Category: Recent Articles
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Parenting
The Golden Rule: the biblical response to self-pity
Sin is devastating. An eight-year-old tries to be kind to his older sister. She responds with, “That was stupid!” Michael is crushed. He tried so hard to be nice and got trashed in return. Michael is tempted to engage in…
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Pro-life – AbortionNo place for pro-life cynicism
“In the days when the idea of a surprise pregnancy was only an abstraction, I had never suspected that I could feel fierce love for…
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AssortedThe coming battles over church property
Same-sex “marriage” and sexual morality were hot topics in evangelicalism in the late-90s and early 2000s. Since the legalization of same-sex “marriage” in 2005, the…
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NewsSaturday Selections – September 3, 2022
Birds are crafted (2 min) In this clip from the documentary Flight: the Genius of Birds, we get to explore how the depth of design…
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NewsGood news: CRC Synod reaffirms homosexual sex is sin
At their annual synod this earlier year, the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) took a stand for biblical sexuality. They officially accepted – by a majority…
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In a NutshellTidbits – August 2022
Great Communicator on communication and diaper changes Ronald Reagan was nicknamed “The Great Communicator” for his ability to connect with his listening audience. But that…
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PoliticsWhy the Right always drifts Left
“O’Sullivan’s First Law” states: “All organizations that are not actually right-wing will, over time, become left-wing.” Coined by journalist John O’Sullivan back in 1989, it…
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Christian educationWhy biblical poetry matters
Skim through any modern Bible and you will notice something peculiar: many pages are laid out as poetry, with appropriate spacing and indents. But have…
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MusicSome thoughts on Christian music in worship
So there is some great music out there, and as Reformed Christians, we can rejoice in that fact. But if the issue of music in…
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NewsSaturday Selections – August 27, 2022
Joe Rogan vs. Babylon Bee on abortion! (10 min) Last week Seth Dillon of Babylon Bee made an appearance on the world’s most popular podcast,…
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ParentingQuantity, not quality: good parenting takes time
In The New Tolerance authors Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler share the way one parent taught his teenage son to see through the worldly messages…
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Dying WellCome, sweet death, Come blessed rest!
Last week, while working in the backyard, I chanced to speak with one of our neighbors. There is only a wire fence separating our properties…
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NewsSaturday Selections – August 20, 2022
Trick shots from level 1 to 1oo School has been out for a while now – are the kids getting antsy with nothing to do?…
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Being the ChurchHospitality hacks for folks who want to be, but keep finding excuses not to be, hospitable
As Christians, we know that hospitality is important, but if you’ve ever tried it, you also know that it can be really hard, and we…
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NewsSaturday Selections – August 13, 2022
Fantastic fireflies! (8 min) Most everyone would say fireflies are super cool, but we really have no idea. God has crafted a creature that has…
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Articles – MoviesHere’s the problem with just closing your eyes during the sex scenes
Several years ago, Kate Beckinsale was conned into signing a movie contract that required nudity—something she didn’t want to do. With her acting career in…
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Book listsVirginia Lee Burton: Queen of nostalgia
A mom reading Katy and the Big Snow to her daughters might remember her own parents reading the same book to her. Since they first came…
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InternetIs our curiosity controlling us, or are we controlling it?
Curiosity can be downright lethal… and not only to cats. In our Internet age, curiosity can quickly take us where we must not go. But…
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ParentingChildren’s games that mom & dad can play without going batty
I grew up with board games of all sorts, playing 5-6 hour “train games” with my brother and his friends, or Settlers of Catan back when…
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ParentingThe high cost of fatherhood: being a blessing to your children is hard work
Sociologists and politicians on the right of the political spectrum often tell us that one of the biggest problems facing society is the lack of…
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ParentingChores are good for our kids, and the earlier the better
Something parents have long suspected but few children have believed has been verified by research: chores are good for kids. The research that backs this…
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DocumentaryMicrocosmos
Documentary / Nature 80 min / 1996 Rating: 9/10 Have you ever wondered what it’s like for bugs when it rains, getting hit by water…
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NewsSaturday Selections – July 23, 2022
Wikipedia’s bias (8 min) One of Wikipedia’s founders now describes it as propaganda for the leftwing. The passive husband A passive husband can come off…
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InternetThe smartphone stack
You’re out with some friends having a nice dinner. But one has been talking on his phone for the last ten minutes, and a second…
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Apologetics 101The don’t and do’s of answering fools
In Proverbs 26:4-5 God says we shouldn’t argue with fools…except when we should. Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself…
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Recent ArticlesWhat is Grace?
Through sheer repetition, some Christian words seem to blend into each other and we forget their distinct meanings. That’s why the word grace is sometimes used…
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AssortedHolding on to wisdom: What would a younger you tell you to do?
I’ve written on marriage and headship in the past but when a friend asked me for my “expert take” on a marital matter he had…
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Adult non-fictionTop 3 marriage books
Over my years in the ministry, I’ve taught many marriage preparation classes. From time to time, I’ve also counseled couples with marriage problems. In my…
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NewsSaturday Selections – July 9, 2022
Great moments in unintended consequences (4 min) When governments don’t have even a basic understanding of economics, many unintended consequences can result. What I learned…
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DramaTo save a life
Drama 120 minutes; 2010 Rating: 7/10 To Save a Life is about teen suicide… and also premarital sex, abortion, underage drinking, cutting, bullying, divorce, divorce’s impact…
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Human RightsA Christian perspective on freedom of speech
This was first published in the June 2010 issue To say American author and columnist Ann Coulter is “outspoken” is rather like saying Solomon was…
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Adult biographiesPrairie Lion: The Life & Times of Ted Byfield
by Jonathon Van Maren 2022 / 256 pages Rating: GOOD/Great/Give God works in history through people, some of whom have a particularly significant impact. In Canada,…
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Recent ArticlesEnvironmentalists: How to tell the bad ones from the good
In 1997, while completing a science fair presentation, 14-year-old Nathan Zohner devised a way to test for bad environmentalists. The first part of his presentation…
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Parenting“Mom, where’s my toothbrush?” 9 packing tips for before and during the trip
The well-circulated belief that “moms are supposed to know where everything is at every given moment” was humorously illustrated for me two years ago when…
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PoliticsPolitical tactics 101: reframing the aggressor
The concept of self-defense is easy to understand and its validity is recognized by most people, whether Christian or not. If somebody is attacked, it…
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MarriageThe surprising secrets of highly happy marriages
**** Marriage is meant to mirror Christ and the church. One can scarcely imagine a higher calling than this, yet all marriages fall far short…
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AssortedTruth requires you to love and love requires you to be truthful
Contrary to popular opinion, love and truth don’t stand in opposition to one another. In fact, you can’t really have one without the other. To…