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Music

Some thoughts on Christian music in worship

So there is some great music out there, and as Reformed Christians, we can rejoice in that fact. But if the issue of music in general can be a contentious one, the issue of the music we use in our worship services can be a cause for even more controversy. If we can acknowledge that there is Christian music from outside of our own tradition that brings glory to God, does this mean that we can or should use this music in our worship services?

I’m a missionary in the Canadian Reformed Churches. In Prince George, B.C., where I am working to spread the gospel and plant a church, we meet every Sunday morning for worship. And our worship service is pretty much the same as the worship service you would experience in every other Canadian Reformed Church. We sing from our denomination's Book of Praise, and the songs we sing are primarily the Psalms. We’ve chosen to do this very deliberately, not because it is simply something that’s required of us. And we’ve made this decision for several reasons.

Why Psalms?

First of all, our focus on Psalm-singing is in line with the principles of the Protestant Reformation. During the time of the Reformation, the Reformers placed a heavy emphasis on the participation of the congregation in the worship service. No longer was participation to be limited to the priest, who alone could drink the wine of communion, and to the choir, which sang while the congregation listened. Now the entire congregation was invited to participate, both in the Lord’s Supper, and in the singing.

It was a revolutionary step – no longer was the congregation an audience, or a group of spectators. Now they were integral to the worship service itself, and that participation was not only beneficial for the worshippers, it also glorified the God who was being worshipped.

Participants no spectators

So that’s the first important principle; the congregation should be more than mere spectators – they should be active participants. That means that “worship teams,” or “praise bands” do not have a place in our worship services. There are times and places for musical performances, for audiences to sit back and enjoy music performed by skilled artists. But our gathering for corporate worship is neither the appropriate time or place for such a performance. Our worship is corporate– we worship as a body, and we should all participate, not simply observe.

Because of this principle, the Reformers developed songbooks to be used in worship. John Calvin promoted the development of a Psalter to be used in worship, and he encouraged skilled men to write music and set the words of the Psalms to that music, for congregational singing. That music had to be singable – it had to be suitable for singing in unison, and it couldn’t be so complex that it would take a trained choir to sing it.

And so, what we now have as the Genevan Psalter was developed. This was truly a “people’s Psalter.” No longer was music reserved for the professionals; now musically unschooled laymen could sing together, and the Reformed Christians did just that, in the worship services, at home, and in public gatherings.

A rooted tradition

So our use of the Genevan melodies is not something that we do merely out of custom; there are some very important principles at play here. Our use of the Genevan melodies is a part of our tradition, but that tradition is not meaningless. We sing these melodies in unity with the catholic (universal) church – the church of all times, as well as of all places. By maintaining this tradition, we are expressing in our practice the reality that true catholicity isn’t just geographical, but that it’s also historical. And we avoid what some have called “the tyranny of the present.” By upholding what has become an ancient tradition, we avoid the pitfalls that can afflict the Church when she attempts to be culturally relevant (and all to often fails).

We maintain that tradition in the face of changing tastes and trends; instead of being shaped by the trends of the world, we need to continue to work to shape those trends ourselves. Instead of giving in to the pressures of our culture, including the pressures that influence our understanding and enjoyment of music, we should continue to train ourselves, to develop excellence in the musical tradition that the Reformed church has been blessed with for centuries. We may find some of the tunes hard to sing, but this is most often because of their unfamiliarity, not because of any difficulty inherent to the tunes (which were accessible centuries ago to people who were all but illiterate). If we find the tunes challenging, we should practice them. We should train our ear to understand them, and in doing so, we will find that we grow to love them! This is true with all music that lies outside of the realm of “popular music” – in order to grow to love classical music, or great jazz, your taste has to develop, and mature. That takes time, patience, and learning.

But the rewards are great; in refusing to limit ourselves to the simplistic world of pop music (which does have its place), we allow ourselves to grow. Maturity is what Christians seek – a life of growth and development. This should be as true for our musical tastes as it is in every other area of life. After all, as a boy I may have loved to read the Hardy Boys; but when I grew in understanding, I left them behind, and moved on to better things. The process of development in reading and comprehension is challenging, but it’s necessary. The same holds true for music.

What about the words?

So that’s the musical aspect of the songs we sing on Sundays. But what about the lyrics? This is where our Psalm-singing becomes so very important, especially when we compare the lyrics of the Psalms to those of popular Christian music.

The words of the Psalms are deep; they’re profound; they’re God-centred; they express every aspect of the Christian life and experience. They aren’t just meant to make us feel good – they’re meant to challenge us, to encourage us, to admonish us. They express joy, happiness, confession of sins, expressions of anguish, and even despair. The lyrics of the Psalms are words that are sung in unity with believers everywhere, in unity with God’s people throughout history, and in unity with our Lord Jesus Christ.

They relate to us in our own experiences, but they do much more; they keep us actively aware of our unity with the universal Church, our unity with our spiritual ancestors. We sing about the Exodus, about the crossing of the Red Sea, about the wandering in the wilderness, about the rebellion of the Israelites, about God’s forgiveness of that rebellion. We sing about God’s amazing work in creation, but also about His amazing work of redemption and salvation. And when we sing the Psalms, we sing the very words that our Lord Himself had on His lips during His life on earth – think of Psalm 22, for example.

They may not have catchy choruses. It may take work to memorize them. They may force us to sing about places like Teman and Mt. Paran, and the Baca Valley, places that are very distant from us, historically and geographically. But they force us to realize that our generation is not the only generation that ever existed. They encourage us to see our true place, in the covenant community, as yet another generation that God has guided in the true faith.

Once again, a true appreciation of the message of the Psalms takes training and education; but anything worth doing is going to take effort. And that effort will pay off in the end; singing the Psalms will lead us to develop an increased appreciation for our God, for His Word and works, for His justice and righteousness, for His wrath and anger against sin, as well as for His mercy and grace, which He has poured out upon His people.

A lifetime's worth of praise

Music is important, and our God, in His love for us, has given us music as a great blessing. The songs we sing, and the way that we sing them, and the songs that we listen to, shape our understanding of our God and our relationship with Him. If we insist on remaining like children in our appreciation and understanding of the music we use, we are deliberately limiting ourselves, and cutting ourselves off from a wonderful opportunity. God Himself has given us an opportunity to grow, to be enriched, to thrive as His people, by giving us the beauty and majesty of music. And in giving us, in His Spirit-inspired Word, 150 perfect songs, He has provided us with more than enough content for a lifetime’s worth of praise.

An old saying tells us, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” We become so familiar with something that we no longer appreciate the beauty and importance of the thing that we’ve been given. I think that when it comes to the music we use in our corporate worship, this phrase is often very applicable. In each generation, we need to come to an appreciation of the precious heritage that we’ve been entrusted with – the heritage of a musical form and content that is rich, beautiful, upbuilding, and lasting. It may take work to develop a deep, lasting appreciation for that music; but in the end, every bit of that work will be worth it. So let’s not be afraid to put in the effort. And having done that, we can know that God will give us, as He has already given us, a rich reward.

This was first published to the Reformed Outfitters (RO) website in 2012 and reposted here when RO became a part of RP in 2022.

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Internet

Less screens = more life

What we learned by stepping away from our phones for 10 days ***** We were hoping for 200 to sign up. Turns out a lot of us were ready for this – more than 900 registered for RP’s July 21-30 screen-fast challenge, and we heard about others who joined the fast without signing up. Safe to say, over a thousand people across the country came together to put our screens in their place. That is amazing! But maybe it shouldn’t have been surprising. God’s people know He wants us to make good use of the time He’s given us, and we know that our phones too often have us wasting moments that turn into minutes, which can add up to lost hours each week. We needed to hit the reset and get back control. So how’d we all do? Of the 160 responses we received, three-quarters managed to stay away from their screens for 9 days or better. They also shared stories, tips on what worked, what they found toughest, suggestions on how we could do this even better next time, and what got them most excited about the fast. And we’re very excited to share their thoughts with you. EYE OPENING One term kept popping up in the feedback – “eye-opening.” “It was a very humbling experience for me. I am a fairly busy person as it is, between nursing school, 2 kids, and running a household, but I will say that the amount of hours I still managed to waste away doing mindless scrolling or pointless video-watching was disconcerting, to put it lightly.” “I thought I was pretty good about staying off my phone, but I really had to remind myself not to pick it up. I've only had a phone since October, and already it has become such an integral part of my life.” "The screen-fast started while we were away on vacation, and what a blessing this was! At first, I thought it would be easy; after all, I had books to read, family to visit with, and a beach calling my name. I had deleted all of my social media accounts a couple of years ago. I thought I barely used my phone in comparison to others. Boy, was I wrong. I never realized how often I was reaching for my phone, oftentimes for no specific purpose other than to fill time or cure boredom! Looking at the weather, reading the news, playing games – my phone sucked me in even without social media being present! The screen-fast has truly been a blessing. It reminded me of the value of being present, of shared experiences, of all the little moments that I would have missed out on had I been scrolling on my phone. I learned that it's okay to have moments of quiet, stillness, and even boredom! Sometimes, it is in these quiet moments of being in creation that God speaks the loudest: His power in the wind and waves, His beauty in the flowers, His tenderness, care, and grace towards me in that He used these moments to calm any anxieties that were lurking within me. Thank you, Reformed Perspective, for encouraging this experience!" “My oldest (11) had a hard time sticking to the screen-fast and caved 3 times. Hard to believe how much of a pull a screen has on a person! Makes me want to live in the Little House on the Prairie times, where screens just weren’t available and outside play was their entertainment.” “I just itched to check social media and would find myself comforted by just holding my phone close, even though there was nothing to look at. I realized that I don't like this about myself.” “It was well needed and brought my screen time down to about 15-30 minutes a day from my usual 2-2.5 hours. I hope to keep my screen time down as much as I can because I’m so much more productive and observant of the world around me when I’m not on it.” TOGETHER IS EASIER Some participants didn’t know anyone else doing it, even with a thousand across the country involved. Those with friends and family joining in found it much easier. “My sister and I challenged each other and we both finished (almost) successfully. We both started reading again after having lost the habit of reading and gained the habit of scrolling. I’m very happy to be reading again and I noticed how much I can get done with the time I used to waste. I will definitely be more careful with my screen time in the future.” “I found that since my family didn’t participate, it was hard to maintain self-control when others were using their devices.” “I did it with my wife – we found that especially when we were both free in the evening, we would be more productive, but also, we spent more quality time with each other. It made me realize how often I would just reach for my phone when I was bored or between tasks; it feels great to have kicked that habit.” "We had family come for summer holidays and they willingly partook (kids too)! Fishing and bike rides at 7 am rather than cartoons…win! We enjoyed creation so much more, especially in the evenings. I loved having it as a challenge; it kept me more accountable and successful. Thanks for doing this for us!" DON’T ALWAYS NEED INSTANT ANSWERS “I have a tendency to google everything as it comes up in a conversation, and not being able to was refreshing, and kept me more focused on the person instead of the topic.” “The thing that surprised me was how often I had the compulsion to Google a question that popped into my mind, or research the proper way to do something, or make a quick purchase of something I remembered I needed. I realized that technology is very helpful, but also there is benefit in taking a pause, making a shopping list, or asking a friend rather than Google when I have a gardening question. My 10-year-old said that she found more space to be creative when the computer and TV was off. " “My kids didn't miss their own screen time, but they realized how much they asked me to look things up for them. Not having immediate access to information is not such a bad thing.” FAMILY-LIFE Less screens = more life was evident on the home front. “We had meals at the kitchen table instead of in the living room while watching YouTube.” “I noticed our kids really improved in playing for longer periods of time. If they complained they were bored, I would suggest they try an activity for 20 minutes, and often 1 hour later they would still be busy.” “We did do more different things together when we didn't spend as much time playing games or watching videos on the TV or computer. It forced my kids, in particular, to stretch their imagination a bit to come up with more different things to do. The intermittent cries of 'I'm bored!' were met with, 'Well, then you need to find something to do!' My kids had always been good at keeping busy, but it was good for them to exercise those creative muscles, and remind us all of all the options that we have, both on and off the screen.” “The main things I've been struggling with were not wasting time on my phone (e.g., games, videos), not using my phone during time with my toddler, and not using my phone in bed, so I focused on those and was able to significantly improve in those areas. It definitely helped with spending quality time with my son without distractions so that I was more focused on him and his needs.” “It helped me reconnect with my wife. Instead of sitting on the couch consuming content in the evenings, we went for more walks and had more time to talk about what was going on.” “There was a lot more interacting happening throughout the family, and everyone seemed happier. It felt like a lot less fighting happened.” “It was easier to connect and interact with my kids. I realized how much I used my phone when they were awake even though I thought I was being conscious of not using it while they were awake." “My children (4 and under) appeared less needy, and I think it is because I was more focused on what was going on around me.” “Because I was screen-free, my kids didn't even ask for screen time. My 18-year-old daughter loved it. She noticed she was far more creative and read more books (which is her natural habitat) than when she had a screen to distract her.” “It was harder than I thought it would be. Especially right before bed. But not being on screens before bed allowed more time for my wife and I to spend time together.” WANTING TO BE AN EXAMPLE “Helped me to realize that in a screen-filled world, as a parent and adult, I am an example to my daughter and the younger generation as to how much a phone has a hold on me." “It was better when the children are around not to have YouTube on in the background; I could be more present with them, even while doing dishes. I think I will continue to try to save my Podcast/YouTube listening for when the children are in bed.” “I am disappointed that I didn’t do this sooner. My oldest kiddo is 7 and I feel like my phone has been a large part of her life. It’s my job now, as it was before, to teach her, along with my other kids, how to use this technology properly and not to use and abuse it. I am striving to use it less and less, and more for emergencies, or for the free time that I’ve allowed myself to use it.” DEVOTIONS Many mentioned how helpful the fast was for their devotions, making sure time with the Lord didn’t get crowded out by inconsequentials. “Just made me realize I need to read my bible FIRST……not after the morning's scroll!” "I found I actually had time to do my devotions in the morning, even if my kids were up. Before I had been grabbing my phone if I wasn’t going to have perfect uninterrupted time for devotions.” “My morning devotions improved immediately! When you don’t have your phone in the morning you really do need to replace it with something. " READING In addition to the Bible, many, many other books (and at least one magazine) were read too. One person shared: "More reading in 10 days than the last 3 years!” "I definitely did more reading! I haven’t picked up a fictional book in a long time because, as a busy mom, I found it a ‘waste of time’ to read fiction…. somehow scrolling on my phone every evening to have some mindless down time was better?! I don’t think so. I enjoy that time in the evening to relax for a bit, but it is much better spent reading an engaging book!” “I read the whole RP magazine front to back in the moments that I would pick up my phone when I was bored.” “The biggest difference for me was dedicating more intentional time to read. I managed to finish 3 of Jane Austen's novels. I'm thrilled to add them to my recommended reading list!” “…relearned how to read a book in under a day. Been through so many books.” “…for downtime, instead of watching a show every night like I normally do, I read more and had more conversations with my family as well.” BETTER MENTAL PLACE Sociologist Jonathan Haidt is convinced that social media is fueling this generation’s teen mental health crisis, but doing without Facebook and Instagram isn’t just good for the kids. “In regards to social media particularly, the fast made me realize that while social media can be enjoyable and good, it's also almost like a subconscious burden to try to ‘keep up’ with everyone and everything all the time. Being off of it for 10 days was really freeing and refreshing.” “I… learned that when I'm anxious, instead of running to Google to try to ease my anxiety, I should run to God in prayer.” “It felt good, in the sense that my brain didn't feel distracted by useless information coming in at a fast pace. I found I could spend time on my screen sorting photos, but I didn't scroll Instagram. It took a few days to notice that my brain felt a little less full, and I felt totally focused on my life, instead of having a 20-minute binge session after lunch to be inundated with strangers’ lives. I did read more, during that after-lunch quiet time, and also before bed. My screen time didn't interfere with family time, it was just something I would do to 'wind down' or 'relax' once kids were napping or in bed for the night. I didn't miss it. One evening I did log on to find a recipe I'd saved on Instagram and ended up scrolling...I felt gross. It felt like I had to re-join the real world when I finally put my phone down, and it became very obvious to me how little value it adds to my life for the amount of time spent on the app.” “One of the biggest things for me was not checking my work email on my phone. I didn’t realize how much head space that had been taking up! It was a big relaxant to have set hours to check only on my laptop.” “My brain felt quieter. All those little moments where I would have quickly checked Facebook, or scrolled, to ‘relax’ were removed from my day and I didn't realize how much they cluttered my mind. The screen-fast really helped me to be more aware of that, which will hopefully give me more control over those impulses to reach for my phone moving forward. My husband and I both did it and found ourselves going on more evening bike rides, having more chats, and just doing more quality time things than we did before. It was so refreshing, and I think we definitely feel more connected. I also had more focused time for devotions, and because I deleted many apps from my phone, I had no reason to pick it up and get distracted. I'm hoping to keep a lot of the habits enforced by the fast because I definitely need them, and life is better when your phone has less time in your hand!” “What a beautiful challenge! My experience was that I suddenly became much more present: in my home life, my church life, and my friend life. It brought me closer to God in my devotional time, provided time for reflection, enabled me to read most of a book, and granted me a peace that I didn't even realize was missing.” “I also felt less stress because I was not being inundated with news…. Although a person never thinks they are spending ‘that much’ time on their phone, it's not just the physical act of scrolling or being on social media. It occupies mental space after you put the phone down. Your attention is divided and things you see and do on your phone inadvertently affect your mood and ability to focus throughout the day. You may be worrying about something you saw in the news and it will affect how you treat people around you, even if you cannot do anything about it, or it doesn't even really affect you. You may be in the habit of checking your phone for notifications every few minutes (you'd be surprised how often you may do this) and it can make the simplest tasks take much longer than required, which will in turn make you feel frustrated. The less time you spend on your phone, the more wisdom you will use when you do pick it up. I noticed I was much less likely to scroll Instagram and more naturally inclined to listen to a sermon in the evening after the children were in bed. I was always feeling stressed about the time I thought I was spending on my phone, and appreciate the push to try just being on it less. It has certainly been an eye-opener for me!” “I found myself more content with everything, and could easily enjoy hobbies I had long forgotten. I found myself thanking God for the little moments and was reminded of the blessings He has given me." “I listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks while doing housework, and not doing that for 10 days made me realize that always having something on to listen to does not help me be present with my family. It was good to have the quiet space, and engage in some spiritual warfare by taking thoughts captive that are not obedient to Christ. I’m not going back on any social medias because I’ve broken the spell that says I will miss out or not be in-the-know…. They take up too much brain space that is needed for more important things.” BETTER SLEEP "I feel I slept better because of no screen time before bed, and I read a biblical book in the morning instead of going on Facebook.” “…I had to get used to sleeping without going on my phone right before bed. I had dreams that I could remember in the morning!” MORE PRODUCTIVITY Ten minutes here, and ten minutes there, can really add up in time wasted, but also in time put to good use. “I somewhat reluctantly signed up for the screen-fast, as my wife and kids were participating, but reflecting on it now, I can see God's hand working through them and the screen-fast. I spent more time reading the Bible and additional study material, and more time in prayer and reflection. I was able to think more clearly after the first few days, as the cheap distraction of screens was gone. This gave me time and focus to think through issues at work which I've been contending with for around a year, and come to difficult decisions there that I had perhaps been avoiding.” “I am working on a baby blanket for my son (knitting) and I was able to set a minimum for how much I wanted to complete on it daily, a minimum that seemed impossible to me before, and I was actually able to meet the minimum no problem.” "My husband participated as well, and has continued to not go onto social media. I found it most difficult to not pop onto social media when waiting for the mundane things, like water to boil/meat to cook. I would often go onto social media in these moments; at first it felt odd to not scroll, but I quickly would start to tidy the kitchen in these moments, so the result is a cleaner house :) and I did spend more time in God's Word, and reading short devotions here and there instead of picking up my phone." “The first few days I noticed a significant amount of improvement in my productivity. Without doom-scrolling on my phone, I was able to head out for a walk, dust off my book, and go to bed on time. I was able to spend a little more time with family and friends. Rather than watching a movie with my girlfriend after a long day, we decided to head out for a drive to enjoy the summer weather, which was awesome! I was able to spend more time reading my Bible before bed by keeping my phone in the kitchen, and used a good old-fashioned alarm clock to wake me up.” DOWNSIDES While there was lots to love about putting our phones aside for a time, there were some downsides too. “…I also found that it made me less likely to organize get-togethers if I had to phone people up instead of fire off a quick text; the kids and I ended up not doing as many things with friends or neighbors. I did make a few nice phone calls to people, since I was conscious of phoning instead of texting.” “I had a hard time not listening to my audiobooks and podcasts. I was more available for my kids (when I listen to audios, I have noise-cancelling headphones), but I had less ambition to do projects around the house that I would normally listen to something while doing. I also missed watching something at the end of a long day, but did enjoy my walks, and more reading of a physical book compared to an audio.” "I felt very disconnected from my family without WhatsApp group messaging! I was available via regular messaging, but it turns out that one-to-one messages are a rarity... if you aren’t on the group chat there isn't much to say. My 10-year-old son said: ‘It affected me because you didn't know as much about what other people in our family were doing.’ Keeping email off my phone (both work and personal) will stay. It was very restful to not be constantly checking emails and going down rabbit holes in the moment." “I missed seeing update posts from friends on Instagram or Facebook. For example, there was a family wedding and I wanted to go on social media to see some photos. I felt that I was missing out, not being able to do this. I came to the conclusion that family and friend updates can be one of the fun things about social media.” LASTING IMPACT? How can we apply the lessons learned? Some are planning on “having periodic screen-fasts in the future.” “…our family has decided to do a ‘modified fast’ for the rest of the summer and this was initiated by our children. Our stage of life (everyone working and/or attending post-secondary) means we don’t often have large blocks of time together but it was nice to spend more time in the evening sharing about our days and chatting.” “Going forward, I’ve used the settings in my phone to limit my time on certain apps. I’ve also cut out around half of the influencers I follow on Instagram so that I’m only following people I learn from (news, DIY, Christian content, etc.)" “Now that I’m done, I’m way more okay with leaving my phone in a bag or even at home.” “Going forward, I will be deleting social media apps from my phone. Thank you for prompting us to give this challenge a try! I think that it's fair to say that it will be life-changing.” “I intend to do this screen-fast again in the future and strongly encourage anyone who has not done it to do so, and aim to grow in service of our gracious God.” “I enjoyed the screen fast, and hope to do it again, and include more of my family members.” “From the get-go, I decided not to try 10 days but figured I could do 5. And you know what? It was easy! And it was good for me. I know I spend too much time on social media and playing games on my phone. I plan to do it again on a regular basis.” TIPS The most common tip mentioned was to delete social media apps from our phones. Another idea was to buy an alarm clock instead of using your phone to wake up. Here’s more… “…eliminate phones from your bedroom. Reading my Bible nightly is way more likely to happen when Instagram is more than a click away. That Christian influencer's advice might be insightful, but God's Word will not return empty (Isaiah 55:11)." “I …have continued a few habits I built, like delaying the first phone check of the day.” “I found freedom also in separating my phone from bedtime and wake time. This led to more prayer time. I think I was allowing the phone, instead of faith, to ease me into my day and I’m looking forward to continuing practice.” “We realized that phones are still an essential part of our lives but that the 'social media' part of it doesn't need to be so extensive. A regular phone call to someone can be so enjoyable and truly connecting. I have since called many people and just had a good chat. Hoping to keep this method up. I will keep my notifications 'OFF.'” “I made a rule for myself a couple years ago, that at the start of every day, I may not look at my phone until after my breakfast devotions were finished. It really helps to be very disciplined about not falling into bad habits. Make rules and stick to them. I also tell myself that it's okay to be bored.” Cartoons by Hannah Penninga....

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News

Saturday Selections – Aug. 16, 2025

Life's building blocks: everything, everywhere, all at once (1 minute) You can build some of the basic elements of a cell in a lab. But there's no process that can build them all together, which is what you need for life. In other words, even with a blueprint at the ready – scientists have cells they can observe – and refined materials and supercomputers and skilled geniuses, they not only can't make life in a lab, they demonstrate how it could never happen by accident out in the wild. The amazing ways fathers matter "Involved fathers made an especially big difference for girls’ mental health, with 10 times the number of female students being diagnosed with depression and risk of self-harm when they had disengaged or absent fathers." 6 ways that Christianity answers the "problem of pain" ... and also worth noting, the world doesn't have much of any answer at all. Should we ban smartphones from our schools?  Jonathan Haidt thinks so. Here are five key quotes from his book, The Anxious Generation... On "replacement theology" Rev. Witteveen on God's plan for Israel today... What's wrong with censorship Prov. 18:17 is known by some as the journalist's proverb, but its value extends to far beyond just reporters. It says: "The first to present his case seems right, until a second comes and questions him." This, in a nutshell, is the Christian case against censorship. What we know of fallen human nature means that we don't trust any one person or institution to have the necessary brilliance or character to always be right. The Christian case for free speech is also, essentially, the freedom to pursue God, and His Truth. All sorts of questions and skeptical arguments could be allowed in this pursuit.... though blasphemy need not be. We have good reason to be for free speech... but not without restriction. After all, God is our god, not free speech. ...

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Assorted

Why I don’t have a bucket list

Admittedly, to get guilt tripped into a camping trip exposes character weakness on my part. When someone bounds up to you, excited as a kitten encountering his first ball of yarn, and says they have the best idea for a geology fieldtrip, spanning 3 days (“ooh, ooh, no let’s turn it into 4!”), 400 miles, and something like 8 piles of rocks, any person with their wits about them would laugh and say, “Y’all have fun now, I’ll be over here, sleeping in my own bed.” People who camp on purpose, non-ironically, are an utter mystery to me. The more I learn about camping, the more outrageous and certifiable it seems! Did you know that KOA (one of the largest campground empires in the United States and yes, there is such a thing as a campground empire) stands for Kampgrounds of America?? How are we not promoting illiteracy and the overall degradation of our dignity by paying these people to borrow their dirt so we can sleep on it? Did you further know that after you have paid to sleep on dirt out in “nature,” you still are required to either buy or pack in your own wood for building campfires? In the (wait for it...) woods? Yet for the longest time during the diabolical planning of this trip, whose chief stated end was to go and stare at rocks, I could not bring myself to say “no, absolutely not, life is too short.” Which leads me to the character flaw, and my grandmother. ***** In the same week that this trip was scheduled to take place, I received word that my grandmother, my dad’s 94-year-old mother, had suffered a severe stroke. As I write this, I await further word on her condition; things didn’t look good last night. So I have been contemplating my grandmother, someone I have always found to be remarkable and not, perhaps, for the usual reasons. My grandmother was the quintessential farmwife. She raised four children, kept a lovely home, and was known for feeding people well. In many ways, I didn’t truly get to know her until I got married at age 20 and we both discovered that I shared her love of beautiful dishes, and of tables set to appeal to the senses. It was something she was teased about a bit over the years, her large collections of glassware, full sets of tableware, antique bowls and coffee service, but it has captivated me since childhood. She gave me my first everyday serving bowls when my oldest was a toddler – the same ones she used when her kids were little, and then proceeded to gift me antique glassware for my birthday for the next nearly 20 years. The year the glassware stopped was the same year she stopped calling on my birthday; that was, perhaps, the first time a birthday ever made me feel my age. I was blessed with 2 beautiful, intelligent farming grandmothers growing up; my mom’s mom went to the Lord a couple of years ago, and I like to think there are flavors of each of these women’s influences in my own farmwife homemaking. My maternal grandmother was known for ingenuity with the food at hand, with using her abundant garden to set visually peaceful tables, with the sort of minimalism that employs only that which is meaningful. My paternal grandmother was known for overflowing tables (why serve one kind of meat when you could serve three?), and for leftovers that could feed an army, created with simple recipes that everyone loved, served with what I find to be an uncommon blend of elegance and utility. She had no shame in making her mashed potatoes from a box, and paper napkins were a blessing. No one ever left her table hungry. I asked her once to teach me how she cooked various meats, how her meals always taste so good. She shrugged and said, “just a little salt and pepper?” As a person tempted by gourmet magazines, it was an important lesson for me. ***** And this, obviously, leads me to the ill-fated camping trip (not obvious, you say? We should spend more time together). The thing that guilted me into agreeing to this grand adventure of curiosity and literally leaving no stone unturned was the feeling that good mothers, or for that matter, that really interesting people, are the sort who long to travel the world, to always be experiencing new things. They are the ones who cannot simply read about a volcano, they have to climb it! At sunrise! And then go glissading down it, trying all the while to avoid hidden frozen lakes (you think I am making this up. Friend, I couldn’t make this stuff up. I refer you to your friendly neighborhood internet browser to prove the point)! How could I be worth anything at all if my bucket list was not perpetually on the verge of overflow? What does the truth – that I don’t even have a bucket list– say about me, about my value as a mother, as a wife, as a Christian? My grandmother has run well. She has lived an extraordinary life, and why? Because her life has been marked by extraordinary faithfulness to the task at hand. She has steadily built the portion of the kingdom wall God put in front of her. The pitfall I fell into was to believe that true faithfulness had to look different than embracing the life God has given me – it had to look both more “normal” and more exciting. I gave room to the lie that setting a gracious table was inferior to seeing something new, to having an adventure outside my own home. I am kicking myself as I write this... how could I have been so daft as to think that kicking rocks was more full of glory than grilling fresh corn on the cob, that sleeping on dirt had more inherent value than putting clean sheets on my family’s beds? Sitting here in the morning light, having removed myself from the geology fieldtrip, the truth of what it means to live well shines brightly before me. Only what’s done for Christ will last....

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News

Can you track all the ways you’re taxed?

Each year the Fraser Institute observes a “Tax Freedom Day” – this year it happened on June 8 – that tracks Canadians’ total tax burden when you add up all the municipal, provincial, and federal tax burdens. Across the country, the average Canadian spent up until June 8 earning money to cover their taxes, and it was only June 9 going forward that what they earned was what they could keep. So Canadians need to work nearly half the year just to pay our taxes. The average Canadian family with two or more individuals (i.e., this isn’t tracking individuals living on their own) is said to earn $158,533 a year, and pay $68,266 in taxes, or 43% of their income. This Tax Freedom Day differs from province to province, depending on their tax burden. In Manitoba, it arrives May 17 (37.5% of their income), the very earliest date in Canada, with the latest occurring in Quebec, on June 21 (47%). Do those figures strike you as higher than expected? They did to me, so I dug a bit deeper. The biggest tax we’re all hit with is income tax, but it is far from the only one. The government taxes us all sorts of niggling ways, which has the result of hiding from us the cumulative total. Just consider all the different ways you get taxed when you earn a dollar. The amounts below are based on the Fraser Institute’s purported $158,533 average family income. Payroll taxes: $16,199 – Before you even get your cheque, both you and your employer will have to contribute to the Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance, and some provincial Health Taxes. Income taxes: $23,100 – The federal and provincial governments each have their own income tax on the money you take home. Sales taxes: $10,091 – When you spend any of your remaining income, both the federal government, and all provinces except Alberta (and the territories) will charge you a sales tax. Capital gains tax: $6,656 – If you invest your money hoping to make it grow, you’ll be taxed on any gains you make. Property taxes: $2,310 – If you used your money to buy property, then every year you’ll be taxed on that too. Sin taxes: $2,310 – All taxes make things more expensive, but sin taxes are specifically geared to do so, to discourage consumption. They are placed on alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis. Tariffs and fuel could fall under this category too – both are meant to punish consumption – but the Fraser Institute placed them in other categories below. Fuel/vehicle/carbon taxes: $2,267 – There are additional taxes placed on gas, and while the Trudeau carbon tax is now hidden from consumers, it is still applied to industry, which will, of course, have to then pass it on to their consumers. Other miscellaneous taxes: $1,136 – These include import duties (i.e., tariffs), amusement taxes, natural resource fees, etc. and etc. So, that’s how it all adds up. And, to make matters worse, the Fraser Institute figure doesn’t even include what we should call the hidden inflation tax. Over the last 4 years, prices in Canada have risen, cumulatively around 17.5%. If our average Canadian family spent what income remained, that rise in inflation would amount to another $13,000 worth of impact from this “tax” – their $90,267 of remaining income would now have only $77,000 worth of purchasing power, compared to just four years previous. But to a fiscally profligate government that’s piled up a huge debt, inflation can be attractive. It not only deflates the value of the dollar, but deflates the value of the country’s debt too, easing the pressure on the government to curtail their spending. In other words, inflation really is a tax, raising revenue of a sort for the government, at the expense of citizens. And we’re still not done tallying yet, because our governments are planning on spending more than they even collect, which, if that additional sum had to be paid now, would require another $5,500 from our average Canadian. Instead, our federal and provincial governments are borrowing it to a cumulative projected deficit of $84.9 billion in 2025, saddling future generations with repayment, making this a tax on our children. Why so many different and even hidden taxes? Well, if everyone knew just how much we’re paying, would we stand for it? The more important point might simply be the enormous amount. God says that where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also (Matt. 6:21), and the amount of treasure we’re investing in our government – half of everything that families make – shows where Canadians’ hearts are turning. We’ve made a god out of government, and that needs to stop (Ex. 20:3). So next election, when the politicians come knocking, we need to demand less from them. And we need to explain why they don’t need nearly so much money, because, after all, God has called on other levels of government, including the Church, families, and even self-government, to fill so many of the roles that our political leaders have tried to take over....

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How to stop taking the Bible for granted

“Scripture has never been easier to obtain, and Scripture has never been more difficult to absorb.” Let that sink in for a minute. I read that quote the other day in The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg, and was struck by that sad truth. It reminded me of a recent discussion around our dinner table, when Pop told us the story of Mary Jones. She was a poor young Welsh girl who saved and saved for a Bible, and when she finally had the funds she needed, she walked 26 miles to buy one (just a heads up that is 42 kilometers – a literal marathon!). So, after a long arduous trek barefoot through the countryside, Mary arrived at the house of the clergyman Thomas Charles to make her purchase... only to discover there were no Bibles left! She burst into tears. Her heart was broken, because she could not buy her own Bible. Do not worry though, the story does not end there! There is a happily ever after! Mary ended up with a Bible (one set aside for purchase by someone else, but a Bible nonetheless). And God used this interaction in the push for more Bible translations! What a beautiful chain of events. Now, as we contemplated this story at home, Pop asked a question I would like to pose to you: How many Bibles do you have? Most of us probably have a few Bibles, either from our school days or due to the changing translations within our churches. And that does not even take into account the access we have through the internet! But with all this access, all these Bibles... do you ever desire to read Scripture like Mary? Satan knows the Word has power. Saving power (John 5:24; 1 Cor. 1:18; Rom. 1:16). So any time you even think about opening the Bible, you may well find yourself faced with temptations and distractions placed there by the devil, the world, or simply your own sinful flesh. Suddenly there is something else that requires your immediate attention, or there is a notification on your phone, or you just do not feel like it. And once the first battle has been waged and won and your Bible is open... the spiritual war resumes! You are once again distracted, or start skim-reading, or your brain just goes numb. The sad, unspoken truth is that many people find the Bible boring. The length and strength of our attention span has been weakened by our dependence on external stimuli. The overconsumption of short and shallow content through social media has decreased our capacity to focus. Therefore, in a world with so many easy options to amuse or distract our minds, we all have to learn to be fed by the Bible. So, how can we do this? How can we make sure we are truly listening when we hear the Bible all the time? How can we make sure we are still looking for God’s Word when it is right in front of us? John Ortberg had a few suggestions for improving our engagement with the Scriptures, and I would like to share them with you. 1. Read with expectancy Sometimes people bring energy to a gathering. Sometimes they just show up. Consider this: when you spend time in the Word of God, you get to spend time with the God of the Word (James 4:8; Jer. 29:13). If I really understand that, then when I open up my Bible, I do not just “show up.” My mind is awake. I am building my relationship with my Father. It is His turn to talk. I am expectantly waiting to hear what He has to say! 2. Read with an active mind Satan loves to paint a mental glaze over the familiar words of the Bible. So break through it! Use your critical thinking, voice your musings, and ask questions! Read the way you watch a movie. Nobody “tries harder” to watch a movie, but everybody is engaged. Everyone has something to say. However, when it comes to the Bible, the conversations become stilted. People are so concerned with making sure they get the “right” answer, that everyone backs out. The good-natured revealing of different perspectives creates much more learning than just anxiously filling in the blanks with the right answers. 3. Memorize the Word I can’t emphasize how much I believe in hiding God’s Word in your heart (Ps. 119:11). I know it can sound hard, or tedious, or time-consuming, but you can start small! Just start! The words we carry in our minds are available to transform any moment. Memorize the encouragements or warnings that you need most. When God’s Word pushes out lies and resides within us, we will reach for truth, and it will be ours to have. 4. Don’t just read. Do something! It is easier to be smart than to be good. In all our love of debating what we need to do, sometimes we just need to do what we already know (James 1:22)! Practice loving a difficult person (Luke 6:27-29; Col. 3:12-14). Give away some money (Deut. 15:10-11; 2 Cor. 9:7). Be patient with your siblings (1 John 3:16-18; Ps. 133:1; Eph. 4:31-32). Respect your parents (Deut. 5:16; Ex. 20:12). Confess your sins (James 5:16; 1 John 1:9-10; Prov. 28:13). Trust God’s plan (Ps. 37:3-5; Rom. 8:28; Prov. 3:5-6; Matt. 6:25-34). Now I cannot promise this is the perfect recipe for engaging with the Scriptures. Reading God’s Word is part of a relationship we cannot build on our own. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work within you, daily transforming your heart and your desires. If you truly love God, then His Word will never be boring. I’ll leave you with a short text to hide in your heart. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Ps. 1:1-2). A version of this article first appeared in the June 2025 issue of “Contender, the FRCA Youth Magazine” under the title “Boring Bible” and it is reprinted here with permission....

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Saturday Selections – Aug. 2, 2025

Josiah Queen's Dusty Bibles As a tribute to everyone who participated in RP's just-complete screen-fast challenge, Josiah Queen's newest. Lunar tales: what's going on here? Even kids are confronted with conflict between what the world says about our origins and what God says. "What’s going on here?" That was the question a perplexed fifth grader asked me during a recent church service. She’d been learning about the Moon in her public school science class — and was confused. What she heard in class didn’t align with what I had recently presented to the church...." WiFi companies can track movements in your house In George Orwell's 1984, citizens are monitored in their own homes via a "telescreen" that brings new into the house – the government-approved news – but more importantly, allows them to look through it at you. Today, we're not far off of this same 24/7 oversight. We live in a world where our online presence is being monitored by tech companies, and even the US government's NSA (as whistleblower Edward Snowden disclosed back in 2013). And, now it turns out, you can be monitored when you are offline, in your own house... as a security feature. As one person tweeted: "it blows my mind how many conspiracy theories turn out to be true." We are all late bloomers It can be downright depressing to think of all we could have done and accomplished for the glory of our Lord, if only we hadn't been so slow to respond, or so quick to turn to sin. It's depressing because there is no denying the truth of it. But God forgives. And He most certainly can be glorified too, by us late bloomers. How Jacob Arminius effectively said no one would be saved If you sinned right before you died, you would then be dying unrepentant of that sin. So... would your unrepentant sin send you to hell? Is God's grace dependent on you repenting of every sin? Christless conservatism saves no one Matt Walsh, Donald Trump, and to a more limited extent, Pierre Poilievre have made the case that guys in dresses aren't girls. But... so what? Tearing down one lie without pointing people to the Truth they can actually stand on only leaves them falling for the next lie. The world needs God, which means the world needs God's people to speak as God's people. ...

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Music

10 favorite music videos

The only rules for how these videos were selected were that: no band could get more than one entry, and this specific song had to be solid – I haven't looked through the back catalogue of all these artists, so I'm not trying to endorse everything they've done. I do think this was special, though. I might expand this list periodically, but 10 seemed enough to get things going. Eight of the songs were on Spotify, if you want to listen there, though these really are worth a watch. ONE SHOT WONDERS (2) The one-shot video is an exercise in planning – once filming starts, it's supposed to never stop until the entire song is sung. While Ok Go didn't invent this genre, they might be the most proficient at it, and they're the band that the comic troop Studio C is spoofing in their own one-shot disaster. Two Christian artists have made the attempt too, and managed to do what Studio C didn't. These are wonderful... Allison Eide’s one-shot “In the Moment”  Christian artist Allison Eide got her friends together to create this epic, non-stop, one-shot video. Andrew Peterson's "Is He worthy?" This is a wonderful song with a video every bit as good. It probably isn't a true one-shot video, as the camera zooms in on the black piano at one point, which could have made for a nice scene break, but regardless, it feels like one. And whether it is or isn't, it is amazing! MORE THAN JUST PEP (3) These have some toe-tapping zip to them, but also truth worth hearing. Micah Tyler's "Praise the Lord" Into everyone's life a little rain must fall, yes. And we will praise God still. Matt Maher's "The Lord's Prayer" Don't let the heavy metal-ish way this begins throw you off - that's a little misdirection on an awesome song. Jenny Geddes Band's "Hold your peace" Who is the pot to question the potter? PERFECT WEDDING SONGS (2) Here's a couple for every couple out there. The Gray Havens' "Band of gold" I'll just say, love it, love it, love it :) Jimmy Clifton & Haddon's "Pinching pennies" These two are quite happy about being poor. But that's okay; they'll be fine, because they have such good women in their lives. RAP FOR THE MASSES (3) Not every musical genre is going to appeal to everybody, and Rap's reputation might have many wondering if there is just something inherently wrong with it. But some folks do Rap right... and even do it Reformed, as you can see below. Shai Linne's "Farm talk" Years ago, I showed my father-in-law a video by Shai Linne's wife, Blair Linne, called "The Perfection of Beauty." My father-in-law was a Rap skeptic beforehand, and while I can't say I won him over completely, that song had him re-evaluating. Shai Linne's video below doesn't have quite the same emotional pull as his wife's, but it is a story well told. Tedashii's "Make war" For a while there, Reformed pastors were making regular cameos in Rap songs. This time around, it's Pastor John Piper teaming up with Rapper Tedashii to call out any and all who are whining about, and not fighting against, their sins. Propaganda's "Life in 6 Words: The GOSPEL" This might be more spoken word than rap, but... close enough. And great stuff! JUST  BEAUTIFUL (1) It might not be you, but if you're watching this with someone, at least one of you is going to be bawling. Brian Suavé's "Winnie's Song" A dad shares his prayer for his little girl. FUTURE NOMINEES This didn't quite make the Top 10, but it might make the Top 12 when the list expands. And if you have nominees, please let me know. Josiah's Queen's "Dusty Bibles" If ever there was a song for our time... ...

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Economics

On why freer trade is best

The following is based on Real Talk’s episode #126, “Mere Economics and the Issue of Tariffs,” with host Lucas Holtvlüwer talking to economics professor and author Dr. Caleb Fuller about the only four ways that people can get the things they need. **** We might not be medical experts, or have a law degree, but we all know a lawyer, and a nurse or two. But how many of us know an economist? Not too many, and I think that's why economics can seem an intimidating field. But it doesn't have to be complicated. When it comes to how we can best get the things that we want and need for ourselves and our families, Dr. Fuller boiled things down: “…there's only actually four possible ways for me to get what I want. And these four ways are logically exhaustive.” What he means by "logically exhaustive" is that these four are it – there are no other possibilities. So what are these four ways? And more importantly, why should we know? To answer the second question first, this is vital information because only one of the four ways will actually work for a society. So it is key we pick the right way. 1. Getting gifts One way we could get the food, clothing, and shelter we need is to simply receive it from someone else. That’s what we do for our kids, after all. But there is a problem, as Dr. Fuller explains: “I could rely on gifts from someone else. But if you think about that for a couple seconds, you realize that if everyone was doing this – if you kind of systematized that way of getting what you want – the world would be incredibly poor. It also pushes the question back a step. You know, where did the gift-giver get what he's giving?” 2. Stealing what we want and need A second option is chosen by some, but we’d all starve if everyone did the same. “You could steal from others. Ethical problems aside, if you universalize that means of getting what you want, you also live in a world ‘nasty, brutish, and short,’ to quote Thomas Hobbes. And, also, just like the first option pushes the question back, where did the person who's being stolen from…get the goods in question?” 3. Making it all ourselves So, that leaves us only two more possibilities. We can either make everything we need ourselves, or, instead, use our particular skills to make something others want, and trade with them for what we want. So, our options are make or trade, and one of the reasons President Trump instituted his tariffs is he wanted less trade with other countries, and more of the making done in the US. Dr. Fuller highlights the problem with this approach. “Let's think about make for a second. There's a great book called The Toaster Project by a guy named Thomas Thwaites. Thwaites chronicles his attempt to build a very simple toaster from scratch, that is, without cooperating with anyone else. So he's not going to engage in buying, he's not going to engage in exchange, he's just going to make, okay? “And it takes him about nine months. He does cheat a little bit along the way. And after this nine months of full-time work on this toaster, he plugs the toaster in, and five seconds later it shorts out. “There's a small fire that melts it down. After nine months of work, that was the consequence. And that is a little vignette of what our lives would be if we systematized or universalized this third means of getting what we want – just making everything that I want to consume.” 4. Specializing/trading And as Fuller shares, that “brings us to this fourth option, of specialization.” Few of us will be any better at making toasters than Thwaites was, but we might have other skills we can offer. One person might be a great nurse, another a very good farmer, and a third might be a skilled high school teacher. We all have our specialties, and it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to recognize how much worse off we’d be if we didn’t specialize. Then the nurse would have to build her home, the farmer would have to teach his kids high school physics, and the teacher would have to fix his son’s broken leg. Specialization helps us do and make more. Dr. Fuller specializes as an economics professor producing lectures and books that others value, and he trades those away for money and then uses that money to buy what he wants. “That's why I say that the ability to exchange is not optional if you want to observe ‘mass flourishing,’ to use economist Ed Phelps’ term. And so that's why economists are so obsessed with specialization…” Conclusion Of these four ways of getting what we need, God’s commandment against stealing rules out the second. His call to be fruitful (Gen. 1:28 and in the Parable of the Talents, Matt. 25:14-30) eliminates the first as an option – we can’t just live off of our parents, even if they were willing. A fruitful life would also address the third option. It doesn’t make sense for us to try to do everything ourselves. If everyone did, we’d all be not simply poor, but quite likely dead. What’s true for individuals is true in large part for countries too. The US is currently trying to use tariffs on foreign goods to drive companies to produce in-country more of the goods that Americans consume. But even the US can’t be better than everyone at producing everything. So, for example, in a June 3rd House Appropriations meeting, Rep. Madeleine Dean questioned Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the tariff being imposed on bananas. The US grows less than a tenth of one percent of the bananas that Americans eat. The other 99.9% are imported. And, as Secretary Lutnick noted, the tariff is “generally 10%.” Lutnick defended the tariff, arguing that, as trade deals are made, the tariffs will eventually be eliminated. But he also argued that “if you build in America and produce your product in America, there will be no tariff.” To which Rep. Dean pointed out, “You can’t build bananas in America.” Free trade remains best, and not simply for banana lovers. ...

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Saturday Selections – July 12, 2025

Josiah Queen's "A Garden in Manhattan" On the crowded streets, all the people that I see Want them to know the Jesus that I know If I'm the closest thing to a Bible that they read Let the words they read be what You wrote Father, help me to go I'll be a garden in Manhattan, be a river where it's dry When my friends can't find the road, I'll be a roadside welcome sign Sunshine in Seattle, be a cool breeze in July Light in the darkness I'll be a garden, a garden in Manhattan Florida after dark, I know it ain't quite Central Park There's souls in my hometown You wanna reach Oh, God, use me where You have me... Climate hypocrisy tells us what the elites really believe When global warming proponents like Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos all jet off to an exotic locale to celebrate a wedding, you can know they aren't really worried about CO2 hurting the planet... or they wouldn't fly a hundred jets to a party. And as this article explains, EV cars are another hypocrisy gauge. They might make sense in some instances, but if they are being pushed whether they help lower CO2 emissions or not, then you know this is about show, not substance. As Bjorn Lomborg writes: "In some parts of the world, like India, so much of the power comes from coal that electric cars end up emitting more CO₂ than gasoline cars...." Now, to be fair, Lomborg himself is worried about global warming. But, as he highlights, the actions most governments take are not what would be needed to solve the issue if it did exist. Parks Canada staff privately doubted Kamloops "graves" claim “$12M spent by @GcIndigenous to find purported 215 children's graves at Indian Residential School was instead spent on publicists & consultants with no graves found to date...” The legacy media is betraying Canada (10 min. read) Soviet Union President Nikita Khrushchev is credited with saying, "The press is our chief ideological weapon." In contrast, US President George H.W. Bush is said to have said, "We need an independent media to hold people like me to account.” The dictator wanted to own the press so the government could use it to direct public opinion, while the US president touted the need for a press independent of government so it could hold those in power to account. Our Canadian government spends massive amounts of money funding the country's largest media outlets, and these outlets not only don't denounce the proposition, but take the money. That tells you a lot about which direction our media is heading. While readers likely won't mind this article's anti-Liberal Party bias, some might be put off by just how loud it is. But read it anyways for the money trail. The Scopes Monkey Trial is 100 years old! In 1925, a Dayton, Tennessee high school teacher named John Scopes was put on trial for violating a state law that forbade teaching evolution. The case made big news then – across both the US and into Canada – and made big news again in 1960 when a movie version called Inherit the Wind was made, which portrayed the town of Dayton as a bunch of creationist hicks who wanted to storm the jail to get Scopes. That film was then shown in classrooms across the US for generations, convincing many students that only idiots like those onscreen could ever believe Genesis is literal. But the truth is, the whole town was in on it – they challenged the law to get some attention for their hometown, and recruited Scopes, who agreed to be charged, and in an ironic twist, he probably never even taught evolution in his classroom. In another ironic twist, as this article lays out, much of the scientific evidence marshaled for evolution during the trial has been overturned since (ex. vestigial organs, similar embryonic development). So, even if it had been a bunch of dumb hicks, dumb hicks siding with God are a lot smarter than a gaggle of reporters and scientists siding against Him. Is Trump doing good or is he doing bad? Yes. Jeffrey Epstein was a sex trafficker with ties to many of the most powerful people in the world. This, then, was a man who could name names, and topple empires... and then he died mysteriously in his jail cell – a purported suicide but one that happened when his cell's video cameras were broken. The country's reaction was telling. No one was buying the coincidence. This past week, Epstein's client list was supposed to be released and the news now is that there was no client list. As the video below details, this has a lot of conservatives, Christians among them, feeling crushed. They don't believe it, and want to know where the justice is. Part of the disappointment comes from the tendency we have of making politicians our dividing lines. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were monsters... so we should love Trump? That doesn't follow. Canadian prime ministers Trudeau and Carney have a litany of sins, most recently trying to push murder as a treatment for mental illness. But does that mean we have to look past the shortcomings of Pierre Poilievre? Christians don't have to. Our dividing line is not a Trudeau or Trump, because our unswerving loyalty lies only with God (Josh. 5:13-14). So, yes, Trump continues to stand strong against gender nonsense, but the missing Epstein list has people wondering if the swamp can ever be drained, and as Mindy Belz (sister-in-law of WORLD magazine founder Joel Belz) highlights, his results-now approach has undercut processes that protect everyone from government overreach. ...

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Are you still able?

A nation-wide challenge to experience life without screens ***** It used to be different, not all that long ago. Carrie is a teen who always had the kind of contagious smile that would get her friends smiling right back, no matter their mood. She used to shoot hoops with her younger sister after dinner. She enjoyed heart-to-heart chats with her mom while doing her hair. And she treasured many of the devotionals that her dad read to her by the glow of her small bedside lamp. George, a mechanic and all-around handyman, has always counted himself blessed to be married to his wife of 26 years. He was the kind of dad who’d get down on the ground to play with his kids. While three of his kids have moved out, his two youngest children still live at home. George has served as a deacon in his church, where his love of tinkering was a help not only to his own family but to some of the older couples in his ward. Liz’s life changed after losing her husband eight years ago. But she did an amazing job doting on all five of her children, her 23 grandchildren, and the seven great-grandchildren. She’d always make it out for every one of their milestones to give out hugs, and to remind her growing clan of God’s goodness and love. Then, not right away, but over the weeks and months and years, things changed. Carrie’s sister, mom, and grandparents now don’t see much of Carrie. OK, they see her, but not her eyes. Carrie is mostly head down, scrolling on her phone and messaging with people they don’t even know. Her mom has a hard time remembering when they last shared a good chat, or when she last saw her daughter’s beautiful smile. Dad’s devotionals were replaced by someone Carrie follows on Instagram who posts short reflections… which Carrie reads when she has time. George’s wife knows that her husband is still committed to their marriage. But she is having a hard time competing with the attention he gives to his various YouTube subscriptions. His ward doesn’t see him much outside of church, and he seems to spend more time watching clips about fixing cars than actually fixing them. And lately his scale seems to be out by at least 10 pounds. Instead of dropping by with a card, Grandma Liz now sends a WhatsApp message when her children and grandchildren celebrate a birthday. She has become very hesitant to head out her front door. It’s all the nightly news she’s been watching, which is making the world look like an ever-scarier place. Even when she makes a grocery trip, she stays out for as short a time as possible. Carrie, George, and Liz all go to the same church, and share this in common too: they have all slowly become dominated by their screens. None of them think it’s a real problem, but, if pressed, they will agree that they spend more time on their screens than they did a couple of years ago. But isn’t that just life today? Increased screen time may well be one of the biggest changes our world has experienced in the past half-century, with one estimate putting the global average for daily Internet usage at 6 hours and 38 minutes. The correlation between screen time and anxiety, mental health challenges, and weight gain is well-known now. What isn’t so well documented, or discussed in church, is the impact that screens are having on our pace as we “run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Heb 12:1-2). Putting screens in their place When Reformed Perspective did a deep dive into this topic last spring, we promoted The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch. Crouch correctly shifts the focus from whether a particular type of technology can or can’t be allowed, to instead how these technologies can be put in their proper place, so that priorities like family, friends, and faith remain priorities. But how is this going for you? Screen time, like money and sex, has become a sensitive topic – okay to talk about in generalities, but don’t get personal! We’re all quick to be defensive and shut down the discussion if anyone dares raise the topic of our own usage. That’s why we challenged our readers to a 10-day screen fast in the last issue. The goal of such a fast isn’t to eradicate screens from our lives. But don’t we all see wisdom in implementing a reset? Let’s test it out, to determine just how reliant we are on our devices, and what sort of impact this dependence may be having on our relationships, including with our LORD. Last month our Assistant Editor Marty VanDriel gathered a group and gave the challenge a go, and you can read about how their screen fast went. Now we’re issuing the challenge again because some generous supporters have presented us with quite the offer. For every person that commits to, and completes, a ten-day screen fast from July 21 to 30 they will donate $100, split between two charities (Word & Deed and Reformed Perspective). They will give up to $20,000! Could you do it? Do you have what it takes to put your screens aside for 10 days? (The screen challenge allows exceptions for necessary activities, like your job and making a phone call.) It may be hard to do this by yourself, so would you consider asking some of your family, friends, and siblings in the LORD to join you? If you can get a group of 10 together, that can serve as a great accountability and encouragement. Plus, it will lead to $1,000 going to two very good causes. And if you don’t think screens are much of a challenge for you, we encourage you to ask your loved ones if they think you should give this screen fast a try. This challenge isn’t so much about saying no to screens as it is about saying yes to other priorities. That’s why we’ve put together 35 ideas for fun, productive, and meaningful activities you can challenge yourself to do during these 10 days. Enjoy some time travel Can you remember not having your phone in your pocket, or not hearing the ping of a new message on your tablet? Although we think screens are essential, we have the power to make necessary changes in our lives. A screen fast can serve as an important reminder to yourself that you don’t have to keep living the way you have. Instead of scrolling, Carrie can shoot some hoops with her sister again. George can go for a walk with his wife, and drop by the home of the young man in his ward who hasn’t been coming to church much lately. And Liz can write a card and deliver it in person to her granddaughter. Yes, you can ignore this screen fast, and hope that your family members and friends don’t bring it up either. But before you brush it aside and reach for your phone, consider for a moment what you want your legacy to be at your funeral. Which Carrie, George, and Liz do you want to be? The one before the screen addiction, or the one after? To register for the screen fast click here. Let’s do this together!...

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Saturday Selections – July 5, 2025

On boys, and not failing to launch As singer Brian Sauvé wrote of his song Old Neptune, He's Roaring, "I wrote this... for my boys: Ari, Ira, Cyril, and Alfred. It's a call to go and run the race to win the prize, to do what Paul urged in Romans 2, to live for glory and immortality through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's for your sons, too." N.T. Wright gets it wrong on abortion and the unborn A recent public gaffe by this famous Christian intellectual highlights how few seem to understand the basic argument for the unborn's worth. Even the linked article, by two great Christian thinkers, John Stonestreet and Shane Morris, only gets it right in part. Yes, it is wrong to kill any innocent human being, but why? What makes a tiny human being of the same value as a big one? From where do we get our worth, and from where do we get this notion of equality? The secular world has no answer. But Christians know that there is one thing we all share, and in equal measure. What sets us apart from the animals, but not the unborn, is that we are all made in the very Image of God (Gen. 9:6). It's this foundational truth that N.T. Wright forgot, and that many other pro-lifers neglect as well. But it is this distinctly Christian point that is the only foundation for equality, and in raising it we highlight the antithesis – God's truth vs. the world's emptiness – to the glory of God. So ridiculous, it has to be God A husband whose wife has had to endure 98 surgeries shares how, in the midst of the craziness, they've been reassured that, "God is good. "Christ is near. "Grace is sufficient. "Even when nothing else makes sense. "Maybe especially then." An amazing, encouraging story... God's guidelines for sex aren't arbitrary This is a longer read, but it might shake how you think not only about sex, but how you think about politics, and conversations over the office cooler. Trevin Wax talks of sin as "our hearts bending inward, turning away from God." "The Latin phrase is incurvatus in se – a curving in on ourselves, where we grasp for God’s blessings but push away God himself." Does that not strike you as the popular Christian, Jordan Peterson-esque approach to public debate? We try to teach our world about how they can get some of the blessings of God by following His laws – turning away from pornography, envy, and adultery are all good for us and for our society – even as we pitch it to them completely separate of God Himself. It's what we do because we think our world isn't interested to hear what God has to say. But Trevin Wax seems to call this sin! The massive lies ChatGPT might be telling you A longer read, but this real conversation with ChatGPT takes increasingly bizarre turns. Even if you've already been regularly catching ChatGPT lying to you, this'll be the eye-opener! Would you rather be colonized by Aztecs or Christians? "The right of conquest" is the centuries-old (and longer than even that) notion that if a country conquers and manages to hold an area of land for a length of time it should then be understood as theirs. But many are rightly suspicious of this tradition, and Christians should be in particular, because this tradition runs right up against the 8th Commandment. Or, it would require the commandment be modified such that it says "Do not steal... unless you are bigger and stronger and can hold onto what you've stolen for at least so long." But if we don't like that kind of modification, we should also object to another alteration that's been proposed, though never explicitly: "Thou shall not steal what I stole." As Michael Knowles highlights in this video, we're all immigrants and "colonizers," even including the tribes that were supplanted. As Nathaniel T. Jeanson also highlights in his They Had Names: Tracing the History of North American Indigenous People, tribes fought against tribes, and one supplanted the next. In a very real sense, there are no original owners to give the land back to. Does that mean that it's okay then, to have taken land from the tribes that were here before? No. But it does recast them as, not simply victims, but also victimizers – what was done to them, their ancestors did to others to gain this same land. Let's get that into the land acknowledgements we hear so often: "Before we begin, I'd just like to acknowledge we are on the traditional hunting grounds of the --- tribe, who took these grounds from the ---- tribe, who in turn took them from other tribes, and so on, down through time immemorial...." Where does that leave us with treaty negotiations? I don't know, but I do know more honesty is better than less. If it is wrong for the Western world to have taken what they would by force of arms, then it is no less wrong when it was done by the tribes who were here before us. ...

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