RP App | Reformed Perspective

People we should know, Theology

Jonathan Edwards: The pastor who packed them in the pews while preaching the wrath of God

Much like today, during the early colonial years in America, preachers rarely spoke about the wrath of God – this did not seem the type of topic to draw in the masses. One man, however, thought very differently. He brought the message of God’s wrath and, in doing so, ignited a revival which spread throughout the colonies.

Jonathan Edwards was born on October 5, 1703, in East Windsor, Connecticut and began preaching in 1722. Although hell and God’s wrath are unpleasant topics, Edwards became one of America’s best-known evangelists by preaching on just these topics. We can get an understanding of how God used him to spark a revival across the colonies by looking at three specific sermons Edwards delivered at different points throughout his ministry. Through these sermons he taught the reality of God’s wrath by:

showing how it will destroy unrepentant sinners
explaining that it is the power of God which can save them from this wrath
warning that those who do not glorify God are deserving of destruction

Edwards knew that the themes of wrath and hell needed to be taught to cause the hearts of those listening to be convicted about their sins and to realize the reality of eternal punishment.

#1: When the wicked have filled up the measure of their sin…

He began preaching on the subject in May 1735 when he delivered his sermons “When the wicked shall have filled up the measure of their sin, wrath will come upon them to the uttermost.”

Edwards’ text was 1 Thessalonians 2:16, which reads, “To fill up their sins always; for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.” He immediately presented a picture of hell and never let go of that illustration throughout the sermon. He clarified that God enacts His wrath “very dreadfully in this world; but in hell wrath comes on them to the uttermost.” God executes his wrath on the sinners in this world to a smaller extent, either outwardly on the body or inwardly on a mental or emotional scale. However, “these things are only forerunners of their punishment, only slight foretastes of wrath.” When God’s full wrath comes upon them, it will come with no restraint and no moderation of degree, for “His heavy wrath will lie on them, without any thing to lighten the burden or to keep off, in any measure, the full weight of it from pressing the soul.”

Perhaps the most powerful point Edwards made in this sermon is that once the day of judgment comes, the wicked are sealed in their punishment eternally. There is no longer any chance for repentance or forgiveness once death has come. This is a message that the content Christians in the pews needed to hear. Without knowing the reality and severity of hell, the sinner did not feel a need to repent.

Edwards concluded by noting how dreadful the wrath will be, for it is given by the One who created the universe, shakes the earth, rebukes the sea, and shines His majesty over wicked men. The judgement of God is certainly coming, but it will not be known until it comes. Therefore, Edwards begged everyone listening to “haste and flee for their lives, to get into a safe condition, to get into Christ.” This sermon carefully presents the danger of those who are content with living in sin, and it presses the message of hell to convict them of their rebellion.

The reaction to this sermon inspired many in New England to change their lives. However, much more was to come when, six years later, Edwards preached his most famous sermon.

#2: Sinners in the hands of an angry God

On July 8, 1741 Edwards delivered “Sinners in the hands of an angry God” in Enfield, Connecticut. He was not supposed to preach that night, and he had preached that same sermon before at his home church. He happened to have his manuscript with him, and after receiving the last-minute request to fill in for the pastor, he preached a message that had an amazing effect on many of the hearers, spurring on a revival.

Jonathan Edwards was born on October 5, 1703, in East Windsor, Connecticut to his father Reverend Timothy Edwards and his mother Esther, the daughter of Reverend Solomon Stoddard. Stoddard would become a mentor to Jonathan. Edwards attended Collegiate School, later called Yale College, graduating in 1720. In 1722, he accepted a call to a Scotch Presbyterian church in New York. He then went to Bolton, Connecticut in 1723. In 1724, he became a teacher at Yale College, and finally succeeded his grandfather Reverend Stoddard at Northampton, Massachusetts in 1727.

The text of this sermon was Deuteronomy 32:35, which says, “Their foot shall slide in due time.” Edwards opened his sermon by saying:

“In this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites, who lived under the means of grace…yet remained void of counsel.”

He began by stating that all sinners are exposed to destruction, a destruction that is unexpected and brought about by the sinner himself. The only reason why this destruction has not yet come is because of the mere mercy of God, which He gives under no obligation but by grace. Edwards was keen on portraying the power of God by reminding his listeners that even the strongest man has no power over God, and not even the mightiest fortress can defend against Him. He emphasized the fact that sinners deserve to be cast into hell, saying that they are the objects of the anger and wrath of God. He painted a vivid picture by declaring:

“the wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them.”

Edwards revealed the reality of death and claimed that God is under “no obligation by any promise” to keep sinners out of hell. God is provoked by sin, and nothing can be done by sinners to appease that anger. Edwards was trying to “awake unconverted persons in the congregation… who find are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it.”

Edwards ended his message by urging the congregation to consider the danger that they were in, that if they did not change their lives for Christ they were in danger of suffering an everlasting wrath, where “it would be dreadful to suffer…one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity.” The Christians of the early British colonies had forgotten that if God withdrew His hand from them, they would fall into the depths of hell. This is what it means to be in the hands of an angry God, that sinners are born again and made new creatures because the God of wrath and justice found pleasure in making the damned soul worthy of salvation. Edwards pushes the reality of God’s wrath and hell, a topic which was rarely preached. It is this topic which ignited a revival.

The effect of this sermon was immediate and powerful. According to one listener, even before the sermon was done “there was great moaning and crying out – ‘What shall I do to be saved?’… amazing and astonishing power of God was seen.” Another eyewitness, Stephen Williams, wrote:

“Mr. Edwards of Northampton…preached a most awakening sermon…‘Oh, I am going to Hell,’ ‘Oh, what shall I do for Christ,’ and so forth…went out through whole .”

Edwards was able to vividly portray the wrath of God on sinners, causing those who heard him to know the true condition of their hearts. A revival swept through the towns. Hymns were sung, taverns were closed, and young people poured into churches. Congregants arrived at church hours before the service in order to get a seat in the sanctuary. It is estimated that 10 percent of New England was converted during this time. That is equal to 28 million people today. Clearly, Jonathan Edwards sparked a revival in Enfield.

#3: Wicked men useful in their destruction only

While that might have been Edwards’ most famous and impactful sermon, he continued to tell the people of New England about the reality of God’s wrath. In July 1744, he preached a sermon called “Wicked men useful in their destruction only,” and as the title suggests, his main point was that “if men bring forth no fruit to God, they are wholly useless, unless in their destruction.”

His message was from Ezekiel 15:2-4, which asks what the worth of a dead vine is. The answer is that “it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned” (Ezek. 15:4). Edwards expanded on this passage by comparing sinners to the vine, saying that the dead vine which is good for nothing deserves the same fate as a dead sinner: utter destruction.

Edwards claimed that the only two ways in which a person is useful is either in acting or in being acted upon. A person is useful in acting when they display the “fruits of the Spirit” and use them for the love of God and neighbour. If, however, a man does not do this, then there is no purpose for him to exist. Yes, there are other uses for mankind, as man was made for one another to be friends and neighbours. However, these are inferior ends and are subordinate to the main purpose, which is to serve and glorify the Creator. Therefore, since a wicked man cannot glorify God, he is only useful passively by being destroyed. Edwards claimed that it goes against God’s justice to let wicked men “live always in a world which is so full of divine goodness…that this goodness should be spent upon them forever.” Even though the world is full of sin, so much of God’s undeserved blessings can be seen and enjoyed. The rest of creation is made subservient to mankind, which is wasted on men who bear no fruit for God. The only use that wicked men can be is in their destruction for God’s glory, by both having God’s majesty and justice acted upon them and by being an example to the righteous, giving them “a greater sense of their happiness and of God’s grace to them.”

Edwards applied his point so that all may learn the justice and righteousness of God. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but no one blames a farmer who cuts off a tree which no longer bears fruit. Edwards is calling his congregation to consider all the good things God has bestowed on them, including having a soul which houses the Holy Spirit and by having hosts of angels working for them. All of creation works for man’s pleasure, so “how lamentable it is, then, after all these things he should be a useless creature.” The one who is useful will experience pleasure in this world, and the pleasures will be even more wondrous in the world to come. However, those who do not continue “to bring forth any fruit to the divine glory, hell will be the only place fit for … nature ceases to labour any more for sinners.” Again, Edwards is stressing the point that God’s wrath is real, and unrepentant sinners will suffer it.

Conclusion

Jonathan Edwards inspired many revivals through his preaching by talking about God’s wrath and hell, topics that were unpopular to the crowd and avoided by other preachers. Through this unpleasant topic, Edwards ignited a fire of repentance in the hearts of the people of New England. His sermons presented God’s wrath by showing how He will destroy unrepentant sinners utterly, how it is the power of God which can save them from His wrath, and how those who do not glorify God are only useful to be destroyed.

Texts are quoted as Edwards translated them in his sermon manuscripts. This article was first published in the Jan/Feb 2019 issue of the magazine.

Being the Church

Beloved care

for those who took care of us ***** Even today, the Dutch immigrant work ethic and zeal for kingdom-building remains alive in southern Alberta, thre...

News

Saturday Selections – Aug 22, 2026

Why can Modern Art be so ugly? If you tell me that Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring is your favorite painting, and I prefer a landscape s...

News

17 Alberta babies survived an abortion and were left to die

Technology

Screen-fast 2026: How’d we all do?

Last year’s screen-fast set the bar pretty high with over 900 people signing up to participate. This year, nearly 800 of you decided to once again s...

Parenting

Teaching small fries to take notes, sing psalms, and speak to God

When your child is old enough to write... When your child learns to write he is ready to begin taking sermon notes. Say, what? Let's say that little George is 4 or 5 or 6 years old and he knows how to write his name and how to write all of his letters. Now he can get started! All you need is a regular notebook (or half size) and a pen or pencil. Before you go to church you should talk with him about the worship service, and how important it is to be quiet and still and to listen to God's Word being preached. Hopefully he has already been sitting in church for awhile and has become accustomed to obeying in this manner. Explain to him that he is old enough now to begin taking sermon notes! As you listen to the sermon, write in the notebook a simple sentence that you have just heard the minister say. Remember to write it in the type of lettering that little George will be able to read, in the size that he is used to. Then hand it to George and tell him to copy it. If he is a beginner, he will take awhile to do so. When he hands it back to you, smile, and listen to the sermon for a moment, and write another sentence. He needs to remember not to have a conversation about it. Let George complete this second one as well. Depending on the age and patience of your child, you can decide whether to have him write 5 sentences, or 10, or more. As he improves, he will be quicker and will accomplish more. He may keep it up throughout, or he may tire. I usually found it beneficial to "push" my child to do just one more after he said he was getting tired of it. This helped him to develop endurance. After the service, take the notebook home. If you will take a few moments to read it over when he is present, and to show it to your spouse, he will see that this is important to you and it will help him to strive to do it well. If he is able, you might even have him read it as a part of your family Bible reading time. This activity teaches him to take notes, because as he gets older you will ask him to listen and write down parts of sentences that he hears. It doesn't matter if he gets all of the words - just that he is listening and getting some of them. Eventually he will progress to where he can find the main points and summarize them, but that's a long way off. This activity also gives him something very worthwhile to do during worship. It is directly involved with the worship, as opposed to just being a toy, a page to color, or a series of "o's" to fill in, in his bulletin. It says to him that he is worshipping too, not just being forced to sit quietly for his parents' sake. It says to him that he is capable of taking sermon notes, just like the "big people" do. It also helps if he sees those older than him participating in this way. As his notebook progresses you could use it during the week to help him remember what he learned on Sunday. If you are enthusiastic, he will be also. When your child is old enough to sing... When your child is old enough to sing a song he is old enough to learn psalms and hymns. Little George is capable of picking up any song that he hears. So if you regularly sing words of praise to the Lord in your home and in your car, he will soon know all of the words as well. Good quality music that truly honors the Lord is just as fitting for children as it is for adults. They do not need off-key vegetables to get their attention. You might teach your children the psalms and hymns by methodically going through your church songbook and learning to sing all of the first stanzas. What a wonderful preparation to be ready for whichever ones the minister thinks fit best with his sermons for that day! Another way that you can assist your child in worship is by finding out ahead of time, if possible, which hymns or psalms will be sung next Sunday. Then you can sing that one at home a few times so that it becomes familiar to him. If it's one that was unfamiliar to you this could benefit everyone and improve the musical part of the worship of our Lord. If enough people are interested in knowing ahead of time perhaps you could ask the minister if he could email the titles or page numbers to the congregation by Thursday or Friday of each week. All of this serves to teach our children that what happens on Sunday is important and that it is not a Sunday-only activity. Preparing for worship and reflecting on it afterwards bring it to the forefront and promote our spiritual growth. Again, a little enthusiasm goes a long way. When your child is old enough to read... When your child is old enough to read he can begin reading the Bible. What an excitement it is for little George to help read one of the Bible verses at a family Bible reading time. Maybe he can only identify half or two-thirds of the words, but he is sure trying. Soon he will want to be able to read the other words too, and that will encourage him to learn the rest of his phonics. What a goal! Historically, most schools were started so that people would be able to read God's Word. George will appreciate that he too is included in the Bible study. He also won't need to fuss for attention if he is already included in taking a turn. When your child is old enough to speak... When your child is old enough to speak he can pray. He might repeat after Mom or Dad, or he might add his own simple words of thanks and request. But he should not even be able to remember a time when he did not pray several times every day. Worship is the central, most important thing that we do in our entire week. It is the time that we humbly come to confess our sins, give our thanks, sing of His glory, ask for help, and learn of His grace. When we teach our children right from the start how to worship, we accomplish the most important task that we must do. Sharon L. Bratcher has a book with 45 of her RP articles in it, and a 2-year lesson plan entitled “Bible Overview for Young Children” ages 2-6 and 6-9. For information on these, contact sharoncopy@gmail.com. This article first appeared in the Dec. 2006 issue, under the title "Sermon notes, and songs, for small fries."...

News

Saturday Selections – Aug 15, 2026

You need to be bored (6 minutes) A psychologist did experiments where people had to sit in a room for 15 minutes with nothing to do. They could sit there and be bored, or there was a button in the room they could push that would give them a painful shock. Bored or electrocuted. A vast majority picked the electric shock. Why? Because otherwise their bored brain might start thinking about things that would make many of us uncomfortable. Like, What am I even doing with my life? Or, What is the point of all of this? And rather than think on those bigger things, we will do anything to keep ourselves from being alone with our own thoughts. Most of the time the choice isn't boredom or electrocution: it's between boredom and our phones. So our phones have saved us from the search for meaning. We really do need to be bored. Paul shows us how to confront others with the Gospel "...Many of us are not nearly confrontational enough in presenting the claims of Christ to those around us. We are far too willing to soften the message..... But Paul did not flinch from proclaiming a message that he knew would be utterly offensive to his hearers." We have a playbook for college. How about one for marriage? When it comes to a good college, parents know good marks might not be enough, so they know how they can help their kids build "a compelling résumé and what to put in their application essay." They can help plot a course. But marriage doesn't just happen either; not like it did. So do we need to help with a playbook for that too? As Aaron Renn writes, he didn't prioritize marriage, but mostly because he just wasn't thinking of the future. "For a long time I said I didn’t want to have kids. What that might mean for me down the road as I got older didn’t really register. It wasn’t a consideration. "I was in my early 30s when my grandfather died. I was sad, but it didn’t cause me to reflect on my own mortality. Then, when I was about 40, my grandmother got sick and was hospitalized. My mother called to ask me to come down and take shifts staying with her. Several family members did likewise, so she had someone staying with her in the hospital 24 hours a day. "When I was with her and looked at her lying in that hospital bed, for the very first time in my life it hit me. When I’m old and lying in that hospital bed, who is going to come stay with me? The answer was, nobody. Nobody would be coming to stay with me. That was a sobering thought." Ignoble savage: what the Bible says about Ancient Man The world pitches us a primitive-cave-man-advancing-to-sophisticated-modern-man narrative. But the Bible presents us with Adam, our first man, already smart enough to name all the animals. Quite the contrast... 5 myths about Deacons I don't know if the 4th and 5th myth are all that applicable in any of our churches, but 1 through 3 do pop up sometimes.... For more, Real Talk did a great episode about Deacons with Dr. Van Dam. How God brought Nabeel Qureshi to his knees (3 min) Nabeel Qureshi was a Pakistani-American Muslim who, in university, befriended a Christian fellow university student, named David Wood. And they went at it. For months. Nabeel later went on to write Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus. ...

Parenting

The Pity Party Pit and how to get out of it

An exhortation to mothers on guarding our hearts and minds from the sin of self-pity ***** Homemaking and motherhood are hard. There are days and even seasons when the monotony can feel palpable as we change one more diaper, wash one more dish, and prepare one more meal. “Does anyone in this house notice my hard work? Appreciate it? A thank you would be nice.” Before we know it, a woe-is-me, victim mindset takes hold and, voilà, we’ve fallen into the Pity Party Pit. “Well, wait one minute,” our flesh says. “Surely my feelings are justified. I’ve been in prayer over this. I’ve been crying to the Lord for help. He’s seen how unappreciated my work is; how hard I’ve been trying to serve my family; to honor Him. If there is any sin happening, it’s sin being done to me, not by me.” Hit the pause button Let’s pause here. These are all understandable feelings, but are they right thinking? As Christian women living in a world saturated with self-care mantras, we can’t let ourselves be shaped by them. We need to fill our minds with the truth of God’s Word so we aren’t tossed to and fro on the world’s waves of self-help philosophy. Right thinking means knowing what God says about our hardships and struggles and how He commands us to deal with them. We are called to take all thoughts captive to Christ, to walk in the Spirit and not the flesh, and to be content in all circumstances… and that means all. Yikes! That’s a tall order. Or is it? Does our loving Father give us commands without also giving us the grace to obey? Christ Himself tells His disciples in John 14:15-18a: “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans…” Do you want to hear something encouraging? This is just one of over 7,000 precious promises found in Scripture that God has for us to lay hold of. When we realize that many of these promises are accessible now, we can encourage our hearts and minds to walk according to our new nature and not be dragged down by the old man who has been crucified with Christ. Life, and life abundant, is what Christ has made available to us; and He has given us every tool to make a life abundant a reality. With that, we can confidently declare that self-pity has no place in our new nature, including no place in our homemaking or motherhood. Knowing this, let’s replace the lies we’ve been telling ourselves with God’s Word, which is a “lamp unto feet and a light unto path” and lay hold of the rope that pulls us out of this pit… He lets us see it coming We serve a loving and kind God. In fact, the Lord is so kind in His dealings with us, that He gives us ample opportunity to see sin coming and put into practice our new nature and gifts found in Christ. Let’s take a look at how James lays out the process of how our sin is actually birthed: “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15, NKJV) If we read this Scripture carefully, we can see that the road to actual sin is a process. James explains that this process starts with our own desires enticing us. So, if we find ourselves in the Pity Party Pit, we can know that we have an unmet desire. The sin of self-pity typically is the result of multiple sinful thoughts about unmet desires that have not been confessed, repented of, or corrected. Rather, they’ve been stewed upon or vented in an ungodly way. For me, my secret desire (that is often unmet, being the mother of four small children) is control. When I lose control, I begin to stew on my frustrations. The stewing makes it very easy for me to fall into the Pity Party Pit, especially when I continue down this path of sin by validating my ungodly feelings rather than confessing them. Let me set the scene. It usually goes something like this… I have a great day planned for the family. I’ve taken every measure to prepare all meals and activities the night before. Stress-free and the livin’s easy! Spur-of-the-moment play-date planning? Check! Carpe diem! We all sit down to breakfast with our Bible open, ready to honor Christ as living sacrifices. “I hate eggs,” says my three-year-old. “Okay,” I think to myself. “He’s three. Correct and overlook the offense.” Then the two oldest start arguing over animal facts from the last Wild Kratts episode we watched while my three-year-old continues to pout about the eggs. Before I can gather my next thought, I hear my 9-month-old crying, only to find him in his crib rolling around in a blown-out diaper. “Honey! Can you make me coffee?” shouts my husband from downstairs. My brain goes into over-stimulation overload and I feel the mom-lecture coming on. “You can stop now, Brianna,” I tell myself. “Stop now and redirect this in a godly way.” In my flesh, I decide that’s a hard no – and I burst. I unleash my unrighteous anger (which I call righteous anger in the moment of course) on anyone within earshot. I speak in a tone unbecoming of a Christian woman, let alone a Christian mother, and decide to spray everyone around me in a shower of sin disguised as godly wisdom. Does this sound familiar? It’s about this time that I see the Pity Party Pit. Why does it look so inviting? It’s wooing me toward it like the woman Proverbs warns about. Sweet like honey? No – a deadly poison. Instead of taking the path around the Pity Party Pit, straight into the arms of Christ, I jump headlong into it. For a moment it tastes sweet, but I quickly begin to taste the bitterness. Then, almost instantaneously, follow the accusations of the enemy: “You’re a terrible mother. You really shouldn’t have more children.” “You were just praying THIS morning about being a more gentle mother, Brianna. You’re hopeless.” Sound familiar again? There is a way out It’s easy to see the process of sin unfold when you write it down on paper, but in the moment it is much more deceitful and difficult to see. This calls for prayer. The Lord is faithful to answer us when we pray according to His will. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV) As we can all see by my own failure described above, the Lord did give me a way out; I just didn’t take it. The enemy also chose to attack me directly after I had fallen into the Pity Party Pit with accusations about my identity. However, herein lies the Achilles’ heel of Satan – and our way out of the pit. When Christ died on the cross, Colossians 2:15 says: “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” Furthermore, Romans 8:1 encourages our hearts: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The devil’s accusations that keep us trapped in the Pity Party Pit have no hold on us. Christ has defeated Satan and all his minions. He has “disarmed them and put them to open shame.” When the devil or our own hearts accuse us, we can confidently declare our identity in Christ, confess our sin, and repent. I highly recommend doing this out loud. I speak the truths of Scripture out loud over myself, my husband, and my children daily. I even do it when I am by myself doing chores. We are: • Elect (Luke 18:7) • New creatures (2 Cor. 5:17) • Heirs (Rom. 8:17) • Citizens of Heaven (Phil. 3:20) • Children of Light (Eph. 5:8) • Kings (Rev. 5:10) • a Royal Priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9) • and my personal favorites, the aroma of Christ (2 Cor. 2:15), and Free (John 8:36) Do I sound crazy? Maybe. Do I care? No. We are who Christ says we are, and we must do whatever it takes to replace lies about our identity and our reality with truth. Only when we know the truth and how it applies to every nook and cranny of our life, will it set us free. This is when we can start walking out our new nature. Bible study, time in prayer, confession and repentance are all growth and healing opportunities our loving Father has provided us through Christ. These are gifts freely given that we must make use of if we are to be effective in glorifying God through our homemaking. There is so much grace to be received – more than you and I can even comprehend. Called to battle Conquering and triumphing over the sin of self-pity calls for war. As mothers, what better reason to go to war than for our own soul and the souls of those under our care? We must walk worthy of our calling in Christ, using the sword of the Spirit – which is the Word of God – to cut down all sin that sprouts forth in our hearts. We are to take every thought captive to Christ and walk in humble submission. The Lord Jesus says that fullness of joy is found in obedience to His commands. If He commanded it, He will give us the grace to obey. Our pastor, Zach Wilke, recently exhorted our congregation, “If you want a flourishing garden, pulling weeds is a necessary first step, but it will not actively produce the fruit you desire. For that, you must plant seeds, you must water them, you must prune the branches, and you must defend them against invaders.” See things as they really are As I like to tell my kids: “Put on your Kingdom goggles.” See things through God’s eyes, obey, and watch Christ bless you with fullness of joy as you seek to abide in Him. Are you feeling downcast because your child just colored all over the table you just cleaned? Are you feeling frustrated because you can’t seem to get into a regular Bible time? Are you ticked off because your husband just put his three-day-old blueberry-crusted smoothie cup in the sink right after you started the dishwasher? Think of these moments as opportunities to train in righteousness, practice godliness, and petition God in prayer. As I like to tell my kids: “Put on your Kingdom goggles.” See things through God’s eyes, obey, and watch Christ bless you with fullness of joy as you seek to abide in Him. These are good works, faith-strengthening tests, and obstacles prepared for you directly by the hand of God – all of it to mold you more into the likeness of our Savior. Remember, this is the entire point. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism teaches us, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” You and I were created to be living sacrifices unto God and to find fullness of joy while doing it. So instead of grumbling – out loud or quietly in our hearts – speak life, speak truth. “Lord, thank You so much for washable markers and an opportunity to disciple my child.” “Lord, forgive me for not being in Your Word regularly in this season. I am without excuse, but I also thank You for giving me an abundance of good work and teaching me to live out my faith.” “Lord, thank You for my husband’s blueberry-crusted, three-day-old smoothie cup. I’m so grateful for him working hard to provide food for our family. One day I will miss this.” Okay, maybe we won’t miss the blueberry-crusted smoothie cup – but you get the picture. Replace grumbles with gratitude Cultivating a heart of thankfulness pushes out a heart filled with grumbles and self-pity. Thanksgiving toward God for all of our blessings – starting with the fact that we are alive and breathing, all the way up to our salvation – should be meditated upon each morning. When we create a habit of thinking upon all we are grateful for, it’s amazing how the devil’s flaming darts are extinguished. It’s amazing how quickly our Lord can pull us out of the muck and mire and reorient our eyes toward Him. “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.” (Phil. 4:8, NKJV) We’re in this race together. Eyes up. Brianna Stevens is a mother to four, wife to one, and a recovering pity-party thrower. Her passion is to encourage women to run the race well....

Parenting

The Golden Rule: the biblical response to self-pity

Sin is devastating. An eight-year-old tries to be kind to his older sister. She responds with, “That was stupid!” Michael is crushed. He tried so hard to be nice and got trashed in return. Michael is tempted to engage in self-pity. Thankfully, Michael’s mom observed the confrontation and took quick action. After Mom addressed the poor response of his sister, she asked Michael this question: “How cool would it be if you and your sister were happy with each other? Michael responded, “I would love that.” “Michael, that’s wonderful! Did you know that Jesus wants you to ask him for that very thing; that you two would be happy with each other?” “I guess, but that would never happen!” A two-step strategy “Michael, I get why you think that, but Jesus has two really cool things he wants you to do to make that happen.” “Are you sure, mom?” “Absolutely!”Mom then reads Matthew 7:7-12 with Michael: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Mom warmly explains to Michael Christ’s two fold-strategy for bringing about a better, happier relationship with his sister. First, he has to ask God for that to happen. Since getting along well with his sister is a good thing, Michael can ask in confidence that God will honor his request. Then Mom says, “Okay, asking God is the first step. But the second step is really important. And it can be kind of hard at first. Jesus says you are to love your sister the way you would like to be loved.” “Really, mom?” “Really!” “So, you are telling me I don’t have to wait for her to be nice to me first?” “Exactly, Michael! Jesus says this is the theme of the whole Bible; loving other people first!” Mom understands that the “Golden Rule” of Matthew 7:12 is connected to asking God to help us do the good things he has called us to do. This focus on loving others first is what should mark us as Christians. Jesus emphasizes this same truth in Matthew 22:37-40 where he teaches that all the Law and the Prophets hang upon loving God and our neighbor with our whole heart. The “Golden Rule” was never meant to be read in isolation. These few words come at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says they are the summary of everything the Bible teaches. The message of Matthew 7:12 is this: love others the way that you want to be loved; the way God loves you. Instead of self-pity, love Following Christ’s plan has huge, epic blessings. For Michael, it will be the means that the Holy Spirit uses to rescue him from the trap of self-pity. Instead of feeling devastated by his sister’s poor response, he can confidently ask God to help him love her first. This is what the “Golden Rule” is really about. This is how Michael will be free from self-pity and alive to the immense blessing and privilege of loving others first, just as Jesus does! Live a life of sensitivity with your children. Show them the selfless love of Christ. This article was first published in November 2018. Jay Younts is the author of “Everyday Talk: Talking freely and Naturally about God with Your Children” and “Everyday Talk about Sex & Marriage.” He blogs at ShepherdPress.com, where this article (reprinted with permission) first appeared and where you can find a complimentary article titled Self Pity: the subtle sin....

Economics - Home Finances

Beware the new thieves

Clever online scammers are targeting Christians, old and young – here’s what to watch for ***** Gerry lost his dear wife Margaret in 2020, after...

News

Saturday Selections – Aug 8, 2026

Old books – and old comedy skits – can help us see better C.S. Lewis encouraged the reading of old books, because, while times past had their own...

Pornography

Porn addiction isn’t just a guy thing

“... but you’re a girl!?” If I had a dollar for every time I heard that given the context that is about to follow, I’d have about twenty bu...

News

Sophie Cunningham is tearing down transgender lies, but only God’s people can offer up His Truth

News

Saturday Selections – Aug 1, 2026

Here I am Three gents, singing up a storm, with lyrics based on Genesis 22:10-13 – this is a foot-stomping hand-clapping delight! The delightful duty of married sex "God commanding a husband and wife to have sex is like a master commanding his servants to throw a party out of his own larder, using the best wine and best dishes. It’s like a boss commanding his employees to give themselves a raise and a paid vacation to Bali...." "Here you have been commanded, as man and woman, to engage regularly in something that God designed to give you moments of literal ecstasy and unifying, self-forgetful delight. Of all the hobbies you could engage in together — tennis, chess, movies — this is the only hobby you’ve been told not to neglect." A liturgy with a pause – for the killing The Anglican Church of Canada has given out a liturgy to be performed during medically assisted murders. How compassionate. Did BC really just defund SOGI 123? That's what the Conservative Party was saying, but that isn't quite what happened. As ARPA Canada writes, they did cut funding, but the work already done is already in place. Meet the ad expert who inspired today's anti-population propaganda (10 min. read) God says children are a blessing, but for more than two centuries now, we've had influential figures and forces insisting that more children will kill the planet. This is the story of how that lie was pushed, and an explanation of why it was always shortsighted. This is a longer read, but there is a lot of great history and insight offered up in this article. Maybe the earth is flat? Or, how the Bible helps us address runaway skepticism There are a lot of people pushing lies in the world, whether that's: our public educational system saying, by their silence, that God is irrelevant to anything and everything worth learning evolutionists saying God's fingerprints are not evident in the world all around us government, doctors, and psychologists saying God did not make us male and female, and, in fact, you determine your gender, and you can go from one to the other our judicial systems saying life doesn't begin at conception the UN and others pushing overpopulation hysteria COVID's many government, media, and medical figures making statements with certainty they later revised without apology the 215 bodies reported as buried at a Kamloops residential school With so many "experts" lying to us, how can we know who or what to believe? It's almost enough to have a guy wondering if his crazy conspiracy-spouting friend might have a point. So how can we find the truth of the matter – any matter? In the video below Jeff Durbin gives an answer as to how we can know that the earth is not flat, and here's the principles he touches on: God says that truth can be established on the testimony of two or three eyewitnesses (Deut. 19:15) We have to contend with whatever Scripture has to say on the matter. We can't treat the Bible as irrelevant, or an afterthought, to be refashioned to fit with whatever conclusions we've already come to To expand on these two points a bit, Mark 14:57-59 makes clear that the witnesses do also have to be credible. We can discount witnesses who out themselves with contradictory testimony, including testimony that conflicts with God's Word (2 Peter 2:1-3). Now, if you've met a Christian who holds to a flat earth, he's going to tell you he agrees with these two points. What his mistrust is based on is: not trusting the (mostly) secular experts who discredit themselves by also, for example, speaking of a universe billion of years old... which conflicts with what God tells us in His Word trusting the Bible as being authoritative even when the experts say otherwise So two points follow: We sometimes make the mistake of thinking that a discredited witness proves the opposite, and it isn't so. Would that liars were so reliably consistent, but, sadly, no one is perfect, and that's true even of the liars. So we can't find the truth by just bouncing off the liars, and here that'd mean that even though NASA pushes evolution that does not prove that everything they've said – like the earth being round – is just one more lie in an ongoing never-ending series of lies. What it does mean is, if an issue needs to be settled and is worth investigating then we'll want to find more reliable witnesses to rely on. Which is what we have here in the video below. Sola Scriptura is not the same as Solo Scriptura – the first speaks to the Bible being our authoritative guide, and the second speaks to my interpretation of Scripture being my guide – what the flat earth folk have gotten wrong is how we should read Scripture, and they could benefit from a good Bible study with others that brings up passages that are metaphorical, historical, and even hyperbolic. ...

Politics

Perhaps you should run

Obedience belongs to us. The results belong to the Lord. ***** Every four years, for a brief season, nomination papers open and the question becomes concrete: who will step forward to govern our towns and cities? Budgets and bylaws will be passed, libraries and parks funded, streets and neighborhoods planned, and public moral judgments made. Decisions will be made. The question is, by whom, and according to what vision of justice and the public good? I write to suggest that some of you should step forward, and that those who do must let God’s Word govern the campaign and leave the result to the Lord. I write this while running for municipal council in my home city of Peterborough, Ontario. I do not write from the safety of hindsight. The campaign is underway, and whatever attention or pressure may come as election day approaches has not yet come. That is part of why I want to think clearly now. I have said that I am not running despite being a Christian, but because I am a Christian. I believe public office is a responsibility before God and a trust from the people. That means honesty, stewardship, justice, neighbor-love, and service. That confession must govern my campaign, my exercise of office if elected, and my response to the result if not. Furthermore, that confession raises a more basic question. Is Christian faith merely a private motive a candidate brings into politics, or is civil office itself under Christ? The prevailing ideal of religious neutrality draws the line there: Christians may hold office, but they must not insist that God’s Word governs the office. Scripture and our confessions reject that division. “I don’t have enough time” Perhaps your first objection is your calendar. You have a job, perhaps two. You have children. You serve as an elder or deacon, sit on a school board, help govern a Christian organization, teach Sunday school or catechism, care for aging parents, practice hospitality, and seek opportunities for evangelism. You already have more good work before you than hours in which to do it. Those responsibilities may be why you should not run. But municipal elections generally come only every four years. The opportunity to stand is not permanently available, and for many of us a truly quiet calendar is not a few months away but decades away. If we wait until our responsibilities have thinned out and life finally feels manageable, the nomination period will have closed and someone else will have stepped forward. Scripture warns us against burying what has been entrusted to us, and it tells us that whoever knows the good he ought to do and fails to do it sins. That does not mean every capable Christian is commanded to become a candidate. Capability is not identical to calling. But capability does create a responsibility to discern. I ran as a federal candidate in 2021. I did not win. Campaigning did take time. Yet I learned that public service need not simply subtract from family life. At times it can be woven into it. My family came with me to rallies, debates, and candidate events. They helped deliver literature. My oldest daughter baked cupcakes for the campaign. We traveled, talked, worked, and learned together. Time itself is finite, but family life is not simply a ledger in which every hour spent in public service is an hour stolen from one’s children. A child who comes to a debate, helps deliver flyers, watches his father speak with an opponent, or prays for an election is not necessarily being deprived of family life. He may be receiving a memorable form of Christian instruction. The campaign became part of our life together. My children saw that public responsibility was not merely something their father discussed at the dinner table. It was something a Christian family could practice. This must not be romanticized. A man who neglects his wife and children while claiming to save the country has misunderstood Christian service. A wife should not be steamrolled by political ambition, and children should not be treated as campaign props. Some families are in seasons when candidacy would plainly be irresponsible. Still, “I have a family” or “I am already serving” should not always end the discussion. When the cost became personal After the 2021 federal election, the Peterborough Public Library began hosting “Drag Queen Story Time” events for children. A friend and I organized two peaceful protests, one in September 2022 and another in January 2023. We said publicly that God made human beings male and female, that this created distinction is good, and that deliberately blurring it is harmful, particularly when children are involved. In the days before, during, and after the second protest, the opposition became much more intense and personal. Some people involved in the counter-protest found my employer through LinkedIn. They tweeted at the company, telephoned, and tried to have me fired. That was wicked behavior. I wish I could say that I met the pressure with calm confidence. I did not. When people began contacting my employer, the possible cost was no longer theoretical. I had a wife and nine children to provide for. I found myself thinking about what would happen if I lost my job and how I would continue caring for them. I was afraid, and I am ashamed that I did not trust God’s fatherly care more readily. Thankfully, I did not withdraw what I had said or abandon the stand we had taken, and I discovered then that willingness in principle, and steadiness under pressure, are not quite the same thing. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is obedience while fear is still present. In the end, I was not fired, although I was placed under pressure at work. That experience made me more active in seeking other employment. In time, an opportunity arose with ARPA Canada. The public advocacy that some people had tried to make a professional liability became an asset and part of the experience that fitted me for my present work. There was other good as well. My friend and I were quoted in the local newspaper saying plainly that God made human beings male and female, and that this is good. My friend was later interviewed on national radio, where he had a further opportunity to speak about the issue. The truth about God’s created order went out more widely than it otherwise might have. We did not persuade the library to stop hosting “Drag Queen Story Time,” so we did not achieve the immediate result we had sought. But silence did not have the last word. God has not promised that every Christian who speaks publicly will keep his job or quickly receive a better one. Faithful Christians have lost employment, income, professional standing, friendships, and much more. But, as Lord’s Day 10 teaches, “all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand.” I can now identify several ways the Lord used that period for good. At the time, I could not see them. That is often the nature of obedience. We are called to obey before we are shown what the Lord intends to do with it. An opportunity to speak plainly Running for office can give you the opportunity to share truth with people you might never otherwise communicate with. I am now in another campaign, and if attention increases as election day approaches, I expect some questions concerning my previous advocacy, and my Christian beliefs. I welcome those questions. If reporters, voters, or opponents ask me about abortion, transgender ideology, drag events directed at children, or my belief that Jesus Christ is Lord of public life, I hope to answer plainly. Public attention can bring pressure, but it can also widen the audience for truth. The concern is not that people may discover what I believe. The concern is whether, when pressed, I will speak with the clarity, charity, and confidence that those beliefs require. Honest scrutiny is not persecution. A candidate asks the public to entrust him with authority. Voters and journalists are entitled to ask about his record, beliefs, judgment, and character. Some criticism may be true and necessary for me to hear. A difficult question is not an attack simply because I would have preferred an easier one. There is, however, a subtler danger. A candidate can begin responding to opposition before it arrives. He imagines the headline, the social-media campaign, the accusation of bigotry, or the votes that may be lost. Then he edits himself in advance. No one has ordered him to deny what he believes. He simply learns to say less and less of substance. A Christian who had worked on many political campaigns once told me about a pro-life candidate who had spent years counseling women outside an abortion clinic. Her faith and concern for preborn children were central to why she was running, and the first draft of her brochure said so. Then came a series of individually plausible revisions. The campaign did not want her to appear to be a one-issue candidate. Voters needed to learn more about her family and background. Some of the material about abortion no longer seemed to fit the brochure’s tone. By about the tenth draft, the brochure described a brave and bold woman who would defend the oppressed, but it no longer told voters what she had spent years bravely doing. Nothing in the handout was an explicit lie. Yet the overall picture was no longer candid. A campaign message must be selective. It may not be deceptive. That is why the 9th Commandment matters so much. Prudence asks how, when, and where a relevant truth should be spoken. Fear asks how much truth can be removed while leaving every remaining sentence technically accurate. A candidate under the 9th Commandment The Heidelberg Catechism’s Lord’s Day 43, in unpacking the 9th Commandment, treats lying and deceit as works of the devil. We are taught that God is forbidding here not only false testimony, but also twisting another’s words, gossip, slander, and rash condemnation. Positively, the 9th Commandment requires us to love the truth, speak it candidly, and defend and advance our neighbor’s honor and reputation. That is a demanding political ethic. It means a Christian candidate not only shouldn’t tell explicit falsehoods, he mustn’t even deliberately cultivate a false impression. Obviously, a Christian candidate will not be able to include everything he believes in every campaign piece. But he should ask whether a reasonable voter would feel deceived if an omitted conviction became public the next day. When asked a direct and relevant question, he should answer it rather than hide behind words designed to leave opposite audiences with opposite impressions. The same commandment governs how we speak about our opponents. Christians on the political right are not immune to gossip, exaggeration, rash judgment, or caricature. We may call abortion the killing of preborn children. We may say that gender ideology rebels against the created order. We may identify attempts to have a man fired for lawful Christian speech as wicked. The 9th Commandment calls for moral clarity. We may not twist an opponent’s words, invent motives, repeat allegations we have not verified, or treat every person on the other side as though he were guilty of everything done by anyone associated with his cause. We may oppose a policy as foolish, unjust, destructive, or contrary to God’s law without pretending to know every motive in the heart of the person promoting it. The commandment also requires truthfulness about the office itself. Candidates should not promise powers the office does not possess. A municipal councillor must not pretend to be able to solve every social problem, command every public institution, or repair every failure of federal and provincial government. Exaggerating our own authority is also a form of false witness. Finally, the commandment applies when falsehood favors us. If supporters exaggerate our accomplishments, circulate an untrue allegation against an opponent, or attribute an endorsement we did not receive, we may not quietly enjoy the advantage. We should correct flattering falsehoods as readily as accusations made against us. The Christian candidate should be difficult to intimidate and difficult to provoke. He should refuse both cowardly concealment and slanderous combativeness. Why municipal office? Municipal politics may offer a particular opportunity for principled Christian service. Municipal elections in Ontario are non-partisan, so candidates do not run under formal party banners. That removes one important part of the machinery of compromise. A municipal councillor is not formally required to defend an entire federal or provincial platform, submit to a party leader, or vote according to the direction of a caucus whip. He can own his judgment and explain his vote issue by issue. That can make it easier to act as a principled Christian. It does not make faithfulness easy. There are still media narratives, activist groups, professional associations, donors, influential residents, council colleagues, city staff, and informal voting blocs. There is still the desire to be liked. There is still the fear of being treated as unreasonable, extreme, ignorant, or hateful. In some ways, municipal pressure can be more personal. There is no national party organization absorbing the criticism. The councillor meets his opponents at the grocery store, the arena, the library, and the school event. The people affected by his decisions may be his neighbors, former colleagues, customers, fellow church members, or parents whose children play with his own. Municipal independence therefore creates both an opportunity and a responsibility. A councillor has greater freedom to act according to principle, but he also has fewer excuses when he does not. Municipal government is also wonderfully concrete. It concerns public order, roads, taxes, libraries, parks, planning, policing budgets, infrastructure, and whether families can use public spaces in safety. Christian political involvement cannot be limited to dramatic protests or national controversies. We also need Christians who will read reports, steward tax dollars, protect neighborhoods, maintain good order, and carry out ordinary public duties faithfully. A Christian candidate should be prepared not only to advocate or protest, but to govern. Obedience and results The author, in front of where he seeks to serve: “A candidate should take the office seriously and take his campaign seriously too, genuinely seek to win. You want to win because winning provides an opportunity to govern. But victory must remain a means of service rather than becoming a god.” A phrase I once heard in a sermon has stayed with me: “Obedience belongs to us. The results belong to the Lord.” Proverbs 21:31 expresses the same truth: “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord.” That horse must still be prepared. Confidence in providence is not an excuse for carelessness, passivity, or half-hearted work. A candidate should take the office seriously and take his campaign seriously too, genuinely seek to win. You want to win because winning provides an opportunity to govern. But victory must remain a means of service rather than becoming a god. Victory does not vindicate sinful methods, and defeat does not transform poor preparation, unnecessary harshness, or dishonesty into faithfulness. My loss in the 2021 federal election did not mean that the candidacy had been pointless. It formed my family, gave me experience, and contributed to later opportunities. Yet I could not know those results in advance. I was responsible to act faithfully and leave the consequences to God. The same is true now. I do not know whether I will win my municipal election. I do not know what attention or pressure may come before election day. I do know that Christ’s lordship will not be strengthened by my victory or weakened by my defeat. Perhaps you should run Our churches contain men who manage employees, read financial statements, chair meetings, teach clearly, withstand conflict, make difficult decisions, and carry heavy responsibilities. Some serve as elders or deacons. Others sit on school boards, own businesses, work in the trades, farm, practise law, teach, manage organizations, or serve in the professions. Those existing responsibilities may be reasons not to run, but they may also be evidence that God has given you gifts public office requires. You need not already be an expert in municipal law or public finance. Much of that can be learned. The question is not whether you are already a fully formed politician. It is whether the Lord has given you something your neighbors presently need. It is therefore worth asking whether refusing to step forward could itself sometimes be unfaithful. That question should not be answered quickly, but with prayer, Scripture, counsel from family and church leadership, and honest examination of motive. Are you declining because you already carry responsibilities that must not be abandoned, or because political office is public, costly, and likely to bring criticism? Are you guarding your family, or guarding your comfort? Are you exercising humility, or burying a talent? You may never have spare time. You may not feel fearless. You may lose. Do not confuse ambition with calling or candidacy with entitlement to office. But if, after prayer and counsel, you believe God is calling you to offer yourself as a candidate, step forward. Speak plainly. Tell the truth about yourself, your opponents, and the office. Defend your neighbor’s good name. Refuse to make public approval your master or electoral victory your god. Someone will govern your community, and that government will act from some moral vision. The question is which one. Obedience belongs to us. The results belong to the Lord. Paul Lawton wrote this while running for municipal council in Peterborough, Ontario. You can find his campaign website here. The sidebar article that accompanies his article in the Sept/Oct 2026 issue can be found below. ***** Christ is Lord of the magistrate too The apostle John calls Jesus Christ “the ruler of the kings of the earth.” Psalm 2 commands kings and judges to serve the Lord with fear and to kiss the Son. Civil rulers are not autonomous authorities who may acknowledge God if they find it personally meaningful. They are servants who receive their authority from Him and will answer to Him. Belgic Confession Article 36 speaks with refreshing directness: “…because of the depravity of the human race, our good God has ordained kings, princes, and civil officers. He wants the world to be governed by laws and policies so that human lawlessness may be restrained and that everything may be conducted in good order among human beings.” The Confession does not stop at saying that government should keep traffic moving and prevent theft. It says that civil rulers are called “to contribute to the advancement of a society that is pleasing to God.” They are to act subject to God’s law, remove obstacles to the preaching of the gospel and divine worship, resist anti-Christian power, and do so while refraining from absolute authority and remaining within the office entrusted to them. This is neither statism nor religious neutrality. The magistrate does not administer the sacraments or exercise ecclesiastical discipline. Those responsibilities belong to Christ’s church. Yet civil rulers are not therefore free to act as though Christ has no claim on public life. They should acknowledge Christ, govern subject to God’s law, protect the free course of the Word, and resist anti-Christian power by the lawful means entrusted to their office. The magistrate must not usurp the government of the church, but neither may he pretend that civil government is religiously neutral. A Christian understanding of government therefore includes the restraint of evil, the protection of the good, the preservation of public order, the honoring of marriage and family, respect for private property, the protection of preborn children, and recognition of the created distinction between male and female. It also includes the restraint of government itself. Civil rulers are not saviors, and their authority is never absolute. Some of these matters are primarily the responsibility of federal or provincial government, rather than municipal. A city council cannot change Canada’s Criminal Code or determine federal abortion law, for example. But no municipal decision falls outside God’s moral order. At times the moral vision is unmistakable, as when councils fund Pride events, fly the Progress Pride flag on civic property, or use municipal bylaws to restrict the delivery of pro-life literature depicting the victims of abortion. More often, that moral vision is expressed less dramatically through decisions about libraries, public spaces, policing budgets, taxation, zoning, neighborhoods, and the treatment of families. In either case, council is acting from some view of the human person and of what a good society ought to be. Because Christ is Lord, politics matters. Because Christ is Savior, politics cannot save. That should make Christians more willing to serve and less willing to compromise. We can work seriously for a good political result without acting as though an election decides the fate of Christ’s kingdom....

Contests, Your Turn 2026

Thoughts from tulips to TULIP: My journey into the Reformed faith and translation

One morning in early April 2025, I am sitting on our back deck, holding a cup of coffee and enjoying the quiet stillness of the day. The air is crisp, and the warmth of the cup settles into my hands. Along the edge of the yard, tightly closed tulip buds push through the damp soil, standing bravely against the lingering grey of winter – like a baby stretching out a tiny hand to reach for the world after a good night’s sleep. Spring is here! As I watch this quiet miracle unfold, the melody of the Doxology – Hymn 8 in the Book of Praise – drifts into my mind. How beautiful! God is the source of every blessing. All that lives and grows on earth shall praise the Lord, the great Creator. As I hum, my thoughts turn to the Chinese translation of the hymn. And speaking of translation, I realize I have work to do. I have been invited to speak at my local Christian school’s assembly about my career as a translator, particularly my work translating Reformed books and sermons, and about the journey that brought me to this point. My memories begin to surface, one after another, as if scrolling back through Google Photos all the way to the 1990s. Time truly does fly. It has been twenty years since I began translating. "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." – Prov. 16:9 My translation journey begins in the early 1990s, during a period when China is experiencing rapid growth in foreign trade following its opening-to-the-world policy. As a university English teacher, I am often assigned to interpret for foreign investors and at government-hosted events. These experiences bring me into contact with people from across the English-speaking world and expand my perspective far beyond the boundaries of Chinese culture. What captivates me most is not the act of translation itself, but the people – their stories, their backgrounds, and the ways they think. Around that time, I meet several American couples on campus who happen to live in the same neighborhood as we do. We become friends, and they invite me to join their weekly Bible study. Wanting to better understand Western culture for my teaching, and enjoying learning from people of different backgrounds, I gladly accept their invitation. Later, I learn that they have been sent by Campus Crusade (now called Power to Change) and are serving university students and young professors in China while living there as international students. For years, I question Christianity, challenge their beliefs, and debate with them. Yet even in my resistance, I begin searching for answers to life’s deepest questions. Slowly, as I stand in awe of God, my pride is humbled, and a deep hunger for His Word takes root in my heart. "…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." – Phil. 2:13 Our Bible study group grows as more Chinese friends join us. Because our home is large enough to welcome a bigger group – and with my husband’s permission, though he is not yet a believer – we open our home to host the gatherings. Many of the participants are English teachers like me. God blesses us in ways we do not expect. As the Bible study meets in our home, my husband also begins to hear the gospel. At first, he overhears only fragments from his home office upstairs. Later, he moves downstairs and sits quietly on the edge of the group. Over time, he becomes more engaged and eventually joins us fully. He asks questions, debates ideas, and explores the Scriptures – often approaching them through the lenses he loves most: art and human history. Through listening, thinking, and seeking, he comes to accept Jesus as his Saviour. "…they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." – Matt. 9:36 In 2004, we make a short landing in Canada as new immigrants. British Columbia’s breathtaking scenery immediately captivates us. Yet leaving behind our family, our friends, and our promising careers is deeply difficult. Around the same time, our American friends prepare to relocate to other countries. Our Bible study group is left without leadership and without a connection to a church. Feeling uncertain but determined, we press on – much like the Chinese saying, “a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger,” meaning that beginners often act with fearless simplicity. We search online for materials and take turns leading Bible studies. At first, this seems to solve the problem. But pulling resources from many different sources soon leads to confusion. Questions multiply, disagreements arise, and discussions turn into heated debates. While reading Matthew 11:12, a difference between the English and Chinese translations sparks a debate over human effort versus God’s sovereignty, and the discussion ends in tears. As similar conflicts repeat, we become spiritually weary and cry out to God for clarity – and it is then that the Reformed faith enters our lives. "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them…" – Matt. 9:36 Shortly after we return from a visit to Canada, Rev. F. Vandongen (a pseudonym used for security reasons) embarks on a mission trip to China, delivering his lecture on TULIP – the Five Points of Calvinism. Somehow, he learns about our small fellowship and reaches out to ask if we would help translate sermons for his mission work. We answer immediately and wholeheartedly – yes – and roll up our sleeves to begin. As we translate, clarity grows. What once felt fragmented now comes together like a puzzle, each piece fitting into place. We are like gold miners uncovering hidden treasure, awestruck by the depth and beauty of God’s truth. God is merciful. He hears even our unspoken prayers and shines His light on us as we grow through struggle. As we begin studying the Heidelberg Catechism, clarity replaces confusion. We often hear people say, “That makes sense,” or, “If we had known this earlier, we wouldn’t have argued at all.” Others share their relief: fears of weak faith, of rejection, even nightmares about judgment, begin to fade. "Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them…" – Rom. 12:6 From that point on, I spend countless hours – day after day, year after year – sitting at my computer translating Reformed, faith-based books and sermons. For two decades, the same core truths fill my work: our sin, God’s mercy, and Christ’s saving work on the cross. To others, my work may appear repetitive. To me, it is life-giving. These messages nourish my soul and richly bless our family. Not long ago, I overheard our two sons say, “Mom’s job is pretty solid.” Those words warm my heart – not only as appreciation, but as testimony to God’s faithful care for our family. And beyond our home, countless Chinese-speaking families around the world are blessed through translation work connected to Asia Mission and supported by local churches. When the Chinese translation of the Book of Praise is finally completed and printed, I can hardly contain my joy. I share the news on Facebook, and the response is overwhelming: congratulations from believers across the globe, from China to Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Russia, and Japan. The Book of Praise is only one of many completed projects. Others include I Belong, The Overflowing Riches of God’s Mercy, Lest Anyone Should Boast, The Covenant of Love, The Elder and the Deacon, Unseen Footprints, and Christ’s Psalms, Our Psalms, as well as many more. "To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." – 1 Pet. 4:11 I claim no credit of my own. Translation is never a solo effort – it is always a team endeavor. I am simply grateful to have been part of it. Before I close, I invite you to pause, look at God’s creation, and sing Hymn 8. Perhaps you might even try the Chinese version. I have asked AI to render the pronunciation so it can be sung aloud. And if that feels daunting, simply hum along until “Amen.” After all, Amen is beautifully universal. Dzan may juhn shun wan foo Dzer ywen Dee shahng wan yo doe dahng soong dzan Tien sher tien joon dahng dzan joo meeng Dzan may shuhng foo, shuhng dzer, shuhng leeng Amen!...

Theology

May I judge?

I hear repeatedly that we’re not supposed to judge another. Young people express themselves this way, and that’s not surprising – after all, not judging others fits hand in glove with the postmodern dogma of tolerance that’s so rampant today. Different strokes for different folks, so let the other be; who am I to say that what you’re doing or thinking is wrong…. I’ve heard Christians appeal to Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount to provide Biblical justification for the position, for Jesus told His disciples: “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). Case closed: do not pass judgment on another. Inconsistent But the Internet is full of comments passing distinctly unfavorable judgments. These leave me puzzled. We’re quick to repeat the mantra "do not judge" but judgments abound. Something is not consistent here. This sort of thing happens more often. In our relatively small community we hear numerous details of what happens in the life of the person in the next pew, or in the congregation up the road. And very quickly we have a judgment ready on what we hear. It affects what we say to one another, and affects too how we think about or treat the person(s) about whom we heard a story. Do not judge rashly A quick judgment is simply unbiblical. Solomon put it like this: “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him” (Proverbs 18:17). The Lord in the 9th commandment gave the instruction not to “bear false witness against your neighbor,” and the Heidelberg Catechism summarizes the instruction of this command with this confession: “I must not … condemn or join in condemning anyone rashly and unheard” (Lord’s Day 43). That counts for what we say on Facebook too. We do well to repent before God and man of our easy judgmentalism and seek to learn that God-pleasing habit of doing to others as we’d have them do to us (Luke 6:31). As we hate being on the receiving end of perceived gossip or slander, so we need studiously to avoid being on the giving end of gossip or slander. Test the spirits This does not mean, however, that I’m to be neutral concerning all I hear. The postmodern mantra that I’m to be OK with whatever anybody else thinks or does is simply not biblical. Consider, for example, John’s instruction to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1). So much gets said, and people believe so many things. But I’m to test whether what they say and believe is “from God.” John emphatically wants us to have an opinion on that – and then reject what is not from God. Testing, of course, involves so much more than hearing one thing and swallowing it dumbly as the final word on the subject. Testing involves listening carefully, understanding the details and circumstances, and then evaluating in the light of the revelation of the Lord of lords. You’re meant to have a considered opinion. That’s why, in 1 Cor. 5, the apostle Paul was emphatic to the Corinthians that they needed to pass explicit condemnation on the brother in their congregation who lived in sin, sleeping with his father's wife. They were not to be neutral on this man’s behavior but were to take a stand and excommunicate him. That’s because in this instance the details were abundantly clear (it wasn’t hearsay but indisputable facts evident to all parties), and so the saints of Corinth were obligated before God to form a judgment and carry it out. That obligation was so self-evident that Paul put the matter in the form of a rhetorical question: “is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?” (1 Corinthians 5:12). Judging: that’s your duty…. Jesus wrong? Is Jesus wrong, then, when He in the Sermon on the Mount tells His disciples, “Judge not, that you be not judged?” (Matthew 7:1). Actually, Jesus does not tell us not to have a judgment on what we hear or see. Instead, Jesus’ point is that we’re not to judge rashly. That’s clear from Jesus’ next line, “For” – yes, note that connecting word! “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged...” (vs. 2a). If you are quick to condemn another, do not be surprised when others will be quick to condemn you; “...and with the measure you use it will be measure to you” (vs 2b). So if you hear one side of a story and condemn before you’ve heard the other side, be prepared to have folk condemn you on hearsay before they’ve heard your side of the story! Similarly, if you, from a self-righteous height, condemn others' behavior while you are yourself entangled in sin, do not be surprised that you’ll find no sympathy when others find out about your sin. Jesus puts it like this: “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (vs 3). That, Jesus adds, is hypocrisy (vs 5). As long as you try to hide skeletons in your own closet, you are in no position to draw attention to skeletons you think you see in someone else’s closet. Clincher But Christians are not to hide skeletons in their closets! True Christians are repentant of their sins, and confess those sins to God and to those they’ve hurt by their sins. Then you’ve pulled the log out of your own eye – and at the same time have great understanding and empathy for another’s weaknesses and failures. Then you’ll test the spirits, and you’ll have an opinion on what you hear, and carefully avoid condemning the other in a spirit of lofty self-righteousness – and certainly avoid trumpeting your condemnation to John Public. The person who knows his own weaknesses and failures will instead sit down beside the sinning brother to show him his wrong and lead him on the way back to the Lord. It’s Galatians 6:1: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.” Judge? May I judge another? It depends on what you mean by the word "judge." I am not to condemn rashly and unheard. But I am to have an opinion on my brother and help him in the way the Lord wants him to help me. This article was first published back in 2014. Rev. Clarence Bouwman is a retired pastor of the Smithville Canadian Reformed Church....

Contests, Your Turn 2026

Made new

Josh Schouwstra’s "Made New" is about the quiet witness of the Christian life, and how God can use that quiet witness to chip away at a “heart of ...

News

Liberal party support highest among boomers

More than any other age group, boomers overwhelmingly support the Liberal Party. A July 2026 poll conducted by Abacus Data asked 4,200 Canadian adults...

News

Saturday Selections – July 25, 2026

When they mock the Bible, question the question One of my friend's university professors had, as a clear goal – if I recall right, he even stated i...

Politics

Should Alberta Separate? Why one Christian decided to vote no

In a Nutshell

Tidbits – July 2026

If Dad told only dinosaur jokes - Part II How can you tell a dinosaur from a peanut? Try lifting it up. If you can’t, it’s probably a dinosaur. (Though it might be a heavy peanut.) What’s the difference between a dinosaur and a pencil? A dinosaur is harder to sharpen. Why did the dinosaur cross the road? It was the chicken’s day off. What’s the difference between a dinosaur and a cup of coffee? A dinosaur doesn’t keep you awake at night. (Usually.) What’s red, has a long neck, and hates to be touched? A dinosaur with sunburn. How are dinosaurs and bluebirds alike? They both have wings. Except for the dinosaurs. What do you do with a green dinosaur? Wait until it ripens. What do you do with a blue dinosaur? Cheer him up. What do you do with a white dinosaur? Try not to lose him in the snow. Source: inspired by, and some borrowed from Charles Keller’s “Colossal Fossils: Dinosaur Riddles” How he learned he needed to preach Mark 2:28 Some years ago, on an early Sunday morning, a young Dutch pastor faced a quandary. A snowstorm had closed the roads between his house and the church and there seemed no way he could make it there to preach. But then he had an idea. The canal running behind his house went right to the church, so he could still make it there if he skated. But was that a good idea? Bringing the Word was important; however his church was very firm on Sunday observance, and skating was simply not an acceptable Sunday activity. He hemmed and hawed before finally deciding that if it was at all possible, he just had to conduct worship. So the pastor strapped on his skates, and though the wind was howling, he managed to speedily make his way down the frozen canal right to the church building. When he walked up the steps, he saw the congregation was already in place, and as he stepped in the door, the consistory was there waiting for him, grim expressions all. The elders weren’t pleased, but they liked their young pastor and weren’t eager to publicly rebuke him. So after some hurried discussion among the men, one elder asked the pastor a question: “Did you enjoy the skating, reverend?” “No,” he replied, “I didn’t enjoy it at all.” “Phew!” the consistory said as one. It was all right – skating on Sunday could be allowed, just so long as there was no joy in it! Source: adapted from Michael Hodgin's “1001 More Humorous illustrations for Public Speaking” Big Brother can’t be father or mother “We fear the government may be powerful enough to destroy families; we know that it is not powerful enough to replace them.” – Ronald Reagan Never read a Bible verse Mark Twain once quipped that a cat that’s sat on a hot stove will never do so again… but he’ll never sit on a cold one either. In other words, that the lesson the cat learned had been applied broadly, even to circumstances where it isn’t warranted. That notion – that we shouldn’t overlearn our lessons – has biblical backing. God regularly tells us to do one thing in one place, and nearly the opposite elsewhere. The starkest contrast is Proverbs 26:4-5, where God begins with why we shouldn’t answer a fool (lest we appear like him), before, in the very next verse, telling us why we must answer a fool (lest he appear wise in his own eyes). So when should you do which? That’s where wisdom is required. Another contrast? Solomon’s advice to be like the hard-working ant who diligently plans ahead (Prov. 6:6-8), and Jesus’ encouragement not to be anxious about tomorrow (Matt. 6:25-34). Contradictions? Not at all – just different lessons for different circumstances. Solomon’s advice was for the lazy, and Jesus’ correction was to those fixated on the here and now rather than on God. So don’t be like Twain’s cat who let one incident shape its whole understanding. God gave us a Book, not just a verse, so we should be sure to never read just a Bible verse – read His Word in the context of what else God thought it important for us to know. Know your history "Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him better take a closer look at the American Indian!" – commonly attributed to Henry Ford, but without any clear sourcing. Whether from him or not, the truth it captures makes clear the foolishness of socialist schemes. Have scientists created life? Every few years media outlets share a startling scientific advancement about how a group of scientists have "created life." A couple recent examples include J. Craig Venter back in 2010 for creating "the world's first synthetic life form," and Elizabeth Strychalski and her crew in 2021 who "crafted a single-celled synthetic organism that divides and multiplies just like the real thing." Why is this so important? Because there's only two explanations for how life began: God, or godless. And these supposed "creations of life" are seen as steps towards coming up with a godless explanation. So have scientists actually created life? No. They've tinkered, placing engineered DNA in already living cells. So, they began with life and ended up with life. And as Jonathan Sarfati noted: "It took an enormous amount of intelligence to make this cell, and they borrowed a lot of information from already-existing cells. In particular, they synthesized the genome of Mycoplasma mycoides, with 1.08 million base-pairs (bp)3 and about 985 genes.... it cost US$40 million and 200 man-years to produce." So with their brilliant minds, supercomputers, lab equipment, refined chemicals, all sorts of intentionality, and a living cell to start with they've managed to create life. Which is supposed to show us something about how it all could have happened accidentally and unintelligently? Tell that to a devoted evolutionist and they'll probably tell you it's only a matter of time before scientists figure it out. But time hasn't proven to be their friend. When Darwin proposed his theory, he thought the cell was made up of "membrane, nucleus, and nucleolus" which was all that could be seen under his day's microscopes. The ribosomes, Golgi apparatus, mitochondria and other microscopic machines were missed entirely, and the nucleus was a black box – unknown and disregarded – which made it a lot easier to ignore God's fingerprints evident all over the cell's design. But since then every new discovery has shown how much more complicated single-celled life is than previously realized. That means the more we are discovering, the more and more impossible abiogenesis – life from non-life – is revealed to be. And the more obvious the need for a great Genius to be behind it all. Just be yourself, they say There’s a story told about Abe Lincoln, that when he was at a hometown soiree, he approached the lady of his interest and told her, “Mary Todd, I want to dance with you in the worst way.” And after a turn around the floor together, she could only say, “You wanted to dance in the worst way, and you certainly did.” Why not fund my educational trip to Europe too? Our professor had written for the local daily newspaper for decades, and explained that before universities started offering journalism programs, his newspaper would put all their new hires through a 3-month training program. When journalism degrees became a thing, the paper cut back their own training program to just a month or two, and required all applicants have a journalism degree. So a young man or woman who wanted to be a journalist now had to invest 2 to 4 years of their life, and a lot of their own money and taxpayer money too on tuition, to get a piece of paper that would save the newspaper just a month or two of training. That doesn’t math. Meanwhile the government could talk about how it was directing so much new money towards post-secondary institutions so we could have a more educated workforce. But at what cost? As has been said: “If your college degree doesn’t have enough value for you to pay it off, it certainly doesn’t have enough value for me to pay it off.” Boys, do you want this to happen to you? Dinosaurs didn't read. And now they're extinct. When John MacArthur visited a philosophy class… We, as Christians, are called to walk humbly (Micah 6:8). But let’s not get confused about who or what we are being humble about. It’s us, not God. That’s a point worth pausing on. We so often get things wrong and muddled, so we have good reason to be humble. But not about God or His Word. Yet somehow, there are all sorts of topics the Bible is crystal clear on that we’re still acting quite “humbly” about, reluctant to speak up in His Name. It’s time to get confident. For inspiration, here’s a story from the late John MacArthur. This is a man who’d proclaim God’s Truth just as boldly sitting across from a newscaster as he would standing up in a pulpit, but the point here isn’t his example, but his basis – he had God’s Word. "As a Christian, you and I share this in common: I see things clearly. I see the world clearly. In fact, I often wonder why I'm not on more programs giving the right answer to everything. It's all very clear to me. Everything is clear to me. I understand where the world came from, where it's going. I understand all of that. I understand why things happen the way they happen. I understand life and death and life after death and heaven and hell and morality and immorality. I understand it all. I understand why the world is the way it is. Why people act the way they act. Am I particularly intelligent? No. Am I particularly wise? No. I just have the mind of Christ here in this book. “I remember one time, years ago, being invited to Cal State Northridge to speak to the philosophy class and the professor was a former rabbi who liked to chew on an occasional fundamentalist. And so, I was going to be the bone for that experience. I went to the class and I was supposed to talk on the subject of Christianity and culture. Well, I didn't want to talk about Christianity and culture. I wanted to talk about the gospel. I think I opened by saying, something like, ‘….I know this is a philosophy class, and I know that you're searching for the truth, and I'm here to bring your search to an end.’ “That was enough to lose them all. They looked like somebody had shot off a gun in the room. So, I said: ‘I'm here to tell you the truth. Tell you the truth about the origin of the universe. Tell you the truth about why the universe holds together. Things that Einstein couldn't figure out. I'm here to tell you where the universe is going in the future, how it will end. I'm here to tell you about life and death and the afterlife, morality, everything you want to know. I'm here to tell you all of it.’ “And when I said this, the rabbi professor was as stunned as everybody else. “I said, ‘But no matter what I say, you're not going to understand it and you're not going to believe it.’ “And one student at that moment spoke for all of them and said, ‘How do you know? How do you know we won't understand it? We won't believe it?’ “I said, ‘Because there's a prerequisite. For you to understand this, you have to have been transformed by faith in Jesus Christ so that your understanding is opened.’ “To which he replied, ‘Well, how does that happen?’ “And I said, ‘Good. Now we'll talk about how you become transformed by Jesus Christ.’ And so I went into the gospel, which was no small irritation to the professor. I remember an extended time of sharing the gospel with some of the students out in the hall after the class was over. A number of them came to church and a couple of them actually joined our ministry here and professed Christ. The Word brings light to absolutely everything." ...

Assorted

Ruin and restoration and our part

When the world falls into spiritual darkness and all you see around you is chaos and misery, what then? Kin Jong-un and Vladimir Putin meeting in China last year – North Korea has been supplying Russia with troops for their war with Ukraine since as early as 2024. 1 Isaiah, in chapter 24, spoke of how “The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken.” Was he speaking only to the people of his day about the earth being broken? Was he judging the nations of his time about the world being violently shaken? Or was he also speaking to the nations of the world today? Are our present lives, and the lives of those around us, in a state of rebellion against Almighty God? Ruins all around Most people enjoy eating a fine smorgasbord. As a matter of fact, the Chinese Mandarin restaurant is one of my favorite places to dine. To walk by the mouth-watering dishes displayed, and to anticipate dining, is delightful. To deposit a little scoop of this and a tad of that on a warm, hand-held plate, creates thankful moments. There are other smorgasbords displayed to us, however, which do not generate pleasure. The world is actually a smorgasbord right now – a literal smorgasbord of brokenness – of ruin. No matter where we turn in the newspapers, no matter what we turn to on our laptops, there are ruins we can choose to read about, or literally see misery portrayed on our screen. Grim headlines underline this actuality. Our plate of daily current events is filled with somber, unappetizing incidents. Is this where Canada’s Bill C-9 will take us? Finnish Member of Parliament, and former leader of the Finnish Christian Democrats, Päivi Räsänen was found guilty of hate speech earlier this year by her country’s Supreme Court for a booklet she and a Lutheran bishop co-authored in 2004 opposing same-sex “marriage.” 2 For example, it has of late been disclosed that the North Korean president, Kim Jong Un, is supporting a policy that requires soldiers to commit suicide on the battlefield to avoid capture, while fighting Russia’s war against Ukraine. For example, it has been verified that twenty-nine Christians were massacred in the Islamic state of Nigeria, during a soccer match in the spring of this year, 2026. The attack took place on a Sunday, included the torching of a church, and most of the victims were youths and women. For example, earlier this year of 2026, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, Canada, investigated a Dr. MacLean of London, Ontario. Dr. MacLean diagnosed a man with inflammatory bowel disease while sitting with him in a car outside a Tim Horton’s. Afterwards, he personally drove this man, who was prone to depression, to a MAiD location where his life was ended. Dr. MacClean was only verbally cautioned by CPSO. For example, Canadian Bill C-9, also known as the Combatting Hate Act, passed the House of Commons, Senate and received Royal Assent. It removed the religious defence to hate speech in the Criminal Code. For example, the horrible tragedy of the earthquakes which have hit Venezuela. Venezuelan morgues are filling up rapidly. At the end of June 2026, the actual death toll was reported to be more than 2,300. However, the projected number of people missing and presumed dead, is running into many thousands more. Dead children arrive at morgues, so badly decomposed that they are unrecognizable. These smorgasbord current events detail a world that is a far cry from the “It was good” phrase, in Genesis 1. They reflect a world fallen into sin. Are we part of God’s restoration? Should we, therefore, mourn and lament over these present evil times? It is a fact, that like Jeremiah lamented, it is not a bad thing for us also to weep over worldwide sin. However, it is also a good thing to sit down and examine ourselves, to study our own hearts carefully, to make sure that our motives, our interactions with others and our priorities, are not in any way contributing to the evil around us. For example, do we encourage our next-door neighbors to live without fear? Does our joy in the prospect of life eternal, reflect in loving our neighbors, in bringing them both soup and the Gospel? For example, do we speak openly about these disasters with people we meet? Do we know our Bible well enough to testify with a smile that “God is our refuge and our strength” and that “therefore we will not fear” (Ps. 46)? When those nearby have a cast-down soul, can we boldly, like the Reformers before us, boost the spirits of those around us with personal anecdotes of answered prayer and songs of cheer? It is said of Luther, who loved the 46th Psalm dearly, that when his companions were cast down because of the seeming strength of the opposition, he would say: “Come, let us sing the Forty-Sixth Psalm, friends.” For example, do we testify to those dying in pain on a hospital bed, Jesus’ words in John 14 that their hearts ought not to be troubled? And can we explain why their hearts ought not to be troubled? Can we percolate the steadfast faith of Job to friends? Can we say with certainty to others, “I know that my Redeemer lives”? The evangelist, John Wesley, died on March 2,1791, at the age of 87. As he lay dying, with a group of friends gathered around his bed, Wesley’s last words were from Psalm 46, “The best of all is, God is with us.” He repeated this as he lifted his arms: "The best of all is, God is with us.” My niece’s daughter, Amy, died more than a month ago. She was thirty-five years old and had special-needs – but a person who knew and loved the Lord Jesus. A small story was told of her during the funeral. Amy had a friend whose name was Melissa. Melissa could not speak. During a Special Olympics day for those with special-needs, there was a race – a walking race from one point to another. Amy’s friend was participating in that race. But as she began to walk with all the other contestants, she suddenly froze. She seemed to be afraid and not able to move. Amy saw that her friend was afraid and walked away from the sidelines where she was watching and came up to Melissa. She took Melissa’s hand and told her it was all right. And Amy and Melissa finished that race together. And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed His truth to triumph through us. ***** 1 Photo credit: The President of the Russian Federation website www.kremlin.ru, and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. 2 Photo credit: Modified from a picture by Lauri Heikkinen and the Finnish Government and used under a CC by 2.0 Attribution 2.0 Generic license....

Politics

Alberta separatism: is it wrong to go?

I have deep roots in Alberta, having lived there for the first 30+ years of my life. I was also heavily involved in politics through a half dozen different campaigns, and during those years I thought long and hard about what a better Alberta might look like. I have since been separated from my home province by mileage and decades. While I am still a very interested observer, the distance allows me to act as more of an impartial observer than I would have been able to be two decades ago. I’m going to try here, to make a limited point – that it would be okay for Alberta to go. Not that it should go, but just that going is an option on the table that Christians can consider. Even as I think the referendum is well worth talking about, I don’t think it has any chance of success. A June 5 Ipsos poll had only 19% of Albertans interested in starting the process, and only 18% who actually wanted to go. Angus Reid had support as high as 35% for starting the process, but that was back in May, and their guesstimate was the highest of all the pollsters. So, I’m not writing to sway voters one way or the other. The reason I wanted to write is because some of the issues brought up are universal – they apply not just for Albertans trying to figure out how to vote, but whenever Christians are making any decision. Kevin DeYoung tackled decision-making in his excellent book Just Do Something, so, inspired by him, here are a handful of questions to help shape a Christian’s decision-making process. Q.1 HAS GOD LEFT THE DECISION UP TO ME? Another way to phrase this question would be, is this a wrong/right matter? If it is, then we know what to do – we need to do whatever it is that God commands. Screwing up the courage to do so might be hard, but if we know it is a moral matter then we already know what we should do. God’s will be done. However, as Kevin DeYoung notes in Just Do Something, a lot of our decisions aren’t so simple, precisely because they aren’t about wrong or right. God leaves some pretty big decisions up to us: what kind of job we’ll pursue, where we’ll live, who we will marry, whether we should partner up to start a company. Big stuff. Huge stuff! We can and should look to God for guidance, and talk to our parents and the other wise people He’s gifted us. We can come to Him in prayer and ask Him to make our motivations pure. We can look to His word for wisdom. But then it is up to us; He gives us a decision to make. Take marriage as an example. You can look over every page of the Bible, and you just aren’t going to find the name of the person God has in mind for you. He’s left it to you, to figure out who you have in mind for you. Now, you can’t marry an unbeliever because He’s said we should not be unequally yoked (2 Cor. 6:14). He also offers guidance on the kind of man or woman you should be impressed by. But, if a young man, Timmy, has a couple of those kind of ladies sitting in the pews nearby him each Sunday, then it will be up to him to make a choice. And up to whoever Timmy asks to make her own. Now let’s direct the question above to the separation referendum: is this a matter of wrong and right? The possible answers to the question can go a few different ways: 1. Yes it is, which is why we have to vote against 2. Yes it is, so we have to vote for separation 3. No it is not, so God has left the decision up to us. So which is it? Before trying to answer that, let’s clear away one distraction. That something can be done for the wrong reasons is not proof that it is wrong. Mankind has the sad ability to make just about anything immoral if we try. So, as noted, Timmy could have a couple of wonderful godly young women to consider – either could be a good God-honoring choice. But if he asks out Helen only because she has a cool car he’d like to drive, his selfishness and disregard for her heart would turn a legitimate action into a sinful one. That doesn’t change the fact that Helen is a great girl. So, for our purposes, that people could have bad motivations for voting for (or against) separation is not what we’re trying to figure out. It is no surprise that it could be done sinfully because anything can be done sinfully. But what we’re trying to figure out is whether seeking to leave Canada is sinful all by itself, or whether it’s something God leaves for us to decide. To that end let’s ask a couple of clarifying questions. A) Is there something about leaving that is wrong? Some Christians have invoked Romans 13 to argue that because God calls us to be in submission to our authorities it would be wrong for Alberta to remove itself from being under the authority of the federal government. It’s a good idea to go to Scripture, but let’s dig a little deeper and consider what sort of submission God speaks of here. Under a dictatorship, as Paul and most of the world lived under when this was written, they had no means of changing their leaders. But in a democracy, we do. So, while we know God has placed the Liberals in charge of Canada, we don’t think it would be wrong for us to try, via democratic means, to remove ourselves from being under their authority the next time an election is called. We’d likely thank God for such a result. So, how then, is it so very different for Alberta, via democratic means, to seek to replace this authority over them? Can we characterize such a vote as rebellion against, or disrespect for God’s appointed authorities? No, because, after all, this is simply following the process via the means those authorities laid out. This is an important point – what submission involves – that often gets confused, such that some Christians will characterize taking the government to court as disrespectful, because, again, didn’t God put them in authority over us? But Paul used the courts (Acts 25), and could do so while writing Romans 13, because those courts and that process were a part of the very authority he was in submission to. And what we have in the separation referendum is another government-given process that we can access in submission. B) Would it be wrong not to go? Or in other words, should Christians feel obligated to vote for the referendum? While I think there are reasons that could be offered for leaving, that’s not the same thing as saying Christians must choose to go. To go back to Timmy and his marriage prospects, that there are reasons for him to ask out Susan doesn’t mean he has to. There are, after all, other possibilities to consider, including Helen. So would it actually be wrong to stay? I think that would be a very tough case to make but let’s for the sake of argument, make a hypothetical case where it wouldn’t be so tough. Let’s imagine that the federal government was evil – it was murdering a quarter of its citizens before they were even born, and was now going after the elderly and disabled too. We won’t find that hard to imagine, because that is what’s happening right now. Now let’s imagine Alberta was ruled by wise godly Christians who sought to honor God, and were desperately trying to stop the federal government from pushing abortion and euthanasia in their province but they just couldn’t so long as the province was still under the federal thumb. In those circumstances would it be wrong to stay? Under those circumstances, I think we might well conclude it would be wrong, based on just how many unborn and elderly and disabled lives could be saved if Alberta left. But those aren’t the circumstances we have, are they? Even Alberta at its best is far from godly. Danielle Smith has no qualms about abortion, and euthanasia is paid for by provincial coffers with no protest. Even where the province is out of step with the rest of our Liberal country, it is only a half-step, with the premier’s stance against transgenderism a good example. Yes, she defended kids from this mutilation, but at the very same time she was recruiting doctors from Quebec to better enable confused Albertan adults to mutilate themselves. So this is not some black and white choice between an evil and a godly government. And as such, I don’t think there is a clear case to be made that Alberta must go either. Which would mean God is leaving the decision to us. Q.2 HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS? We make a million decisions every day, and not all of them deserve the same amount of attention. So we need to treat things proportionately. If you are going to buy a new car, that deserves more of your time and maybe prayerful consideration than if you’re buying a coffee. Though if you’re buying a coffee every day, that could warrant some consideration too, because that’s now become a bigger budgetary matter. But not everything is big. If you’re trying to decide between toast and cereal this morning, it’s not worth much brain space. Don’t take forever deciding – that’d be wasting the time that God has entrusted to your care. So, we do need to treat big things as big, but also treat small things as small. And I’d make the case that for the vast majority of us, the separation referendum shouldn’t be a big thing. Why? First, there’s every reason to think the separation vote is going to lose in a landslide. So, give it enough time to go cast your vote, but there are a lot of matters likely to actually happen that are, therefore, more deserving of your attention. Second, even if separation were to happen, would it solve any of our most pressing political problems? No. If it were only the Alberta government in power, God’s people would still need to be just as busy standing up for the unborn, the elderly, and the disabled. So, this isn’t nothing; but it isn’t the big way forward that will save Alberta either. We can give it more brain space and passion than our toast vs. cereal dilemma, but for both practical and prioritization reasons, should it get all that much more? Q.3 ARE MY MOTIVATIONS PURE? As noted, we can do the right thing for the wrong reasons. That’s why Kevin DeYoung suggests (again, in his excellent book Just Do Something) that when we’re making the very decisions that God has left up to us – what job we’ll take, whether we’re going to move, whether we should buy that gaming system – a good prayer we can bring to Him is to ask that He make our motivations pure. So, it’s important that Christians don’t vote for separation with a middle finger in the air aimed at Ottawa. But in our call to love our neighbors as ourselves, someone might vote for separation thinking of what a helpful example a free Alberta could be to the rest of Canada, showing what could be done with a different approach. One Albertan might vote for separation thinking that if only we stop those equalization payments, Albertans, and more specifically him, will now be able to live a life of leisure, rolling in all those extra billions. But another voter might well want separation to end those equalization payments so that the federal government will stop incentivizing people to live where jobs are hard to come by. They could vote out of concern for their neighboring Canadians who are getting harmed by this government program. So, the same act – the same decision – could be done in submission or defiance of God, based on our own motivations. Let’s pray, then, that God be honored in all that we do. Q.4 IN MY ESTIMATION, IS IT WISE? So where do we land when a matter isn’t wrong or right, when we have given it its due consideration, and after we’ve questioned our own motivations? Then we arrive at the point where we have to decide for ourselves whether it is the wise thing to do. Wisdom can be sought in consultation. Ask your parents. Read relevant articles. Debate things with your friends. But it’ll be up to you. CONCLUSION I’m not going to make a case for separation or against, but I hope I’ve made a good case for Christian liberty. And in doing so, I hope I’ve also made the case for charity towards your brothers and sisters who are voting the opposite way you are. We do need to vote to God’s glory. But what I’m arguing here is that in this referendum, that will be done more through the motivation and manner in which we vote, than in what direction we cast our ballot. Honoring God is more than submitting to His will, but certainly not less. When He has expressed His will, then we need to submit no matter what it might cost to follow Him. But we can be bold too, when He leaves the decision-making up to us, knowing that our Heavenly Father will be pleased with whatever we might decide, just so long as we are trying to please Him....

News

Ontario’s “conservative” gov’t opposes bill that would have banned gambling ads

Ontario is awash in new gamblers. As ARPA Canada reported earlier this year: “A recent study found that since iGaming Ontario was introduced, total monthly wagers increased by 654% between April 2022 and August 2025, and the number of active player accounts rose 239%. Calls to Ontario’s mental health and addictions helpline rose at an accelerated annual rate (7% above the previous trend) after iGaming Ontario was introduced in 2022. The highest increase in calls was among young men aged 15 to 24.” The province’s iGaming Ontario reported that in the 2024-25 fiscal year, it oversaw $82.7 billion in total wagers. That amounts to an average of $5,000 being bet, and $180 being lost, by every man, woman, and child in the province. How much revenue does the government get out of this? It’s surprisingly low: a little over $181 million, with the rest going to the private gaming operators. That means the government is overseeing an enormous expansion of gambling, but making only a smidge over $11 per man, woman, and child from it. These iGaming Ontario numbers don’t even account for the billions more spent on the government’s own Ontario Lottery and Gaming. While it’s hard to know just how much is being gambled through its lotteries and other offerings, what is clear is how much it contributes to government coffers: $2.25 billion in 2024-25, or $140 from every man, woman, and child. Earlier this year, billionaire investor Warren Buffett characterized sports gambling as a tax that the rich like because “they don’t have to pay it.” Why don’t they have to pay? Because it is an entirely voluntary tax – if you don’t want to give the government your money, you can simply choose not to gamble. That’s why he also agreed that it was “a tax on stupidity.” But, of course, some people have a hard time not gambling. Various estimates put the number of problem gamblers at 1.1 to 11 percent of Ontarians, or between 160,000 and 1.6 million Ontarians getting hurt by a product their government is pushing on them. As Buffett put it: “I don’t like things that make a sucker out of people. I particularly don’t like them when the government sponsors them. I don’t think the function of the government is to play its people for suckers.” So when a bill was proposed, earlier this year, to ban gambling advertising in Ontario, it was a reason to celebrate. Gambling advertising has gotten inescapable – as ARPA Canada shared, “one analysis in 2024 estimated that Canadian viewers of live sports broadcasts were exposed to 2.8 references to sports betting per minute” (emphasis added). This bill wasn’t going to undo all the damage being done, but it was certainly a step in the right direction. And, all the more remarkably, the bill was being proposed by four members of Ontario’s opposition Liberals. Things are bad indeed when even the Liberals see a need to rein things in. But the ostensibly “conservative” government said no. While they offered up reasons to oppose the Liberals’ bill, what the Conservatives didn’t do was propose an alternative to it – they spoke of the need for moving “thoughtfully and methodically” but in the meantime Ontarians are left with the destructive status quo. What’s wrong with gambling can perhaps be best understood in contrast to other ways we can make money. Gamblers make bets that, should they win, are covered by those who bet the other way and lost – your gain only comes via others’ pain. Meanwhile, if you make money any other legal way, your wealth will come by benefiting others. Whether you are a housepainter or an accountant, the money that you thankfully receive comes from others who are thankful too for what they’ve gotten from you in exchange. Your gain is also their gain. God calls us to love our neighbor, not exploit him, so wealth gained at our neighbor’s expense is an unacceptable way to take in money. More could be said, but for those who think gambling is harmless entertainment I’ll offer up just one more objection. Even if you’ve got your gambling under control, every bet you make is that little bit more motivation for the government to keep at this… to the great harm of many, who aren’t in control of their gambling. If you love your neighbor, you should be lobbying the government to stop pushing, and just simply stop running, such a destructive enterprise....

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Life's busy, read it when you're ready!

Create a free account to save articles for later, keep track of past articles you’ve read, and receive exclusive access to all RP resources.

Search thousands of RP articles

Helping you think, speak, and act in Christ.

Get Articles Delivered!

Helping you think, speak, and act in Christ. delivered direct to your Inbox!

Kids

Magazine

Articles

Book Reviews

Movie Reviews

Daily devotional

Contests

More of Reformed Perspective!

Newsletter

Real Talk

Manna

About Us

Advertise

Contact Us

Shop our merch!

Magazine

Book Reviews

Movie Reviews

Past Articles

Kids

All Contests

Bucket List Book Club

Screen Fast

People we should know, Theology

Jonathan Edwards: The pastor who packed them in the pews while preaching the wrath of God

#1: When the wicked have filled up the measure of their sin…

#2: Sinners in the hands of an angry God

#3: Wicked men useful in their destruction only

Conclusion

Being the Church

Beloved care

News

Saturday Selections – Aug 22, 2026

News

17 Alberta babies survived an abortion and were left to die

Technology

Screen-fast 2026: How’d we all do?

Parenting

Teaching small fries to take notes, sing psalms, and speak to God

News

Saturday Selections – Aug 15, 2026

Parenting

The Pity Party Pit and how to get out of it

Parenting

The Golden Rule: the biblical response to self-pity

Economics - Home Finances

Beware the new thieves

News

Saturday Selections – Aug 8, 2026

Pornography

Porn addiction isn’t just a guy thing

News

Sophie Cunningham is tearing down transgender lies, but only God’s people can offer up His Truth

News

Saturday Selections – Aug 1, 2026

Politics

Perhaps you should run

Contests, Your Turn 2026

Thoughts from tulips to TULIP: My journey into the Reformed faith and translation

Theology

May I judge?

Contests, Your Turn 2026

Made new

News

Liberal party support highest among boomers

News

Saturday Selections – July 25, 2026

Politics

Should Alberta Separate? Why one Christian decided to vote no

In a Nutshell

Tidbits – July 2026

Assorted

Ruin and restoration and our part

Politics