Category: theology
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Recent Articles
Real Talk: Living as exiles
This episode can also be found on your favorite podcast platform: Spotify, Apple, Podbean, Amazon Music or on our website. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and our podcast profiles so you can be notified when new episodes are…
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TheologyShould we baptize infants? Resources that make the case
On the evening of Sept. 27, 2018, two Reformed pastors debated “Should we baptize infants as well as adults?” Pastor Jared Hiebert, of the Covenant…
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TheologyHeaven-bound: What will it be like?
We’ve all been told there’s no such thing as a stupid question. And we all know that just isn’t so. That may be why in…
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Church historyWhy and how the Nicene Creed came to be
The word “orthodoxy” comes from the Greek orthos which means right, true, or straight, and doxa which is praise, or opinion. Therefore, orthodoxy is having…
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Recent ArticlesNeither poverty nor riches? Making God our priority in prayer
People prefer to be rich rather than poor. It’s therefore striking that the Bible gives us a record of this prayer in Prov. 30:8: …give…
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Church historyHow and why the Apostles’ Creed came to be
The Apostles’ Creed, as we possess it today, was not the first formally adopted or crafted creed. That honor belongs to the Nicene Creed. However,…
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Church historyWhen they thought the Apostles had written their creed…
It is interesting to note that there has long been a belief that the Apostles’ Creed was written by the apostles of Christ on or…
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HumorWhat is humor?
What is humor? It seems a simple question, with a very obvious answer: humor is whatever makes us laugh or smile. But then what of…
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TheologyOn the Regulative Principle of Worship, and elements vs. circumstances
Many moons ago, in the days of Pine, Lynx and dial-up modems, there was an online discussion group known as Ref-net. I can’t say I…
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TheologyCriticizing like a Christian
“Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most fools do” – Dale Carnegie ***** In his bestseller How to Win Friends and Influence…
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TheologyEnvy dressed up as equality
A few weeks ago two of my daughters were fighting over a stuffed animal, both insisting it was theirs. I wanted to stop the fight…
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TheologyOn the benefits and limits of creeds and confessions
Most RP readers belong to creedal churches. We hold to creeds and confessions because they have helped the Church preserve the truth of God’s Word…
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Adult non-fictionTwo on worship…and the prevention of worship wars
With the restrictions on church attendance easing, many people are saying: “Can’t wait for Sunday.” Did you know that there is also a book with…
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TheologyHERETIC? Let’s not throw bombastic terms around glibly
I was once labeled a heretic. In fact, I’m sure it’s happened more than once. And no, it wasn’t Roman Catholics or Muslims saying this…
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TheologyInfant baptism vs. believers-only baptism: What’s the main difference?
The fundamental difference between the two positions is revealed in how one answers this question: Is baptism primarily God’s action or is it a human…
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PoliticsHaggai and the call to rebuild the temple: a case study in Church/State relations
Canadians find themselves beginning 2021 under varying levels of lockdown. Across our country churches are wrestling with how to respond. The Bible seems to contain…
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Recent ArticlesRepent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out
New Year’s resolutions – we all make them and then we all break them. Perhaps praying the first part of the Proverbs 30:8 prayer is…
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Politics2K is not OK
**** A tour a few years back by ARPA Canada prominently featured a famous statement by Abraham Kuyper: “There is not a square inch in…
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Gender rolesWho’s Afraid of Proverbs 31?
I can still see the cartoon in my memory – she was robed in white, her nose in the air, gracing a marble pedestal under…
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TheologyFighting error in the Church
Sometimes it may seem that we spend too much time refuting falsehood. All of us are chagrined at the preponderance of error both within and…
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DocumentaryThe Marks of a Cult: a biblical analysis
Documentary 2005 / 115 minutes Rating: 8/10 How would you define a cult? Some think of them as being deadly, like the 900 followers of…
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NewsA conversation on authority
It was the type of conversation that, in other circumstances, the two friends might have had at a quiet pub, over a couple of beers….
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NewsMore birds than believers in church
This past Sunday I had the privilege of leading worship in my home congregation just outside of Hamilton, Ontario. I arrived about ten minutes before…
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TheologyBill, and The Brothers Karamazov, on the Problem of Evil
“All right, so this passage shows Jesus’ lordship and control over all creation.” Bill glanced at his watch. It was already 3:45 and his class…
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TheologyIs it real corporate worship? – a parable
In this time of pandemic, Christians are carrying on a vigorous discussion about the character of corporate worship. When many if not most of the…
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TheologyWhy I’m religious, not just spiritual
I was sitting in the sauna at the local aquatic centre the other day when I struck up a conversation with the man sitting opposite…
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TheologyRepentance – what does it look like?
It’s embarrassing but true: all around us we see people seriously messing up, ourselves included. It happened to people in the Bible too. If Noah…
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MarriageAngry? I’m not the type….right?
“Angry? No, not me. I’m not an angry sort of person.” Actually, I suspect very few of us think we are. So allow me to…
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NewsCalvinism in the time of coronavirus
When I was about nine or ten, at the height of worldwide panic about AIDS, I stumbled across a newspaper article that outlined the symptoms…
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Religion – Roman CatholicWhat must Ben Shapiro do to be saved?
Does a person need to put their faith in Jesus to be saved? That was the underlying question conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro put to…
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Science – Creation/EvolutionThe cost of an old earth: Is it worth it?
Until recently, most Christians believed that the Bible teaches us that the earth was only a few thousand years ago. This contradicts mainstream science, which…
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Recent ArticlesOn the Trinity: Augustine, the American Revolution, and my Jehovah’s Witness friend
I have a friend in a nursing home whom I visit regularly. Her name is Dinah and she is a widow. We met her through…
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TheologyOn angels and guardian angels
Does everyone have a guardian angel? Many people are convinced that they have an angel as their special protector. In the film City of Angels,…
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Gender rolesNo, complementarianism is not inherently misogynistic
Complementarianism is the belief that God made male and female different and gave them different but complementary roles in the Church and in marriage. It…
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HumorHumor and the life of faith
“And I knew there could be laughter On the secret face of God” – G. K. Chesterton ***** Nothing is quite so ironic as to…
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Culture ClashesMay I judge?
I hear repeatedly that we’re not supposed to judge another. Young people express themselves this way, and that’s not surprising – after all, not judging…
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TheologyWhat does it mean to be Reformed?
The religions of the world are many, each offering their own understanding of the deity or deities (as the case might be). The persons behind…