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Magazine, Past Issue

July/Aug 2025 issue

WHAT'S INSIDE: Screen-fast, sports betting, & environmental stewardship

Our 10-day screen-fast challenge that we presented in the last issue is getting traction. Marty VanDriel has a story that shares how the fast went for him and others who gave it a try.

But that was just the start. Some generous supporters have recognized how important this issue is, so they are offering up a little extra motivation for us all. They have pledged to donate $100 to two fantastic kingdom causes – Word & Deed and Reformed Perspective – for every person who commits to and completes a 10-day fast from their screens from July 21 to 30 (to a maximum of $20,000 split between both causes).

Screens aren’t evil, but as the cover illustrates so well, screens can keep us from seeing reality – from seeing God’s loving hand upholding creation, this world, and our lives. Here now is your opportunity to join with some family and friends and maybe your whole church community to put screens aside and see the rest of the world unfiltered. Check out page 19 for more details or click on the QR code above to sign up.

Since sports betting was legalized in 2021, it has taken Canada by storm. If you watch any hockey you’ve noticed a lot of betting ads, and they bring with them a growing temptation for Christians to make some money while enjoying their favurite teams. But as Jeff Dykstra explains, we have good reason to steer clear of sports gambling.

In this issue we also do a deep dive into the topic of environmental stewardship by sitting down with two Christian women who work for an environmental group in the middle of a logging community in northern BC.

If you are an adult who tends to skip over the Come & Explore kids’ section, we encourage you to give this one a read. It will be sure to make you smile.

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or click here to download the PDF (8 mb)

INDEX: Are you still able: A nation-wide challenge to experience life without screens / Creation stewards in a logging town / Who do you want to be? RP's 10-day screen-fast challenge / We took the no screens challenge... and now we're changing our habits / What can I do anyways? 35 screen-alternative ideas / Is TikTok the ultimate contraception? / How to stay sane in an overstimulated age / Defeated by distraction / How to use AI like a Christian boss / Who speeches were they? On AI, and others, writing for us / The Way / Who is Mark Carney? / What if we said what we mean? - the political party edition / Am I lazy or just relaxing? What does Proverbs say? / Get out of the game: Christians need to steer clear of sports gambling / Man up: ARPA leaderboards and the call to courageous action / Christians don't pray / Our forever home / Calvin as a comic / The best comics for kids / Fun is something you make: 11 times for family road trips / Come and Explore: Mr. Morose goes to the doctor / Rachel VanEgmond is exploring God's General Revelation / 642 Canadian babies were born alive and left to die / 90 pro-life MPs elected to parliament / Ontario shows why euthanasia "safeguards" can't work / RP's coming to a church near you



News

Canada’s population almost shrinking

The latest population estimation from Statistics Canada is revealing a startling change: Ontario, Quebec, and BC all saw population declines in the first quarter of 2025.

The country as a whole grew by only 20,107 people, which, as a percentage, amounted to a 0.0% increase, the second-slowest growth rate in Canada since records began in 1946. The record prior was the third quarter of 2020, when border restrictions from the Covid-19 pandemic prevented immigration. The decrease has been attributed to announcements by the federal government in 2024 to decrease temporary and permanent immigration levels, with targets of 436,000 for this year, which is still well above the 250,000 level prior to the Liberal government taking office in 2015.

So, in the first quarter of 2025 we lost 17,410 people via emigration to other countries, and there was also a drop of 61,111 in non-permanent residents – people on temporary work or student visas, along with their families. The data also shows that there were 5,628 more deaths than births in the first quarter, largely due to Canada’s quickly declining fertility rate. That’s a collective loss of population of 84,140 people.

Then, going in the other direction, we had 104,256 people immigrate to Canada, for that small net increase of 20,107.

While it is a blessing that people from other countries are still willing and able to move to Canada, it is sobering to note that two-thirds of the world’s populations are now below replacement rate and the world’s population is projected to start declining later this century.

God’s first command to humanity was to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). Imagine what the world could look like in a few generations if Christians fulfilled this cultural mandate with enthusiasm while the rest of the world continued on its course.


Today's Devotional

July 8 - The blessings of fellowship

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…” - Ephesians 1:3

Scripture reading: 1 John 2:12-14; Ephesians 1:1-14

John pauses and speaks to representatives of the entire congregation to which he is writing.  He does so in order to encourage us all in the blessings that come >

Today's Manna Podcast

Manna Podcast banner: Manna Daily Scripture Meditations and open Bible with jar logo

The Resurrection of Christ - It's Truth: The Resurrection of Christ

Serving #896 of Manna, prepared by William Den Hollander, is called "The Resurrection of Christ - It's Truth" (The Resurrection of Christ).















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News

Dominion Report: a free and solidly Christian news source for Canadians

The Dominion Report is a Canadian news website (DominionReport.ca) and newsletter that offers up a Christian perspective on the week’s events. It delivers that perspective via two- to six-paragraph introductions to articles they link to from other media outlets. If you’re familiar with RP’s weekly Saturday Selections column, it’s a lot like that, but the Dominion Report goes a little longer and has more of a specifically news focus. As an example, last week’s edition offered up: Canadians' beliefs on the Resurrection a conservative student forced out of a university election a Chinese military hacker who was allowed to become a Canadian permanent resident how Toronto auto thefts have doubled since 2021 and a few more “quick hits” They’ve been online since mid-2023, and their past 35+ weekly newsletters showcase what sort of Christian perspective they are offering. I don’t know if it is specifically Reformed, but it is certainly a conservative sort of Christian, and strongly pro-life, with writers regularly turning to Scripture for guidance. Importantly, it doesn’t seem to be over-torqued. WORLD magazine, one of the very best Christian publications, has as one of their slogans, “sensational facts, understated prose.” We live in pretty outrageous times, so we don’t need anyone to hype up the hysteria, and from what I’ve read, the Dominion Report presents the facts with a pretty level head. Check them out at DominionReport.ca, and if you like what you see, be sure to sign up for their weekly newsletter. (Their RSS feed is DominionReport.ca/feed and you can find out how to use it here)....



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Drama, Movie Reviews

The Shop Around the Corner

Drama/Romance 99 min / 1940 Rating: 9/10 While Jimmy Stewart is best known for his other Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life, this is the one that mom and dad should watch for an in-home date night. Stewart plays the young Alred Kralik, top salesman at the Matuschek and Company giftshop in Budapest. As top salesman, he serves as confidant and all-around-right-hand man to his boss, Hugo Mastuschek. When a young lady, Klara Novak, comes in looking for a job, it is Alfred's sad duty to inform her that there just aren't any positions available. But strangely Alfred's boss, in a fit of independence, decides to override Alfred and hires Klara. From the start, it's clear that Alfred and Klara have a little chemistry, but he decides she isn’t the girl for him. Maybe it was how they first met, but whatever the reason, the two of them just can’t get along. And besides, Alfred already has a girlfriend of sorts. He has a heart-to-heart, mind-to-mind connection with his long-time pen pal, and how can mere physical attraction compare to something like that? It just can’t! Before he rushes off to marry his pen pal, Alfred decides he should probably meet her once first. And it's at this first date that he finds out his pen pal looks a lot like the new store clerk…an awful lot like her! Turns out, Shop Around the Corner is a great counter to the Hollywood notion of love at first sight – this is love done write! Cautions The one caution here regards a backstory and the reason why Mr. Mastuschek decided to override his top salesman. He suspects Alfred of having an affair with his wife. It turns out that while Mr. Mastuschek is wrong about which salesman it is, he is right about the affair, and that drives him to attempt suicide. Thankfully he is saved by the store's delivery boy. This mature topic matter means this isn't one for the whole family, even though it is delicately handled. Conclusion Shop Around the Corner has been in Time magazine's Top 100 Films list, has a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and was popular enough to spawn two remakes. A musical adaptation, In the Good Old Summertime (1949), was done less than a decade later and stars Judy Garland and Van Johnson. This time the two letter-writers are working in a music store. Not as good as the original, but it is a solid 7. Van Johnson isn't as charming as Jimmy Stewart, and near the end even comes off as a bit creepy. That said, it is fun to see how this remake compares and contrasts with the film that inspired it. Another sequel is Tom Hank's You've Got Mail (1998), which was super popular, but which also takes God's name in vain. If you enjoy Shop Around the Corner, you may also like a couple more from the same director, Ernst Lubitsch. His To Be Or Not To Be (1942) is about a Shakespeare acting troop surviving World War II. And Ninotchka (1939) is a comedy about a loyal Russian communist who comes to Paris and falls in love with a man who represents everything about the West that she despises. There are some good and educational laughs in that one! Check out Shop Around the Corner's trailer below. ...