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Christian education

Growth in independent schools and homeschooling

“The public school has become a counter-church. It is a powerful institution for the purpose of squeezing out of our children the worldview of the Bible and saturating them with the worldview of Pelagius, Rousseau, or whoever. The school where the Bible is banned has become a weapon of defense as well as of offense for the spirit that resists God’s Word against the spirit that embraces that Word.”

Those are the words of Abraham Kuyper over a hundred years ago as he discussed the “schools question” in the Netherlands. His concern over the state of public education was the main catalyst behind his concept of sphere sovereignty. Rather than schools being controlled by the government (or even the church), he envisioned an educational system where schools were truly independent.

While Kuyper’s philosophy of education took hold in the Netherlands, the idea of independent schools – and homeschooling – took far longer to take hold in Canada. But one positive social trend in Canada today is the growth of homeschooling and independent schools over the past fifteen years. The “School Enrollment Growth in Canada from 2007-2023” graph charts these changes based on data from Statistics Canada for Canada as a whole and the four provinces in which most Reformed Christians in Canada live.

Note the stagnation of the public school system – what Kuyper labeled the counter-church – and the growth of alternative forms of education. Over the last fifteen years, enrollment in the public school system increased by only 6% across Canada. It even declined slightly (-2%) in Ontario. The significant increase in Alberta is mostly due to the rapid growth of Alberta’s school age population.

The growth of independent schools

Independent schools, on the other hand, experienced four times the growth that public schools did across Canada. British Columbia and Ontario experienced the largest increases at 32%.

The trend toward independent schools is accelerating. Not only are independent schools growing, they are growing faster and faster every year on average. For example, in the first three years of this data (2007-2011), the average annual growth rate of independent schools was only 0.2%. In the last three years of this data (2020-2023) the average annual growth rate was 1.3%. And altogether that does add up.

Some of this growth is due to existing independent schools getting bigger. Depending on where you live in Canada, perhaps you can see this growth firsthand in your local Reformed school.

But some of the growth is from brand new Christian schools. One example that has ties to Reformed churches is a new classical Christian school, Compass Community Learning Centre, in Langley and New Westminster, BC. This Christian school opened their doors a few years ago to provide Christian families with a thoroughly Christian education a little closer to home, in a more communal setting, and using a classic teaching pedagogy that focuses on grammar, logic, and rhetoric.

The growth of homeschooling

What stands out the most in the graph above is the growth in homeschooling over the past 15 years.

A lot of this growth is due to the impact of COVID, government restrictions on public schools, and the adaptation of independent schools in 2020. Prior to 2020, the number of homeschool students grew by an average of 6.3% per year, which was far more than the growth in independent schools (1.5%) and public schools (0.4%). But in the first full school year during COVID, the number of homeschooled students more than doubled, growing 107% in a single year. And while many (35%) of those students eventually returned to public or independent schools, by the end of the 2022-23 school year, many more students continued on the homeschooling track. In the coming years, we will see whether those students stay within the homeschooling track or also choose to go back to a more conventional form of schooling.

Why this growth is cause for gratitude

This growth in independent and home schools is a win for two reasons.

First, it is a win for the principle of parental involvement in education. Virtually every reference to teaching or raising children in Scripture describes parents – not professional teachers – as the educators of their children. For example, right after the second giving of the law, Moses commands:

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut. 6:6-7).

Now, this doesn’t mean that only parents are allowed to teach their children. As humanity developed and specialized and as knowledge expanded and became more complex, parents needed help with their responsibility to educate their children, leading to the creation of schools. There, professional teachers do much of the actual work of educating children. But it shouldn’t be that parents hand off the education of their children to others and wash their hands of the matter. That responsibility ultimately remains with parents. (And there is a whole body of evidence that suggests that the more involved a parent is in the education of their child, the better that child will do at school.)

Public schools, however, have increasingly wrested this authority away from parents in all sorts of ways. The centralization of power in a provincial ministry of education limits the authority of local elected school boards. In much of eastern Canada, elected school boards have been eliminated entirely. Some public schools withhold information from parents about their children, such as if they are socially transitioning at school.

On the other hand, most independent schools strive to deeply involve parents in the education of their children. Many independent schools simply wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the passion, time, money, and involvement of parents. And, of course, homeschooling is the most direct form of parents taking responsibility for the education of their children.

Every child that is removed from the public school system and attends an independent school or is homeschooled is a win for the idea that parents – not governments or even schools or teachers – are the primary players in education.

Second, the growth in independent schools and homeschooling is a win for Christian education. Public Catholic schools aside, public schools are secular schools. For example, the BC School Act requires that:

“All schools and Provincial schools must be conducted on strictly secular and nonsectarian principles. The highest morality must be inculcated, but no religious dogma or creed is to be taught in a school or Provincial school.”

Teaching a Christian worldview or the Bible as truth simply is not possible in most public schools.

But it is possible to base education around a Christian worldview in independent schools and through homeschooling. Now, not every independent school is a Christian school. Not every homeschooling parent is a Christian parent. While the data on what percentage of independent schools and homeschooling students are Christian isn’t easily accessible, a 2016 Fraser Institute report found that 38.5% of all independent schools were Christian schools. They enrolled 37.1% of all independent school children. And yet, the existence of a wide variety of independent schools and homeschooling movements helps give Christian schools and Christian parents the freedom to educate their students and children in the fear of the LORD. The larger, the more diverse, and the more pluralistic the independent education and homeschooling sector is, the safer Christian schools are from the overreach of a post-Christian government.

And so, while there may be many disappointing developments in public schools across the country, one bright spot that we can thank God for is the growth of independent schools and homeschooling across our country.

Full Article

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“Honey I blew the budget!”

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Why would three family men expend the effort to organize a Men’s Conference? Why seek to capture its purpose under the term Strive? And why would so many men give up their normal Saturday routines to seek encouragement to strive together? What was this huge interest saying? This was autumn 2024. For months and years already Christian straight men had been told to sit down and shut up; it was time for women to give leadership, for people of alternate sexual orientation to shine, for minorities of all sorts to take the reins. How were the sidelined meant to respond to that signal? The three men who birthed this Strive Conference saw the need to encourage men to push back against this effort to emasculate Christian men. As the autumn of 2024 unfolded, awareness grew across our civilization that men needed to dare to be men. Instead of sitting down placidly and passively, men should boldly strive to be the men God created us to be. More than 750 men from some 14 denominations understood the need and sought encouragement in the battle. But planning a conference is one thing. Making sure it runs smoothly is another, especially when attendance demonstrates the Strive concept hit a nerve. Would the plans deliver?? I dare to say that Scott, Dan & Kevin had to be men to handle the nervous tension that invariably dominated their collective persona that morning. Strive The term “strive” appears in numerous passages of Scripture in the context of encouraging Christians in the battles of faith. The passage that featured in this Strive Conference was Phil 1:27f, where the apostle Paul instructed his readers: “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.” The concept of Christian men battling alongside each other in the face of serious opposition lies at the heart of God’s will for His people as we live in our present world. Such striving needs encouragement, equipping, arming. Three speakers had been lined up to open the Word of God for us listeners eager to understand better how we can best strive side by side to be the men God wants us to be. Speakers Dr Will denHollander, professor of New Testament at the Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary, started us off with an address under the promising title: “Be Complete: the Word of God for the Man of God” (asking our attention for 2 Tim 3:16f). On the basis of that Scripture, he drew out that the “man of God” has all the resources he needs to “be complete, equipped for every good work” – for the Lord God has given us a God-breathing Bible that prepares us to handle all the hard questions of our day. The obstacle we face is not a lack of resources to handle the battles of life but is rather that we too often choose to give some other activity greater priority over reading and wrestling with God’s divine Word in the face of today’s challenges. So we end up floundering in the dark in the midst of those challenges, unable to function as the men of God we otherwise can be. The speaker’s public admission to his own personal struggles added considerable credence to his encouragement to us to be men of the Word – both personally and side-by-side. Dr. Ian Wildeboer, pastor at Mercy Christian Church in Hamilton, followed with an address that could not help but hold the attention of today’s men: "Men in covenant with God: Guarding our hearts and those we love from Sodom." He ably laid a finger on the fact that Lot chose to live in Sodom and made his decision on the basis of present-day comforts. The potential price to his family did not seem to play a role in making the decision or in sticking with it. We cannot get out of our world, but we can certainly take responsibility for how living in our world impacts our families. Here was a challenge to us to have our eyes wide open to the abundant attacks of our families and how we men can best strive side by side to protect those whom God has entrusted to our care so that in turn they flourish in God’s service. After a hearty lunch of pulled pork on a bun capably served by a number of ladies from the John Calvin Christian School in Smithville (and the bonus of lots of valuable heart-to-heart conversations among the attendees), a third talk followed; Rev Al Besuyen, pastor of Zion United Reformed Church in Sheffield, encouraged us to “Strive for Godliness in our leisure time.” Speaking from personal experience, he pressed on us that misuse of leisure time can become a trap that takes us to places where we cannot strive side by side as men of God. He urged us to recognize that the time we receive has purpose: it’s not for self and personal preferences but is opportunity to serve the other in service to the Master of all time. In service to others we’re also making ourselves available for another to encourage ourself. A panel discussion followed the three speeches, under the capable leadership of Rev Rolf denHollander from Living Light Canadian Reformed Church of Grimsby. As he pulled the material of the day together with the assistance of the three speakers, perhaps the most unforgettable moment was when a brother, once a slave to alcohol, expressed the fervent hope that soon he could drink the wine new in the kingdom of God with Christ himself. Till then, total abstinence. Yes, it’s a fight, one in which we need one another. His public testimony was distinctly an inspiration to many. Singing Interspersed throughout the day were multiple opportunities for the assembled men to sing the praises of the God in whose service we battle. 550 men on their feet, under the leadership of capable musicians using various instruments – it truly was momentous, stirring, most heartening. And then the accompaniment ceased… and 550 men were on their own, side by side leaning into the privilege of raising voices and hearts to God Most High with eager abandon, each line building on the previous in volume and joy and enthusiasm – as here and there men reached up a hand to dry an eye at the sheer beauty and majesty of together delighting in the God whose servants we may be. To so many of us Ps. 150 will never be sung the same again. Example In concluding remarks, a grateful participant made mention of the fact that God’s first words to the man Adam was the instruction to guard and keep the garden – for God knew there was an enemy out there intent on hijacking God’s world. Where Adam failed, Christ Jesus did not. Now the task still to guard God’s world remains. Organizers Dan and Kevin and Scott set us an example in doing precisely that, striving side by side to pull off an excellent conference! The 550 men then headed out in all directions. I dare say the conference sparked in every participant a renewed determination never to sit down and shut up, but instead to stand tall together in the battle, striving side by side in struggles against pornography, gambling, alcohol misuse, drug abuse, slothfulness and countless other vices seeking to emasculate men of God. May Strive 2025 be just as successful. Information on the 2025 Strive Conference will be posted to www.StriveMensConference.com as it is developed. ...

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Trudeau resigned and Parliament prorogued – now what?

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Charitable status of churches and religious charities threatened

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Saturday Selections – Jan. 11, 2025

Music as the fingerprints of God (6 min) George Steiner here is lecturing on the wonder of music and is not trying to argue that music points us to G...

Assorted

How to be happier

Keep long lists, and short accounts ***** As I pad down the hallway to my home office, sometimes I’ll look down and remember that the laminate pla...

In a Nutshell

Tidbits – January 2025

Flying Duck Orchid God's inventiveness is sometimes so shockingly inventive, it might make you laugh out loud. This is a real flower called the "Flying Duck Orchid" that actually looks like the bird in flight (see above). Is Christianity good for the world? God's critics love to attack all the good He gives. But Gary Bates, the former CEO of Creation Ministries International, once told a short story that shows just how apparent God's goodness is, even to those who try to deny it. "Two of my colleagues were speaking on an Australian Christian radio station a few years ago....and a young geology student....told my colleague that Christianity was "not much good," and that she was drawn to religions like Buddhism or Islam. My colleague asked her what country in the world she would choose in which to raise her future children. “'Australia, of course,' she replied. "He shot back: 'If it couldn’t be Australia, what would be your next choice?' “'Umm … America, I guess … or maybe England.' “'And if that isn’t possible?' “'Well,' she replied, hesitating, 'probably Germany … or Switzerland …' "After she had been prodded to consider several more, my colleague pointed out that she did not cite any predominantly Buddhist or Islamic nations. Her ‘wish list’ was made up entirely of countries that most would define as having a Christian foundation (despite their rapid decline into secularism)." My colleague wrote: “Of course, our young lady’s choices were neither unusual nor surprising. Not even the most vehement Christian-bashers would prefer to bring their children up in Iran, Burma, Saudi Arabia or the like. But rarely would any of them make a connection between their choice of countries and the Bible.” SOURCES: Gary Bates' 2013 End of the year letter; He culled the story from Dr. Carl Wieland's "One Human Family" On reputation “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” – Coach John Wooden Hebrews 12:6-7 in fiction In Russell Hoban's Bedtime for Frances, Frances is having some troubles staying in bed. Thankfully, when Frances has once again gotten out of bed and padded to her her parents' room, her Father knows just what to say. "'How can the wind have a job?' asked Frances. "'Everybody has a job,' said Father. 'I have to go to my office every morning at nine o'clock. That is my job. You have to go to sleep so you can be wide awake for school tomorrow. That is your job.' "Frances said, 'I know, but...' "Father said, 'I have not finished. If the wind does not blow the curtains, he will be out of a job. If I do not go to the office, I will be out of a job. And if you do not go to sleep now, do you know what will happen to you?' "'I will be out of a job?' said Frances. "'No,' said Father. "'I will get a spanking?' said Frances. "'Right!' said Father. "'Good night!' said Frances, and she went back to her room.” On the pull of power "Power is a poison well known for thousands of years. If only no one were ever to acquire material power over others! But to the human being who has faith in some force that holds dominion over all of us, and who is therefore conscious of his own limitations, power is not necessarily fatal. For those, however, who are unaware of any higher sphere, it is a deadly poison. For them there is no antidote." – Alexander Solzhenitsyn Two great lines from a great book "Don't trust in your strength, because there is such a thing as pride. "Don't despair in your weakness, because there is such a thing as forgiveness." – Trevin Wax, from his "Clear Winter Nights" Democracy needs Christ as King “If you want to defend democracy, you must first understand why. It’s not because the people are always right, as some hyper-democrats have claimed. Remember that, given the choice, the people cried, 'Give us Barabbas!' The reason we defend democracy is that, in a fallen world, no man or woman can be trusted with absolute power; so those who govern must be made accountable to those they govern. “But the electorate, in turn, must have a standard to which the government is held accountable – a fixed standard of right and wrong. And unless that standard is transcendent – from a source higher than the shifting tides of public opinion – society will inevitably descend into the Law of the Jungle: 'Might makes right.' The transcendent, immutable standards of Biblical justice and compassion are the only reliable protection for the weak and helpless." – Ron Gray, former leader of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada A peculiar blessing “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go.” – attributed to Abraham Lincoln 7 one-liners Give Satan an inch and he'll become a ruler. Morality, like art, consists of drawing a line somewhere. Don't put a question mark where God put a period. When it comes to giving, some people stop at nothing. A Bible that is falling apart probably belongs to someone who isn’t. If evolution is true, why do mothers have only two hands? Give God what’s right…not what’s left. SOURCE: from material circulating the Internet A man in a pit A man fell into a pit and couldn’t get himself out. A liberal came along and said, “I feel your pain.” A conservative walked by and said, “Only bad people fall into pits.” A politician promised, “We’ll pass a law banning pits.” An optimist said, “Things could be worse.” A pessimist claimed, “Things will get worse.” A news reporter wanted the exclusive on the pit. A socialist was angry there weren’t more rich people in pits. A capitalist left to look for investors to build a toll bridge over the pit. A self-pitying person said, “You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen my pit!” A fire and brimstone preacher thundered, “You deserve your pit!” A psychologist noted, “Your mother and father are to blame for you being in that pit.” A self-esteem therapist said, “Believe in yourself and you can get out of that pit.” A Christian, seeing the man, said, “Jesus would want me to help you out of this pit,” took him by the hand and lifted him out. Source: adapted from a bit in Cal and Rose Somra’s "More Holy Humor" The wit and wisdom of Will Rogers Years ago, comedian Will Rogers got a laugh when he noted: “We don't seem to be able to check crime, so why not legalize it and then tax it out of business?” Today governments in North America and Europe are using this method to deal with prostitution, illegal drugs and gambling. They’re turning Rogers’ small, gentle joke into a big bad one....

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Saturday Selections – Jan. 4, 2025

"Are you Christian?" (3 min) In this "sermon jam" Paul Washer challenges his listeners to really examine their lives. Why Christians should be the most pessimistic and least pessimistic people on Earth One thing that sets Christianity apart from Islam and every other religion on earth is that it is entirely pessimistic about Man's ability to please God. But Christians shouldn't be pessimistic about the state of the world. Yes, there are troubles, but God hasn't let us fall into utter depravity and He also continues to shower blessings on an undeserving world such that here in the West we are richer than people 100 years ago could have ever imagined. So why then, does it always seem to us why this past year was a doozy, and this upcoming election is always the one that matters most? Turns out there are "7 laws of pessimism" – this is an entirely secular take, but one that Christians can read to take warning of how the temptation of ingratitude can so easily and sneakily come our way. The myth of sexual experience The world says it's important for dating couples to test their “sexual compatibility" before they consider marrying. But the data says God's ways are best – couples who were sexually inexperienced before marrying are more than twice as likely to be "very satisfied" compared with couples who were highly experienced. Courage: the virtue that enables all others If you were tempted, like me, to nitpick this title, then consider this question: is Love, without the courage to speak needed truth to a loved one who doesn't want to hear it, really love? Or is it courage, that enables true love? In this article and accompanying podcast, Jonathon Van Maren speaks to a particularly courageous woman, and new Christian, Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Two collections of Bible reading plans It's a new year, and, like many of you, that means I'm renewing my resolution to read through the Bible. And I'm looking to some good advice to: Pick a partner to read it with, to build up the positive peer pressure Don't sweat it if I miss a day... or a week – just continue on with that day's reading rather than trying to catch up. Engage with what I read – the point is to know God better, not mark ticks down. Nancy Pearcey on biblical masculinity and the Cultural Mandate Nancey Pearcey, author of The Toxic War on Masculinity, points to some pop culture ideas of what a man should be like – self-sufficient, isolationist, independent – and contrasts that with what the Bible says. ...

Assorted

How to look forward to the future

Hopefulness is a skill we can learn, because… God ***** Doomerism: despair and apathy caused by a disbelief that anything can get better; most often used with regard to global warming, lack of positive social change, and the risk of AI takeover. – as defined by Wiktionary I am shocked at how much optimism has died just in my own lifetime. I didn’t even realize the cultural atmosphere in my childhood was particularly optimistic – it was just “normal” to me. But compared to the current atmosphere, with the oppressive worries of natural disasters, new diseases, social tension, authoritarian governments, and renewed nuclear threats, the previous decades take on a rosy hue. Why do so many people, especially young people, feel an impending sense of doom? It’s less about our current circumstances, and more about the loss of hope for the future. We might be all right at the moment, the feeling seems to be, but we’re just hanging in there. Who knows how long we’ll be able to hang in there for? You might argue that this is worldly thinking. Climate change, authoritarianism, social issues are all things “the world” is concerned about. But I can relate to feeling like my actions and decisions are pointless, my life is going nowhere, and that the future looks bleak. I have had times in my life where I felt paralyzed, like anything I did would likely lead to doom. It turns out that being hopeful takes a lot of effort sometimes. And when the world around us persistently sends messages about how bleak everything is, about how young people are worse off than their parents’ generation, and how disaster looms on the horizon, it feels even harder to go against the flow. But as Christians, shouldn’t we know how to hope? Yet Christian discussions can also be full of how the world is getting worse. Christians are worried about what will happen to their families and their churches. And so, hopefulness becomes a hard skill for us to learn. How do you learn to have hope for the future? Here are a few perspectives that have helped me along the way. 1. Don’t miss the big story by obsessing on the details One helpful way I’ve found to think about the future is to remind myself that I already know the ending, and that ending is a happy one. The day-to-day right now might look like it inevitably leads to doom and gloom, but I know that’s not the big picture. I just need to zoom out enough to see the whole big story, and see that I’m just in a small part in the middle of it. I’m muddled down in the details, but a detail isn’t the whole story. And the best way to remind myself of the big story is to read the Word of God. That’s where we hear the end of the story and are reminded about who’s writing it. Ok, ok, you might be thinking, that's the big picture, but I still feel hopeless about my life. I might know in the end everything will turn out all right, but I still don’t feel capable of doing anything right now. I still feel like the current circumstances make whatever I do seem pointless. It’s true, it can be hard to connect what we believe to how we feel. Sometimes we know something, but we still feel anxious or paralyzed. But this means that it’s worthwhile examining what story our feelings are buying into, if we feel that way. We might not realize the degree that we’re accepting other people’s narratives about our lives. 2. No, the pessimists don’t know it all You might be sitting at home, doomscrolling on your phone, and some talking head on TikTok pops up bringing all these facts together: while wages in Canada have increased by 74.3% since 2003, housing prices have increased by 227%. Add to that the information that Canada’s population has also increased during this time, and that housing starts have struggled to keep up with the demand. Your heart sinks. You weren’t thinking about when you’d be able to afford a house before that moment, but now you’re convinced you never will. What’s the point of going to work tomorrow? And that’s just one example. It doesn’t take much time online to find theories about why Gen Z, or millennials, or whatever generation is doomed – why they will never get married, or afford a house, or be able to have children, or ever retire. These theories all seem so airtight, based on facts and statistics laid out in a logical fashion, with each piece of data leading to the next. But life is not so airtight. These theories are not prophecies about your life. Perhaps some of the stats and data might be useful for bureaucrats trying to understand social conditions, but when they become reasons for you to give up on life, they’ve left the realm of usefulness. We’re often skeptical of mainstream media narratives about politics and the environment, but somehow this kind of data can sneak into our brains. Sometimes it starts off being comforting, because it explains why we’re not quite where we want to be in life yet. It’s not us, it’s just our circumstances. But an inescapable path of doom unfolding beneath your feet doesn’t help you in the long run; it paralyzes you. What will help? Stop listening to these voices. No one theory can take into account all the information available – each tends to cherry-pick facts that fit. Online influencers and writers and videos tend to emphasize the negative narratives because that’s what gets clicks. And no theory can predict the unexpected event that changes everything and throws all accepted theories into chaos (sometimes known as a black swan event). The world is not predictable, and events that don’t fit the theories do happen (and disprove the theories). So why base your life on one of those theories? 3. Learn from history as it actually was When my grandma was a young woman in the Netherlands, World War II started and all the young men left town to join the army. She didn’t think it was likely she would get married. Then she met my grandpa, who was a resistance fighter. After the war, they wanted to get married, but so many houses had been bombed in the Netherlands that there was nowhere for them to live. We can look back on the past with nostalgia – “in the 1950s you could support a family on one income!” But we don’t remember all the times that a future didn’t look possible for them back then, all the times when, logistically, there was just no one around to get married to, or statistically there were zero homes for newly married couples to live in, or that the “better life” looked a lot harder than the old life. Maybe life doesn’t give us “optimal conditions.” Sometimes “doing something” really looks like doing the impossible. My grandma just kept taking the next step, even if circumstances didn’t look great. After all, nothing is impossible with God. So don’t base your life on disheartening statistics. Instead, why not base your life on the Word of God? 4. Trust God with the future God loves you, and He didn’t design your life as a kind of trap you can’t escape. But He also doesn’t reveal our life paths to us before they happen. He calls us to trust in Him as we walk in His ways: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105). In other words, God hasn’t shone a spotlight on your destination, but He does light your feet as you take each step. You are part of a big story, but your part might not include our society’s preferred narrative of buying a home to fund your retirement, or finding the one career where you can make a meaningful impact. Or, who knows, maybe that will be part of your story one day. But the fundamental thing to hold onto is that you are a part of the story God is telling, and this means your life has meaning. What does knowing this do for us? It means we don’t have to be paralyzed. It also means we don’t have to see what will happen to us before it happen, even though we think predicting our future will make us feel better. We don’t need to add up all the facts together to predict our future and come to a negative conclusion (“there’s more women than men in the average church I attend, therefore the likelihood of me finding a husband is less than...”). God doesn’t work according to statistics. God doesn’t stop working out His plan because forecasters say most millennials won’t be able to afford a house. He will do whatever His will is for your life. The question is, are you open to that? 5. Trust Him one step at a time Can you keep taking the next step God lays in front of your feet, and the next step, and the next step, without always knowing where it will go? Can you find the courage to try things that are a little scary for you, if He calls you to them? Sometimes moving forward in life feels like plunging into the unknown, into something that could go terribly wrong (because any momentous choice in life could go terribly wrong) but with the willingness to try and see what God will do with your life. It’s easy to say, just do something, but doing something come with risk. We can take actions that make us suffer, we can make wrong decisions, we can do the wrong thing. That’s what scares us, and makes us paralyzed. The reality of risk feeds our paralysis. But to begin to exercise our faith and trust in our God Who is bigger than us, we do have to step out and learn to leave what’s out of our control up to Him. The Bible is full of examples of people stepping out in faith and leaving the future up to God. There is Abraham, who "went out, not knowing where he was going... to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land” (Heb. 11:8-9). People did not live their lives by theories or statistics: “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised” (Heb. 11:11-12). And in the face of our fear of the future we can still act: “In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good” (Eccl. 11:6). We’re urged in the Parable of the Ten Talents, and in Proverbs, to do the work in front of us. But we’re also urged to leave the results up to God. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for He gives to his beloved sleep” (Ps. 127:1-2). So let go of what you can’t control. God isn’t calling you to navigate what’s out of your hands. And then do your part. Take steps in what areas you can do something. This is the only place to start. Conclusion Hopefulness isn’t a journey we can travel on our own. We can’t always formulate or speak the positive story to ourselves, and others can come alongside us to tell us their own stories of God’s work in their lives. If you’re feeling hopeless, reach out and talk to someone you trust. But at the same time, lean into God and His Word. He can contradict and counteract the negative narratives from culture that surround us every day. He can give us hope when the world claims it is dark. And we know His promises to us never fail....

History

Don’t overlook the blessings of today

Our children are actually wealthier than the very richest of 100 years ago ***** You stir in your bed as the strains of an orchestra tickle at the edge of your still sleeping consciousness. The volume increases little by little, and you wake up in your warm cozy bed. You stick your toes out of bed onto the floor: even though it’s January, it’s warm and pleasant inside your bedroom, as the furnace has been programmed by your smart thermostat to warm the house fifteen minutes before you need to get up. You share the bathroom upstairs with your sister, but she won’t be up for another half hour, so you turn on the tap to your preferred setting, and warm water instantly gushes out: you luxuriate in the shower an extra few minutes as you think about the day ahead. Your mom has put out a delicious breakfast: bacon and eggs on toast, with sliced oranges and a cup of hot tea, just the way you like it. Dad reads the morning devotions, and leads your family in prayer; then you’re off to take on the challenges of a day at work. You drive yourself in the car your parents sold you for much less than it was worth: it’s been sitting in the garage, not outside in the cold, so you don’t even need to scrape frost off the windshield. You’re new at your job, but the work is interesting and challenging, and your co-workers are mostly kind. The office is always kept at the perfect temperature for working, and the company provides snacks and gourmet coffee for your morning and afternoon breaks: they hope to make the work environment as comfortable as possible, because paying well is not enough to keep associates engaged in their work; people also need to feel appreciated and well cared for! When lunch hour arrives, you make your way to the company gym for a work out – after a few hours of mental toil, it feels so good to put your body through some physical tests! After a quick shower, you’re back at your desk at 1 pm to continue your tasks through the end of the work day at 5:00. It was a productive day, and you feel good about what you’ve accomplished. You make your way home, stopping at the sports store to pick up a hockey stick for tonight’s game. At $250, it’s a bit more than you usually spend, but you’ve been saving up for quite a while and it’s time to treat yourself a little bit – and maybe it will help solve your goal scoring drought! After the game, you relax with your friends in the dressing room, limiting yourself to one beer so you can feel sharp in the morning, but enjoying the camaraderie and fun with your teammates. Home at a decent hour, you chat with your parents before bed time, check the football scores on your iPhone, and head upstairs for a good night’s sleep. Then before you know it, the music starts again… Life in the modern world Most of our readers could relate to some of what’s written above: a hardly unusual day for a modern citizen of the western world (although this fictional teenager will be adding many responsibilities in the coming years if he or she is blessed with a spouse and family in due time!) But what you have just read, and, very likely, what you experienced today in your own daily routine, would be unimaginable luxury for 99% of the world’s population over the past 6,000 years. Waking up in your own private bedroom and having access to running hot water? That would be a luxury reserved for only the wealthiest in centuries past. Your usage might be limited to checking the weather and texting your friends, but that phone in your pocket has access to more information than the largest libraries of the ancient world. What we consider a typical work week of 40 or 45 hours would be laughably brief for our grandparents and their parents. And the way our bosses pamper us? Our ancestors would be stunned… 100 years ago Many of our readers have family trees with roots in the Netherlands: my own grandparents were born early in the 1900s, and so would have been in their twenties a century ago. Perhaps you only know your family members from this time frame as gloomy faces in faded black and white pictures: but they were of course real people with real struggles, joys and sorrows. If we transport ourselves back in time one hundred years, to the Netherlands of the 1920s, we might be shocked at living conditions. As in most of the world, the infant mortality rate in Holland was very high: it was not uncommon for a couple to bury two or three children before they had reached their teenage years. If you look at the genealogies of your family, you might see multiple children with the same name: if baby Geert died, the next male son might also be named Geert, so that the name of one’s relatives would live on in the family line. Between 1900 and 1930, the population of Holland increased from 5 million to 8 million, a 60 percent increase in just 30 years. The Netherlands had stayed out of “The Great War” of 1914 to 1918, which we now know as the First World War, and so the country was spared the devastation that swept over other European countries. During that same time frame, average life expectancy in the nation increased from around fifty to around sixty. It was not at all uncommon for adults to die much earlier than today: with less modern medicine and antibiotics, some diseases that would be relatively minor today would be fatal a hundred years ago. Despite the Netherlands status as the sixth wealthiest country in the world in the 1920’s, the average working family lived without most of the comforts that we consider commonplace today. In the cities, electricity was starting to become more common as a source of light and power in homes, but indoor plumbing was still hit and miss. In the country and small towns, laborers lived in very humble conditions; sometimes even in sod huts (shelters built of turf, or dug into a hillside), with a fireplace burning dried peat – compressed moss – for heating and cooking. Of course, not everyone in the 1920s lived in such humble circumstances, but even the middle class made do with far less than we would consider a minimum standard. For clothing, most children would have one set of clothes and shoes for the weekdays, and a special “Sunday” dress or suit, often worn with the same shoes. Absent the assistance of a washing machine and dryer, moms would wash all the households clothing by hand (or using a manually powered washing machine), and laundry would be hung out to dry on the clothesline. And in inclement weather, it would be strung up across the attic. The 1950s Perhaps 100 years ago seems far removed – how about we move forward a generation and make a comparison with the world of your parents and grandparents in the 1950s? Everything in the world had changed in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, igniting the Second World War. Unlike the first “Great War,” this time the Netherlands could not stay neutral, as German forces swept through the low countries in the spring of 1940, conquering their neighbor in just a few days. The Nazis treated the Dutch reasonably well at first, but soon began a campaign to eradicate the Jewish population, and to bring food, manpower, and raw material back to Germany for the war machine to continue its fight. The last months of the war, known as the “Hunger Winter,” was the pinnacle of suffering for the Dutch population, as the last gasps of the German forces left little food available, and left behind much trauma and despair. After the war, many Europeans wanted to get out of the Old World, away from the new dangers of Communism, and towards the freedom, opportunity, and prosperity of western countries. The USA, Canada, Australia, and South Africa opened their doors to immigrants, especially those with a background in agriculture who were willing to work in the farms and fields. Perhaps you’ve heard stories from your parents or grandparents about the difficult early years in their new homeland, learning a new language, and often living in very difficult circumstances. While every family’s story is different, you can imagine your family’s own history. You wake up and it’s so cold! As usual, your brother has grabbed most of the blankets, and the brick you took out of the fireplace and wrapped in rags to warm your bed last night has now lost its warmth. It’s your chore to start the fire this morning, so you flick on the single light switch and get dressed in the cold, teeth chattering. The house only has one bathroom, and it’s occupied – you wonder who could be awake before you? Off you head to the kitchen to stoke up the fire, and when you peek inside the wood stove, there are a few embers still glowing. You’re able to get the fire going again and soon the room begins to warm up. Next, you head outside for your morning chores: Dad has been hired as a farm hand for the Canadian farmer who sponsored your family, and this means the whole clan has to pitch in! The first milking is at 4:30 a.m., and Dad is already out there getting the milking pails ready for you and your brother. After a few hours of hard work in the cold, you head back inside for the breakfast that Mom has prepared. Dad reads the Bible, and then you and your siblings head off to the road to wait for a ride from the neighbors who will take you to school. You’re all crammed in the old four-door Ford; with no seatbelts required, it doesn’t really matter how many are in the back seat! Dad has already told you that ninth grade will be your last year of schooling: you’re going to need to work full time to help the family out! If you want more education than that, you might be able to go to night school, but your parents don’t really think that is necessary. Your older sister is already working at the shoe factory down the road; she gives all her wages to Dad and Mom, and they give her an allowance in return. This will be the way it is until you leave the parental home! When you get home from school, there is more work around the farm needing to be done. Dad is often working late nights, especially during the harvest, and you are expected to pitch in every afternoon, and often after supper as well. Sunday is the day of rest, but the cows still need to be milked, and chores have to be done! Your church is a 45-minute drive away, but there’s no way your parents are not taking the whole family to both morning and evening services. Sundays are a wonderful time to connect with fellow immigrants, to socialize, to compare notes about work opportunities, to marvel at the blessings the Lord has given to your community. While life is not easy, there is so much more opportunity in Canada than there was for you in Holland, and you are grateful to God for His provision and goodness. Despite the hard conditions, you know the Lord is looking after His people, and that in all circumstances, you may lean on Him for all you need for body and soul. Reflection While your grandparents may look back with fondness on their early years in North America, and might even miss some of the struggles they had to go through, there is no doubt that life was more difficult than it is today. In 2025, we enjoy and appreciate Christian schools in most of our communities; we have many post-secondary opportunities for our youth; we have incredible economic and employment options in our free market nations, and we are free to worship our God without persecution. We are collectively the beneficiaries of the sacrifices made by the previous generations in working hard for their families and for their communities. The Lord has been so good to us! We do not need to feel guilty about these blessings, but we should use them wisely for the good of our neighbors, and to the glory of our great God....

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