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Theology

Celebrating the Sabbath

“Many people see the Sabbath or the Lord’s Day, as an infringement of their personal liberty – a day that God has taken from them, instead of a gift that He has given to them, for rest, worship and celebration” – Rev. Bruce Ray

*****

Scientists and secular historians can account for the division of time into years, seasons, months and days on the basis of ancient observations of the cycles of nature. The year and the day obviously are tied to the cycle of the sun and the rotation of the earth. A month finds its origin in the cycles of the moon.

But secular historians are puzzled by the week. There is no natural basis for the week, and since they reject Holy Scripture as a historical source they can’t turn to it for an explanation. However, whether they acknowledge it or not, the weekly, seven-day pattern of work and rest has its origin in God’s work of creation. We have the week because God ordained it, and indeed this is the origin of Time, not only of the week, but all divisions of Time. God is the Sovereign over Time.

This is one of the first points that Bruce Ray makes in his book Celebrating the Sabbath. And he notes that if God is sovereign over time, then it only makes sense that He is sovereign over what we do with time, both work and rest: "Six days you shall labor" God said, “but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work.”

The Sabbath through time

Now many people assume that work is the result of the Fall, but Adam had a job assigned to him before the Fall (Gen 2:18-20) so that assumption is wrong. And just as Adam had work do before the fall, so too there was a Sabbath rest before the fall. In fact Bruce Ray identifies from the Scriptures four distinct stages in the Sabbath:

1. Creation Sabbath – Sabbath rest before fall into sin
2. Exodus Sabbath – Sabbath rest given to Israel
3. Resurrection Sabbath – New covenant, new Sabbath
4. Final Sabbath – Christ’s return ushers in this final rest

Intention of the Sabbath

"The Sabbath was designed as a day of gladness and not as a day of gloom," notes Ray. It was intended by its Creator to be a day of rest and worship in celebration of God’s wonderful works. The Sabbath promised both physical and spiritual refreshment for the whole man. The Sabbath was a day off from work, a day when men and women, their families and servants, visitors, and even livestock could enjoy the gift of rest from God. It was a day for "complete rest" (Exodus 35:2), a day to leave the briefcase at the office, and the tools locked up in the shed. Even during the busy times of the year, during the plowing season and the harvest (Ex. 34:21) the people were commanded to rest on the seventh day in honor of, and in obedience to, the Lord who made heaven and earth. "Moonlighting" was prohibited on the Sabbath. The worker who tried to get ahead of others by working on the Sabbath was even subject to the death penalty!

Exodus 23:12 reads: "that you may REST" and rest here isn’t only about “not working." The Sabbath was appointed to minister to the whole person, and it was therefore also a day of spiritual rest.

Legalism

Bruce Ray writes an interesting little chapter on the "Babylonian Sabbath." During the Babylonian Captivity the elders and Rabbis of Israel became very interested in spelling out precisely what people could and could not do on the Sabbath. Eventually they came up with over 1000 rules. The spirit and intention of the law became lost in a sea of technicalities.

When Jesus came, that is, when God, the eternal Son, took upon Himself the nature of a man and visited His people, He came to set the captives free, including the captive Sabbath. Jesus challenged the Pharisaic distortions of His holy day. He repeatedly and purposely did things on the Sabbath that violated their legalistic understanding of Sabbath keeping. But make no mistake, Jesus came to restore the Law, including the fourth commandment, not to dismantle it (Matt 5:17-20). So Jesus blasted the Pharisaic Sabbath, but in doing so, he did not harm the biblical Sabbath at all. Indeed He liberated it, restored it, and filled it full of meaning once again (Matt 5:17)

Ray examines one by one, the six skirmishes Jesus had with the Pharisees over the Sabbath Day:

1. The Battle of the Wheat Field (Mark 2:23-28)
2. The Shrivelled Hand skirmish (Mark 3:1-6)
3. The crippled-woman conflict (Luke 13:10-17)
4. The Dropsy disaster (Luke 14:1-6)
5. The Battle of Bethesda (John 5: 1-9)
6. The Spit Spat (John 9:1-41)

These texts are well worth looking up and show, as Ray puts it, how "the conflict was not so much a conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees, as a conflict between the Holy Sabbath of God and the painfully distorted Pharisaic Sabbath. It was part of Jesus’ mission to liberate, heal and redeem the Sabbath from captivity.”

Do’s and Don’ts?

Coming to our modern day celebration of the Sabbath/Lord’s Day, Ray speaks about keeping the Sabbath "Holily and Happily," saying: "In the fourth commandment, God declares that He is sovereign over time (He made it), and over our use of it (He made us!). He has from the very beginning of time appointed one day in seven as a day for rest and refreshment in Him" "All people observe the Sabbath, all people everywhere do. Sunday comes along once every week without fail, and we all do something with the day. The question is not whether we observe, but how we observe it."

Now, finally the reader may be thinking to yourself: "He is going to get to what I wanted in the first place. I can still have my laminated, wallet sized card with "do’s and don’ts" after all."

Sorry folks – as author Bruce Ray writes, life just is not that simple. It is about thinking out principles. That is the real hard part. Many of us would like to have someone in authority – a pastor perhaps – tell us what to do and what not to do in great detail. That would certainly make life simpler and tidier. May I jog on Sunday? Go sailing in the afternoon? Mow my lawn? Go shopping at the Mall? Fire up the grill for a barbeque? And so on.

But don’t despair.

The good news, Ray writes, (that is if you are a Christian), is that you have everything you need to figure out what God wants you to do on the Sabbath. God has given you His Word and His Spirit. What then are the general principles that will help us to keep the Sabbath as the Lord wants us to?

The author mentions four: Keep it Holily, Happily, Honestly and Humbly.

Keep it Holily
This includes gathering with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s Day and realizing that corporate worship is necessary, not optional.

Keep it Happily
The author stresses the great importance of bringing joyful worship to our God, and quotes Psalm 100 "shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs."

Keep it Honestly
The Sabbath is also a day for physical, emotional, and even intellectual "rest." God is concerned with our bodies as well as with our souls. On the Sabbath we need to cease from our works and pause and refresh in God’s rest. Rest, however, does not require idleness. Rest can also be active. Throughout the Old Testament rest is defined as refreshment. The prophet Isaiah zeros in on the essence of the Lord’s Day (Is. 58:13-14 – this is another great text to look up). He brings into clear and bold focus: whose Day is it? Who is the Lord of the Sabbath and will I bow before Him? How does the Lord of the Sabbath want me to use the day for my good and His glory?

Keep it Humbly
The Sabbath is admittedly a problem for many Christians, but that problem is primarily spiritual in nature. That is because of the rebellion in our hearts. We must remember not to come into our King’s presence and to our spiritual family reunion tired, late and unprepared to worship Him

Conclusion

In conclusion: Sabbath keeping is a means of Grace to all who love the Lord.

Someone said about this book:" Bruce Ray’s book is a wise and balanced book, helpful, biblical and encouragingly, taking a fresh look at what the Lord’s Day should be for every Christian." Definitely recommended.

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Saturday Selections – May 3, 2025

Be Present  Reformed rapper Propaganda with a message that'll hit everyone hard: "I guess you could say I've been through a divorce now – me and my phone are no longer married." p.s. "finna" means "going to" An encouraging message for Canadian Christians after election night The same God who promises to turn everything to our good (Romans 8:28) was sovereignly in control when Mark Carney got voted in. So we know this is right, and to our benefit, even if we don't understand... at least in full. One possible benefit – an evident silver lining – is the 90 pro-life MPs that RightNow says were elected. Pro-life candidates are banned from the NDP and Liberals, so these must all be Conservative, and 90 out of the 144 elected Conservatives is quite the sizeable segment. And being in opposition can be freeing, as it may allow these MPs to speak against government abuses more openly than they'd ever be allowed if they were government. Maybe some will start talking about the unborn, not just to fellow pro-lifers, but to the muddled middle who might yet be convicted of the wickedness of this slaughter. Encouraging coverage of ARPA Canada This week ARPA Canada got to make a presentation in the BC legislature with around 20 MLAs present, and this mainstream media account covered it straight up. Want to improve your life? "Open the Bible at least four times a week." Stop valorizing doubt! (10-minute read) As Trevin Wax notes, "Honesty about our doubt is a virtue, but it’s the honesty that’s commendable, not the doubt itself." Syncretism is a pressing temptation As Pastor John Van Eek notes in the video below, syncretism is the mixing of any two (or more religions) to form a completely new religion. Or to put it another way, Christianity plus anything isn't Christianity anymore. In the past God's people might have mixed their true religion with Baal worship, but today's syncretistic temptation involves a very different religion: secularism. In the public square, the demand is that Christians limit ourselves to sharing a logical, scientific, or maybe "common sense" perspective, but never an explicitly Christian one. Now, Christianity is logical, and lines up with science (when properly understood) so this might seem a demand we could accommodate. But when we understand that the secularism making these demands holds that man's reasoning is the source of all knowledge, including what is good, right, and meaningful, then we can see how secularism is another religion. And then we can also start to see the syncretistic element here. If Christians agree to act and argue as secularists do – with no mention of the God we were created to glorify (WSC Q&A 1) – then even when we are pursuing good ends, like fighting a trans agenda or trying to stop abortion, we are doing so by mixing secularism with our Christianity. And then is that Christianity still? ...

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Economics

Work is Worship

Done right, it is an expression of God’s character and beauty **** There we sat under the starry skies, talking faith, family, fun and business. A familiar space. Like many of you, I get to enjoy some nice campfire-convos each summer. But this particular night challenged me. It didn’t take long for the business conversation of this committed Christ-follower and marketplace leader to leave me saddened. “We’ve tried investing in people for years, even hired consultants to help us! At the end of the day, nothing works. We’ve just resigned ourselves that there’s only one reason we’re in business: to make money. At the root of it, that’s what it’s all about.” Similarly, a Christian business owner recently told me the purpose of his business was to simply retire with a healthy nest egg so that he didn’t have to worry. It's a familiar business ploy by the great Deceiver. Skewed view See, many Christians hold a decidedly skewed image of work. Some view it simply as a curse post-Genesis 3. Others make a false distinction between what they perceive as the sacred (God), and the secular (everything else), separating Sunday’s worship from Monday’s work. The problem with these is that these views of work always disappoint. They force us to view God as an evil taskmaster and you just have to buck-up because “that’s your lot in life.” Or, when my identity is not a reflection of God’s character and design, that’s because I’m choosing to run parts of my life on my own, thank you very much. Both these approaches to work will leave you banging your head against the wall – we're hungry for something more, because we’ve left God out of the picture. Work is a gift Work is God’s gift to us. It’s not a result of the fall into sin. In giving Adam and Eve the job of cultivating and caring for the garden, He not only made them the first landscapers, He designed their DNA so that whatever they put their head, heart and hands to is a form of worship. The same is true for us. Made in His image, vocation is an extension of God's work of maintaining and providing for His creation, bringing Him glory and enjoying Him. Hundreds of times in the Bible the Hebrew word “avodah” is used to mean both “to work” and “to worship.” Our work is meant to serve God’s purposes more than our own, which prevents us from seeing work as a means to stock up our coffers, set ourselves up for retirement, or just plod away ‘cause it's a necessary burden. Simply put, work is worship. The Gospel actually gives us new lenses to see work through: we actually work for God Himself! Consider Eph. 6: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people...” Now there’s a reason to get out of bed in the morning! Why does it matter? Martin Luther said that you can milk cows to the glory of God. Why? It's your attitude that says, “God I'm doing it for you.” So whether you’re cutting flagstone or someone’s hair today, your handiwork, even with imperfection, is for God’s glory. Your and my work is an expression of His creativity, because we’re made in His image. That’s a calling. That’s worship! So why does having the right understanding of work matter? Because it is only when we understand it rightly that we can best use it to: GIVE GOD THE GLORY: a response of gratitude for what He did for us REFLECT HIS CHARACTER: made in His image, we get to display this to others SERVE PEOPLE: we are conduits for God’s grace and kingdom to extend GIVE: we earn so we can to give to others MEET OUR NEEDS AND INVEST OUR TALENTS: by exercising God-given gifts He provides for us So, the next time you arrive in your office, on the plant floor or at your client's site, remember who you are, and then consider what you are doing. Your spiritual life is being expressed through your work. Your work is worship. It’s life changing. Col. 3:23 says: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people.” It’s my prayer that you will see your work as significant and view that significance in the light of God’s favor and plan. We are created to intimately know God, glorify him and enjoy Him forever. Let’s do that in our work! Deliberate application: How does seeing work as a form of worship change my company’s purpose and values? If I begin doing everything "as though I’m working for the Lord and not for people” (myself or others), how would that change the way I work? Because God loves business and the marketplace, and because we are called to imitate God (Eph. 5:1) let’s consider, how would Jesus do my job? Which people would He serve? What would be His vision or S.M.A.R.T (or specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time) goals? 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Adult non-fiction, Internet

13 quick thoughts on "Screen-Smart Parenting"

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Interview with an artist

Ruth de Vos is quilting kids and creation

Textile art is perhaps not the typical career choice for someone with both science and engineering degrees, but Australian artist Ruth de Vos says there are “surprisingly many engineers-turned-artists in the world!” A New Thing200 cm by 150 cmThe eucalyptus tree is known by its fruit. A Christian life, too, is one of growth, of maturing in fruit-bearing faith. How beautiful when the transformation from old nature to new nature manifests in ways that cannot be contained internally, like the vibrant eucalyptus blossoms that cannot be contained within their hardwood shells, and burst forth exuberantly for all to enjoy. Ruth has enjoyed arts and crafts, particularly sewing, for as long as she can remember. It was in high school art class that Ruth was introduced to quilting as an art form, and she was hooked. She knew right away that this was something she wanted to pursue further. Ruth recalls, “I think I spent as much time on my art homework as on all my other subjects combined.” But it wasn’t until she became a mother in 2003 that she began playing with quiltmaking techniques more seriously. Children turned out to be a major inspiration and subject for her art as well. “As a mother, I was privileged to experience my little children discovering this wonderful world for themselves, and it often struck me how much joy and wonder they experienced around the little things that we can so easily take for granted as adults. I have put many, many stitches into capturing and sharing that childlike wonder through my artwork!” Ruth also loves to capture the uniquely beautiful Australian flora, where she finds “so much beauty in each leaf, nut and flower.” Not Even Solomon147 cm by 180 cmThese vibrant blossoms were dancing on their pale stems with no regard for the more sombre foliage surrounding them. The frivolity of the blossoms, contrasted with the line and form of the tough and sturdy leaves, displays the beautiful attention to detail in God's creation. It’s clear from the titles and descriptions of Ruth’s art that her view of the world is informed by her faith in Christ. A eucalyptus tree is a jumping-off point to consider fruit bearing in the Christian life. Vibrant blossoms remind Ruth of Scripture verses, and yet another piece reminds Ruth to “embrace the beauty and wonder of the world has made and trust in His provision and care.” Ruth lives with her husband and six children in the beautiful Perth hills of Western Australia, where they enjoy views of eucalyptus trees from every window. She works almost full-time in her home studio as a textile artist, quiltmaker, and illustrator. A drawing table is set up in her lounge. There is a vintage sewing machine, always ready to stitch, in the living room, and a “whole lot of sketching happens poolside while supervising my children during the summer months.” On any given day, Ruth says there are a million ideas floating around in her mind, so the challenge for Ruth is not so much where to find inspiration, but how to decide which idea to run with next. In 2007, Ruth won “Best of Show” at Western Australia’s QuiltWest. A year later, she held her first solo art exhibition. Some ten years after that, Ruth ran her first piecework workshop. More recently, Ruth launched Creative Piecework, a quiltmaking class. Indeed, there’s no shortage of ideas and avenues for Ruth to share her work with others. To find out more about Ruth and see samples of her work, and maybe learn more about quiltmaking, visit her website, or follow her on Instagram. Wind of His Words129 cm by 171 cmThis textile artwork is a response to the final chapters of the Book of Job, where God speaks from the whirlwind, reminding us of His sovereignty over all creation. The imagery of children playing in the rain captures the innocence and joy found in the natural world, even amid life’s storms. Just as God sustains the rain, the clouds, and the wind, He sustains us through every season of life. This piece serves as a reminder to embrace the beauty and wonder of the world He has made, trusting in His provision and care....

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Abortion deaths reach 10-year high

According to the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI), the number of abortions reported in Canada increased to a staggering 101,553 in 2023, the highest number of deaths in the past decade. It is important to recognize that these are just the reported abortions. The real figure could be much higher, as abortion clinics are not required to report their data. The numbers also don’t account for the fact that Canada has allowed “emergency contraceptive” drugs like Plan B since 2005, which can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus, ending the life of a tiny human being. These drugs are now being handed out freely in parts of Canada. Pro-Life group We Need a Law, a campaign of ARPA Canada, explained that the reasons for the increase are varied and not entirely clear. One reason could be the increased population in Canada. But the population has been growing for decades now, while the number of abortions peaked in 1997. Another reason they cite is that CIHI has adjusted its methodology for how it reports abortion, leading to more accurate reporting. ARPA Canada was part of a successful court challenge in 2017, when a court ruled that the Ontario government was wrong to hide abortion statistics from public access. Another possible reason We Need a Law cites is the turmoil pregnant women experienced in the past five years, from Covid concerns to surging inflation. There was one glimmer of hope. Until 2013, the most likely age group to have an abortion was women under 25. Their rate is now half of what it used to be. This gives hope that their increasing resistance to abortion will continue as they age. In contrast, as the chart shows, it is women over the age of 30 that are having more abortions. Although the data remains murky, the matter itself is very clear. Whether they acknowledge it or not, many of the women we meet and know are living through the pain and grief of their choice, or the choice that was inflicted on them, to end the life of their precious child. If they haven’t already repented and experienced forgiveness and peace through the cross of Christ, there is a pressing need to share this message with them. And these preborn children, our neighbours, deserve the same love and protection that we all do. Simply acknowledging their death is a very small step in this direction. Graph used with permission of We Need a Law....

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News

Pierre Poilievre: sometimes access comes with too high a cost

During the English-language leaders debate on April 17, the Conservative Party’s Pierre Poilievre was challenged to explain why he hadn’t gotten his top-secret security clearance. Prime Minister Carney noted that the other three party leaders on the stage had gotten their clearances, so why had Poilievre refused to do so too? The Conservative leader explained, “…when the government made this recent offer, they said that if I got the secret security clearance briefings that I would be gagged under the security law and I could be prosecuted if I spoke freely about matters of foreign interference. Now, given that Canada has experienced Chinese interference by Beijing, the government of China, in two consecutive elections, I needed to do my job, to speak freely without fear of prosecution, and that was not something I would be allowed to do.” He's presenting a principle – silence can be too high a price to pay for access – that Christians need to take to heart too. It’s safe to say that this magazine’s readership has very little interest in the other three parties represented on the debate stage. The Bloc Québécois, NDP, and Liberals all ban pro-lifers from running for them – only the Conservative Party is open to Christian participation. But what does the Conservative Party expect of Christians when we join its ranks? During the campaign Poilievre made this pledge: “I can guarantee you there will be no laws restricting abortion passed when I'm prime minister…. There will be no laws or other restrictions imposed on a woman's right to decide to do with her body as she wishes and that is something that I am guaranteeing to you and to all Canadians." He’s allowing more than 50 pro-life candidates to run for his party, but should he win, does he want any of his MPs, or any of their supporters, crying for justice for the more than 100,000 preborn children who are killed each year? He’s offered us memberships in his party, and the chance to have our people run for elected office, but he certainly wants something in exchange: don’t embarrass your party leader by demanding that the unborn’s blood “be precious in his sight” (Ps. 72:14b). But like Mr. Poilievre, we mustn’t let our silence be bought. What can we do instead? God’s people can take a page from the persistent widow of Luke 18:1-8 who wouldn’t stop presenting her pleas, even though the judge wasn’t interested in delivering justice. Why did he eventually hear her? Because she would not be quiet. So if Poilievre wins, we need to be every bit as loud as we can be, no matter what access it might cost us. If God’s people won’t advocate for the unborn, who else is left? Of course, the primary lesson of this passage in Luke is not about persistence in politics, but in prayer. We can try what we might, but God can do what He will. And God tells us we should never stop praying to Him, because unlike the unjust in positions of power, He is sympathetic to our pleas: “Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?” That’s something Mr. Poilievre also needs to hear from us, lest he ends his days standing before this just Judge in blood-soaked robes. ...

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News

Becoming Chinada? – a look at our country, from the eyes of a recently arrived Chinese family

"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." Everyone should recognize this passage as the dreary finale of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. While it can be a slow journey from pigdom to humanity – from oppressed to oppressor – one who watches can see signs of the slide to where “some are more equal than others.” Liang and his wife Qi are uniquely positioned to observe this slide. They recently emigrated from China to Ontario. My husband and I sat down with their family a few weeks ago and they opened up a page from their history. When I asked them, “So why did you come to Canada?” their 9-year-old piped up, “Because we had too much homework in China!” We all laughed, but in his own way, the kid was right on. Liang was quick to explain, “We came to give our children a better future, and some real options when they grow older.” Options are exactly what the young Chinese person does not have. There is only one road to success: do well in school, go to university, graduate with good marks, wear a suit and live the Chinese dream. The one rule which cannot be broken is compliance. Students must answer the same, act the same, wear uniforms, sport the same hairdo and walk in lockstep with the regime. “It’s like students walking into a factory and each coming out the exact same,” Liang commented. Critical thinking is shunned. Commands must be followed to the letter. These are the winners in Chinese society. And the losers? They become tradesmen, groveling in dirt, shame and dishonor. “Tradesmen often give up on themselves, use drugs, find mediocre jobs – and live the animal life,” Liang said. Why this big focus on compliance? Liang says it’s because robot citizens are easily controlled. And control is what the Chinese government is all about. Liang’s family experienced new layers of repression as the government’s “social credit” system was rolled out, which brought with it closer scrutiny of individual’s behavior. Liang and Qi saw that coercion grow to stifling levels under COVID, being forced to spend months on end stuck inside their house. They wanted better for their kids. In 2020, they made the decision to move to Canada, but weren’t able to actually leave China until a few years later. When the family did finally arrive in southern Ontario, they were ready for a fresh start, fresh opportunities and freedom. The family began adjusting to Canadian culture. But Liang began to see little things about Canada that reminded him of China. “The symptoms are the same,” Liang explained, describing a concerted attempt to destroy freedom and democracy. He sees socialism as a train, with education and censorship pulling hard as locomotives. The ultimate destination? A place eerily similar to totalitarian China. Influencing what’s said and read Censorship of free speech and the media became abundantly obvious to the average Canadian during COVID. Then, as a result of Trudeau’s 2023 Online News Act, Google and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) were told to either pay the government millions, or restrict users from sharing news articles. Google chose to pay $100 million a year, and Meta decided to put a news ban in place rather than pay out. This ban has greatly decreased online discourse and hurt small news outlets across the country, which had already been on the cusp of shutting down. Further restrictions were pursued in the 2024 Online Harms Act which has not yet been passed. In the name of safety, the Liberal government was seeking more control. Space doesn’t permit getting into the details, but Jordan Peterson called it “truly the most authoritarian law conceivable.” And of course, there’s the government’s ongoing funding of the CBC, at $1.4 billion a year, effectively cementing its role as a Liberal mouthpiece. As Christians, we staunchly believe in the freedom to speak the truth. As Peter and the apostles responded to the high priest and council, “We must obey God rather than man” (Acts 5:29). On a civil level, that manifests itself as freedom of speech. But when government doesn’t acknowledge God, they start seeing themselves as the arbiters of what is true, and see for themselves an increasing role in suppressing speech they deem harmful. And so, socialism stifles free speech and the spread of truth, instead requiring citizens pay homage to the government. Molding the next generation Talking about education really got Liang going. His kids have been in the system for some time now, and it’s “a different method for the same purpose” in Liang’s books. “They’re trying to kill your thoughts… In China, they make education extremely hard. Here in Canada, they try to stupefy the kids!” There’s a strong focus, he said, on being nice, mellow and compliant. Critical thinking isn’t taught, and students are expected to regurgitate what they’re told. “Woke stuff,” Liang said, “is the ultimate compliance test. We give you absurd things to go along with and then check – are you compliant?” Fostering anger and envy Presenting a target of hatred is an important car in the socialism train. The most recent example of this is the Elbows Up campaign, and the increasing antipathy towards a nation who has been, by and large, an excellent ally for most of our history. This diversion tactic for the Liberal party has been shockingly successful with the vast majority of Canadians, who were once sick of Trudeau, now jumping on this bandwagon. A more subtle element is creating artificial tension, or in Marxist terms, class warfare. Liang summed up Jagmeet Singh’s campaign as a posed dichotomy: “Do you want a government for millionaires or for the people?” That’s fair commentary, given Singh’s comments that he doesn’t work “for the rich and powerful,” but for the people, and his putting the blame of soaring costs squarely on “corporate greed.” Singh is honing in on our inclination to covet our neighbor’s stuff… and the big boss’s position and power at work. Of course, the Bible condemns extorting the poor, and Christ calls us to avoid showing favoritism to the wealthy. But wealth in itself is not a sin – in fact, it can be the blessed result of hard work. Biblical “big bosses” like Abraham, Boaz, Job, and Joseph of Arimathea are honored as blessings to the community, and we, too, should honor those who administer well. For Liang this is another cog in the wheel of socialism – there’s a strong push to create division between groups who historically have worked well together. Where would Canadians be without economic drivers like capitalists, corporations and entrepreneurs? Unemployed, most likely. Scared and poor In that train of socialism, Liang would add rising crime (which creates dependency upon the police), and rising taxes and inflation, which creates – you guessed it! – more dependency. When those fail, there is always force. The truckers going to Ottawa and having the Emergencies Measures Act invoked on them? “That’s very Chinese,” said Liang. “After everything fails, they have the guns,” he said, recalling China’s silencing of whistleblowers. “Lazy education, censorship of free speech, government-owned news, rising crime, taxes, inflation… It’s a master plan of socialism. The people in power remain in power, those in lower classes remain there. And everybody is supposed to be happy. You’re like pigs on a farm.” Intentionally or not so, Liang has brought us back to George Orwell’s pigs on a farm. Given the track we’re on, is there any way to “Stop the train!”? Liang believes hope lies in providing options to our kids and teaching them to actually think. “As long as you have options, you have hope, and can choose wisely.” Ever present refuge It’s a troubling time, and hearing a piece-by-piece comparison of Canada and China from a veteran of communism is not encouraging. Will our nation continue its sprint towards becoming Chinada? This election is a watershed moment. But there’s one thing George Orwell didn’t factor into his stories: God Himself. Our King reigns. As Psalm 2 declares, our King laughs in derision at the raging politicians. He will speak to them in His wrath and terrify them in His fury. So be wise, oh prime minister! Be warned, oh rulers of the earth! Serve the Lord with fear. And for us – blessed are all who take refuge in Him. Amen. Names and some details changed to protect sources from reprisals by the Chinese government....

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News

Saturday Selections – April 19, 2025

Embrace reality - brought to you by the letter f This is both fantastic – encouraging a farm hand to embrace reality over his feelings – and falls short because Granny points to a changeable dictionary as the final arbitrator of reality, rather than to the author of reality Himself, our God, and His unchanging Word. So God's people need to point to our sure Foundation. Does the 2nd Commandment apply to the King of Kings? Does the 2nd Commandment apply to film portrayals of Christ? This is a pertinent question at a time when there are three bio-films about Christ scheduled for theaters, including the animated The King of Kings for kids, and also the popular streaming series The Chosen, now in its fourth season. Roman Catholics, Mormons, and many an evangelical don't believe the 2nd Commandment applies. But as this article highlights, some Reformers such as Herman Bavinck, Joel Beeke, and John Calvin thought this commandment forbids any representation of any member of the Trinity. Why? Part of it may be practical – how could we ever visually depict the immaterial God the Father, or the Holy Spirit? But Jesus was a man, so isn't that different? Well, another practical consideration is that in extending what was written down into a visual medium, additions will not only have to be made, but made up (because we don't know what they were wearing or looked like, etc.). And as happened with The Chosen, once producers and writers are making additions, they seem to feel free to change what was written down too. Albert Mohler on IVF Mohler notes that the New York Times is asking questions that the world really can't answer. Christians need to ask these same questions, and we do have answers. So, "what do we owe the embryo?" Mohler knows "Christians must now face the question of IVF and embryo ethics head on." Creationist lessons from Australia’s rabbit plague From 24 rabbits 166 years ago, Australia now has a rabbit population of approximately 2oo million! This article is about how creationists... "...are often asked: how could we get so many people in such a short time since the Ark landed (about 4,500 years)? Similarly, how could we have so many land vertebrates today if most came from a pair on the Ark (seven pairs for ‘clean’ animals)? The answer is exponential growth." Australia's News South Wales has passed its own "anti-conversion therapy" law A law that makes it illegal to help someone convert from homosexuality to heterosexuality is now in effect in NSW Australia. The wrongs it is supposed to right are forced conversions, but as Anglican Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has noted, "the initial consultation paper provided no direct evidence of conversion practices in New South Wales." So why this law? Well, if we lived in a rational world then laws would only be proposed when needed – again, as the Archbishop put it, "Good laws must target extraordinary harm not ordinary faith." But the law is here anyway... because the world hates God (John 15:18-19, 1 John 3:13, 2 Tim. 3:12). "...now it’s time for churches to call this out for the massive intrusion it is on liberty of conscience, and its naked attempt to force self-censorship on faith communities at the risk of prosecution. And now is the time for faith-based schools to remind their students and their key stakeholders – government and well-heeled parents – that the gospel is actually all about conversion. Always about conversion." What's not fair about free trade? The key point here would be "we shouldn't make things harder to obtain simply on the grounds that they originate somewhere else." This gentleman has an evolutionary slant – he thinks the reason people instinctively object to free trade is a remnant of our evolutionary programming – but what he attributes to evolution can be better explained by our sinful nature. We are envious and seek our own advantage even if it hurts others, so no wonder then that we'll, for example, push for tariffs that help our industry even if those tariffs make things more expensive for everyone else. ...

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Assorted

Little Free Libraries can be a big deal

If you have a (too) well-stocked home library of good Christian books, but you still want to keep stocking it, start passing along your already-read t...
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Being the Church

God loves a cheerful giver

6 ways to restore the joy of giving ***** In one sense, the most faithful givers during the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ were the Pharisees, as ...
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News

Millions distributed to Canada’s legacy media during election campaign
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News

Saturday Selections – April 12, 2025

The Gray Haven's High Enough (4 min) The first story, history, told with tempo, beauty too – something special that'll have even rap and poetry hat...
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Economics - Home Finances

5 things I’d like my kids to learn about money

The saver, the spender, the schemer – as my kids get older, it’s interesting to see their “money personalities” develop. In the area of money, as in so many other areas of life, we don’t all have to be the same – though each approach to money has strengths to be encouraged and weaknesses to be corrected. As we acknowledge our natural and God-given differences, also when it comes to handling money, what principles are universal – and biblical? Here are a few I’d like my children to learn. 1. We’re stewards, not owners. “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property...” – Matt. 25:14 Our kids like to speculate about what they’d do if they were suddenly handed a million dollars. Although they assure me that they would of course “give a bunch away,” they (understandably) prefer to dwell on all the fun things they could buy. I can’t really blame them; as adults, we can easily find ourselves thinking along similar lines: “As long as I’m giving faithfully, I can spend the rest however I want.” But a steward mindset tells us differently. If money is ours to use, on behalf of the God who entrusted it to us, then it’s clearly not ours to spend mostly as we please. The more we internalize this foundational concept, the easier it will be to give generously – and to judge what’s a wise use of money and what’s not. 2. Material contentment is a choice. “But godliness with contentment is great gain...” – 1 Tim. 6:6 Our kids also like to bemoan (with some glee) the fact that most of the technology in our home is older than they are. As fairly technologically-indifferent adults, my husband and I aren’t bothered by our aging devices. We all have different areas, though, where we need to remind ourselves that contentment is a choice. Choosing to “make do,” to defer or deny ourselves a purchase, or to refuse to try to “keep up” with others in terms of material belongings – and talking through our reasoning with our kids – are important ways to model the value of contentment. By doing so we help teach our kids that we can choose to be happy with what we have instead of constantly grasping for the next thing. Practically speaking, we’ve found that the activity of shopping (physically or virtually) very quickly erodes contentment. Kids are very good at noticing when their parents don’t practice what they preach, and ours are quick to point out if my husband or I start lingering a little too long on Marketplace or Amazon. Yup, I guess I can just borrow that book from the library. 3. There are many things more precious than money. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” – Luke 12:34 Our pre-teen boys think being a YouTube gamer, or maybe a McLaren car designer, would be great career choices. Having fun all day and making lots of money – what could be better? We trust that as they mature, they’ll refine their goals (and their motivations), and already we talk quite often about how to make life decisions such as choosing a career. Personally, I pursued a field of work (writing and editing) that typically doesn’t pay well. But I loved what I did, and as I got older I increasingly appreciated how writing can also serve others and glorify God. Similarly, we encourage our kids to one day pursue something that they enjoy – and that is worthwhile and meaningful – whether or not they’ll make a McLaren wage at it. Besides job satisfaction, there are so many other things (faithful living, healthy relationships, physical and mental wellbeing) that are more precious, and will bring more joy, than just money. 4. Money is a good servant, but a terrible master – or god. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” – 1 Tim. 6:10 It was our daughter who, at a very young age, requested a trip to the dollar store to buy Christmas gifts for her siblings with her very limited resources – starting a regular tradition. Our daughter loved the excitement of choosing, buying, wrapping, and presenting gifts to loved ones. She recognized that money was a tool she could use to bring joy to others – not just a treasure to be hoarded for its own sake. Money can buy a lot of things, experiences, and opportunities – many of which we can receive gratefully and enjoy as gifts from God (1 Tim. 4:4). It’s the love of money, not money itself, that Paul calls “a root of all kinds of evils.” Our financial choices need to reflect our true priorities. I know of a couple who recently canceled a planned trip so they could support a church expansion project. I know of another family who continues to live in a very modest home, though they could afford a significant “upgrade,” “so everyone feels welcome.” On the flip side, I know others who live in larger houses but have made a conscious commitment to use their homes for generous hospitality. Not everyone has to make the same choices, but we do all need to be thoughtful and deliberate about the decisions we make. We might pass up a chance at a promotion (and a wage increase) to ensure we’ll have enough time and energy for family and church commitments. We’ll structure our budget so that charitable giving is a non-negotiable, not an afterthought, and try to thoughtfully align our spending with our prayer that “ kingdom come.” If we remember and prioritize what’s really important in life, money tends to fall into its appropriate place as a resource and a tool. 5. Money is best held loosely. “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.” – Prov. 23:4-5 I was reminded of this rather vivid passage during a recent season when our formerly-trusty vehicle suddenly needed major repairs, our roof started leaking, and our hot water heater abruptly died. Resignedly, we had to wave goodbye to some carefully built-up savings. Money certainly can “grow wings and fly away,” no matter how careful we are – so it’s best to hold it loosely. Our kids certainly notice how we react to things. Is a financial setback a tragedy, or something that doesn’t rattle us to our core because “it’s only money”? Are our possessions the things we fixate on? Is losing them our greatest fear? Our kids will figure out how money fits into our world and worldview through the thousand small choices, actions, and reactions they witness from us. We don’t need to hold on tightly to money because we know it’s not what we depend on: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear...’” (Heb. 13: 5-6). Instead, we hold tightly to the less tangible things that matter more – and to the God who is the Giver of them all. * * * Of course, there’s much more our kids will need to learn about money as they grow up. But if we can help them start to grasp these five principles, they’ll have an excellent foundation for more complex and more practical skills related to budgeting and handling money. And as my husband and I teach them, I hope we’ll learn these principles more deeply, and apply them more faithfully, too....

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Apologetics 101, Pro-life - Abortion, Transgenderism

Don’t Argue the Exceptions: Beating bad arguments for Abortion and Transgenderism

“But what about the . . . ?” Has a rare exception every stumped you when making the case for life or anything else? Here’s how to respond with grace and truth. 10 fingers and toes “Humans have ten fingers and ten toes.” Now that shouldn’t strike anyone as a controversial statement, since almost every person ever born has had twenty digits. But what if someone argued in response that, because there are exceptions to this—people who because of injury or genetic defect lack a digit or two—we ought not describe ten fingers and ten toes as normal or descriptive of being human? We’d rightly think that a silly argument, of course. So why do we tolerate this same kind of reasoning in modern social debates? Take abortion. Perhaps you’ve heard someone challenge the pro-life view with this exception: “Well what about rape and incest, or the life of the mother?” Or take gender. Folks ask me all the time, “But what about those born with ambiguous genitalia?” These objections stop a lot of Christians in their tracks. But they shouldn’t. When pro-choice activists insist that we can’t outlaw abortion because some pregnancies result from rape and incest, or endanger the life of the mother, they’re ignoring the fact that in nearly all abortions none of these considerations are factors at all. Rather, healthy babies are killed simply because they’re inconvenient. Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t support the intentional taking of unborn life under any circumstance. As Live Action President Lila Rose often points out, the unborn are human beings no matter what the circumstances of their conception. Rape and other sexual crimes are monstrous, but abortion doesn’t undo those wrongs, it only creates another victim. Arguing about exceptions like these only muddies the waters. And sometimes, that’s exactly what the pro-choice side wants. For the sake of argument... The same thing happens when someone brings up ambiguous genitalia in the transgender debate. This condition is tragic, and the subject requires great care. But it’s also extremely rare — by most estimates, in fact, occurring in just one in twenty-two thousand births. In other words, when we allow this tiny fraction of a percent to control the entire debate, we obscure the overwhelming reality. And so, for the sake of discussion, instead of arguing about the exceptions, why not just grant them? When someone challenges you about extreme cases for abortion, try replying this way: “Okay, let’s say we keep abortion legal in these rare cases. What about the other ninety-six percent of abortions that are elective? Can we end those?” Nine times out of ten, you’ll hear crickets. Likewise, when it comes to gender, grant that in cases of ambiguous genitalia, there really is a biological basis for doubt and that we must rethink medical practices that too quickly label someone male or female if the physical evidence isn’t clear. By granting the exceptions, we force the other person to face the real questions, or admit they’re using rare cases as wedges for their real agenda. Exceptions prove the principle But more importantly, these exceptions actually prove the principles we believe in. Here’s what I mean: If someone says, “if a baby was conceived in a crime, we have the right to kill her,” that person is appealing to the circumstances under which the baby was conceived. To then argue that abortion should be legal in all cases is to admit that circumstances don’t in fact matter. That my friend, is called a contradiction. Same thing is true with transgenderism. To argue that biology matters in the case of ambiguous genitalia and then argue that biology doesn’t matter with clearly defined genitalia is nonsense. Our response should be: Biology matters or it doesn’t. Pick one. Look, rare cases are tough and complicated. But that doesn’t mean that all or even most of the other cases are. So the next time someone argues for abortion or gender fluidity from an exception, grant it and then confront them with the vast majority of cases. And if they refuse, just ask them how many fingers and toes they have. Copyright 2017 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission....

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Adult biographies, Book Reviews

5 things you might not have known about Pierre Poilievre

Andrew Lawton's Pierre Poilievre: A political life (2024/212 pages) is a biography of the man who might yet be the next Prime Minister of Canada. While there’s no blatant slant, the author has good reasons to like the man he is profiling. When he wrote this, Lawton was editor of True North, one of the few Canadian news sources that wasn’t being bought and paid for by the federal government, so how could Lawton not love Pierre Poilievre’s pledge to defund the CBC? Lawton has since stepped away from reporting the news to now trying to make it. He is campaigning as a candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the Elgin-St. Thomas-London South riding, hoping that his own election will help put Poilievre in place as prime minister. So this isn’t going to be a hit-job sort of biography, then. While Lawton hasn’t writing a hagiography either, his respect for Poilievre comes through. With that bias in mind, here’s a half dozen highlights from Lawton’s book that you might not have known about Pierre Poilievre. Poilievre’s adoptive father is gay Pierre and his biological brother were both adopted as infants by Marlene and Donald Poilievere. The couple separated when Poilievre was around twelve. “Soon after, Donald came out as gay…riends of Poilievre’s say it was never a source of difficulty for him. He has always accepted his father and has a positive relationship with him and his long-time partner.” Why is this relevant? Because having someone close to you come out as gay or trans is uniquely impactful. That's even true in the Church. As Jojo Ruba noted in a recent Real Talk podcast: “Some of the Christian apologists I work with point out that almost every person that they know who grew up as a conservative bible believing Christian who changes their theology on sexuality and gender identity, do so because a family member or loved one a friend comes out as gay or trans, and then all of a sudden their theology has to change to accommodate this loved one.” Back in 2005 and 2006 Poilievre voted against the legalization of same-sex “marriage” but has subsequently called gay “marriage” a success, so we can surmise that his views in this area are deeply held. He read free-market economic books as a teen As a teen Poilievre attended events put on by the BC-based free market think tank, the Fraser Institute. He also read Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom, which argues that free markets are effective, moral, and needed for political freedom. “Poilievre embraced this blend of philosophy and pragmatism…” Poilievre has been at this for a while When he was first elected to Parliament in 2004, Pierre was the given the title “Baby of the house" for being the youngest MP, at just 25 years old. Pro-life ally to officially pro-choice Poilievre has worked for and with pro-life conservatives like Stockwell Day and Andrew Scheer, and that earned him an endorsement by the Campaign Life Coalition back in 2020. But in 2021, “Poilievre voted against a private member’s bill by Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall to ban sex-selective abortions. By the leadership debates in May 2022, Poilievre was identifying explicitly as ‘pro-choice.’” Where he differs from a Trudeau or Carney is that he’ll allow pro-lifers to run for his party. But, as Lawton reports, “He also told me in one interview during his leadership race that no abortion legislation would pass under his government. When I asked if he was saying he’d actively prevent a bill like that, he said it was ‘just an obvious fact’ that no bill restricting or banning abortion would pass.” Reason to think we can "Persistent Widow" (Luke 18:1-8) him? Poilievre is a genius at getting and using attention, and he is bold. As one  of Stephen Harper’s chiefs of staff noted, Poilievre would “…lean into being on the attack rather than leaning backwards to be on the defensive. You could always count on Pierre taking the fight to the other side rather than letting the other side take the fight to him.” But even as Pierre does a great job standing up, he’s also declared, “I’m not interested in starting fights I can’t win.” What that’s meant is that he was slower than some to take a stand on the Freedom Convoy. And he wasn’t quick to take a stand on gender battles, but seems to have seen it as a winnable battle after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and, more so, President Donald Trump, took the lead here. Now he’s come out saying he only knows of two genders. This may show the way Christians can approach him. Justin Trudeau, and Liberal and NDP leaders of the past have shown a real commitment to their rebellion – Trudeau hasn’t just wanted to legalize the murder of unborn Canadian babies, he’s helped kill them overseas too. In Poilievre we can see a firm fiscal conservative, but not a moral conservative. But on that moral front, he differs from Trudeau and Carney and whoever the next NDP leader will be, in that he isn’t putting much energy into his evil. He doesn’t hate the unborn so much as he doesn’t care about them. That is to his shame – God calls on rulers to protect the vulnerable (Ps. 72:12-14) and if Poilievre does become Prime Minister, and doesn’t change his ways, he will have answer to his Maker for the millions of babies who will die under his watch. But this disinterested stand on moral matters leaves us with an opening. He might not have initially been eager to take a stand on gender, but he wasn’t committed the other way either… and then outside pressures swayed him. So, we can pray that, like the persistent widow of Luke 18:1-8, a loud Christian voice – one that just won’t shut up until justice is done – may just get Poilievre to give in to some demands. See an interview with the author below. This was published in the May/June 2025 issue under the title "What kind of Prime Minister would he be? 5 things you might not have known about Pierre Poilievre."...

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News

Saturday Selections – April 5, 2025

Click on the titles to go to the linked articles. Broken Window Fallacy explains what government gets wrong Politicians can always point to the results of their spending. But what we don't see is what would have happened with that same money if they hadn't taken it from businesses and families and individuals in the first place. The jobs we would have created are unseen, because those jobs didn't happen – the government didn't let them happen. So any time a government brags about creating jobs, it's akin to a company bragging about its revenue while refusing to account for its costs (Prov. 18:17). Beast Games: family fun or mammon worship? A bit of a late warning, but if you haven't already checked it out, here's why you shouldn't bother. How murderous are you when even the UN says, "Whoah now, that's enough"? Canada has murdered its millions – nearly 100,000 unborn babies a year for decades now – and that's nothing compared to what the United Nations (UN) is responsible for due to their own promotion of abortion worldwide. But when it comes to euthanasia, even the UN is shocked at what Canada has been up to, in looking to expand it to the mentally ill too. Trump goes 0 for 3 on trade knowledge The Fraser Institute with one way Trump's tariff rhetoric contradicts itself, and a couple ways that his tariffs will hurt not just Canada, but the US too. The government is handing out more money to the media ...but why aren't we hearing about it? Maybe it's because we know that typically he who pays the piper calls the tune – this is media being bought and paid for. That's why The Hub is donating the $22,000 they've received so far to charity. (And no, Reformed Perspective wasn't sent any of this cash.) Defending the unborn as Christians (10 min) What does it look like to defend the unborn as an unabashed, God-glorifying Christian? It means starting with God, and then stacking the science, the logic, the biological reality, all atop that firm foundation of our Lord. Jeff Durbin shows us how it is done. ...

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