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Entertainment

Test the tale: how to analyze stories

Why is it important for Christians to understand stories? Obviously, God loves to tell them. Our world is saturated with His stories and the stories of those who emulate Him, stories that teach, inspire, entertain, and more.

However, Christians aren’t the only ones with access to this tool. The secular world pumps out hundreds of movies every year, and millions of books. Modern men and women sit with slack jaws, swallowing as much as can be shoved down their throats, without any active discrimination or discernment. But, just as stories can be edifying and beautiful, they can even more easily be toxic and destructive. The fallen world has all sorts of corrupt messages it would like to slip you, like a pill wrapped in cheese for a dog. With enough explosions and drama scenes, the lies often pass by unnoticed.

Worldview workout

Let the unbelievers be duped if they insist, but Christians should not be such an easy audience. We don’t need to exclusively consume explicitly Christian content, but we should not be caught unawares or slowly marinated in lies we not only fail to resist, but fail to even notice. We need to watch and read with open eyes and active, and even cynical, minds. We are not called by God to serve as the world’s trash cans taking in whatever’s pitched at us.

However, the ability to intelligently analyze stories isn’t a light switch you can just flip on. I can’t give you three simple steps that, if followed exactly, will instantly turn you into the perfect movie critic. This is something that takes practice. We do brain pushups. We change the way we look at stories; and then, over time, it becomes second nature.

Can’t spit out what you swallow whole

To start us off, it’s important to be a participant, not just a consumer.

Every story has a message, even if only in its worldview assumptions. This message isn’t always deep and philosophical. You will find children’s movies with the simple message of, “we don’t really care about quality and are just here to provide vapid stories in the hopes of getting your money.” But even that is a disrespectful statement about beauty and children.

We are not trash cans – If you’re taking in whatever’s pitched at you, it’s not just empty calories you’re absorbing. Every story has a message, and if you haven’t spotted it, it only means you’ve swallowed it whole, completely unawares. To be a discriminating consumer means becoming active and engaged. When you open your novel, when your latest audiobook starts playing, or when the TV turns on, that’s no time to turn your brain off.

Regardless of the depth of the message, there is always a message. A story is always insinuating judgements of one kind or another, and those judgements are true or false, wise or foolish, edifying or unedifying, engaging or a waste of your time. And when it comes to analyzing a book or movie, you can’t participate in a discussion that you don’t know is happening or that you can’t follow. Once you learn to pay active attention to what stories are actually doing, you can join the conversation. You can agree or disagree with another Christian about the value of a story, but the most important step has been made. You are no longer a passive consumer.

Sneaky one is what matters

A big note to remember is that stories often have both explicit and implicit messages. It will tell you what it’s saying, and then it will show you what it really thinks (and what it really wants you to think) as the story plays out. In a good story, the explicit “tell” and the implicit “show” will match. But in a poorly done, incoherent, or problematic story, they often do not. And in those cases, the implicit message should be treated as the real one. After all, monkey see, monkey do; not monkey hear overt instruction, monkey do.

Hunger Games
One such example of explicit-implicit messaging tension is The Hunger Games novels. There is a stated morality: it’s bad to kill. But our heroine Katniss’s situation is claimed as an exception. Katniss steps into her position in the deadly games sacrificially, taking her sister’s place. That initial ethical move is explicit messaging that any Christian could appreciate. However, Katniss then kills other children, some in self-defense, some not. And the readers/viewers are meant to treat her behavior as noble. However, the self-sacrifice is just tacked on to make the audience sympathetic to the murders Katniss commits.

What is demonstrated by the series is that Katniss actively chooses to kill when there are other options. Several other characters only hurt people in cases of self-defense; and in the second book, a group teams up against the real enemy and breaks out of the games. The implicit messaging of the books contradicts the explicit moral messaging, which keeps readers feeling guilt-free and loyal to Katniss as they vicariously enjoy the violence of a truly selfish character. And that loyalty to Katniss is so strong that people who disagree with my take tend to have very strong emotional reactions to my criticism.

Encanto and Barbie
Another example of implicit vs. explicit messaging is Pixar’s Encanto. The movie very clearly discusses heroine Mirabel’s problems and her need for growth; however, the action of the finale is purely affirmation that she was always great, and it shifts all blame to others. Turns out, all Mirabel was missing was confidence, and the movie ends by cosplaying self-affirmation as self-improvement.

In the Barbie movie, there are lines in the conclusion that affirm true equality, which are then immediately followed up by mocking the Kens (the stand-ins for all men) and banning them from holding any political power in Barbieland. Just like with people, when in doubt, believe the actions in a film, not the words.

God’s Not Dead
This goes for Christian movies, too. Faith films love to front-load positive explicit messaging, as if it can somehow redeem all the sentimentality, saccharine action, and clumsy filmmaking that follows. Bad news, kids. A movie that sets out to emphasize the importance of forgiveness on the most shallow level, without truly bringing God into it, might actually just convince viewers that Christianity is hollow and ugly. And yes, that should be treated as its real (even if unintended) message. We should care less about what you were aiming at, and more about what your bullet actually hit.

What a film does and shows you will always be a better representation of its impact on viewers than what it might tell you.

Even the author can miss it

A downstream effect of all this is that, funnily enough, authors can be wrong about their own works. Stories are slippery things. They can grow and move on their own.

A petty example is Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s understanding of her own character, Draco Malfoy. As she sees him, this pain in Potter’s side is just a flat and unredeemed bully. Rowling has admitted to being unnerved by Draco fans and has even claimed people only like him because of the actor, Tom Felton, who played Draco in the movies. However, is it possible some audiences saw something in the character that she, the author, missed? Of course it is. Her idea that an 11-year-old who was rude and used slurs can’t ever be sympathetic is silly. Draco Malfoy is a child with a horrible family situation, both his parents being elitist and racist murderers and Death Eaters. Draco also had no real friends and was unsupported by teachers. Later on, he is fully isolated, with the biggest, baddest villain in the story, Voldemort, holding Draco’s parents hostage and threatening to torture and kill them if the boy doesn’t completely destroy himself for Voldemort’s cause and commit murder. This child is so broken at that point, he’s crying in the bathroom when Harry walks in and goes, “ew, Draco” and almost kills him with a curse. Worse, the supposedly wisest and best adult figure in the story, Dumbledore, knows all about it, and allows it to continue for the greater good (and the good of Harry). Is it all that surprising that Draco’s character inspires pity and hope for redemption in so many fans? J.K. Rowling is surprised. I am not.

Consumer questions

There are many more such examples, but let’s get into some specific questions you can ask as you consume, and things to look out for in a story.

First up, the theme. What’s the theme statement? It normally happens in the first five minutes of a movie. It’s stated, and then contested in some ways, it is debated by the rest of the film, and it is the question the story will attempt to answer. This is a discussion you should be joining.

A pristine example is in the movie Gladiator. In the first scenes, the Roman soldier Quintus looks over the battlefield and the final barbarian horde as these Germanic tribes ready themselves to fight on to their inevitable doom. He then says, “Men should know when they’re conquered.” Should they? Really? Men should become submissive when up against overwhelming odds? Maximus answers, “Would you, Quintus? Would I?” As everyone should know who has seen it, the movie answers Quintus’ statement with a resounding “NO.” If you’re on the right side, you should not know when you’re conquered. Fight until the bitter end. Do not allow yourself to be steered by a fear of death. So, watch for overtly stated themes and questions early in a film – that’s what the film is going to be about.

After the action of the plot, the second major progression of a story is often the movement within the main character. Having identified the theme, character growth is the next thing to pay attention to. The key questions here are, where do they start and where do they end?

In stories with a strong character progression, there will be gradual change leading to a true pivotal moment, often at the beginning of the third act, sometimes right before the finale. Disney’s animated Mulan is about a young woman who disguises herself as a man so as to take her elderly father’s place in the conscripted army. She starts out with a good heart but is caught up in her own insecurities and foolishness. Through the movie, Mulan is getting smarter and better, all leading to a big moment just after she’s busted for being a woman. Then, she looks at her reflection, admits to her foolishness and self-absorption, and casts aside her reflection. The next time she stands up, she does so in true selflessness. Compare that to the more recent live-action version, and you’ll encounter an entirely different worldview. The older one actually has something healthy to offer. The new one… not so much.

What makes a book or movie good?

Of course, maybe the biggest question is whether a story is worth consuming at all. The three categories I use to determine the worth of a story are technical value, response value, and objective value. These are categories used around our own dinner table at home.

Objective value is easy. Does God like this story? If He asked you what you were watching or reading, would you be embarrassed to answer?

Response value is a little more subjective. What is the effect this has on you and on others? Watch your own emotional reactions. What does this make me feel? Why? Should I be feeling that? Maybe I felt moved because it was a well done and emotionally compelling story, or maybe I felt moved because it was sucking up to my temptations. Just because something felt good at first blush, doesn’t mean it is good. The road to hell is a primrose path and all that. Or, even if it’s a good story, is it feeding my mind some darkness that I don’t want in there? If you’re a parent, this means watching your kids’ reactions as well. The young will respond differently than you do.

Quick questions for the kiddos – Whether it’s a book or a movie, one way to build discernment and engagement with your kids (and grandkids) is to ask them just a handful of questions: Did you like it? Why or why not? (The words boring, stupid, or dumb are not allowed answers.) What was your favorite part or character? (Even if you disliked the book or movie.) What was your least favorite part or character? (Even if you liked it.)

The final category is technical value. How well executed is this movie? All the questions I’ve covered up until now are enough to be wise in consuming stories. But if you enjoy thinking about movies and books, and if you want to be involved in storytelling, you can dig into this category as well. Ask the questions, “Why does this movie feel fast?” or “Why do I not care about the main character?” “How was that shot so effective?” “Why do I like someone so unlikable?” For people looking to dive into this, I recommend the book, Save the Cat as a great resource on the story side of things.

Here’s a last tip if you’re trying to build these muscles in your kids. I always use these basic questions after every book and movie:

• Did you like it? Why or why not? (The words boring, stupid, or dumb are not allowed answers.)
• What was your favorite part or character? (Even if you disliked the movie.)
• What was your least favorite part or character? (Even if you liked it.)

Engage, wrestle, consider…

All in all, analyzing stories is pretty simple. I can distill it down to one simple instruction: ask questions. Don’t be passive and mindless. Question it. Poke at it. Wrestle with it. If you’re a Christian, pursuing holiness in your life, and you become intentional and intellectually active in your consumption, you’re most of the way there.

I hope you all enjoy stories as much as I do. Not as trash cans, but as active participants.

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Education

If grades are dropping, should we drop grades?

A new trend in Canadian schools ***** Imagine a student who has struggled academically for several years. In the past, their grades would have alerted teachers and parents that intervention was needed. But this student is at a school where there’s been a shift from A’s and B’s to something called a “proficiency scale.” Parents understand percentages and letter grades, but this proficiency scale uses terms that aren’t at all clear. • Emerging • Developing • Proficient • Extending The result? Our imaginary student falls through the cracks in the system instead of being noticed early on. This scenario isn’t just imaginary. I talked to Joanna DeJong VanHof, Education Program Director at Cardus, a Christian think tank, and she explained that this is what’s happening under British Columbia’s new method of assessing students. In 2023, B.C. abolished letter grades for Grades K-9 and adopted a Provincial Proficiency Scale with those four categories. The scale was introduced amid concerns that grades stressed deficits – they emphasized where the student fell short – whereas, with a scale, learning would be regarded as an ongoing process. B.C. is not an isolated case. Their shift was part of a broader trend in Canadian schools away from traditional teaching and grading methods. Schools are replacing quantitative assessments – letter grades and percentage scores – with qualitative approaches, like observations, narrative feedback, and ongoing conversations about student learning. VanHof says this shift is problematic because qualitative assessments measure student performance “relative to their peers” rather than against “actual content.” While intended to support struggling students, the approach raises questions for educators. Is compassion for students being confused with lowered expectations? The BC proficiency scale: a case study Victor Brar, a University of British Columbia professor with expertise in K-12 education, has written on the rationale behind B.C’s proficiency scale. In an article on The Conversation news site, he made a case for the change. He noted that while grades “highlight the deficits of underperforming students,” the scale focuses on the process of learning itself and encourages teachers “to assign equal value to all the learning that happens between tests.” However, eliminating letter grades has left parents confused with what their child’s progress has been. According to the National Post, only 36% of parents could correctly interpret what an “emerging” grade meant. Similarly, educators needed to interpret and translate what the criteria meant, raising concerns around subjectivity. “There's always a sense in which grading is subjective,” said VanHof, but when that subjectivity is taken to the extreme, there are unintended consequences. One of them, VanHof said, is grade inflation where students may have high marks on paper, but “the actual content knowledge that has happened isn’t at the same level as it has been in previous years.” De-streaming: equity or erosion? VanHof drew a parallel between B.C. 's proficiency scale with Ontario’s 2021 “de-streaming” policy, which eliminated separate Grade 9 academic and applied courses for a single course. Previously, the applied math courses focused on the math we need in our every day, like balancing our household budget, while academic courses prepared students for the university level. The goal of de-streaming, like the proficiency scale, was to promote an equitable learning environment. According to Ontario Educators, streaming reinforced economic disparities and racism, disproportionately placing Black and Indigenous students in applied courses and creating a “class system” that perpetuated a “self-fulfilling prophecy” of lower academic achievement. However, Michael Zwaagstra, Senior Fellow at Fraser Institute said that while de-streaming policy “sounds fair,” it does not serve students who may be disinterested in academic coursework, or may be choosing other paths like trades. On the other hand, VanHof criticized de-streaming for the demands it put on teachers to accommodate to a much wider spectrum of abilities. It’s like teaching two classes at once, and to do it properly would require additional resources, like TA assistance, in the classroom. “You can implement a policy. But the capacity and the resources that you have to implement it well is a totally different question,” VanHof said. Since educators were not given additional time or support, the result was that no one was receiving the “targeted instruction and time they needed.” John Wynia, League Coordinator at League of Canadian Reformed School Societies echoed the perspective. “The standards have been lowered in the grade nine class to allow for equity, but then that results in reaching the lowest common denominator.” The bigger picture: declining test scores VanHof’s concern that students are learning less content has been reflected in declining test scores, as seen on the international PISA test (Programme for International Student Assessment). PISA, administered by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), assesses reading, math, and science skills of 15-year-olds. Although Canada has ranked among the top ten countries, since the 2000s its scores have consistently declined. The 2022 PISA test was on mathematics, with Canada’s score falling by 35 points compared to 2003, roughly equivalent to a drop of two whole grade levels according to the Fraser Institute. Some attribute the decline to the COVID school closures, and to the increased screen time kids have had in the last decade. However, B.C. has been restricting phone usage in schools since September 2024, so if phones were a big part of the problem, there should have been a rapid increase in student performance after the phone ban, right? The results are still out on whether that has happened but it will be interesting to see. In the meantime, Canada has experienced a statistically significant decline in all three subjects for over a decade (2012-2022). And that raises questions about our educational policy in the last decade. Is what we’re doing different causing the decline? Math methods matter: what Quebec gets right John Richards, emeritus professor at SFU's School of Public Policy says that the problem extends beyond the shift from numerical assessments and includes a change in teaching methods. For instance, Quebec outperformed other provinces on the 2022 PISA test, and Richards said this was because of how teachers in that province are trained and taught. “Probably the explanation of Quebec is that the math teachers who want to be math teachers in secondary schools have to do a lot more math courses than most teachers.” Richards also referenced Anna Stokke, a mathematics professor at University of Winnipeg. She is a strong critic of “discovery-based education,” where students find solutions on their own instead of being directly instructed. For example, in discovery-based math, a teacher presents students with rectangles drawn on grid paper and ask questions such as, “Is there a relationship between the number of squares in a row and the total number?” Under direct instruction, the teacher explicitly states, “Area = length x width.” Discovery-based learning was introduced with the goal of helping students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills over rote memorization of mathematical formulas. However, Stokke says the approach fails to provide students with the solid foundation students need so they’ll be able to apply critical thinking to complex problems later on. Without sufficient instruction or practice building on concepts – without enough time just memorizing the basics – Stokke says students become confused and fall behind. In response to concerns among educators and parents, the Ontario government promised reforms in 2018 and began implementing a “back-to-basics” curriculum, including direct instruction in math for kindergarteners. Changes are officially in effect since September 2025. However, Fraser Institute has criticized the new curriculum for “doubling down” on its DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) focus, including Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in math where students “work collaboratively on math problems—expressing their thinking, listening to the thinking of others, and practicing inclusivity.” This does not go back to the basics as promised. Meanwhile, declining math scores continue to sound alarm bells for a return to fundamentals in teaching methods. Qualitative assessment: is it all bad? Progressive reforms in Ontario and British Columbia have reshaped both teaching methods and assessment practices like B.C.’s elimination of letter grades. But have all these changes been harmful? Unlike British Columbia which completely eliminated letter grades, Ontario’s 2010 Growing Success policy retained letter grades but expanded qualitative assessments such as observations, portfolios, and self-assessments. The policy also introduced a “no-zero” approach, discouraging teachers from failing students or giving late penalties. Jack Huizenga, Academic Dean at Covenant Canadian Reformed Teachers College, sees benefits with Growing Success. The policy sees “assessment as not something for the end of learning,” with grades providing a one-time snapshot of student performance. Instead, it regards assessment as “something along the way to help improve learning” with formative and descriptive feedback. “So, then assessment can't just be about a multiple-choice question or true and false question or short answer questions,” Huizenga said, describing how the new approach communicates a fuller picture to parents on the student’s progress. Nevertheless, Huizenga said grades were indispensable since colleges and universities also look for those numbers. “That pendulum has to be somewhere in the middle. I think there's room for proficiency type scales to measure. But there's also going to be the need for grades to communicate where students are at.” Independent schools: a call to higher standards The declining international test scores that accompanied the national trend to remove academic benchmarks would seem to suggest this removal doesn’t serve students. And that challenges independent school educators to balance measurable standards with empathy and support. The Cardus Education Survey has studied schools with a focus on the independent sector in recent years. According to VanHof, the question for independent schools was how they would translate policy “into something that is meaningful for parents,” and even “exceed the standards” of the policy. For example, within B.C.’s proficiency framework, she saw independent educators engaging in meaningful conversations with parents around the criteria. “What does an ‘emerging’ student, what does that actually mean in terms of real objective standards of learning?” VanHof asked. She noted how Christian and independent schools had the “ability to be nimble and to make changes that are in line with their mission and vision.” John Wynia’s time at Hope Reformed Christian School is an example which exemplifies this. He shared how students thought of him as a tough teacher because they had to work hard to achieve good grades. “But they often thanked me for that,” Wynia recalled, “because when they went to university, they were very well prepared.” Within the Growing Success framework, Wynia also continued to assign late penalties, though he was lenient around extensions. “There's a lot of research and a lot of evidence that shows that if you have high expectations for your students, your students will rise to meet those expectations.” Wynia cited the No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2002 under George W. Bush, which targeted the “soft bigotry of low expectations” that assumes some groups are incapable of meeting high standards because of their background or socioeconomic status. No Child Left Behind measured school progress with standardized testing in reading and math and coincided with higher student performance – especially among low-income students. Wynia added that teachers should tell students honestly where they are at – it’s not at all compassionate to hide the truth. VanHof echoed this view. “I think we disservice children by saying policies like this will make learning less stressful,” she said. “It sounds kind and considerate, but we all know that’s not what learning actually is.” VanHof maintained that qualitative feedback has value, but “quantitative assessment has to form the backbone of any education system.” Education as a “formation of persons” Education shapes the society we become, underscoring the critical role of assessment methods in that process. VanHof said that education is more than about ensuring students can enter the workforce. “It is much more than that. It's about the formation of persons,” said VanHof. From a Christian worldview, it is about enabling students to know their Creator and to “help them to live within that world to glorify Him.” To elaborate on this, VanHof referenced Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.” As she explained: “That to me speaks so clearly about the fact that education is about the joy of learning, renewing our mind, about being transformed, about understanding who God is, and learning for learning's sake.” But without measurable benchmarks, she said, students were missing out on the sense of accomplishment which comes from hard work, progress, and learning new things. VanHof also referenced Jonathan Eckert, Senior Fellow at Cardus Education who served in the US Department of Education in both the Bush and Obama administrations, and who coined the phrase, “gritty optimism.” “I love that phrase because I think it really captures the fact that education done well is education in which there's hard work involved,” said VanHof, which she said involved both student and teacher. While Canadian schools have adopted models like de-streaming and the proficiency scale to promote equity, they fail to meet students who need the most support. By combining qualitative feedback with measurable standards, clearly communicating with parents, and providing teachers with proper training and resources, schools should help students grow academically and in character, equipping them for real-world challenges....

News, Transgenderism

Parents disrobe to make their point

In what seems to be a bit of a trend, parents have gone to school board meetings and, while presenting to the board, proceeded to disrobe to their underwear or bathing suit. Why? To protest school policies that tell girls they need to be okay with boys in girls’ locker rooms – changing in front of them, and watching them change – when those boys say they are girls. On September 18, 55-year-old mother Beth Bourne wanted her Davis, California school board to feel some of the discomfort they were forcing on the girls in their schools. So, during the public comment section of the school board meeting she spoke while disrobing to a bikini swimsuit. As the LA Times’ Nathan Solis reported it: “‘Right now we require our students to undress for PE class, and I’m just going to give you an idea of what that looks like while I undress,’ Bourne said while she stood behind the lectern and removed her shirt…. ‘So right now, this school district is saying that depending on a child’s transgender identity, they could pick which bathroom they want. Right now we have children self-identifying into different bathrooms,’ she said as she removed her pants…” At that point the board’s vice president gaveled the meeting to recess, making Bourne’s point for her: if the board can’t deal with this discomfort, why are they subjecting girls to it? Then, in October, a man and two women did the same, undressing to their underwear before changing into other outfits. This time it was in Maine, and the spokesman for the group, Nick Blanchard made sure their point was understood: “You feel uncomfortable? Because that’s what these young girls feel like when a boy walks into their locker room and starts unchanging in front of them.” Awkward? Certainly. But is it a sinful way to make a point? After all, God calls us to modesty (1 Tim. 2:9-10). But God has also used immodesty to make a point, having Isaiah walk around naked (or, like these folk, in no more than his underwear) for three years (Is. 20:2-4). God also calls on us to defend our children and take the hit for them (2 Cor. 12:14, 1 Thess. 2:7-9, John 10:11). The school was set on humiliating children, and these parents were willing to be humiliated instead. That’s admirable, and while neither school seems to have listened, these educators’ lack of concern for their girl athletes was now exposed for all to see. Hopefully these brave parents, and the many more they alerted, took matters even further and pulled their kids out....

News

BC private property rights in question after court ruling

The City of Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver, sent out a letter in October to some of its residents, informing them of a recent BC Supreme Court decision which “has declared aboriginal title to your property which may compromise the status and validity of your ownership.” The court decision, by Justice Barbara Young, is found in an 863-page ruling, resulting from what is claimed to be the longest trial in Canada’s history. She ruled that the Cowichan First Nations “have established Aboriginal title” to about 800 acres in the city, because the ancestors of the Cowichan once had a seasonal fishing village in the area centuries ago. The court ruled that the Crown’s granting of land to settlers was not valid because it infringed on the Cowichan Nation’s title. The decision is causing understandable unrest among property owners in the area and around the province. If the Cowichan Nation still has title, what does that mean for their ownership? And if this is true for these 800 acres, what does it mean for the rest of BC, given that as much as 95% is claimed to be “unceded traditional First Nations territory”? The BC government and City of Richmond are appealing the court ruling, though the NDP government has been promoting First Nations land title extensively in recent years. This included recently handing over title to the entire Haida Gwaii archipelago of 10,180 km² to the Haida Nation (or just over 1 percent of the province). “I think this is one of the most significant rulings in the history of the province, and maybe the country,” Malcolm Brodie, the Mayor of Richmond, said to the Globe and Mail. “I think it potentially could dismantle the land title system, certainly in our province, with ramifications across the country.” This is the logical outcome of “land acknowledgements” being read out before meetings, sporting events, and university classes across the province and across the country. The Left kept accusing us all of living, working, and playing on stolen land, and it was only a matter of time before someone with power realized that if property has indeed been stolen then it needs to be returned – that only makes sense. But so much of this doesn’t make sense. Do the Cowichan own this land because they walked through it hundreds of years ago? If so, then wouldn’t it make sense to apply that same standard towards the Indigenous peoples who walked through it before them? If we are going to restore property said to have been stolen 100 years ago, why not restore it to whatever tribe or nation owned it 200 years, or 500 years ago? Where does it stop? If my great-grandparents stole $10 a hundred years ago, should I feel any obligation to pay it back to the great-grandchildren of the guy whose wallet they took? Lots of questions here, and there are plenty of biblical texts worth exploring for insight (Num. 5:5-8, Matt. 7:1-2, Lev. 6:1-7, etc.) but for now let’s consider just one. A theft is said to have occurred one hundred years ago, and the 8th Commandment, do not steal, is the basis of the Cowichan complaint. But to hand over this land, as it is today, wouldn’t be righting a wrong, but perpetuating another. If my great-grandparents had invested $10 they stole into starting a business that, through the work of our family’s next three generations, became a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, would I be responsible for returning everything that $10 became? Because that’s what’s being considered today: were the Cowichan to take over this chunk of Richmond, they would be taking developed property worth thousands of times more than the open land that existed there before. The 8th Commandment, do not steal, is the basis for private property rights and, as economist Barry Asmus and Bible scholar Wayne Grudem have explained, it is “the necessary foundation for all human flourishing on the face of the earth…. Whenever this commandment is ignored, entire nations remain trapped in poverty forever.” It’s easy to see how that is so. If this ruling stands and this becomes the new normal in Canada, who would invest here? Who would want to put money down if a judge can decide with a stroke of their pen to give over everything they’ve developed? It’ll be impossible to build an economy without a stable foundation of private property beneath it. Map at top of article produced with materials from the Native Land Digital App (https://native-land.ca/) ...

News

Arctic sea ice remains steady for past two decades

If you’ve ever fallen for the “Heads I win, tails you lose” trick, the mainstream media’s climate change reporting might strike you as familiar. Whatever the latest news might be, the spin is in just one direction: the planet is in crisis. It happened again, just recently, with what should have been good news for all. Based on data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center, Arctic ice decreased to 4.602 million square kilometers on September 10th, the low point for the year, corresponding with the warmer temperatures of summer. The number is 1.2 million square kilometers greater than where it was at in 2012, and close to half a million more than 2007 levels. In general, the ice trend has been close to flat over the past two decades. Hurrah, right? Where the mainstream media did cover the story, the data didn’t change their long-standing climate alarmism. As EuroNews.com reported it: “Scientists say this is a temporary slowdown that may continue for a further five to 10 years. When it ends, it is likely to be followed by faster-than-average sea ice decline.” The spin goes beyond the media. “While this year’s Arctic sea ice area did not set a record low, it’s consistent with the downward trend” reported NASA. And the World Wildlife Federation still warns: “Polar ice caps are melting as global warming causes climate change. We lose Arctic sea ice at a rate of almost 13% per decade…. If emissions continue to rise unchecked, the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer by 2040.” What isn’t being publicly acknowledged is that the projections of the leading scientists and their spokesmen have often been wrong. One example: the former US vice president Al Gore, while accepting a Nobel Prize for his climate advocacy back in 2007, spoke of a study saying the North Polar ice cap could be gone during summer months just 22 years from then (or 2029). He went on to add, “Another new study, to be presented by U.S. Navy researchers later this week, warns it could happen in as little as 7 years” (i.e., 2014). This doesn’t mean that the Arctic ice won’t decrease further, or that the climate isn’t changing (it has been changing since creation). But it does mean that we need to humbly acknowledge our finite and limited understanding of this world, in contrast to God’s sovereign hand over His creation, including Arctic sea ice....

News

Saturday Selections – Nov. 15, 2025

Women don't belong in combat (5 min) That world won't acknowledge that it is Who made us, and in Whose Image we are made (Gen. 9:6), that makes us va...

News

Fewer young people identifying as “queer” or “trans”

Conferences

“We believe…” 1,700 years ago

Redeemer University conference celebrates the Council of Nicaea and the Nicene Creed ***** In times past, scholars and theologians may have found th...

News

Peanut allergies plunge … and they could plunge even more

News

Saturday Selections – Nov. 8, 2025

The baptism rap battle you never knew you needed This is the best of what A.I. can give us. Here's a rapping, axe-playing, Jonathan Edwards rebutting Charles Spurgeon’s case for adult baptism. Hilarious, and downright insightful too. Old earth vs. young: what are the differences between these two views? (10 min. read) Is the earth less than 10,000 years, or older than 4 billion? This comparison and contrast highlights where young earth creationism, old earth theistic evolution, and progressive creationism land on things like: was there death before the Fall? how was Man created? was the Flood global? If you ask A.I. for marriage advice, it'll probably tell you to get divorced It's vital we understand A.I.'s limitations. What we are getting back from it is oftentimes simply an average of all the answers it finds across the Internet, so if the 'net, as a whole, is wrong about something, that's what you are going to get back. And when it comes to marriage advice, there is a lot of the bad sort. Crime linked to missing dads J. Warner Wallace details here, what can happen when dad disappears: "During my years working the gang detail in Los Angeles County, I met countless young men and women caught up in the world of gangs. Over time, a single theme emerged – one that cut across backgrounds, neighborhoods, and stories. Nearly every gang member I encountered suffered from the same affliction: a profound lack of dad." Stranger things of the OT: Giants "The term 'giant' appears only seven times in most modern translations of these two passages (2 Sam. 21:15–22; 1 Chron. 20:4–8), but in the King James Version it appears over 20 times." (Real Talk recently did an episode that touched on some of the stranger things of the OT too.) Style vs. substance Here's a fantastic musical debate about whether it's most important to say things with flair, or say something important. Or, to let the two combatants frame it: GIRL 1: Who cares if the whole world's watching If you aren't saying something of meaning GIRL 2: Who cares what the crap you're saying If nobody's watching, nobody's hearing I've been involved in 10+ political campaigns, and this struck a chord – I was involved in a Christian Heritage Party campaign where the candidate seemed content to put out important but blandly-presented materials – stuff that got filed into the recycle bin immediately – and I've been part of campaigns where all the candidate was offering was graphically appealing signs and brochures and even swell sounding speeches, but all of which didn't say much of anything at all. They shied away from the real issues our culture is contending with – they refused to talk about God. So, what's the answer then to the style versus substance debate? It's about pairing, not contrasting, the two. God crafted His temple (Ex. 31:1–5), His world (Ps. 19:1), and us too (Ps. 139:13–14) – He is all about style. But what does He use His style to declare? His glory! How's that for substance! ...

News

Government leaves religious and pro-life organizations alone in 2025 budget

Pro-life Christians can breathe a sigh of relief. Actually, you can take two. The 2025 federal budget unveiled on Tuesday leaves the charitable status of religious organizations and pregnancy care centers alone. 2024 – the threat Both of these concerns were raised late in 2024 when the Standing Committee on Finance reported on its pre-budget consultations. This is a standard practice, where the government gives Canadians the opportunity to share what they want to see in the upcoming federal budget. The report made a whopping 462 recommendations, but two caught the eye of pro-life Christians: • Recommendation 429 suggested removing the charitable status of “anti-abortion organizations.” • Recommendation 430 proposed removing charitable status for religious organizations. The latter recommendation came out of left field. Organizations like the BC Humanist Association have long lobbied for the government to give religious activities less time, less money, and less recognition. But no mainstream political party or figure had seriously entertained the idea until this federal finance committee recommendation. Even after this recommendation was made, Karina Gould, the new chair of the Finance Committee, wrote the following to the Canadian Executive Director of the Christian Reformed Church “Charitable status for religious organizations is not under review, and this government has no plans to change that. Any suggestion otherwise is false. We respect the role faith-based organizations play in communities across the country, and religious organizations continue to enjoy charitable status under the same rules that apply to all charities in Canada. There have been no policy or legislative changes proposed that would revoke charitable status from religious groups including churches.” Roots in 2021 The idea of revoking the charitable status of pregnancy care centers, however, has a longer history. In their 2021 election platform, the Liberals explicitly promised to remove the charitable status of “anti-abortion organizations (for example, Crisis Pregnancy Centres).” This recommendation not only betrayed their pro-abortion stance but also accused pro-life organizations of providing: “…dishonest counselling to women about their rights and about the options available to them at all stages of the pregnancy.” Of course, they entirely ignored the material, emotional, and relational assistance these pregnancy care centers provide. Then last fall, the federal government announced its intention to introduce legislation to require pregnancy care centers to either disclose that they do not provide abortions or else lose their charitable tax status. Thankfully, gridlock in Parliament, the resignation of Justin Trudeau as prime minister, and the spring federal election prevented such a bill from being introduced. 2025 and onward These attacks on pregnancy care centers were dropped from the Liberals’ 2025 election platform. Though there is no mention of the revocation of charitable status for religious organizations or “anti-abortion” organizations in the federal budget, and though the current government seems to have different priorities than the last one, this isn’t necessarily the end of the story. Given that tens of millions of Canadians identify as religious and that revoking the charitable status of religious organizations would be a massive departure from four hundred years of charitable status tradition, this change seems unlikely to be implemented in the near future. Not only would this be bad policy, it would also be bad electoral politics for the government. However, the Liberal Party has firmly set its face against the pro-life cause. They’ve done so in every recent vote on abortion legislation, and in the change they made in 2017 to the Canada Summer Jobs program which required applicants to declare support for abortion, and in their continued funding for abortion. So the government may well set pregnancy care centers in their sights again in the coming years. A good test of the government’s intentions will be whether this recommendation reappears in the final consultation report before next year’s budget. We need to continue to remind our Members of Parliament of the benefits that both religious organizations and pregnancy care centers provide, so as to fend off attacks on their charitable status. Levi Minderhoud is a policy analyst for ARPA Canada (ARPACanada.ca)....

In a Nutshell

Tidbits – November 2025

Are you passing the baton? “My dad….made a great commitment in my life and had given me many things to pass on. His father had given him things to pass on. And what I have, I have passed on. You have to take it, develop it, learn it, and pass it on to somebody else. This is a relay race, and we are all involved.” – John MacArthur on the importance of telling the next generation what we have learned about God. Knowledge doesn’t save “The devil is a better theologian than any of us and is a devil still.” – A.W. Tozer. A third way God’s name can be used in fiction In a March 16, 2015 post titled “Fiction and the Third Commandment” Douglas Wilson continued a discussion that began in the February 2015 issue of Reformed Perspective. In that issue, I asked why so many Christian fiction authors have their characters taking God’s Name in vain. I argued that there were only two ways God allows us to use his Name. God says we can use his Name to talk to Him. And we can also use his Name to talk about Him. That meant that a writer may not use God’s name simply because his heroine has stubbed a toe and he want the readers to understand that it really hurt. In his post, Pastor Wilson noted that there is one more proper use Christian authors can make of God’s Name – an author can depict someone sinfully abusing God’s Name without being guilty of abusing it himself. As evidence, Wilson pointed to Christ’s parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18. Jesus tells us that both men were praying in the temple but whereas the tax collector was penitent the Pharisee prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” The Pharisee here is neither talking about God, nor talking to Him (bragging isn’t prayer) but rather is blaspheming God. What we have here, as Wilson notes, is a "…fictional depiction a high violation of the Third Commandment, committed by a character in a bit of prose composed by the Lord Jesus Himself." Since Christ does it, we can be sure that it is indeed permissible to depict characters taking God’s name in vain. If that strikes you as strange (and it did me) the key point to understand is that in Luke 18, while Jesus is depicting someone taking God’s Name in vain, his purpose is still to honor God’s Name. This third use of God’s name is an easy thing to mess up, which is why Wilson concludes with a caution to writers who are considering making use of this third way: they need to carefully assess whether they are skilled enough to pull it off. This is not the sort of thing to fail in the attempt. Don’t just think about it “The smallest good deed is better than the greatest good intention.” - unknown No need for false modesty “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” – C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity The (honest) rich get rich by making us all wealthier God told us not to covet, but there are many, particularly in the government, who want to assure us it’s fine to demand what the rich have. They tell us it’s only fair to make the one per cent pay way more because when we look over the fence at all they have we can’t help but notice that it is quite a lot. Sure, God told us to stop looking over the fence (Ex. 20:17), but the world insists that all this ogling is okay because our neighbor’s wealth, well, a lot of it is really ours in the first place. The way they tell the story there is only so much wealth to go around, so our rich neighbor could only become wealthy by taking from the poor folk like us. And it’s about time he gave some of it back. That’s what they say …but as you might suspect, folks who tell us it is okay to do what God forbids often don’t have their facts straight. The truth of the matter is that, so long as our rich neighbor didn’t get their money from piracy, bank robbing or lobbying the government, he likely got his money by earning it. And if his money was earned, then this neighbor of ours didn’t take anything from anyone, but actually gave more than he got. As commentator John Stossel explains: "It is instinctive to think of life as a zero-sum game – if I win, you lose. Politicians think that way because that’s how their world works. And lawyers who sue people think that way – you either win or you lose. "But in business, you only win if you give your customers something they want. If you make a big profit, it doesn’t mean you took it from the customer. The customer voluntarily gave you his money. He felt he gained something too. It is why you get the weird double thank you moment when you buy anything. If you bought a cup of coffee this morning, you gave the cashier a buck, and she said, 'Thank you.' She gave you the coffee, and you said, 'Thank you.' “'Thank you.' 'Thank you.' "Why both? Because you both felt you won. "But that’s just not intuitive. It’s intuitive to think Bill Gates made $50 million because he took $50 million from other people. If that’s the case, how come there is so much more wealth in the world now with all these billionaires? They didn’t take a big piece of the pie. They baked lots of new pies and then took a big piece." An approved Christian pick-up line "Hey baby, wanna come back to my place? My parents are home." Matthew Henry would have hated The Hunger Games On the night that the author of Matthew Henry's Commentary was robbed, he prayed a prayer that showed his understanding of just how blessed he was, and how, when it comes to harm, it is much better to receive than to give. "I thank Thee first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse they did not take my life; third, although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed." SOURCE: Chris Craig's book "Becoming a Person of Prayer." There is some question if this really is a quote from Henry. Wikiquotes says no, but several other sources, including Chris Craig's book, say yes. Now it all makes sense Johannes Gutenberg is best known as the first man to print a Bible using movable metal type. But did you know he kept his metal letters in drawers, called cases, with all the capital letters stored in an upper case, and the small letters stored in a lower case? That is the reason that even today, capitals are known as "uppercase" and small letters as "lowercase." Add a word, ruin a Christian book About a decade back, a meme circled the globe that had people tweeting famous Christian book titles with one-word additions that, had they been real, would have completely ruined the book. For example, C.S. Lewis's Surprised by Joy became Surprised by Joy Riding. Other notables include: Till We Have Smiley Faces (C.S. Lewis) Dave Ramsey's complete guide to money laundering Don’t Waste Your Life Reading (John Piper) The Silver Rocking Chair (C.S. Lewis) The Pilgrim’s Progressive (John Bunyan) Calvin Klein’s Institutes The Lion, the Witch, and the Locked Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis) Orthodoxy Schmorthodoxy (G.K. Chesterton) Strange Camp Fire (John MacArthur) One title was actually improved with an addition; Joel Osteen's Your Best Life Now became Your Best Life Isn't Now. "Okay then, if you cross this line..." Two aged orthodox Anglican priests knelt side-by-side in the trendy new diocesan cathedral, waiting for their bishop’s Easter service to begin. It commenced with a lonely, eerie wisp of Tibetan bells wafting through the rafters. Then a chorus of plucked hand-harps took up the icy harmonies. After the bell ringers and harpists came a dancing troupe of near naked young men in red speedos, streamers flying from their wrists. Then something new – six women in purple robes shouldering a litter which bore a larger-than-life-sized Buddha. The bishop brought up the rear, her tresses plaited with white and red ribbons hanging from the edges of her mitre, her brocaded cassock matching the thurible in her hand. One aged priest turned to the other and said, “Just one more thing, and I’m outta here!” SOURCE: Abbreviated version of a joke on Tim Bayly's blog baylyblog.com/blog/2013/10/silence-them That silver lining Father: "Well, son, with marks like these, at least we know you're not cheating."...

Parenting

The importance of risky play

“Make sure you're home by suppertime... and don't get your feet wet!” Mom called out as my brother and I hurried to our bikes. We were about 9 and 11 years old at the time. “Have you got the matches?” I asked. “Yes,” he said, patting his pocket and jumping on his hand-me-down bike. Our plan was to use the matches to light birch-bark torches so we could see properly inside the cave we wanted to explore. It was pitch black in there, and last time the battery in our old flashlight had died right away. To get to Kelly's Cave we first had to cross the multiple sets of train tracks that were two blocks from our house. But this time out, a long train of coal cars blocked the way. Thankfully they were just coming to a halt, so we waited until they stopped, then glanced up and down the tracks looking for any adults, and quickly crawled under the middle of one of the cars, dragging our bikes behind us. We knew that it took a long time for railcars to start moving after coming to a standstill, and we’d have plenty of time to scramble out if they did begin going again. Biking briskly down the service road, then veering off onto the old trail at the base of the mountain, we soon arrived at the bottom of a pile of loose rocks that had been carved out about 70 years earlier to form the cave. Before we scrambled 100 feet up the steep slope that led to the entrance, we first found a nearby birch tree and stripped off several sections of bark, then broke off some branches. Arriving at the cave’s mouth we wrapped the bark around the end of our sticks and pulled out the matches. When the bark was lit it curled tightly, allowing it to burn slowly and steadily, while giving off a wonderful aroma. Quickly, we moved to the end of the first 25-foot stretch of tunnel, where the daylight still reached. Then we turned right, keeping our heads down, looking at the ground ahead of us; soon we came to the pack rat’s nest of shredded paper and random objects we’d seen last time. I’d spotted a ball-peen hammer in the mess and really wanted it, but I was convinced that, should there be an angry and cornered rat in there too, he was liable to jump for, and bite at, my throat. So, I worked up my courage, shielded my neck with my hand, and then lunged for the hammer – thankfully this time the nest seemed empty, so I came away with a great prize which I could proudly take home! Then we continued on, shuffling along deeper into the mountain. It was very cold and damp, and the only sound was the crackle of our torches and the steady dripping of water hitting the cave floor. We were very careful not to brush the walls since we'd once seen a large clump of spiders clinging onto them. Our dad, who’d been in the cave with us before, had warned us about a water-filled pit further in, so we moved slowly and carefully, and we soon saw some logs and branches which spanned an ominous pool, which was who knew how deep? After testing the strength of this wooden span, we slowly crept across, imagining a bottomless crevice filled with icy water. A few years later I learned that it was only about two or three feet deep, but at the time we assumed it was bottomless – better to be safe than sorry! Our torches were burning down, so we pushed ahead, promising ourselves we’d turn around shortly, since we didn't want to end up stranded in the pitch dark! Soon enough, there it was – the end of the tunnel. We’d made it! Somewhat disappointed that there wasn't a treasure chest or other artifact (I was reading The Hardy Boys and The Three Investigators books at the time!), we shuffled quickly, but carefully, back the way we’d come... over the bridge, around the corner, past the nest, one more 90° turn, and then we could see daylight. We emerged just as our torches were flickering out – we’d finally made it out again! Thrilled at our conquest, we slid down the scree slope (this is why we always changed into play clothes after school), discarded our torches (making sure they were completely out so, as not to start a forest fire), and pedaled down along the trail, elated and ready for another adventure. So much to explore The author zipping around in his younger years. We knew this forested area well, having spent many hours exploring and playing in the bush, and near the tracks. Over here was where we’d spent many days chopping small trees down with a hatchet, attempting to make a log cabin. We learned that this was harder than Farley Mowat’s books made it seem, and we often came home tired, and with scrapes or bruises. Once, when we were pushing over dead trees, a top snapped off and smashed to the ground right beside us – a close call! Farther down the trail was the site of the old ski jump where you could still see some outdoor lights attached to trees. In the winter many hours were spent climbing up this hill, and sliding down on inner tubes, toboggans, and even a homemade sled. A few hundred yards off in another direction was an old dump site where we had explored and found many rusty objects, and well down the other way was a railway siding where we could clamber into boxcars and pretend we were hobos. Halfway between, under that one spruce tree, was where our dad had shot a grouse with his old .410 shotgun. His catch motivated us to try to go after grouse too, or rabbits, using our homemade bows and arrows or slingshots, but without any success (although my Boy Scout manual did explain how to snare rabbits, so that was a plan for later in the fall). During those childhood years we spent many hours roaming, playing, and trying not to get hurt or get wet feet in those forests, trails, and caves. On other days we biked around town, explored the alleys and dumpsters behind businesses, looking for treasures, and collecting cans and bottles to exchange for quarters which we quickly spent in the arcade games in the back of the seedier stores. We rubbed shoulders with the local youth in these places and even had to turn down the offer of drugs because we knew that they were bad for us. But what about… Maybe you’re wondering, “What about the risks and dangers?” Yes, we got plenty of minor injuries and had some close calls and moments of genuine fear, but these became excellent learning opportunities and helped us grow in confidence and wisdom. Also, we were very aware of the consequences of foolish actions, and knew that recklessness, and endangering ourselves, was wrong. However, there is a big difference between fun adventures and recklessness, and a kid can do some exciting and even foolish things without crossing this line. Kids learn from the direct instructions of their parents, by watching others, and from reading about or experiencing the consequences of dangerous or reckless choices. They learn quickly from their own mistakes and accidents, and will develop a strong sense of self-preservation. Thankfully, rarely do minor childhood mishaps have serious consequences (and let’s not forget that “safe” and sedentary lifestyles comes with their own health hazards!). By learning to manage the risks and cope with the results, our kids can increasingly be empowered to make good decisions, and to take care of themselves. The reality is, Mom and Dad only vaguely knew where we were when we went out on our adventures, but they trusted and prayed that we wouldn't do anything foolish, dangerous, or illegal. Besides, they were very busy working, and looking after the younger siblings, and they didn’t live in constant fear of the world or other people. They also modeled an outdoor playful lifestyle (including taking risks), and encouraged us to get outside and entertain ourselves. Over time, these factors fostered confidence and bravery in us, while still showing us that recklessness was both wrong and foolish. For example, my dad was actively involved in my late-November childhood birthday parties, taking my classmates and me on hikes, exploring and making fires, and crafting equipment like slingshots or bows and arrows, and doing all of this despite the snow and the darkness that came early in northern BC. When the climate or other factors discouraged outdoor play and adventure, we would busy ourselves with indoor forts, Meccano, electronics kits, and reading. Oh, the books we devoured by the hundreds! We were going on adventures with the Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, Wambu, Scout, and many others. Their exploits were recreated in our imaginations, as we pictured ourselves with them in the jungle, desert, tundra, or under the sea. Our knowledge and understanding of the world, and of people, broadened, and our worldview solidified as we incorporated these stories and experiences with the Christian perspective with which we were raised. Many lessons were also learned about safety, and taking risks, as we experienced, vicariously, the exciting exploits of the books’ characters – lessons that were often useful and realistic, thus also helping to prepare us for life in the real world. Tech takeover Screens and technology were lurking on the horizon though, already way back then in the 1980s. As the decade progressed, more and more parents would rent a VCR and videos to entertain the kids at birthday parties. It was so much easier, less messy and tiring, and sure kept the partygoers happy. Within a few years we had a Commodore 64 computer in our home, and by the time we were adolescents many hours had been spent on Test Drive (1!), Winter Olympics, and other games. Our play-based childhood was being affected by screens, and in the next decades this transition only accelerated for others in my age group. Thankfully we all had a solid grounding in the outdoors, and TV and technology were still regarded with suspicion by the older generation. However, as the years and decades have passed, the temptation to spend time on screens has only increased. There are other dangers… Three of the Penninga boys – from left to right, Tim, Jeremy and Dave – up on Hudson Bay Mountain. So, how much do these childhood experiences matter? And what’s been the cost for the children who are not allowed to explore and have adventures, and who spend way more time on screens than reading? No doubt these kids are a lot safer physically (and cleaner!), and parents probably worry less, as their children are shuffled between adult-supervised activities like after-school programs and sports, or are quietly gaming, or scrolling through social media on their phones. Does this trend towards supervision and screens have significance? According to lots of careful research it has become very clear that the cost of replacing a play-based childhood with a screens-based one has been enormous, especially on kids’ mental and emotional well-being. In his book, The Anxious Generation - How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, Jonathan Haidt makes just that case. Its first section outlines the impact smartphones and social media have had on children and adolescents in the last 15 years. Data conclusively shows that rates of anxiety and depression have greatly increased (depression for girls rose 145% between 2010 and 2020; for boys 161%), as have suicide rates and visits to ERs for self-harm. These destructive trends occurred across many different countries around the world, and correlate directly to growing up with smartphones. Haidt’s theses are backed up by data that is both scholarly and current. While the author has evolutionary, atheist presuppositions, his book is still an excellent research-based overview of the damage that Internet-enabled devices (especially smartphones) have done to the Millennial and Gen Z generations. Thankfully, Haidt also addresses what can be done about it all. He points to play, the sort that is unsupervised and unstructured and has elements of genuine risk – the kind of play that most kids all around the world naturally engaged in prior to the recent explosion of fears and screens. According to Haidt: “Unsupervised outdoor play teaches children how to handle risks and challenges of many kinds. By building physical, psychological and social competence, it gives kids confidence that they can face new situations, which is an inoculation against anxiety... a healthy human childhood with a lot of autonomy and unsupervised play in the real world sets children's brains to operate mostly in ‘discovery’ mode with a well-developed attachment system and an ability to handle the risks of daily life. Conversely, when there is society-wide pressure on parents to adopt modern overprotective parenting, it sets children's brains to operate mostly in ‘defend’ mode with less secure attachment and reduced ability to evaluate or handle risk.” He goes on to explain how being in discovery mode means you are curious and excited about life, and eager to explore and move ahead. Those who operate in defend mode are careful and suspicious, and “tend to see new situations, people and ideas as potential threats, rather than as opportunities... being stuck in defend mode is an obstacle to learning and growth in the physically safe environments that surround most children today.” A play-based childhood, Haidt argues, encourages the positive discovery mode while a screen-based one promotes a more fragile and restrictive defend mode. Overprotective parents, trying to guard their children from risks and conflicts, actually harm their kids who need to experience thrills, fear, and conflict to learn how to manage it in the real world. Children are thrill-seekers who need adventures and risks to overcome their fears and develop resilience. How does Haidt stack up against the Bible? This rings true because it lines up with Biblical principles. For example, in Proverbs 28:1 it says, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” King David trusted in God to protect him, and, consequently, took on bears and giants with confidence. Meanwhile, in the list of curses for covenant disobedience God says “…those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you” (Lev. 26:17b). Godly leaders need to be brave to stand up against threats and deal with challenges. For example, God tells Joshua, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified: do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). In the knowledge of God’s providence, we can face life and the future without fear and can be confident that nothing will separate us from His love since nothing happens by chance (Lord’s Day 10). Since our eternal future is secure, and we can trust that God will be with us, we do not need to live in fear of catastrophe or death like the unbelievers do. Yes, bad things do happen in a fallen world, and we need to accept that sometimes, even with abundant caution and care, people will get hurt or even die in accidents. But this should not scare us or make us elevate safety to the status of an idol, thinking that somehow we can control everything. If we love the Lord and live according to His will, we can trust that He will provide and care for us, and gives us what we need to face life’s challenges and dangers with confidence. As those who live with a view to eternity, our spiritual health should be our main concern (1 Tim. 4:8). We must live in fear of God, who controls our eternal destiny, and not of man (Luke 12:4-5). Recklessness and foolish behavior is an evil on one end of the spectrum, but living in constant fear of injury or death, and thinking we can control everything also is sinful. The balanced Christian life lies somewhere in the middle. What does this sort of play look like? So, what does this beneficial play look like? It usually happens outdoors when there is free choice, and not when supervised or structured by adults. Researchers have found that play needs to be thrilling and exciting with a real risk of physical injury and an element of uncertainty (think merry-go-rounds, exploring forests, and bike jumps!). Six factors characterize this kind of play: 1. heights (climbing, trampolines, haylofts); 2. high speeds (sledding, swings, racing down hills); 3. dangerous tools (axes, saws, knives); 4. dangerous elements (waves, fire, ice); 5. rough and tumble play (wrestling, tackling, “king-of-the-hill”); and 6. disappearing (hiding, exploring and wandering, not fully knowing where you are). Roller coasters, zip lines, and other thrill rides are a good example of combinations of these things. Kids need, and seek out, these factors but too often parents, teachers, and other adults try to deter them. The adults are overly afraid of injuries, abductions, or lawsuits, and treat even minor scrapes and bruises as akin to serious harm. Many adults have an unrealistic sense of danger and are too overprotective, and they don't trust other adults to intervene, or don’t trust their kids to know their own limits. A growing culture of litigation, insurance, and well-meaning but harmful “safety police” work together to counter these important parts of childhood play. In the August 11, 2025 entry on the After Babel Substack, Haidt and his two co-authors of “What Kids Told Us About How to Get Them Off Their Phones” wrote: “Since the 1980s, parents have grown more and more afraid that unsupervised time will expose their kids to physical or emotional harm. In another recent Harris Poll, we asked parents what they thought would happen if two 10-year-olds played in a local park without adults around. Sixty percent thought the children would likely get injured. Half thought they would likely get abducted. These intuitions don’t even begin to resemble reality. According to Warwick Cairns, the author of How to Live Dangerously, kidnapping in the United States is so rare that a child would have to be outside unsupervised for, on average, 750,000 years before being snatched by a stranger. Parents know their neighborhoods best, of course, and should assess them carefully. But the tendency to overestimate risk comes with its own danger. Without real-world freedom, children don’t get the chance to develop competence, confidence, and the ability to solve everyday problems. Indeed, independence and unsupervised play are associated with positive mental-health outcomes.” Children who were raised on screens need more freedom out in the real world. Organized sports have their own dangers Unstructured and risky outdoor play is actually safer for kids, with fewer injuries per hour, than participating in adult-guided sports teams, according to play researcher Mariana Brussoni of the University of BC. Unstructured and unsupervised physical play also has more developmental benefits for the children since these kids “must make all the choices, set and enforce rules, and resolve all disputes. Brussoni is on a campaign to encourage risky outdoor play because in the long run it produces the healthiest children” (Haidt, writing in The Anxious Generation). In their paper “What is the Relationship between Risky Outdoor Play and Health in Children? A Systematic Review” published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Brussoni and her co-authors found that risky play had overall health benefits for children aged 3-12. “Specifically, play where children can disappear/get lost and risky play supportive environments were positively associated with physical activity and social health, and negatively associated with sedentary behaviour… There was also an indication that risky play supportive environments promoted increased play time, social interactions, creativity and resilience. These positive results reflect the importance of supporting children’s risky outdoor play opportunities as a means of promoting children’s health and active lifestyles.” As an example, despite my adventurous childhood, I only ended up in the local hospital once for an injury, and that was a broken foot I got in an indoor-soccer PE class at school! One of the main messages of these books? Put away the screens and kick your kids outdoors! A sudden shift In general, children born before 1980 were much more likely to grow up engaging in risky play and were allowed and encouraged to roam out and about, away from parents, by age 7 or so. Kids had more freedom to walk to school, play with neighbor children, get into and resolve conflicts, and generally have a more exploratory lifestyle. But, as Haidt details, in the following decades parenting became more intensive, protective, and fearful, resulting in kids who were more sheltered, coddled, and unable to roam freely until much older (age 10 or 12). Safety became paramount, as a fear of strangers, abductions, injuries, and death, skyrocketed. At the same time, technologies like computer games, DVDs, and phones made it much easier to keep kids from playing and exploring. Haidt goes on to provide other reasons why this change occurred, including more intensive parenting, more supervised and structured sports and programs for kids, and a renewed focus on academics. When it rains in the world, drips are felt in the Church As is often the case, Christian parents are swept up in these changes and can too easily accept them without thinking critically about the disadvantages. After all, isn’t it better to be safer? To provide more structured and supervised activities for the kids? To supply a tablet or phone to keep them quiet? And do we speak out when the merry-go-rounds disappear from the playground and are replaced by much safer (and more boring) equipment? Do we read books or articles that feature research about factors that affect our children? For example, a very good book that addresses many current challenges to parenting came out in 2019 entitled Gist: The Essence of Raising Life-Ready Kids. It was by child psychologist Michael W. Anderson and pediatrician, and the book was featured as a Focus on the Family Resource. This very practical manual discourages parents from always trying to protect and control everything, and it encourages them to back off and let their kids sort out way more of their own problems. In this sin-tainted world life is full of challenges, difficulties, and disappointments, and children need to learn how to face and overcome these to prepare them for managing in adulthood. Although the book is not overtly Christian, Gist is clearly grounded in Scriptural principles and displays a nice balance between truth and grace. It’s the kind of book I wish would have been available sooner, so I could have read it when my children were small! What’s to be done? The final section of Haidt’s book provides many more examples of what schools, parents, and governments can do to promote a return to a play-based childhood, and a turn away from a screen-based one. Several of these ideas are already being implemented, such as more rugged playgrounds, and banning phones in schools. It seems that the pendulum is swinging back towards a healthier balance again, from the safety paranoia, and excessive screen time, back to how it was more in previous decades. Conclusion God’s people do not need to live in fear, since we know we have a Father in heaven who watches over us and protects us. As it says in Proverbs 1:33, “whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” We must also heed what the Bible teaches about this topic, as it is found in the Sixth Commandment where we are told “you shall not murder.” In Lord’s Day 40 of the Heidelberg Catechism, it explains that this commandment means we are not to “injure my neighbor, personally or through another… or harm or recklessly endanger myself” and we must “protect our neighbor from harm as much as we can.” To takes risks is different than being reckless. Also, Proverbs 27:12 tells us, “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.” We need to use or heads. Since his childhood adventures, Kelly’s Cave has been all boarded up. And let’s consider also the Fifth Commandment, where we are taught that authority needs to be obeyed, like wearing seat belts and bike helmets, and not trespassing (including on railways!). But we also need to speak out against and resist the multiplication of safety rules imposed by overly-zealous authorities and companies. As an example, the entrance to Kelly’s Cave was blocked by a thick cement wall in the late 1980’s (as were other caves around here), closing another door to adventure. Of course, many children do not live near forests, caves, or railway tracks, or attend schools that have any forest or brush land. Families are smaller and there don’t tend to be packs of kids roaming around outside together. Still, there are many things that can be done to encourage healthy play: parents need to model fun and adventurous behaviour, screens need to be avoided or severely limited, and it’s helpful to have spaces where kids can explore and which contain materials they can use. It can start small with pillow and blanket forts inside, wooden blocks and other basic items for toys, trips to nearby parks or bush areas. But then parents need to be brave and begin to pull back from constant supervision and intervention and let the children explore and figure things out for themselves. It’s also important to understand that the world is not nearly as dangerous a place as the media suggests (yet another reason to avoid too much media), and that disallowing adventurous and risky play comes with very serious negative consequences (anxious teens and young people who struggle to cope with the demands of adulthood). So set a good example by confidently getting out into the yard or neighborhood and finding adventure and fun! It takes more effort but is far better for you and makes better memories, too! Be wise and discerning but not fearful, and remember that we have a Father in heaven who watches over us and blesses us, also as we seek to do what is best for our children....

Assorted

Learning

“It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” – Psalm 119:71 Is it possible that something bad can be good for you...

News

Saturday Selections – Nov. 1, 2025

Luther vs. the Roman Catholic church In light of Reformation Day this week: Luther's stand, as a rock opera. A theology of bed Many of us go to...

Articles, Entertainment, Movie Reviews

Reading films: are Christians as discerning as they used to be?

Education

A load of lumber is a wonderful thing

Back in 2007 Ebenezer Canadian Reformed School here in Smithers decided to supply the students with an “imaginative play kit.” What was it? A pile...

Interview with an artist

Paula Roth loves painting her studio

Hawkins Pond was painted at sunset to capture light sparkling off the leaves of the trees surrounding the pond. I enjoyed the contrast of the shapes of each type of greenery from spikey and straight, to ribboned and round. It’s no surprise that someone who has lived in as many beautiful places as Paula Roth has, would be drawn to landscape as the subject for her art. This very same landscape has also become a studio for Roth who now takes her easel and paints outdoors to complete her colorful paintings on location. Roth’s life journey includes time in Nigeria, Colorado, Washington State, Michigan, and finally Ontario, where she married a Canadian. Paula and her husband Ray currently live in Tillsonburg, Ontario where they are members of Hope Reformed Church. Paula minored in art in college and graduated in 2003 with a B.A. and B.Ed. from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She spent the first 20 years of married life teaching, finding particular fulfillment supporting students with unique learning profiles. “I learned patient perseverance, and hopefully grew in compassion.” Paula has since founded her home-based business, Early Bird Learning Consultant, to support children with learning challenges. Ruts & Paths was painted in August in Oxford County. I am often drawn to roads as they symbolize a journey. Life can feel uphill, and it takes faith and hope to see beauty in the midst of challenge. For Roth, art fulfills a need for creative expression and provides a sense of “balance and well-being.” The youthful dream of being an artist began when she was 9. A watercolor artist/neighbor, (also a Wycliffe Bible Translator), took her to buy her first art supplies. She also helped Roth set up a small studio in an old pioneer milking parlor on the property her family was renting at the time. The start was modest but exciting. The studio spaces have been even more modest since then. During her teaching career, Paula loved to teach art in the classroom setting, and enjoyed making beautiful bulletin board displays. After she left the classroom, to focus on special education, her creative outlets were mostly found at home where she made space for her creative work in corners of bedrooms, on desks, or at the kitchen table. Motivated in part by her parents’ mantra “You can always learn something new,” Paula is a lifelong learner. She has completed many art classes at Dundas Valley School of Art, including classes by mentors Marla Panko and Guennadi Kalinine. In 2008, Paula started illustrating for Open Windows, a Free Reformed publication for children creating collage images with paper. Then, about four years ago she discovered a passion for plein air painting. Currently, she is inspired by rural landscapes in Oxford County, ON. The dream of becoming an accomplished artist still captures Paula’s imagination. “If the Lord wills, I hope to keep taking courses, reading books about painting, and to be out in the field painting as often as I can.” Paula says, “Painting has taught me to be still. I lose all sense of time and am completely at peace. Pausing to observe, interpret, and represent creation makes me feel small and makes the Lord’s world feel gloriously large. When painting outdoors, I seek to capture a special moment in time, a scene that depicts the beauty, essence, and uniqueness of that location. Through my art I hope to share my enjoyment of my rural region and inspire others to appreciate its unique beauty too.” You can view more of Paula’s work at RuralHuesArt.com and Instagram.com/PaulaRoth.RuralHues. Morning Fog on Pigram Line was painted as the crops were ripening in the fall. The golden fields covered with dew and fog were enchanting. The saturated reds and fuchsias have drawn hummingbirds to my palate which makes time stand still for a few seconds....

Conferences

2026 Summit Reformed Young Adult Conference

Why you (or someone you know) should plan to go ***** I once heard a sermon in which the pastor compared faith to salmon. “A dead salmon floats downstream with the current,” he said. “A living salmon, however, must battle upstream, against the flow.” Then he smiled and said, “An imperfect analogy, but you get the point, right?” There is a deep flaw within the young community of Reformed circles; in day-to-day life, we don’t easily talk about our doctrine with each other. And we frequently fail to encourage each other in it. We might not be dead, but too often we seem to be doing little more than floating along. It’s not true of all of us. But it is true of too many of us. Sure, we may know what TULIP stands for, or be able to recite the Apostles’ Creed, but how often do we discuss theology outside of our church’s fellowship hall, or a weeknight bible study? We tend to avoid more personal conversations about faith, and don’t easily share our deep questions with each other, or invite each other into thought-provoking or challenging conversations. We float, leaving that all to the “grown ups.” It is almost as though there is an unspoken taboo: “We’re too young to get serious about that in our free time. Let’s keep things light; if we have questions, we can talk to older people. There’s no need to talk to each other about it.” However, in conversations I’ve had with fellow young believers about this problem, many of them have expressed the same thing: a desire for this mindset to change. Many of us do want to learn better how to grow together and push each other on to deeper faith walks; many of us have a hunger to discuss these important topics. The problem is, we don’t know how to naturally broach them, and we often let the fear of awkwardness keep us from pursuing them. We need help fostering this change and growth. Therefore, I would like to advocate for an event which has greatly helped me and many of my friends in this learning curve: the Summit Reformed Young Adults Conference or RYAC. This past year, I was privileged to be a member of the organization committee for the conference, which takes place every February (est. 2021) in Calgary and is hosted by the Bethel URC. This was my third time attending, and my first time helping organize. It is an extremely edifying event. The richness of it, as always, shed a light on the stark contrast that RYAC offers to the weekly culture of young adult life in our church circles. I had several conversations with attendees who were new to the conference, and many of them expressed a strong appreciation for the experience, often noting how “different” it was in its encouragement and doctrine-focused environment. In hopes of further promoting the incredible spiritual benefits of this event, I interviewed several other members of the organization committee – all young adults themselves, who have now attended the conference several times – to discuss the positive impact this conference has had on our faith lives. Additionally, this past year’s speakers, Rev. Paul Murphy and his wife Julie, also shared some thoughts. Q. RYAC encourages young believers to discuss theology and faith life. In today’s social climate, why is this especially important? Mark G: Young adults, especially young men, struggle to talk about faith and life, and a conference like this gives an organic setting for those conversations to happen. Even apart from the times set aside to discuss our faith, many conversations about faith and life happen, with others beyond your own church, over meals and games that do not happen very often in our everyday lives. John P: As young adults who are just venturing out into the world for the first time, it can be a confusing and challenging environment to navigate. At times it may feel like we are lost in this environment, but coming together with a group of likeminded people who are all in the same battle together not only strengthens you, but everyone in the group together, in the fight against the world and the devil. As Ecclesiastes 4:12 says: “Though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him - a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Q. What would you say are some of the benefits of attending a Reformed conference specifically geared towards your age demographic? Mark M: In recent generations the wider church community in North America has suffered from a lack of sound doctrine. Having active discussions about theology is especially important among young adults, as we are the future of the Reformed churches, and thus it is essential for us to know what we believe, why we believe it, and how that aligns with Scripture as the ultimate authority. This is one of the many things that the Summit RYAC conference is good at. Both times I’ve attended the conference, I’ve had my understanding of the Bible and certain doctrines challenged, and that has strengthened my faith. It is also incredibly encouraging being around people my age who believe the same thing. Julie T: At its core, this conference is about training soldiers for Christ and sending them out as active members of God’s church, wherever they might be located. The conference helps build that sense of Christian unity and community: young adults leave the conference with newfound connections all over the country, knowing not only that their struggles or doubts or temptations are not unique to them, but also that the church of God is so much bigger than just their own little corner of it. Rev. Paul M & Julie M: This age group is often in university or in the workforce, maybe now living away from their parents’ home. These Christians need great friends; ones who live faithfully to their Lord and Savior in every area of life. Iron sharpens iron (Prov. 27:17). We need the benefit of each other’s differing perspectives, thoughts, and experiences. Together they serve as a multitude of counselors in which safety and wisdom are found (Prov. 11:14). Such conversations also serve as correctives to the subtle influences of our post-Christian culture; that is especially important in today’s social climate. As Paul states in 2 Cor. 10:3-5, we are engaged in an ideological warfare, in which Christians are assaulted almost daily by the thoughts and ways of the secular world. We need to encourage and equip one another to be strong and faithful in that battle. In conclusion, RYAC is not merely a fun weekend to meet friends, or find a significant other, or to simply get away on holiday. It is an event that presents incredible learning opportunities, as well as an environment in which to stretch new muscles of the mind and heart. It is an event that provides us with the opportunity to encourage one another forward, just as Timothy was encouraged by Paul: “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” For information on how to sign up for the 2026 conference visit www.summitrefcon.ca. Photos, and the video below, are by David Visser and Kyle Vasas from Faith to Film. ...

Politics

Introducing ARPA Academy

A one-month program in Ottawa to sharpen and shape you! ***** RP’s Nov/Dec 2024 issue – the “Get Educated, Not Schooled” edition – described all sorts of opportunities for young people to consider for after they’d graduated from high school. The possibilities discussed ranged from attending university to entering trade school to starting a family. Now ARPA is pleased to offer a new opportunity this coming summer: ARPA Academy! Abraham Kuyper famously said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: Mine!” As Reformed Christians, we believe in the sovereignty of God and His providential rule over all things. What does that actually mean for Canadian law and politics? ARPA Academy seeks to help answer this very question. The 5 Ws ARPA Academy will be a one-month program in Ottawa to prepare young people aged 18-25 for faithful political engagement. Not only will the program be offered at no cost to participants, ARPA will also offer a small stipend to help cover expenses for the month. While participants will be responsible for finding their own housing, ARPA staff will suggest options and assist where necessary. Throughout the month of August, participants will explore biblical and Reformed worldview foundations for political action, learn about Canada’s constitutional history and legal system, study current policy issues, and develop key skills through readings, assignments, interactive sessions, and direct grassroots action. ARPA Academy will address questions such as “What does the Lordship of Christ over the political square look like in a society that largely does not recognize or understand His rule?” and “How does that apply to the wide variety of law and public policy issues?” The focus of ARPA Academy is on education and worldview training, but it also aims to prepare participants to be involved in politics in the future. While in Ottawa, participants will meet with political staff, lawyers, and non-profit leaders to learn about different careers. If a participant wants to pursue a hands-on internship, work on Parliament Hill, or get involved with a local non-profit organization after ARPA Academy is completed, ARPA staff can help make connections to pursue these goals. Some participants may go on to work full time in law, politics, or advocacy. Others may decide to pursue very different lines of work. In either case, participants will deepen their Christian worldview and be better equipped to be engaged and active Christian citizens. Lucas, one of last year’s ARPA interns, had this to say about his time deepening his understanding of politics from a Reformed worldview: “My experience at ARPA gave me a broad understanding of Canadian politics and the functioning of our political system. It also sharpened my worldview, enabling me to think critically about issues from a Christian perspective. This has allowed me to become a more effective citizen and has enabled me to take political action in my community.” Benefits to consider I’m excited about the ARPA Academy because in my own life it’s opportunities like this that helped me immensely. I spent a semester in Ottawa while in university, and that confirmed for me that I wanted to work in political advocacy for the long term. There were three other key components I learned from my own opportunities that I want to share, because they are also a focus for ARPA Academy. First, my time in Ottawa helped me better understand the nature of politics and political advocacy at a worldview and practical level, including a hopefulness because of God’s sovereignty over all things. Second, I had the opportunity to meet and learn from many devout Christians working on and around Parliament Hill, who were seeking to apply their Christian faith to politics for the good of their neighbors and their country. Finally, it allowed me to see what kinds of career options existed in the political and non-profit world and where I could fit into that kind of work. Whether you’re just out of high school, finished university, doing a trades apprenticeship, or between jobs, this is worth considering. This one-month program is an opportunity for Christian youth to engage with Reformed Christian thought and apply it to the world around them. Applications for ARPA Academy will open in December 2025. Check out our webpage for more information about the program and how to apply. If you have any questions, or would like to be added to an email list for updates, contact [email protected]....

News

Saturday Selections – Oct. 25, 2025

Easiest way to save 175,000 Europeans a year “Every year, around 1,300 Americans die from extreme heat. But in Europe, which has about double the population, 175,000 people die from extreme heat.” Why this huge difference? “…strict environmental regulations to help combat climate change…” Christians are being encouraged – in the name of biblical stewardship – to sign on for the climate catastrophic agenda. It can be hard to know what to do, since the science is beyond most of us. But you can gauge the fruit of that agenda. Here we see how those trying to save the planet aren’t saving the people on it. So that’s not an agenda we should sign up for. Ontario school taught third graders how to “get into drag” We send our kids to Christians schools not, first of all, to shelter them, but rather to teach them to see the world as it really is – as God created it and sustains it. But government schools are a danger we should shelter our kids from. Public schools indoctrinate children to see the world as it isn't – to see it as completely disconnected from God. And that's not enough for the government, as this report shows: they also want children to question their gender, and feel guilt, not for their sins but for their skin color. Parents disrobe to make their point The trans agenda has schools across this continent telling girls they need to be okay with boys in girls' locker rooms, changing in front of them, and watching them change. What we have here is adults refusing to protect girls. So, in what seems to becoming a trend, three parents have gone to school board meetings and, while arguing against this ridiculous policy, disrobed to their underwear or bathing suit. In the first case, in September, the board shut down the meeting, too uncomfortable to continue, and isn't that exactly the point that mother, Beth Bourne, was trying to make? If the board can't take such discomfort, why are they subjecting girls to it? Then, in October, a couple of women did the same, undressing to their underwear, to make the same point. Awkward? Certainly. But is it a sinful way to make a point? After all, God calls us to modesty (1 Tim. 2:9–10). But He has also used immodesty to make a point, having Isaiah walk around naked (or in no more than his underwear) for three years (Is. 20:2-4). God also calls on us to defend our children and take the hit for them (2 Cor. 12:14, 1 Thess. 2:7-9), modeled most clearly in what God had done for us (John 10:11). The school was set on humiliating children, and these parents were willing to be humiliated instead. Neither school seems to have listened. We can only hope these brave parents will also have the sense to pull their kids out. Too hot to be old (10 min. read) There are moons, and planets, and even a former planet, that are way too hot to be 4.6 billion years old. Our solar system gives evidence of being a young one after all. Conservative Anglicans have been liberated The appointment of a female Archbishop of Canterbury has prompted conservative churches to formally split away. Why girls are more susceptible to transgender indoctrination Our kids, girls or guys, need to know that their teen struggles are common – at some point in their teens, everyone feels like a friendless loner who has something deeply wrong with them. They need to know hear that from their parents so they don't start looking for answers on the Internet or elsewhere where they could hear their problem is that they were born in the wrong body. They need to hear from us that yes, they might be broken... as we all are. Thankfully, we can turn to God in our brokenness and in repentance, and He will be a Father to the lonely. ...

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