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News

Saturday Selections – Mar. 2, 2024

Click on the titles below for the linked articles...

How did we get the Bible? (12 min)

Was the Bible authorized, or simply recognized, by the Church?

10 astonishing alien underwater photos

Here's a Top 10 of an award-winning National Geographic photographer's underwater shots showing some of the amazing diversity of life God has crafted under the water's surface. For more, check out his website - it's in French, but you don't need to know that to appreciate his pictures.

10 diagnostic questions for your marriage

Do you and your spouse laugh together? Kevin DeYoung's friend suggested that "the couple that laughs together lasts together." That got DeYoung thinking: "What are some other questions that can help diagnose the health of our marital life? Here are ten that may prove useful."

10 best evidences confirming a young earth

The folks at Answers in Genesis have a lot here for us to chew on!

Why the world is running out of babies

"Only 3% of the world’s population currently lives in a country whose birth rate isn’t declining. ...Italy, Spain, Portugal, Thailand, and South Korea will lose half their populations by the end of this century."

Why?

Even protesters are blessed by oil

Everyone instinctively understands that hypocrisy is bad – that's one of those truths God has written on our hearts (Romans 2:15) – but like many truths, it can be deliberately obscured. So showing that someone is a hypocritic isn't enough anymore. We need to spell out in detail the implications of their double standard.

The spoof below highlights even oil protesters' dependency on all sorts of oil products in their daily lives. Until someone somewhere starts living without oil themselves, what we are all demonstrating (anti-oil protesters too) is the blessing of oil for meeting so many of our daily needs.

The video is PG-rated for one mention, and one inference, of the word "ass" so don't watch it with the kiddos.

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Assorted

A lament for our nation

Lament is not a common word today. It is rare to hear of lamentation in our secular culture, and even within the Church we don’t often speak of lament. And yet, I believe lament is one of the most important – and biblical – postures that we can take as Christians in the public square today. Why lament? Consider our situation. We see (at least) 87,000 abortions every year here in Canada. Over 13,000 died by euthanasia last year, and that number grows every year. We’ve seen our fundamental freedoms eroded. Conscience rights for health care workers aren’t adequately protected. Our governments have redefined marriage by liberalizing divorce laws, recognizing same-sex marriages, and even starting to legitimize polyamorous relationships. The entire concepts of motherhood and fatherhood are fractured by our country’s policies on in vitro fertilization and surrogacy, and jurisdictions like Ontario are recognizing that kids can have many (not just two) parents. Hundreds of kids are pursuing medical gender transitioning, rejecting the bodies that God has given them. Counseling children to love the body and identity they have been given has been outlawed by conversion therapy legislation. Human trafficking, pornography, and prostitution are rampant in society. And our country, ostensibly still founded on the principle “that recognizes the supremacy of God,” has insisted that all cultures and all religions by-and-large are equal. Sin and brokenness are pervasive in all aspects of Canadian society. Let’s consider some potential unbiblical options of how to respond to this sin before coming to why we need to lament for our nation. Unbiblical responses 1. Do not grumble One response – the most unbiblical response – is to grumble. We can be tempted to complain to God, to each other, and to ourselves. But complaining is antithetical to the Christian life. The Israelites of the Old Testament were famous for grumbling. They complained about bitter water or a lack of water (Ex. 15:24, 17:3), about a lack of food (Ex. 16:2), their misfortunes (Num. 11:1), the strength of the Canaanites (Num. 14:2), and their leadership (Num. 16:11, 41; 17:5). In most of these instances, God punished His people. He had just brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and, rather than worshipping and praising Him, they complained. Rather than “grumbling or disputing,” Paul calls on Christians to be “blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15). We confess that “it is impossible for those grafted into Christ by true faith not to produce fruits of gratitude” (HC Q&A 64). 2. No need to fear Another response to a bleak political situation is fear and anxiety, but this too is an unbiblical response. We may fear persecution from our culture, tyranny from our government, or censure from media companies. But in Philippians 4, Paul instructs followers of Christ, “do not be anxious about anything.” Christ Himself commands us “do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on” or about anything else for that matter (Matt. 6:25-34; Luke 12:22-31). The most frequent command found in Scripture is “do not be afraid.” 3. Do not be angry Another common response to this sin-filled world is anger. Anger can be a powerful motivator to inspire people to speak up and to act. And, unlike complaining or anxiety, there is some biblical justification to be angry (e.g., Eph. 4:26). When people sin and transgress the law of the LORD, there is a reason for righteous anger. Jesus Himself became angry on occasion with a righteous anger (Mark 3:1-6 and Mark 10:13-16). Scripture, however, portrays human anger as a negative phenomenon in almost every instance. Proverbs often counsels the wise and the righteous to refrain from anger (Prov. 14:29, 15:18, 16:32, 19:11, 22:24, 29:22). The apostle Paul commands believers to put away anger on several occasions (2 Cor. 12:20; Gal. 5:20; Eph. 4:31; Col. 3:8; 1 Tim. 2:8). Our fallen anger makes us susceptible to sin. (Perhaps why Eph. 4:26 says “be angry and do not sin.”) Anger can easily lead to hasty and thoughtless words and actions. Perhaps this is why James admonishes believers to be “slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20). Like fire, anger can be a beneficial and God glorifying tool when used in the right way, yet it can easily grow out of control and cause great spiritual (not to mention temporal!) damage. So instead of complaining, fearing, or being angry about the state of our nation, a more biblical response is lament. An example of lament Scripture is full of laments, but the best example of lamentation flows from the prophet Jeremiah and the people of Judah in exile. Put yourself in their shoes. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Clear your mind. Imagine you are a young Jew living around 609 BC. You and your people are led by King Josiah. Your life revolves around a divinely inspired calendar of feasts and sacrifices. In fact, you just celebrated a Passover the likes of which hadn’t been observed since the days of the judges. You observe a weekly Sabbath day of rest, a year of Sabbath rest of the land every seven years, and a year of Jubilee every 50 years. You periodically visit the glorious temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, perhaps the most ornate, beautiful, and costly structure on earth. There the Levite singers and musicians make music to God and the priests offer sweet incense to the LORD. God has promised that a descendent of David would sit on the throne of Judah forever. In fact, the current king “turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might” so that there was never a king that came before him or after him that pursued the LORD with such fervour (2 Kings 22-23). Life is good. During your lifetime, all that comes crashing down. The Egyptian Pharoah Neco kills godly King Josiah, hauls his successor, King Jehoahaz, in chains to Egypt, exacts a heavy tribute from Judah, and sets up a puppet king, Jehoiakim, on the throne. After a stint under Egyptian oppression, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon puts your country under tribute. When King Jehoiakim rebels against Babylon, bands of Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites begin raiding your country. King Nebuchadnezzar comes back with a vengeance, besieges and conquers Jerusalem, carries away all the treasures of the temple and the king’s house, and carries away all the royal family, all officials, all the mighty men of valor, all the smiths and craftsmen, and 10,000 more captives. Only the poor remain under another puppet king, Zedekiah. Thankfully, the temple, the center of Jewish life, still stands. But your religious leadership pollutes this temple. Then Zedekiah rebels against Babylon too, prompting Nebuchadnezzar to return again to besiege Jerusalem and trigger a terrible famine in the city. When the city falls, Nebuchadnezzar slaughters Zedekiah’s sons in front of him, gouges out Zedekiah’s eyes, and carries him off to Egypt. But at least the temple still stands. A few years later, Nebuchadnezzar attacks Jerusalem a third time, destroying every building in Jerusalem, including the temple, and tearing down the walls. Even the poor people who were originally left in Jerusalem are carried off to Babylon, except for the poorest of the poor who are left to work the land.  And even after all this, the poorest of the poor rebel against Nebuchadnezzar, murder the governor, and flee in fear to Egypt, the very place that God had led them out of slavery 890 years before. And so, the land lays desolate. Your nation is utterly destroyed. Your whole religion revolving around the temple, sacrifices, and feasts is impossible. There is no descendant of David seemingly on the throne. It’s a horrific state of affairs. What was the response of the Jews carried off to Babylon? They responded with lament. We get a glimpse of this in Psalm 137: “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.” But the main lamentation over the exile is written by the prophet Jeremiah. While there isn’t a book of Complaining, of Anxiety, or of Anger in Scripture, there is a book of Lamentations. For almost the entire book, Jeremiah recounts and laments the destruction of Jerusalem. The book opens, How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. She weeps bitterly in the night with tears on her cheeks; Among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies. Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; She dwells now among the nations but finds no resting place; Her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. What is a lament? Lament, properly speaking, is a uniquely Christian activity. It isn’t complaining, though it certainly recounts all the evils of this present age. It isn’t anxiety, although the situation certainly seems bleak and full of uncertainty. And it isn’t primarily angry, despite the calls for judgement on Babylon found in the final verses of Psalm 137. And lament isn’t just mourning what has been lost. A lament has hope. That’s why, smack dab in the middle of the book of Lamentations and in the middle of perhaps the most hopeless period of Judah’s existence, Jeremiah confesses, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (3:21-23). One hundred and one years ago, Thomas Chisholm plucked these words out of Lamentations to create the hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness. It is a beautiful hymn of hope and praise. But it helps to remember its scriptural context. God’s faithfulness is wonderful indeed when we consider how He changes not; how all nature witnesses to His great faithfulness, mercy, and love; and how His presence cheers and guides us, as the hymn’s verses recount. But those truths aren’t the context for Jeremiah’s confession when he says, “great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentation over the destruction of Judah and the captivity of the Jews (Jeremiah is in captivity himself) is the context. God’s faithfulness is always important, but it tastes the sweetest when it is juxtaposed with the evils of this world. Lamentation today Politically, culturally, socially, economically, religiously – really any way you can think of – we are in a far better position than Judah was at the start of the exile. As we’ve already recounted, we certainly face many evils in this dark world that tempt us to respond with complaints, fear, or anger. But I think that the best response is lament. We can lament instead of complaining about the failure of political leaders to follow God’s will. We can lament rather than fear the cultural hostility to orthodox Christianity. We can lament rather than rage about the injustices in the world. And lament does more than just look around at others. It confesses our own wrongdoings, remembers the faithfulness of our sovereign God, and prays for His intervention. And so, I lament for our nation. And I’ll do it with a song, a Jeremiah lament-style version of Great Is Thy Faithfulness: O LORD, our nation reviles and forgets Thee. We have departed from thy righteous law. We deserve judgement and none of thy favour, But I call this to mind and so have hope: Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases – Great is thy faithfulness, LORD, unto me! Levi Minderhoud is the BC manager of ARPA Canada....

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Family, Movie Reviews

Good Sam

Drama / Family / Romance 2019 / 89 minutes RATING: 8/10 Kate Bradley is a TV news reporter following the "bummer beat" in New York City, covering fires and other tragedies. That's left her a little cynical, and her boss is worried that it's also left her more than a little jaded about the dangers she risks to get her stories. So when a story breaks about an anonymous good samaritan leaving a bag of $100,000 outside a financial-strapped older lady's door, Kate's boss decides to give her this safer assignment. Kate isn't happy about her new beat, and presumes there has to be some sort of angle behind the good deed. As she tells her cameraman, "It's hard to believe that there's somebody out there doing good deeds and expecting nothing in return." But when the money keeps coming the mystery only deepens; "Good Sam" leaves a second bag of cash with a doctor who isn't in any sort of need. The third recipient, a carpenter who'd been laid up with an injury, has no connection to the first two. And the news just keeps getting better when folks who've heard about Good Sam start acting like him, and starting their own Good Samaritan clubs, to do anonymous good deeds in their neighborhoods. Good Sam would have been too sugary-sweet if it'd keep on this track, but we find out that Kate's cynicism isn't baseless: a tech programmer claims to be Good Sam, but Kate quickly exposes him as a fake. And that's not the only dirt that Kate uncovers. I appreciated a romance angle that was less predictable than most. Kate gets two love interests, both pretty stalwart sorts... or so it seems. Kate's father is a US senator, and when she meets charming hedge fund manager Jack Hansen she initially turns him down, as she has a rule against dating anyone in her father's political circles. Eric Hayes is a firefighter Kate keeps bumping into in her day job. He is as brave as he is private... or might the right word be secretive? Which of these two will she end up with? That's another mystery, and viewers are left in suspense for most of the movie. Cautions No language or violence concerns to share. There is some kissing, right at the end, but exchanged in a public park. The more notable caution is for what the movie doesn't have – this is a part of Netflix's "Faith and Spirituality" category, but it isn't either. While the original Good Samaritan story (Luke 10:25-37) teaches us what it means to live out the Second Greatest Commandment, this one avoids any mention of God. Conclusion The moral of the story trends in a humanist direction – people aren't as bad as we think as they will sometimes do things for completely unselfish reasons. However, the Calvinist in me can recast this in a more orthodox direction, seeing it as an illustrated of how the world is broken but not utterly depraved, and the cyclical Kate has no right to be so in the face of the many undeserved blessings she (and we) receive daily. While this is just a Hallmark-ish kind of romance, I'd give it two thumbs up for being way better than the average sort. The acting is solid throughout, the mystery and romance will keep most viewers guessing for the first three quarters of the film, and the lack of problematic content make this one you can watch with almost the whole family (though I don't know if it'll grab the under 8s). That makes Good Sam a pretty rare treat. ...

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Adult non-fiction, Book Reviews

In Holy Service

by Cornelis Van Dam 2023 / 255 pages The question of personal identity has become a hot-button issue in recent years. The ideology of gender has encouraged the notion that our identity is self-selected; we can choose to be whatever we want to be, regardless of biological realities. Even the existence of a single human nature that unites all of humanity has been called into question. The era in which we live has been profoundly impacted by this radically new understanding of anthropology, of what it means to be a human being. As this ideology continues to advance, the Christian Church is called to continue to declare an ancient and unchanging message, and Christians are called and called again to find their identity in Christ, and in their office and calling as people who are united to Christ. This is the theme that unites the writings of Dr. Cornelis Van Dam that have been published under the title In Holy Service. Three main points The majority of the material included in this collection had been previously published in Clarion, Diakonia, and elsewhere, between 2008 and 2021, and it has been revised and collated under the headings of: The General Office of a Believer The Ecclesiastical Offices Women in Special Service The book concludes with an epilogue, “Retrospect and Prospect,” which looks back to the early history of the Christian Church, while looking forward to the future. Recommended There is much to recommend in this book. Dr. Van Dam’s writing style is simple, clear, and straightforward. He presents his thoughts in a way that is understandable, and his arguments are cogent and easy to follow. He ably defends Biblical principles about the unique callings and responsibilities of men and women, and provides solid Biblical evidence for his conclusions. His insight into the history of the ecclesiastical offices are helpful and perceptive, and his discussions of specific issues, such as the continuing importance of catechetical preaching, the necessity of training to prepare men to take on the office of elder, and the question of women’s participation in the election of office-bearers are well-argued and firmly rooted in Scripture. These individual chapters could serve well as a starting-point for group studies at church, and the material included serves as a healthy antidote to the spirit of the age in which we live, and the constant pressure being exerted upon the Church to adapt and change with the times. Critiques The character of In Holy Service as a collection of previously-published works does mean that it lacks the unity of a book written “from scratch.” Some of the chapters are very brief, while others are lengthy, and one wishes, for example, that a subject like Chapter 11’s “The Office of the Church in Relation to the Civil Government” would have received a fuller treatment than it does. Dr. Van Dam’s epilogue, which compares the situation of the early Church with that of our day, is excellent. He emphasizes that Christianity must be counter-cultural, and that we must count the cost to follow Jesus Christ. This is an important reminder, and a necessary one. However, I believe that Dr. Van Dam’s conclusions about the Christian’s relationship with the civil authorities as taught in Romans 13 and his related discussion of the Church’s response to COVID-19 in Chapter 11 do not accord with the strong and forceful message with which he concludes the book. This is an issue that demands a fuller treatment. Conclusion In conclusion, I believe that In Holy Service is a helpful resource that can serve God’s people as a useful guide to Biblical principles of individual and ecclesiastical life that must be reappropriated, taught, and defended from generation to generation. It is available at ProvidenceBooksPress.com. Rev. Jim Witteveen is the author of “How In the World Did We Get Here?” and host of the DanElevenThirtyTwo.com podcast. ...

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News

Saturday Selections – Feb. 17, 2024

Failing at failure? This could be a great way to bring up an important conversation with our kids. The fear of failure stops many children from trying new and hard things. God gave them talents, and if they are going to develop those skills (and not bury them - Matthew 25:14-30) our children will need to push their limits. That might mean running so hard they start tripping, stumbling, and even eating some dirt. They need to know there is such a thing as God-glorifying failure... but not God-glorifying cowardice. Marriage makes men better Though he doesn't acknowledge God, this evolutionist has discovered that God's plan for the family – marriage – works best, reining in men's antisocial behaviors. There is a really great metaphor here, too, about our rational self being a rider trying to control an elephant that represents our impulses. Those impulses – or, in Christian terms, sinful desires – can be easier or harder to control depending on where we take them. So, for example, a rider troubled by alcohol shouldn't "take his elephant" into a bar. To extend this to the family realm, a dad or mom trying to deal with a kid that pushes their buttons shouldn't indulge in watching the late show – they'll have to put their elephant to bed early each night to better enable them to be calm and controlled. The Swiss Family Robinson: a return to the classics Jonathon Van Maren makes a plug for this great book. Parents, if you get your kids a copy, be sure you get an attractive one: a great cover, good font, and a few illustrations thrown in here and there can really help by making a classic so much more appealing. G.K. Chesterton on AI If you want to understand AI, then who better to ask than someone born two hundred years before it was invented? This is a good one! And for an in-depth dive check out what's on offer at Creation.com. The most bizarre experience of my life When theologian E. Calvin Beisner was invited to do an interview about climate change, he never expected to be interviewed by a clown. Who knows how this will end, but some people certainly are desperate to try to make Christians look bad. "He Gets Us" takes a big "L" in the Super Bowl Among the Super Bowl commercials last week were two to promote the "He Gets Us" evangelistic campaign. Many Christians have defended them as "pre-evangelism" – sure, they didn't hint at the Good News, but they did tell people that Jesus gets them. That's a start, right? There's some truth to that – they had a minute, and if you had just a minute would you be able to present the whole of the Gospel to someone? To say it another way, an incomplete message isn't wrong... it just needs more. But the problem comes when we say the easy part and stop. And a lot of "churches" are content with just telling folks that Jesus gets them. But they don't want to offend anyone. Telling people they need to repent? Jesus as Saviour is offensive indeed. Now someone has shown how it is possible, in just a minute, to tell people quite a lot about Jesus and their need for a Saviour. And Ray Comfort gives his own version here. ...

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In a Nutshell

Tidbits – February 2024

Financial potty training While the illustration mentions a VCR tape, the point is as sharp as ever. The late Gary North (1941-2022) got this from a subscriber to his “Tip of the Week” email newsletter. “Once, when our daughter came home from college, she rented a couple of movies and failed to return them before heading back to school. I called her and told her that I returned the movies but there was a late fee which I paid. To teach her a money lesson, I told her I did not want her to repay me, but I did want her to take the fee (a couple of dollars) and flush it down the toilet! “She was shocked, of course, and begged and pleaded with me to let her mail me the money, but I insisted. I did not want her money. I wanted her to learn a lesson. It would have been all too easy for her to give Dad a couple of bucks to shut him up. Instead I wanted her to take a couple of dollars, walk to the toilet, lift the lid, throw them in and then flush the toilet, and then stand there and wave to her money as it went down the toilet. “After several minutes of discussion about how crazy that was and more begging and pleading, she finally agreed and promised me that she would do it. I am proud to say that she is much more responsible about her money. I think it was the most creative parenting I ever did. Well worth a couple of bucks! As North explained, “The reason why this worked is because of the graphic nature of the ritual - and it surely was a ritual. It required an action. This action (1) drove home the economic point; and (2) sealed the point into the memory.” SOURCE: www.garynorth.com/public/4465.cfm I got permission to reprint it at the time. Inviting invitations I once heard a minister (might have been Rev. Paul Murphy) claim he could tell how ready a church was for evangelism based on just one thing – how their bulletin announcements are written. He noted you can tell quite a lot from the blurbs contained therein. For example many churches announce their study groups this way: We will meet tonight at the Smith’s. Come one, come all! This invitation might seem inviting, but it isn’t helpful for anyone visiting for the first time, or someone who hasn't been coming long enough to get a church directory. They won’t know where the Smiths live, and they won’t know what time the meeting normally starts. And since there's no phone number or email listed, they can’t text to find out. It’s small things like this, the minister said, that show a church isn't thinking about the strangers in their midst. On complaining Can Christians complain or not? We are told, on the one hand, not to grumble (Philippians 2:14, 1 Cor. 10:10) and on the other, we can read accounts of David, Jeremiah, and others (Ps. 12:1-2, Micah 7:1-2) laying out complaints before the Lord. So, what's the difference? Intent. One sort – let's call him "the grumbler" – just wants to vent. They overlook all that is good and wonderful, and just focus in on what faults they can find. They are ungrateful. The other sort – let's call this one not a "complainer" because that is not his identity, but rather, the one who has a complaint – has had something serious happen to them. He is facing real difficulties. But rather than just vent, he does whatever he can, and even when it is something beyond any of his own abilities to address, the Christian can still bring his complaint to God, who he can trust will make everything right in the end. "It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness." – Unknown "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do." – Dale Carnegie “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” – Maya Angelou Homosexuality as evidence against evolution Homosexuality is a sin but how do you communicate that to someone who isn’t religious? Well, whatever you do, don’t make the mistake of arguing that it isn’t natural. Sexual perversion extends even to nature where homosexual behavior has been observed in over 450 species. Christians shouldn’t be surprised; sin didn’t limit its effects to just man. On a more positive note, evolutionists should be surprised, since evolution has no good explanation for homosexuality – they can't pass on their genes unless they engage in heterosexual behaviour, so under the survival of the fittest theory, it really should have disappeared long ago. Good ol’ Shoey As a child I learned that it was never a good idea to complain to grown-ups about being bored. “Bored?” would be the response, “How can you be bored with all those toys? Why when I was a child the only toy I had was an old leather shoe, and that was good enough for me. Ol’ Shoey and me had loads of fun.” But now it turns out that the older generation, with their scarcity of toys, may have been better off. Research has found that too many toys can actually overwhelm children and stifle creativity. The large number of toys seems to distract children and keep them from playing with any one toy long enough to learn from it. And while a child with fewer toys may complain about being bored, that too may be a good thing. Child psychiatrist, Bruce Perry, insists that a little boredom forces kids to draw on their own imagination and invent games and read to pass the time. He suggests children need at least a couple of hours of this downtime per day. SOURCES: Edmonton Journal, Dec 2/2000 & Feb 25/2001 “How much do you have to hate a person…” “I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize; I don’t respect that at all. If you believe there is a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell, or not getting eternal life, or whatever, and if you think it’s not really worth telling them this because it could make things socially awkward, and atheists who believe people shouldn’t proselytize – ‘just leave me alone, keep your religion to yourself’ – how much do you hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible, and not tell them that? ...I mean, if I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was going to hit you and you didn’t believe it, and that truck was bearing down on you, there’s a certain point that I tackle you… and this is more important than that.” – Entertainer and avowed atheist Penn Jillette on evangelism. Why trust flukey engineering? "Supposing there was no intelligence behind the universe, no creative mind. In that case, nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. It is merely that when the atoms inside my skull happen for certain physical or chemical reasons to arrange themselves in a certain way, that gives me, as a by-product, the sensation I call thought. But if it is so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true? It's like upsetting a milk jug and hoping that the way the splash arranges will give you a map of London. But if I can't trust my own thinking, of course I can't trust the arguments leading to atheism, and therefore have no reason to be an atheist, or anything else. Unless I believe in God, I can't believe in thought; so I can never use thought to disbelieve in God." – C.S. Lewis On marriage and headship “The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.” – Matthew Henry All equally unworthy before God Though Europe can hardly be called a Christian continent, it does have a Christian heritage and tradition that, on some occasions, still shouts out the Truth. One such occasion was the funeral of Empress Zita, the former ruler of Austria who died in 1989. She received a royal funeral that lasted 2 hours, and was attended by more than 6,000. Afterwards, her body was loaded into a hearse and pulled by a team of horses, and accompanied by 600 soldiers to the church of the Capuchins, where many other royals are buried. When the procession arrived at the church, the doors were closed. The chamberlain stepped up and knocked three times. A voice from inside cried out, “Who requests entry?’ The chamberlain’s reply was impressive: “Her Majesty Zita, Empress of Austria, crowned Queen of Hungary, Princess of Bohemia, Grand Duchess of Lodomerai, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galizia, Illyria, Queen of Jerusalem, Archduchess of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and Cracow, Duchess of Lorraine, Salzburg, Carinthia, Krain and Buconia, Grand Duchess of Transylvania, Marchioness of Moravia, Duchess of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Modena, Parma, Piacenza, of Dubrovnik and Zara.” "I do not know her,” came the reply. “Who requires entry?" The chamberlain offered a simpler response: “Her Majesty Zita, Empress of Austria, Queen of Hungary.” The response was the same: “I do not know her. Who requires entry?” This time the chamberlain replied: "Our sister Zita, a poor sinning mortal." And the gates were thrown open to receive her. SOURCE: A half dozen newspaper and website accounts which all differed slightly on the details (perhaps due to translation problems), such as all the titles the chamberlain listed, but which corroborated each other on the core of the story. Among the newspapers and magazine were: People, April 17, 1989; The Guardian, July 10, 2006; The New York Times, April 2, 1989. Joke of the month Q: How many bass-baritones in a church choir does it take to screw in a light bulb? A: Three: One to climb the ladder and do the job, and the other two to sit there and say, “Isn’t that a little too high for you?”...

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News

All votes are not equal

Come the next election, the House of Commons is set to add five more seats and see the ridings redistributed. These changes flow from a requirement in our Constitution to do this after each census, to try ensure that each vote in Canada counts about the same when it comes to electing Members of Parliament. Populations change from movement within Canada and immigration, and a representative democracy is supposed to account for this. Yet Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Coyne has shown that the new boundaries don’t come close to representing where Canadians live, resulting in some votes being worth far more than others. Some of his findings included: Labrador, the smallest riding, has just 27,000 people. Contrast this with Edmonton-Wetaskiwin, which has more than 209,000. Both ridings send one MP to Parliament, so a vote in Labrador is worth eight times as much. The average Alberta riding has more than 125,000 people. Contrast this with PEI, where the average riding size is 39,000 people. The four Atlantic provinces and the three northern territories have a population below 2.8 million, yet they have more seats than Alberta, which had 4.8 million as of the 2021 census. The smaller ridings tend to vote Liberal. A total of 43,848 votes elected six Liberal MPs in Newfoundland, PEI, and the territories. This is less than the average number of votes to elect a single MP in the six largest Conservative ridings. Canada’s population has grown by 10 percent since the 2021 Census, with three-quarters of the growth in Alberta, BC, and Ontario, which are all already under-represented in Parliament. This means that the new distribution is already far out of date, even before it takes effect. These inequalities resulted from a series of decisions by our leaders. One of the most significant was the “grandfather clause” of 1985 which decided that a province cannot have fewer seats than it had that year. The most recent redistribution decided that Quebec can’t ever get fewer seats. This means that the only remaining option to restore proportionality is to add seats. But for this to be truly fair, based on Labrador’s population, our House of Commons would need to grow from 337 MPs to 925! That is clearly unrealistic. But adding a measly three to Alberta and one to Ontario and BC doesn’t even come close to being representative. If we were aiming for genuine proportionality, they should be getting 24 new seats. It would be difficult to change the representation in the Senate, as a change to the constitution requires approval from all provinces. But Coyne noted that it could be done in Parliament: “the ‘grandfather clause’ and the rest could all be amended or abolished by simple act of Parliament. Or are we incapable of living up to the same basic democratic principles that apply in other countries?” Of course, other countries aren’t our ultimate standard. A better standard is the basic biblical principles of fairness, justice, and impartiality. As Proverbs 16:11 instructs, “a just balance and scales are the LORD’s.”...

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Articles, Book Reviews

Scout makes a comeback with new audio streaming service

Entrepreneurial spirit meets Christian family values with tech startup Whillo.com ***** Reformed Perspective’s last issue featured a back cover ad that caught my eye. It introduced Whillo.com, a new audio streaming service featuring books like Scout and Wambu that were read to me by my father when I was a boy, and which I have since read to my own children. But weren’t these books rather “niche” to the Dutch Reformed community? Who would have turned them into audiobooks? Would the quality be any good? Streaming music and audiobooks continues to grow in popularity, also among Reformed households in Canada. But this was the first time I had seen a specifically Christian streaming service, let alone one that would feature classic Dutch Reformed books that many in the newest generation likely have not heard of, like Anne de Vries’ Journey Through the Night series. I have my own entrepreneurial itch, so I set up a Zoom meeting with Whillo’s founder and owner Layne van Rhijn to learn more about this new service and the vision behind it. From drones to audiobooks The van Rhijn family. Layne and his family live in Diamond City, Alberta, just outside of Lethbridge, and are members of a local Netherlands Reformed congregation. He works full-time as a paramedic firefighter. One of the perks of the job is that he gets regular blocks of time off. With an entrepreneurial spirit and a propensity to get things done, he has turned this time “off” into a number of vibrant business ventures. It started with his interest in, and growing collection of drones. He started an online drone store out of his garage, expanded into a store, and then eventually sold that company to an investor. This was followed by a new venture, focused on the used market for commercial drones. “So I built an app for drone traders, like an Auto Trader for selling used drones,” shared Layne. That has grown to become a marketplace for used drones throughout North America and quickly led to many more opportunities. “So then we started doing apps and different websites for clients.” Over time, he grew a portfolio of companies which provide income streams and he continues to grow and scale them. In 2021 Layne and his wife Melinda created Whillo, “to scratch an itch….We have three young kids ourselves, and are always looking for good audio content for them. And we found ourselves proof-listening a lot.” A librarian at their local Christian school then expressed interest in putting good books online in audio form. So Layne put together a proposal of what it would take, with them providing the tech help and the librarian (also an aunt) helping with the narrating. As Layne explains: “Initially, we were going to keep it small and kind of internal, and then it started growing on its own. So then we actually did a proper app and have grown it from there.” Growing an audio library Whillo was more difficult to get off the ground than Layne expected. “You can't just use any book, right? You have to use something either in the public domain or set up licensing agreements. So we were initially quite limited in what we could do.” They began to grow their collection with licensing agreements, and they also started hiring professional narrators from across the world. A skim through the catalog of Whillo’s website reveals over 200 audiobooks, many of which are for children and largely unknown beyond Dutch Reformed immigrants and their children. Layne noted that “we’ve significantly expanded our teen/adult selection over the past months and the more recent books we’ve added are well known across Christian circles.” I downloaded the app on my phone to give it a try, as our family was about to embark on another 12-hour road trip. This allowed our family of eight to listen to two books for about four or five hours total. I was pleasantly surprised by the listening experience. I guess I expected an amateur reader, or someone with a Dutch accent, but was treated to a professional and dynamic reading, comparable to what I get with a mainstream resource like Audible. But I also quickly learned that my children didn’t share the same interest that I had in most of the books available on Whillo. And looking at the music selection, it was apparent that it would be a hard sell for me to have my family listen to the entirely classical and choral genre. In recent decades, a lot has changed when it comes to the music being listened to in many Reformed homes, including in my own. Overcoming obstacles But Whillo has found a receptive audience not just with some conservative Reformed families, but among conservative families from other Christian traditions as well, including the Mennonites and Hutterites, and have noticed a large uptick in traffic from various homeschool groups. Layne’s expectation is that it will keep growing in content and reach. For example, it can become a place where choirs and musicians can get their content out to those who will appreciate it. He acknowledged that choosing content is incredibly difficult as there is no shortage of differing opinions of what is appropriate or good. Another challenge is the sheer cost, as some of his larger titles require between $2,000-$5,000 each to produce, and then half of the proceeds from subscribers go to royalties. But the enterprise has recently crossed the line where it is being profitable, and is also beginning to attract larger publishers like Youth With a Mission (YWAM). Over 33,000 hours have already been streamed since last January, when Whillo began tracking, with about seventy percent of the listeners coming from Canada. “It's been the hardest business, by far, that I've ever tackled. And I didn't expect that at all. Every part of it has been hard and but also very rewarding.” Layne cited examples where he receives emails or message from families who tell them how much they appreciate it and listen to it. “It keeps us going.” You can check out Whillo’s selection at Whillo.com. Picture courtesy of Layne van Rhijn....

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Saturday Selections – Feb 3, 2024

Click on the titles below for the linked articles... Make more babies! I don't share enough good news, so here's a fun one. This is a diaper company taking the sort of stand that any self-interested diaper company should logically take - give us more customers! But with all the doom and gloom about population these days, it's probably brave for even a diaper company to come out in favor of babies. While they hang their baby endorsement on a statement from agnostic Elon Musk, there's also an uncredited voice-over recognizable as American's favorite pastor, Billy Graham (or, possibly, his son Franklin). So while they could get bolder – let's explicitly proclaim God's truth as God's truth – these folk are certainly taking some baby steps in the right direction! The price of legalized pot Way more teens are smoking way more marijuana than 10 years ago. And what they're smoking is way more potent than what was around a generation ago. And it's costing many teens their mental stability... Euthanasia normalized by manipulation under the Trudeau government (10 min read) There's been some good news on the state-sanctioned suicide front this week. On March 17 the "eligibility" of death-as-medicine was going to be expanded to include the mentally ill too. Rising costs have made it impossible to find a home? If that left you depressed, the government might have helped, not with more affordable housing, but a prescription of lethal drugs. But on January 29, the federal health minister announced they would suspend, at least for now, this expansion. You can read more, and what to do about it at the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, and ARPA Canada. To find out how we ever got here, read the longer article, from REAL Women of Canada, linked above. Barbara Kay: on "Grave Error: How the media misled us (and the truth about residential schools)" "''Canadians deserve to know the truth,' Federal Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters earlier this week, regarding 2021 claims made — but never investigated — of unmarked graves at the Kamloops, British Columbia Indian residential school." And there's a new book out highlighting how the media, and some of our elected leaders, steered us wrong. A 21st-century Peasants’ Revolt World traveler and sometime RP contributor Jonathon Van Maren was in Europe this past week to report on the massive farmer protests going on. How we got here - a  transgender documentary (12 min) How did transgenderism shift so quickly from a fringe movement to something taught in our public schools and affirmed by almost all our political leaders? This documentary gets to some of it. While narrator Christopher Rufo doesn't frame it in specifically Christian terms, what he highlights is how transgenderism is seen by its proponents as more than simply surgery, more than a personal decision, more than a struggle some small minority have to deal with: leading proponents view it as an all-encompassing worldview from which we are to interpret all else. Susan Striker, one trans proponent, spoke of his transgender manifesto as a "secular sermon." That gives us all the clue we should need as to how best to counter this movement. Not with Rufo's equally secular response, in which he's left confused enough to refer to Striker with female pronouns. No, what's needed is our own sermon of sorts, but a spiritual one. We need to lead with the facts as God as defined them, that He defines our gender. ...

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Alberta taking steps towards nuclear power

In the same week that Alberta was facing power shortages, the government announced they were going nuclear. Last week the province was sending emergency alerts to residents asking them to limit their electricity usage because of pressure on their electrical grid from extremely cold temperatures. Then, on Jan 15 an announcement was made of a partnership between two corporations to examine the feasibility of building small modular reactors (SMR) in the province. Currently there are no nuclear power projects west of Ontario. The partnership is between Alberta company Capital Power and the crown corporation Ontario Power Generation, which owns four nuclear power plants and is responsible for close to half the electricity generation in Ontario. The two companies shared that their plan is to take two years to assess the feasibility of small nuclear reactors in Alberta. This aligns with a strategic plan that was created by the governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and New Brunswick in 2022, towards the advancements of SMR’s, which they called “the next evolution in nuclear innovation and technology.” Nuclear power is far more reliable than “renewable” power options like solar and wind, which Canadian governments have been pushing for decades now. They are able to produce maximum power more than 92 percent of the year, compared with 35 percent for wind and 25 percent for solar. “Nuclear energy offers humanity the safest, most efficient approach to harnessing natural resources for its use” explained Vijay Jayaraj, Research Associate for the CO2 Coalition. “As the densest energy source available, nuclear fuel requires the least amount of material and land for electricity production.” Safe electricity is necessary for lighting, heating, cooling, refrigeration, and most commercial activity. Although we take it for granted, it has been critical for alleviated poverty and promoting human flourishing.  As Andrew Spencer, from the Gospel Coalition notes, “as we prudentially consider technologies that balance the goods of society with the limits of creation, relatively clean sources of electricity like nuclear power are part of seeking the welfare of the city in which we dwell. (Jer. 29:7) This is especially true for people on the margins who cannot afford expensive electrical backups and are most at risk when the power goes out.”...

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British Columbia approves protocols to give opioid prescriptions to minors 

Recently, Adam Zivo reported in the National Post that the British Columbia government has authorized the distribution of opioid prescriptions to minors, without parental permission. This is being done under the province’s “safer supply” or “harm reduction” strategy which involves the prescription of opioids, including fentanyl, to addicts. So, instead of trying to put these children into rehab to get off drugs completely, the program aims to provide individuals with “clean” drugs as an alternative or supplement to the illicit and toxic substances that they are addicted to. Harm reduction is grounded in the belief that complete abstinence is an impossible goal. This perspective is evident in sex ed, where the focus is on teaching kids how to lower but not eliminate the risks of unwanted pregnancies and STDs – it’s safer, but not at all safe, sex. One of the goals of harm reduction is often to “destigmatize” actions, whether it be in the case of “sexual liberation” or drug use. Some Christians see this shame-free approach as a way of loving your neighbor, yet it goes directly against what God says about sin. How can one come to repentance if you are told what you are doing is not shameful? Despite the implementation of “safer supply” pilot programs across the country since 2020, the latest data from BC Coroners Service reveals that 2023 marked the third consecutive year with overdose deaths exceeding 2,000 lives. Recent reports of “safer supply” programs have found serious cases of diversion, where people were getting government-funded drugs and selling them, and in some cases, bringing them to youth in suburban areas. In an August report, the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) proposed protocols permitting nurses and doctors to prescribe opioids to both adults and minors. The BCCSU, in outlining its protocols, has even admitted that “To date, there is no evidence available supporting this intervention, safety data, or established best practices for when and how to provide it.” So, without any clear sense of concrete evidence that interventions like this work, they proceeded to recommend this process with loose requirements. The only requirement for minors to qualify is a “two prescriber approval system,” wherein one medical professional interviews the patient, and the other signs off. What raises serious concerns is the lack of acknowledgment for parents and their rights over their children within these protocols. According to the National Post’s Adam Zivo: “While the B.C. government generally promotes its commitment to safer supply, it was oddly silent in this instance. I became aware of the new protocols only because two concerned addiction physicians contacted me shortly after their publication.” The absence of any requirement to inform or involve parents in the decision-making process for minors seeking prescription opioids may create incentives for young individuals to distance themselves from their families. The family unit, a child’s God-given foundation of support and guidance, is bypassed in a manner that could contribute to strained relationships and increased risks for the young individuals involved. Not only does the province allow access to safe supply drugs without needing parents’ approval, but it also takes away parents’ rights to get the help their child needs. In BC, parents can’t make their kids go to rehab against their will. Historically, the Church has been the place where individuals with addictions sought help, but in recent times, we have witnessed a shift towards government interventions driven by a worldview that doesn’t value the family as God does....

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Saturday Selections – Jan 20, 2024

Click on the titles below for the linked articles... Animal Farm redone In a single from his album Lyrical Theology Part 3: Sociology, Reformed rapper Shai Linne does an update on Orwell's Animal Farm. Fauci admits that 6-feet distancing just kind of appeared Scientism existed before COVID, but the cult hit a high then, demanding the media (and social media) treat it as beyond questioning. Anthony Fauci was the key figure in the US, and that made him influential in Canada too. So his admittance here is relevant to us too. Profile good news: Peru to protect the unborn! Jonathon Van Maren reports on how Peru has passed a law recognizing the unborn as human beings. More good news? Argentine President Javier Milei took to the World Economic Forum stage this week to blast those assembled for their "bloody abortion agenda." And, this last week, even on quite the chilly day, 100,000 marched for life in Washington DC. Where do the remaining GOP US presidential candidates stand on key issues? While the US Republicans (GOP) can't be characterized as a Christian party, the Democrats are certainly the Devil's own, making abortion a party plank. So, it is worth a look-see at LifeSiteNews' overview of the leading candidates for the Republicans' presidential nomination. One of the four listed – Vivek Ramaswamy – is no longer running, but could be in contention for vice president, and might be described as the Pierre Poilievre of the GOP for his ability to take on the media. Biggest takeaway: Donald Trump is not as pro-life as he once was. Alistair Begg, gay "marriage," and love Should Christians attend a gay "marriage" ceremony? One respected Reformed leader recently gave the wrong answer, and Samuel Sey wrote on why Begg is indeed wrong, and why we should still correct this elder statesman with care, and not as a fool. In Begg's defense, he was arguing for a Christian to attend only if the couple knew what that Christian thought about their "marriage." Begg thought it important there wasn't any misunderstanding (otherwise attending could be seen as an encouragement and blessing on the event). But Begg's error seems to be based on his own misunderstanding of what this ceremony involves. It is two people committing to live out a lifelong rebellion against God. How can Christians help celebrate a couple's pledge to forevermore aid and urge each other along the path of destruction? You could only go there to mourn. This is a point worth belaboring: Christians shouldn't attend a gay "marriage" ceremony for the same reason we shouldn't congratulate someone for their job promotion at the local abortion clinic. There is nothing here to celebrate. Pierre Poilievre's Debtonation (15 min) This is a Conservative Party presentation, so it is important to understand that it is going to present the current Liberal/NDP government's fiscal mismanagement in the worst possible light. But the facts are scary enough – when we add up government, personal, and business debt, Canada owes a collective 10 trillion dollars. Debt isn't a good thing (Deut. 15:6, Prov. 22:7) but it gets downright scary when interest rates go up, and we face the possibility, as Poilievre outlines, of paying a quarter of our yearly GDP just to debt servicing. Will it get that bad? The point is, we've arrived at a spot where that is a real possibility. And that peril is not the sort of inheritance we are supposed to leave our children (Prov. 13:22). While Poilievre cites the Bible at one point – "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun" (Eccl. 1:9) – the video's most religious statement might be this one: "Numbers rule the universe." The Conservative Party leader is making a primarily economic argument here, and when he offers a lesson in prophecy, it too is of the economic sort. But because God is the Author of the created order, when someone grounds their prognostication in that reality, he may well get a lot closer to truth than those who are so bound by their ideology that they blind themselves to anything reality reveals. Poilievre has his own blind spots, so it is encouraging to see the otherwise pro-choice Poilievre speak to the insanity of offering doctor-aided suicide to the mentally ill. He won't defend the unborn, but he is against killing those distraught by being homeless, and he is the only Parliamentary party leader to say so. ...

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In the age of the smartphone, kids aren’t performing as well

Research released in December seems to indicate a general decline in student performance around the world over the last decade and a half. These findings were based on the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), a test administered to almost 700,000 15-year-old students in 2022. The PISA has been run every two years for decades now. One of the takeaways from the latest results was that in the 16 years from 2006 to 2022, worldwide scores for math, reading, and science dropped from 10 to 20 points. According to PISA, 20 points represents approximately a year’s worth of learning, so this amounted to between a half and a full year of learning lost in these three areas. It’s hard to get the why from such statistics. Some of that was almost certainly due to COVID closures, with the sharpest declines in math and reading happening over the years 2020 to 2022. But as the author of one of the reports, Andreas Schleicher, noted, the trajectory was already downward beforehand. Schleicher pointed to “digital distractions” as a possible culprit. “Students who reported being distracted by other students using digital devices in some, most or every maths class scored 15 points lower in PISA maths tests than those who barely experienced this.” What can be done to improve scores? State schools are going to look to the government for the solution, and some have tried banning smartphone usage at school. The results have been mixed: good in some countries, and not as much in others, where students may simply be getting around the ban. Christians can point to something that hasn’t been tried: instead of more government intervention, what if we had less? Children who are on screens 5-7 hours a day (or even more) need parents (not a Big Brother) to step up and fill the void, both educational and emotional, that these phones and screens are currently filling....

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