makes Riel a hero. However, Riel was a religious fanatic, believing himself a prophet and in communication with God. He had spent time in a mental asylum, and at the time of the 1885 Rebellion may have actually been mentally unbalanced. E is for equal rights...and also eugenics In its heroes, Canada is an equal opportunity employer. One of the most significant women to make the list was Emily Murphy. A successful writer under the pen name Janey Canuck, a Member of the Canadian Parliament, the first female police magistrate in the British Empire, and a participant in the landmark “Persons Case” that gave Canadian women legal status as people, Murphy has had her reputation tarnished in recent years. The United Farmers government of the province of Alberta enacted the Sexual Sterilization Act in 1928 that allowed for the sterilization of the mentally incompetent and others unfit to parent. This version of eugenics, repugnant to most modern Canadians, was strongly backed by the otherwise progressive and reform-minded Murphy. Conclusion Canadians choices for heroes have been odd. The less savory facts behind the lives of most of Canada’s heroes are well known and thoroughly documented, but Canadians picked these people anyway. Someone once told me that you can’t tell an American something bad about their heroes. They don’t want to know about George Washington’s dismal military record as a British lieutenant, and they won’t listen if you tell them that Thomas Jefferson had slaves on his plantation. They certainly don’t want to hear any suggestions that Martin Luther King cheated on his wife, or may have plagiarized his dissertation. But Canadians are different. They know the weaknesses of their heroes and accept them for that. The Bible also contains some unusual heroes, “heroes of faith” like Noah, Abraham, and Rahab. Noah got drunk, Abraham denied that Sarah was actually his wife, and Rahab was a prostitute. These were flawed people, but by God’s strength, they were allowed incredible moments and even years to do deeds that we still remember today. We look back at them, and we look up to them for those deeds. Heroes are not flawless people. They make mistakes, but that doesn’t negate the good that they’ve been allowed to do. That doesn’t mean we can’t look up to them, but it does mean we can’t idolize them. It’s healthy to know that even great women and men have feet of clay, for it reminds us who is ultimately in control. James Dykstra is both a student and teacher of Canadian history. This article was first published in June 2017....

News

Court rules that Emergencies Act against “Freedom Convoy” was unlawful

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Entertainment

You might relate to Mary Bennet, but you’re not supposed to imitate her

Mary Bennet gets a lot of good press. In Pride and Prejudice, she is one of the heroine Elizabeth Bennet’s three younger sisters, and she’s known as the bookish one. Maybe because readers of Pride and Prejudice may be bookish as well, we tend to feel the story overlooks her, so many a blog post, and articles, and even sequel novels have been written bemoaning this. This is in spite of the plentiful evidence that Jane Austen herself did not like her. Despite Mary being bookish, Austen did not mean to point to her as a character that we should imitate. This is astonishing, as the bookish girl is a pretty strong stereotype for female heroines by now – just think of Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Hermione in Harry Potter, or Jane Eyre. All of them readers, some a bit know-it-all, but all with a heart of gold. The character of Mary Bennet is swimming directly against the current in this matter. And readers relate to Mary – many of us know what it feels like to be “plainer” than those around us, to feel less intelligent even though we’re desperately trying to appear smart, to feel like no more than a background character in someone else’s story. Who can’t relate to wanting some distinction of your own, even if it’s not beauty? We like books about bookish characters proving themselves because we’re reassured that our bookishness will not be our undoing, and that someday those around us will realize that our bookishness has value.” But Jane Austen does not give us that satisfaction with Mary. Evidence of dissatisfaction with Mary’s story can easily be found. Both The Guardian and The Atlantic have written articles about the proliferation of sequels about Mary Bennet, which include: The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet, The Forgotten Sister, The Pursuit of Mary Bennet, and of course, one called There’s Something About Mary, Bennet. Many, many authors have seen potential in her character, and clearly many readers want to read about that potential. So what are Mary’s faults, according to Jane Austen? It’s not that she’s bookish and plain. It’s that she appears to read only in order to lecture others about what she’s read. She appears to practice music only in order to draw attention to herself with it. As a result, neither her speeches on the books she reads nor her performances on the piano avoid sounding “affected.” “Mary had neither genius nor taste; and though vanity had given her application, it had given her likewise a pedantic air and conceited manner, which would have injured a higher degree of excellence than she had reached.” In other places Austen defends the reading of books and applying oneself to improving oneself, but Austen never vindicates these aspects of Mary. She really doesn’t do much with her character plot-wise, and demonstrates that her way of being is just as “silly” as the younger sisters Kitty and Lydia’s way of living. Mary does not get a character arc or much development at all. She has no romantic events come her way either. I don’t think Jane Austen was against bookish girls. I don’t think she was subtly fighting against education for women, or against women having an opinion. I think she had a more complex idea here. What Jane Austen is trying to show is how one trait, overemphasized and over-developed, can be ridiculous. It’s kind of amazing how, despite all of Mary’s deficiencies in beauty and intelligence, her self-absorption is still derided as vanity by Austen. This is an important point! We like to think if we haven’t been given all the advantages other people have, we’re protected from vanity. We’re given a free pass to focus on ourselves, because after all, we aren’t as advantaged as everyone else. People should recognize and encourage us in what we do have. However, this very lack of humility can prevent improvement in the areas we might have relative strength in! It’s Mary’s air of condescension that makes her sisters dislike her speeches more – no one likes to be talked down to. Her piano-playing, while better than some, is less pleasant to listen to because of how conceited she makes it sound – she’s all-too-aware she is more skilled than Elizabeth. Her vanity in these things prevents her from using her gifts in a way that would actually give pleasure to other people (and Elizabeth proves you can give some pleasure to a listener even without being the best piano-player ever). And her vanity likely prevents her from even seeing the ways her gifts fall short of what she thinks they are. She doesn’t improve in the areas of attitude and mannerisms because she doesn’t think she needs to. Love is more excellent Does this mean she deserves to be laughed at by her sisters, or shamed by Mr. Bennet at the Netherfield ball? Of course not. Mr. Bennet’s treatment of her, in particular, is meant to highlight his shortcomings as a father and his insensitivity to what might improve his daughters’ characters. Now, if Mary actually is meant to have a character arc, perhaps one of Elizabeth’s or Jane’s attempts to rein in their younger sister’s vanities would sink in. As it is, we as readers are only left with the impression her vanity leaves on us, with the implication it is a warning – do not get so consumed in creating your own space for your own gifts that you blind yourself to how useless they are to anyone outside yourself. This is basically the opposite of every “find yourself” message in novels and media that is so common. Because, what is the reason we develop our gifts and talents? God did make each one of us unique, and he didn’t intend for some gifts to be laughed at or looked down upon. But He does have a purpose for our gifts. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul talks about the body and how each member belongs, even the parts that seem weaker. Yet Paul goes on in 1 Corinthians 13 to talk about a “more excellent way” – love. Our gifts are to be used in love, to build others up. No one should look down on another, and at the same time those who feel “less honorable” should remember their role is indispensable because it builds up others, not just themselves. We can draw inspiration from another Mary in Scripture, who humbly sat at Jesus’ feet to learn from Him. She was interested in study, to the extent she seemingly neglected other practical tasks. It’s not study that is the problem. But her attitude of humility, and her interest in things that really mattered, made her different from her Austen namesake. She focused her eyes on Jesus and what He called her to do, rather than her own motivations. A moral of the story So perhaps for us bookish types, we can take the message that there’s nothing wrong with being bookish, but it’s our attitude to others as a result that can be the problem. Even if others don’t understand us, it doesn’t give us justification to feel superior to them. Even if we are actually better in one area than someone else we know, rubbing that in everyone’s faces will not help anyone else, and can even be destructive to ourselves. But then again, this is not meant to be the main message of the novel – Mary is merely one of dozens of Austen side-characters that demonstrate how one over-developed characteristic renders one ridiculous. It’s Darcy and Elizabeth who get character arcs, and who change throughout the novel. Austen uses their story to tell her message. 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Christian education

Where has all the creativity gone?

Education needs to be about great books and great ideas... **** "Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?" That was the question asked by a recent Atlantic article about the sheer number of prequels, sequels, remakes, and expanding “cinematic universes.” Among the most notable recent examples in the world of film is Wicked, which reimagined the world of Oz. The same creative stagnation can be seen in music. While earlier generations could produce distinct kinds of music, it’s increasingly difficult to find meaningful stylistic differences today. Some of the most popular songs aren’t even composed by humans but generated by AI. Where has all the creativity gone? Many explanations could be offered, but one deserves particular attention. There’s been a precipitous decline of the kind of education in America that awakens the moral imagination, enabling students to think creatively and innovatively within a framework of what is enduring and true. In its place is an education oriented around expressive individualism, where children are encouraged to “follow their hearts” and “look inside,” rather than first know the true, good, and beautiful. Classic stories develop a life-long love of learning Classical Christian education is uniquely positioned to fill this void. At its best, the modern classical education movement seeks to recover what Dorothy Sayers described as "the lost tools of learning.” Such an education – centered on great books, great ideas, and classical languages – aims not merely at information transfer but at the formation of a virtuous life. Students are trained in virtue, encouraged to emulate heroes, and invited to explore and embrace visions of greatness. In the process, many develop a lifelong love of learning. Vigen Guroian offers a compelling account of this formative process in his book Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classical Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination. He explains how classic children’s stories like Pinocchio, The Velveteen Rabbit, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe can shape a child’s moral imagination. Young readers are transported into worlds filled with wonder, surprise, and danger. As they imagine themselves alongside heroes and heroines, the images and metaphors of the stories linger and shape how they experience the real world. Children internalize concrete pictures of good, evil, love, and sacrifice by which they can interpret their own lives. When the moral imagination is awakened, Guroian concludes, the virtues come alive with personal, existential, and social significance. C.S. Lewis made a similar point in The Abolition of Man. After criticizing the dominant educational models that fail to form human beings, he described how education should cultivate students “with chests.” The “chest” mediates between reason and appetite, enabling students to not only recognize what is noble and what is base, and discern between that which deserves love and that which does not, but to also choose rightly between them. This moral formation reflects what makes us truly human. Creativity has to be grounded in Truth If popular culture is to experience a renewal of genuine creativity and innovation, classical Christian education may well be the taproot. Ironically, the renewal of innovation doesn’t begin by encouraging innovation for its own sake, or from an obsession with what is trendy or new. Rather, it will begin with an immersion in what is permanent and true. It will begin with curious hearts and minds that are trained to think imaginatively within a meaningful moral framework. As Russell Kirk once observed, the works that endure are not those rooted in nihilism, but those that appeal to enduring truths and therefore to posterity. If classical education is to be Christian, it must be tied to the grand biblical story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. Learning that is interpreted through a Christian worldview will affirm the dignity of human nature and will also acknowledge its limits, clearly distinguishing between Creator and creation. Within this rich moral universe, students are inspired to imagine and create in ways that honor what is true, just, pure, lovely, virtuous, and praiseworthy. Classical Christian education offers a compelling model for education in an age of cultural decadence. It is anchored in Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” By forming the moral imagination, Christians are equipped to not only resist cultural stagnation but to create culture anew, as co-laborers with the One who even now is “making all things new.” This Breakpoint was co-authored by Andrew Carico. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to Breakpoint.org. This is reprinted with permission from the Colson Center....

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Assorted

That which bubbles up to the surface

The Reformed theologian R.C. Sproul, (1939-2017), is quoted as saying: “… laughter is precisely the kind of thing that will always confound scientists because it is so intensely human. It is that which bubbles up to the surface from the parts of us too deep to fit in a test tube. “Which is why it’s so funny, and telling, that they try. One of the most common forms of humor is when the prideful take a fall. The Emperor’s, shall we say, exposure, comes from this fertile field. How much more ridiculously prideful can man be then when he thinks he can come to a fundamental understanding of man? How can we not laugh when one of us takes another of us and earnestly tries to squeeze us under a microscope? And when our bellies begin to shake, instead of joining in the fun, the fool scientist sits down to take notes. “ That which bubbles up to the surface, that is to say, laughter, is a gift, and it is biblical. God gave us the gift of laughter. It is a good thing, for example, when we acknowledge something amazingly wonderful with a burst of happiness. Remember Sarah who, when she became a mother, exclaimed in Genesis 21:6: “God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me." Ecclesiastes 3:4 notes that there is a time “to laugh.” Likewise, Proverbs 22:17 notes that a “joyful heart is good medicine.” And Psalm 126:2, one of the songs of ascent, speaks about “mouths filled with laughter.” There are other instances, but these are enough to point to the fact that laughter, good laughter, is a gift from God and a healthy one. The Holy Spirit deemed Sarah’s laughter of such importance that her burst of joy was written down in Scripture – an illustration that acknowledgement of God’s goodness can be a time of sheer joy. The Spirit also deemed it important that Bible readers know that it is good for one’s health to shake with mirth. *** On the other hand, there are thoughtless words and “bad jokes” which can mock holy things. We have to be extremely careful in discerning what we may laugh at. There is foolish laughter, shallow laughter, and there are times when we ought not to laugh. Most people are familiar with the Reader’s Digest’s column entitled “Laughter is the Best Medicine.” As a matter of fact, waiting in a dentist’s or doctor’s office, many pick up the magazine and read the amusing stories which these pages relay – stories which cause wholesome smiles. As well, both parents and school teachers, often recount numerous delightful incidents of children redefining words, unwittingly bestowing warped meanings which generate heart-warming chuckles. Richard Lederer’s book of Anguished English records many funny bloopers and blunders in the English language. Here are some smiles unintentionally created by children during school hours. Q: “What is the capital of Italy?” A: “I” “Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston in 1809 and was found unconscious. Three days later, he died in 1849.” “A liter is a lot of newborn puppies.” “Some people can tell time by looking at the sun, but I have never been able to make out the numbers.” “The hydrogen bomb is sometimes called the itch bomb. I don’t know why.” “Our new teacher told us all about fossils. Before she came to our class, I didn’t know what a fossil looked like.” Misplaced and strange phrases, as well as grammatical errors, can entirely change meanings. These errors can feed our day-to-day existence with ear-to-ear grins. Newspapers, for example, often contain strange but chortling information. “The patient lives at home with his mother, father, and pet turtle who is presently enrolled in day care three times a week.” “She was numb from her toes down.” “She typed the list of numbers alphabetically.” “The patient’s vision was 20.20 in both ears.” “He has a long history of a short leg.” “The patient was bitten by a bat as he walked down the street on his thumb.” Norman Cousins, (1915-1990), was an American journalist. He was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis in 1964, when he was 49 years old. Things looked so bad for the man that he was told by doctors to put his affairs in order. Upon hearing the diagnosis, Norman left the hospital and decided upon an unusual course of action. Firstly, he began to take an extremely high dose of vitamin C every day, and, secondly, he rented a movie projector and began watching comedies – comedies such as the Marx brothers’ films and Candid Camera reruns. It is recorded that Norman Cousins laughed and laughed until his belly hurt. He later wrote: “I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine laughter had an anaesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep.” Cousins died in 1990, not of a worsening of the Ankylosing Spondylitis condition, but of heart disease. The aforementioned book by Lederer also recorded guffaws of amusement generated by signs posted on public buildings. On a travel office: “Don’t take a chance on ruining your vacation – come to us and be sure.” On a barbershop window: “During construction, we will shave you in the rear.” On a gas station: “We’re out of Rolaids, but we’ve got gas.” On a furniture store: “We promise you the lowest prices and workmanship.” On a dry-cleaning store: “Ten-minute parking for cleaning customers only.” Outside a country-kitchen restaurant: “Restrooms/Please wait for a hostess to seat you.” On an office: “Would the person who took the stepladder yesterday please bring it back, or further steps will be taken.” In the countryside: “Quicksand warning! Any person passing this point will be drowned. By order of the District Council.” On a store: “This is the back door. The front door is around the back.” Outside a pre-school: “Please slow drively.” Signs in foreign countries, trying for perfect English, have also wreaked havoc with the English language, causing much amusement for tourists. On a building in Japan: “Beauty saloon.” On the wrapper of a Russian ice-cream bar: “Do not taste our ice cream when it is too hard. Please continue your conversation until the ice cream grows into a softer. By adhering this advisement, you will fully appreciate the wonderful Soviet ice cream.” In an ad by an Israeli professor: “41, with 18 years of teaching in my behind. Looking for American-born woman who speak English very good.” In a Leipzig hotel: “Ladies, please rinse out your teapots standing upside down in sink. In no event should hot bottoms be place on the counter.” In a Beirut hotel: “Ladies are kindly requested not to have their babies in the cocktail bar.” In a Shanghai buffet: “You will be able to eat all you wish until you are fed up!” Earth laughs in flowers. So said Ralph Waldo Emerson. We, however, live in times in which it often appears as if we can see nothing on earth about which we can chuckle or laugh. Rumors of war, economic distress, famines, hatred, a turning away from truth are reasons for sadness. And we do well to know this. Yet humor and laughter are important to the Christian life. God has created the emotion of laughter within us and, by virtue of that fact alone, we can treasure it. It can be perverted, so we do well to be careful. The preacher, Charles Spurgeon, (1834-1892), rejoiced in birds and flowers and many ordinary things around him. Yet he also often struggled with depression and personal tragedies. He remained, however, a man of great joy and humor, believing joy and humor to be vital in the life of a Christian. He loved to share good jokes with family, friends and colleagues. A fellow pastor and personal friend, William Williams, wrote about Spurgeon: “What a bubbling fountain of humour Mr. Spurgeon had! I laughed more, I verily believe, when in his company than during all the rest of my life besides. He had the most fascinating gift of laughter - and he had also the greatest ability for making all who heard him laugh with him.” Things which induce clean laughter or amusement increase our ability to perceive happiness and are a gift of God. Conversely, a somber Christian, one who never smiles or laughs, is often Christian devoid of gladness....

In a Nutshell

Tidbits – January 2026

Thrill seeking Ray Comfort is generally a pretty calm and tactful sort, but he has little patience for Christians who want to get a rush by jumping out of airplanes. "If you’re a Christian and you are tempted to jump, instead of catering to your thrill-seeking ego, think of someone else other than yourself. Think of those who love you and those for whom you are responsible. This injudicious world doesn’t know any better. You should. Think of the more than 150,000 people who die every 24 hours, and if you want a thrill, get up on a soapbox and tell dying sinners how to find everlasting life. That will kill your ego." Illuminating humor Q: How many actors does it take to change a light bulb? A: Only one. They don't like to share the spotlight. Q: How many aerospace engineers does it take to change a light bulb? A: None. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, you know. Q: How many visitors to an art gallery does it take to screw in a light bulb? A: Two: one to do it and one to say "Huh! My four-year-old could've done that!" Q: How many Dutchmen does it take to change a light bulb? A: Change? On "neutral" education "Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil." – C. S. Lewis What really matters in a marriage partner? What really matters in a marriage partner? Is it looks? Looks fade. Is it a man's ability to provide? Jobs and money can be lost. In his book Meaning of Marriage (pages 125-126) Tim Keller asks us to re-evaluate the way we evaluate potential marriage partners. "Most of us know that there is some truth in the stereotype that men overvalue beauty and that women overvalue wealth in a potential mate. But if you marry someone more for these things than for friendship, you are not only setting yourself up for future failure – wealth may decrease and sexual appeal will decrease – but you are also setting yourself up for loneliness. For what Adam needed in the garden was not just a sexual partner but a companion, bone of his bones, and flesh of his flesh. "If singles accepted this principle, it would drastically change the way people seek a marriage partner in our day. It is typical for a single person to walk into a room and see a number of people of the opposite sex and immediately begin to screen them, not for companionship but for attractiveness. Let’s say three out of ten look appealing. The next step is to approach those three to see what rapport there may be. If one of them will agree to go out on a date, and you get romantically involved, perhaps you will see if you can turn that person into a friend as well. This problem is many of your best prospects for friendship were likely among those you ruled out because they were too tall or too short, too fat or too skinny. "We think of a prospective spouse as primarily a lover (or a provider), and if he or she can be a friend on top of that, well isn’t that nice! We should be going at it the other way round. Screen first for friendship. Look for someone who understands you better than you do yourself, who makes you a better person just by being around them. And then explore whether that friendship could become a romance and a marriage." Great warnings Sign in store: “Unattended children will be given an espresso and a free kitten.” Where are they, and what direction are they heading? Douglas Wilson on two key questions to help us assess the state of public figures and private ones too: "First, just as we evaluate individual lives by the video, and not by the snapshot, so also we should measure churches, denominations, seminaries, and so on, in the same way. In short, there are two fundamental questions to ask — the first is where are they? and the second is what direction are they headed? "On a two-lane road between Heaven and Hell, two cars can be at the same place in the road, but still headed in completely opposite directions. To expand the illustration, one car can be closer to Heaven, but headed the wrong direction, and the same for another car closer to Hell, but outbound." Why public education can't be neutral "Obviously, the schools are not Christian. Just as obviously, they are not neutral. The Scriptures say that the fear of the Lord is the chief part of knowledge; but the schools, by omitting all reference to God, give the pupils the notion that knowledge can be had apart from God. They teach in effect that God has no control of history, that there is no plan of events that God is working out, that God does not foreordain whatsoever comes to pass. "Neutrality is impossible. Let one ask what neutrality can possibly mean when God is involved. How does God judge the school system, which says to him, 'O God, we neither deny nor assert thy existence; and O God, we neither obey nor disobey thy commandments; we are strictly neutral.' Let no one fail to see the point: The school system that ignores God teaches its pupils to ignore God; and this is not neutrality. It is the worst form of antagonism, for it judges God to be unimportant and irrelevant in human affairs. This is atheism." – Gordon H. Clark The deniers "If anyone could rationally be labeled a climate-change denier, it would be one of those who hold the absurd view that our climate was tranquil until we started to emit significant amounts of CO2." – Tom Harris, executive director, International Climate Science Coalition. Great warnings II In Sigmund Brouwer's The Lies of Saints, the hero, Nick, is helping out his friend Kellie who is laid up in the hospital, the victim of a particularly nasty car crash. Nick is a good friend, and the perfect gentleman – he knows she has a boyfriend, so he would never think to act on his attraction. Or so he thinks. But a pastor who knows both of them – the eighty-something Samuel Thorpe – is more than a little concerned. He knows that what a man intends can change quickly, given the wrong sort of circumstances. So when Nick pops by the pastor's office for a visit, Pastor Thorpe decides this is the time for a needed, awkward conversation. "'It's a ticklish business to be friends with a woman,' Samuel said, 'particularly one like Miss Kellie. She's fine-looking, and smart and of good character. I'm certain you're not blind to that. I doubt for that matter, that it's escaped her notice that a woman could do worse than land a man like you. But as you mentioned, she's in a committed relationship, Nick.... Now I'm not suggesting that you have or intend to do anything inappropriate. But it's like driving a car. Good drivers aren't the ones who can handle a car in a skid and keep it on the road. Good drivers are those who recognize when conditions are bad and take action not to get into trouble in the first place.' "'Kellie's in trouble,' Nick said. 'She needs help. That's all I'm doing.' "'You don't have to justify your motives to me. Just beware of them yourself. All I'm saying is if there's trouble way up the road, it'd be a lot better for you to see it coming and slow down before you reach it.'" Deep dad thoughts Why are pirates called pirates? I don't know - they just arrrrrr. I threw a boomerang months ago. Now I live in constant fear. Where do you take someone who has been injured in a peek-a-boo accident? The ICU I asked my son what he learned today, and he said: "Dutchmen like Sony, Scots like Yamaha, and Italians prefer Bose." I looked down at my little man and just shook my head. "Son," I told him, "don't you know those are just stereo types?" How do flat-earthers travel? On a plane. I once got a job at a canned juice company, and got along great with everyone there, but they had to let me go because I just couldn't concentrate. ...

Christian education

Teaching English from a Christian perspective, as brought to you by the Letter C

As Christians, we are rightly thankful for what has been brought to us by the letters A, B, and C, and the letters D through Z, through which we may read the word of God. Our culture, too, so highly values the ability to read and write that it supports the public school teaching of those skills, as well as the related skills of listening, speaking, viewing (the "reading" of visual images), and representing (communicating through visual images). But Christians have even stronger reasons for valuing language and communication, since we know a personal God, who communicates his love and glory to us. So how does a Reformed teacher live out his faith, and enable his students to live out their faith, in the Language Arts classroom? Well, unsurprisingly, given the title, there are (at least) six different things that make the Reformed language arts classroom distinct, all beginning with the letter C. Christ-Centered First of all, Reformed language arts teaching must be truly Christian, or to put it even more strongly, Christ-centered. Obviously this is true of all Reformed education, but what does it actually mean in the Language Arts classroom? For one thing it means Christ's birth, death, resurrection, ascension, and rule should be at the center of our discussions of literature and life. In Schindler's List, for example, Oskar Schindler is frequently spoken of as a kind of savior, since his factories kept many Jews out of the concentration camps. A Christian discussion of the film (or of the novel upon which it is based) will ask how Schindler fails as a "savior," and deal with whether Schindler himself recognized, directly or indirectly, his own need for the Savior. Other kinds of literature either exclude the possibility of salvation, or the need for it (since man is "naturally" good), or show it less directly as being accomplished by some character's heroic acts (or his or her "decision" for Christ). A Reformed teacher will discuss with his students how to react to the false gospels of our culture, and will demonstrate how even these false gospels show the need for the true Savior. Finally, Reformed Language Arts teachers will show and kindle passionate love for literature that fully acknowledges our need for salvation through God's grace alone, and demonstrates that Christ is both Savior and Lord. Covenantal Reformed Language Arts instruction is also covenantal. How? I am not referring simply to the fact a Reformed teacher teaches covenant children (although this is true). My point is that our communication must be a response of thankfulness (our obligation) to His love (according to His promise). This doesn't mean that we can't write for personal reflection or entertainment. It does mean, however, that our more personal writing will reflect on more than just whether we are meeting our own "personal goals" – something that government curricula take for granted as a primary focus of personal reflection. Rather, students should learn to make explicit their understanding of their relationships with God – to "meditate on your precepts and consider your ways" (Psalm 119:15) – and with others through Him. As far as our communication with others is concerned, our basic goal should be "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15) and communicating "what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (Ephesians 4:29). For instance, the novels Peace Shall Destroy Many and The Chosen both deal with isolated religious communities' attempt to deal with the increasing secularism of the society in which they exist. Their response is to withdraw from that culture – an idea that is clearly less than fully faithful. A Reformed language arts teacher will encourage class discussion, journal writing, presentations, and essays about how and whether we fall prey to the temptation to withdraw, and what we might do about that situation of failing to be light and salt in the world. Cultural Education in a Reformed language arts classroom is also cultural. I have already mentioned that as Jesus commands in Matthew 5: 13 - 16, we are to be involved in the world around us. To do that, we need to know the culture in which we live – its idols, and how we may well be rather impressed by those idols ourselves. To gain that knowledge, we study literature - both contemporary literature for a glimpse of our own culture, and the "classics" for a glimpse of the roots of current ideas and attitudes. One other reason to study the classics has been given by C. S. Lewis, who recommended that we read at least two old books for every current one we read. Why? Because like a fish in an aquarium, we are living in our culture, so we may not even see its errors clearly. Lewis said that reading the books of the past is like putting on a new pair of glasses, because while old writers also made errors, they were different errors – ones that we have often learned to see through. At the same time, the old writers saw things about purity, love, and godliness that our own culture may have blinded us to. Counter-Cultural Although Reformed language arts education is cultural, it is also counter-cultural. For example, I use Frank Peretti's Prophet in my Grade Eleven media studies unit on journalism and news coverage. The novel rewards study in two ways. First, it sheds an interesting light on the way the news can be packaged to promote various agendas. Secondly, the novel has its own weaknesses, coming from a somewhat Pentecostal, and arguably Arminian, point of view, which can promote discussions about exactly how the Spirit does do His work among His people, and how God exercises His sovereignty in man's salvation. After we analyze both of these issues from a Biblical perspective, I challenge students to respond concretely to the errors of our culture by writing a letter to the editor and/or a critical or persuasive essay. Creativity The challenge of responding concretely, to both Christ and culture, brings us to the fifth element of Reformed language arts education: creativity. Though we must test (and challenge) the spirits of our age, we cannot stop with a purely negative and critical approach. We must also be positive, using our talents in communication to glorify God and build up the neighbor. This is why the students in each grade of my English classes must submit a piece of work to be published, or at least considered for publication, by someone outside the school. There are plenty of places to seek publication: the annual Remembrance Day Contest and various poetry contests, magazines like Reader's Digest and Reformed Perspective, and books like Chicken Soup for the Soul. Whether or not a student gets published, he or she must write a process paper dealing with the issues faced in crafting his or her work. Cooperation The aspect of Reformed language arts education that I find hardest to carry out is its communal/cooperative nature. When a baby is baptized, God’s covenant promises to him or her are witnessed by the whole congregation, the body of Christ. Two chapters in the Bible deal extensively with how the members of the body are necessary for each other's welfare: Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. Covenant youth should be trained to seek the good of the whole congregation, to work together, to build each other up. Unfortunately, the students' all-too-human nature often makes this difficult, since group projects – setting up an assembly together, putting on a drama skit, or presenting a dramatic reading of a poem – often mean that some try to ride on the coat-tails of others. This can be avoided by giving each group member a distinct role and responsibility (as in the body of Christ), by cementing the cohesion of the groups with various team-building activities, by assigning groups smaller tasks with more supervision at first, and by assigning "group" work outside the school walls. For example, students can be assigned to write up the memories of older members of the congregation, for an anthology of anecdotes about various moments in history, thus requiring them to work with people they might rarely, if ever, talk to otherwise. The most challenging part of bringing out the communal aspect of communication, however, lies in encouraging more gifted students to support their fellow learners without short-circuiting their learning. The best way to meet this challenge is to ensure that the tasks a teacher gives his or her students are meaningful and thoughtful enough to require everyone's participation. However, equally important is the kind of examples students have seen of Christian cooperation within their school, churches, and families. How well do we, as adults, model a patient attitude toward those weaker than ourselves - neither ignoring them, as our competitive and individualistic society tempts us to do, nor taking their independence from them? Conclusion As you can see, Reformed language arts education is a colossal challenge, requiring caring, commitment, compassion, and consistency. A Reformed teacher must not only teach effectively, but also model the values he or she teaches. This can only be done, with many shortcomings (with which I am all too familiar), through the work of the Spirit, by the Word and prayer, and within the communion of the saints. I would love to hear from any of my fellow saints out there whether these thoughts have struck a chord. (There, I ended with a c-word.) This article was first published in December 2014....

Busyness in the home

If you have a family, you know that your loved ones are greatly affected by your decisions around time management – and your children are watching a...

News

4 out of 5 Canadians give like Scrooge

The Fraser Institute’s “Generosity Index” for 2025 revealed that a scant 0.52% of all income is being donated to charities. To add to this, the ...

Being the Church

Older men still have a job to do

Faithful children of God may look forward to sharing Jesus’ glory in the presence of the Father. “To live is Christ; to die is gain.” Why, then,...

Assorted

Blessed are the busy?

Should we be trying to be less busy or be busy better? ***** It’s not really the worst problem to have: too many good things to do, and not enough...

Assorted

My journey with books

It has been a long journey of books for me. I grew up with books, and as a child read from The Book of Knowledge encyclopedia, the Bobbsey Twins series and Grace Livingston Hill’s books. It was my own love for books which had me keep my nursing and my Bible College textbooks. But it was not until I met my husband-to-be John that I really discovered what it was to have books in the house – here was a man who loved books! On our very first date, when I mentioned that I had Berkoff’s Systematic Theology, John asked if maybe he could borrow it some time. I thought to myself, “There is no way he is going to get that textbook - I’ll never see it again!” For our first 3 months of marriage we lived with John’s parents in Oshawa, Ontario before we went to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where John was to study at Calvin Seminary. During those 3 months, I decided to straighten out John’s bookcases. That meant I put the books all in neat rows according to height and size – I was tired of look at those messy shelves. John was not a happy camper when he came home and found out that his books were not in subject order. Oh well, live and learn, in those early marriage days. More and more books Throughout his ministry, the supply of books increased. John mostly bought books at garage sales, library sales, or people would kindly give him books from their collections – he would never say no to that. But then we would need more bookshelves and more space. In all our moves the books came with us. From Vernon, BC to Wellandport, ON they came by train in the deep of winter. None were lost. He took about 400 books with us to the Philippines – ones he needed for teaching at the seminary. It was a challenge to sort and choose. He took some Dutch books as well, only to find that the bok-bok worm liked the glue in his Dutch books (but they had no interest in his cheap paperbacks). In all our pastorates John has his study in the house, taking up a bedroom for his books. In Wellandport the church built a special addition on to the parsonage for his study. That was much needed – our family of six needed the room. And the quantity of books continued to grow. All sorts John was happiest when he had a book and pen in his hand to make his own personal notes and scribbles – he did not use a highlighter for his markings. And he was quite an eclectic reader, his reading ranging from The Communist Manifesto to Francis Schaeffer’s writings. One of his favorite books to read again and again was Augustine’s Confessions. Right up there among his favorites were C.S. Lewis, Chuck Colson, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and A. Kuyper. There was no end of his favorite special writers. I could tell when John was tired – that’s when he would pull out a good Dutch novel. Though he was a serious reader, John enjoyed a good mystery, the likes of Agatha Christie or G.K. Chesterton. Tools in his toolbox John was often asked if he had read them all. Yes, he would say. Mind you, some of them were strictly reference material for his sermons or articles. Did he keep every book he got from day one when he started his ministry? Believe it or not, he gave away a good number to future seminarians and threw out others that were no longer relevant or falling apart. Did it make a dent on the shelf? Hardly. At one point I had to put my foot down and say I did not want bookshelves in our bedroom or kitchen. Looking after all these books was a challenge, especially when it came to dusting and straightening up the shelves. Books are real dust collectors so every year around Christmas or New Years I would take them down, shelf by shelf, and give them all a good dusting. I would find pieces of paper stuck in a book, along with clippings, articles, and any other kind of paper for his notes. Yes books were part and parcel of John’s ministry and our married life. Books were his tools, just like that of a carpenter or painter. They had to be accessible somewhere, even if that meant a pile on the floor by his chair and not in a box in the cupboard. Passing on the tools The time came in John’s last 2 months when he could not hold a pen or a book, let alone have the stamina to read. That was a blow to give up something he loved dearly all his life. One of my hardest times was to go into his study where I saw piles of books he had gathered for his articles, his pens his notes and the discarded scraps of paper in his wastebasket… all just where he left it to the point of no return. A year later I sorted out John’s Dutch books, computer filed each title and author, boxed 1,300 of them and took them to the Canadian Reformed Seminary in Hamilton. I did the same with his English books, computer filed each title, and author, boxed 3,600 books, and took them to Redeemer Christian College University in Ancaster, Ontario. A few books went to family and to several of John’s colleagues. That was John’s wish and prayer – that his books would be used for God’s glory and His Kingdom. So this is my journey with books – from a few boxes when we arrived in Vernon, BC in 1966 to our life in London, ON where I took out over 200 boxes of books. The journey has been long and good and I certainly have no regrets living surrounded by books! For 13 years Rev. Johan Tangelder (1936-2009) – John – wrote articles for Reformed Perspective. You can find many of those articles here, and many more on his website. This article first appeared in the July 2011 issue....

Assorted

Navigating failure

Fear of failure can paralyze you. There’s a lot to be said about how, in order to succeed, you need to be comfortable with failure – but that doesn’t erase the fact that failing feels painful and shameful. Who wants that? Better to avoid it. Suddenly success becomes less important than “not failing.” And the only sure way to avoid all the feelings that come with not being able to do something is to not try it at all. Not trying assures you of not failing. But in trying to avoid failure, you can hold yourself back from doing things in your path that God has given you to do. So what’s a good way to navigate failure? There are two different approaches I've taken at different times of my life to deal with this fear of failure. They both begin with a question. What would you do – or attempt – or explore... 1) …if you knew you couldn’t fail – that it was impossible? 2) … if you were free to fail?” 1. What if you could not fail? “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” I first came across this question in a book called Launching a Leadership Revolution, but asking this kind of question is a pretty common approach to working with a fear of failure. Why? Because this question can be clarifying: stop thinking about what’s holding you back and start thinking about what you’d really want to do if you could. Once you know what you really want, then you can think about how to navigate the obstacles that might come up. If you never stop to think about what you really desire to accomplish, you could spend your whole life doing things that feel safe just because they feel safe, and miss what you might be uniquely suited to do. But this question can also be disheartening, and it certainly was for me back when I first read it. Because the answer was – a lot more than what I was doing at that moment. I can’t count how many times the fear of terrible things happening to me stopped me, all because I couldn’t count on these terrible things not happening. And I’m not alone in dreaming of a world of failure-free achievement, judging by the number of self-help books that use this quote. It is true that many successful people plowed on despite failure and in the face of more failure, but I couldn’t shake the nagging awareness of people who did plow on after failing and just kept on failing. I know failure isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But it can feel terrible. And there’s no guarantee that “keep trying” will lead to success. So I found it difficult to ignore the thought of failure, as this quote seemed to advise me to do. Or even to accept failure as part of the process. The quote did, however, inspire me to dream about what I’d like to achieve with my life. It helps cut to the chase of what you really want to do, even if you feel at the moment that it’s unachievable. Which brings me to the second approach. 2. What if you were free to fail? “When you’ve been found, you’re free to fail.” – James K.A. Smith, On the Road with St. Augustine When you’re young, life is more about trying to make choices about what you want to do, and that must’ve drawn me to the first question years ago. Maybe I’m drawn to this second quote more now as I’m older and navigating the result of my own and other people’s failures. Here’s the full quote in context: “Resting in the love of God doesn’t squelch ambition; it fuels it with a different fire. I don’t have to strive to get God to love me; rather, because God loves me unconditionally, I’m free to take risks and launch out into the deep. I’m released to aspire to use my gifts in gratitude, caught up in God’s mission for the sake of the world. When you’ve been found, you’re free to fail.” Rest, rather than striving. Release rather than control. And the peace of God’s love, rather than approval conditional on success. Humans judge on achievements. We compare each other, and we compare ourselves to each other, and in the age of social media it doesn’t take long to see how much we lack in comparison to everyone else. But if life is about what we produce, what we show, and whether we’ve made good on the promise or potential we showed at one point, how can we ever find peace? Good questions both I still like both questions though. What would you do if you knew you could not fail is for young people deciding what to do with their lives. They’re making decisions about paths to take. They’re trying to diagnose their passions. What if you’re free to fail is for when you get a little older. It’s for those days when you’re dealing with the knowledge you have failed at various things. You DID fail. What does that mean? How do you handle it? Failure hits us because we take it as a reflection of who we are and what we’re worth. But we’re urged to start from a place of acceptance – God’s acceptance. Sometimes failure weighs on us because we know our sin is involved. Our feelings of guilt add to the pain of failure. But the beauty of this quote is that it prevents us from relying on “fixing” ourselves – God makes us acceptable. God loved us even when we were dead in our sins, and He promises us no sin can come between us if we turn to Him. God doesn’t ask us to overcome our failures before He loves us. He makes us new, and we can rely on that. So this is not only about the type of failure you can learn from. It’s not just the kind of “failing so you know what to do better next time.” Not the kind of failing that life coaches advise you is good for you (“fail fast and fail hard!”). No, this applies to the kind of failing that seems completely futile, that seems to have no meaning and no lesson to learn. The kind of failure that can crush you and make you too paralyzed to do anything more. You need the promise you’re accepted no matter what. What we really need Because here’s the thing about failure: you won’t avoid it. In a broken world, you will crash and burn at some point. But maybe we face failure for a reason – to be reminded that we cannot go through life on our own. Failure forces us to face the reality we’re dependent on God. He has to take us through the next steps. Both of the above approaches to failure are quotes from human authors. But the Bible reminds us that God promises to be there in all our shortcomings. In 2 Cor. 12:9 we read how God reminded Paul that, “My power is made perfect in weakness,” and in Phil 1:6 Paul reminds us that God “who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” What God started, He will finish, and we can rest in that assurance. In the end, none of us will be failures. What we really need is not to reach certain milestones, to earn anything, or to look successful in the eyes of the world, but rather to learn that utter dependence on God. If you can let go and let God work out His plan for the world, you can trust He will bring everything to good. You can trust He knows the way even when you don’t....

Culture Clashes

There is a Hell. Jesus says so.

Some theologians, included big names like Rob Bell and John Stott, don’t believe in hell, or at least that it is eternal. Instead Stott suggested that lost souls might be annihilated and seize to exist. However, as Thor Ramsey notes in his bookThe Most Encouraging Book on Hell Ever, this doctrine does serious damage to our understanding of God’s holiness and justice. And what then are we to make of what Jesus says in Matt. 26:24: “It would have been better for that man if he had not been born”? “Jesus is saying for Judas, non-existence – having never existed at all – would be better than something else….Jesus is clearly saying Judas is on his way to hell. But from the perspective of annihilationism the question becomes: Is non-existence better for someone than an eternity of non-existence? Huh? “If annihilationism is true, then what Jesus said here about Judas is pretty much nonsense….Jesus was basically just babbling. And He didn’t do that.” Hell does exist; Jesus says so. And the world needs to be told to turn from their sin and flee God’s coming wrath. This article was first published in October 2016....

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Saturday Selections – Dec. 13, 2025

Chickens are cooler than you knew (6 min) We all know chickens have the astonishing ability to turn grain into a key ingredient for Egg McMuffins, but few know that chickens are also the animal equivalent of gimbal cameras – no matter how you move them, back and forth, round and round, up and down, their head remains fixed in one spot. It's crazy. It's also the fingerprints of the their great Designer... though this secular video doesn't go there. One note: the last 90 seconds of this is just a commercial for a 3D printer, so once that starts you can hit stop. Tim Challies' Top 10 books of 2025 Can Australia's ban on social media for kids be a bad thing? Australia is now banning kids under 16 from using social media. Hurrah, right? Well, as Rev. Witteveen outlines, there is a dark cloud to this silver lining – in keeping kids off, the government is implementing measures to further monitor everyone else. But they'll use is responsibly, right? Social media is a big problem, but protecting our kids was always a parental responsibility, and if we hand it off to the government, we might not like what else they do with the power we're handing over to them. Remember the Australian government's response to COVID? 7 lies about our love life The world has quite a pack of lies to sell. And God has something very different to say. Surgery denied. Death approved. A Saskatchewan woman, Jolene Van Alstine, who is suffering from a painful but treatable disease, has been approved for death-by-doctor (euphemistically called "MAiD"). As the linked article explains: "We have a growing list of citizens choosing death because medicine has become a lottery → a quadriplegic woman who applied for MAiD because she couldn’t secure basic home-care support veterans offered MAiD instead of trauma treatment homeless Canadians considering MAiD because they can’t survive winter "And now a woman denied a simple, lifesaving surgery." American conservative commentator Glenn Beck has come to the rescue though, offering to pay for Van Alstine to get treatment in the US. The author's article doesn't rule out MAiD altogether, but pitches it as a last ditch option. But in doing so, she too has lost the plot. If death is medicine at any time, then on what basis would it not be a valid offering all the time? Why refuse any good option? And why can't it be a cost-cutting measure even? If it is valid to kill some to ease suffering, why couldn't it be valid to kill more, so as to more quickly and more cheaply, ease more suffering? When murder is medicine the only fixed line has been crossed – we've long treated abortion as healthcare, and killing the born in the name of medicine is just the next step. Offering Alstine death as treatment is entirely in keeping with this worldview. But there is another understanding of life. Not as something we hold and can choose to dispose of as we will, but as something entrusted to us, to steward. Christians seem unwilling to raise God in the euthanasia battle, but if we leave God out of this conversation, what basis is there for human worth? The State gives you worth? Well, then the State can take away that valuation, as it has done for Van Alstine. We decide our own worth? Again, not so for Van Alstine. Outside forces, the province's neglect, have her devaluing a life she might otherwise treasure. Euthanasia's lie of autonomy – you will choose when you die – is here exposed. We need to highlight her plight to showcase the antithesis between murders being medicine and all murders being always wrong because we are made in the very image of God. All God's people must proclaim God's sovereignty over life, for His glory and because only His Truth can answer these lies. One more reason we're Protestants Jeff Durbin highlights another area where the Roman Catholic Church is running right up against God. ...

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There is a Hell. Jesus says so.

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Saturday Selections – Dec. 13, 2025