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News

Saturday Selections – July 1, 2023

Got some bored kids? Are your kids are looking for some summer holiday inspiration? These Dude Perfect juniors are doing amazing trick shots that might spawn some imitation. Parents: reading to your children supports your biblical calling Reading routinely to your children helps you set aside time to teach, shepherd, and love on your child. It is costly – it takes time you might not feel you have – but if you were to talk to a future you about whether they wished they had done more of it, you can be sure of the answer. A parent's guide to teen slang The folks at the Christian parenting organization Axis have created a short guide to some of the most popular teen slang. They've divided it into 3 categories, starting with "Fun, harmless, silly" followed by "Be aware of" and finally "Red flags." This heads-up is worth the 5-10 minutes it would take to scan through it. In praise of silent Cal This article, on the occasion of Calvin Coolidge's 150th birthday last year, celebrates an American president who was best known for thinking government should get out of the way. Air pollution has plummeted in the U.S. over the last 50 years Even as Canada's wildfires had a lot of people eating smoke, air pollution has been going down a lot over the last half century. We hear so much doom and gloom these days, it's a good corrective to hear how things are getting better. Social media is all about gracelessness (3 min) Our own online responses should presume the best of whomever we're talking to (Matt. 7:12). But if Marshall McLuhan was at all right about "the medium is the message" (ie. the deliverer has a huge impact on the message delivered) then we shouldn't be naive about what sort of negativity social media fosters. ...

News

Saturday Selections – June 24, 2023

A seed that walks? Absolutely awn-some! (5 min) These seeds can walk and dig themselves into the ground! Psychology's culpability in the transgender movement The transgender movement's devilish overreach – trying to force us to say boys can be girls and girls can be boys – clarifies for us what Paul meant when he said the wisdom of the world is foolishness in the sight of God (1 Cor. 3:19). "Experts" can be delusional. We're in freefall because we've never had it so good (10-minute read) Prosperity is blamed here as a key culprit for our culture's ongoing decline in civility. Good diagnosis, but this secular article offers no hope. However, there is hope. Some 300 years ago. Cotton Mather explained that: "Religion begat prosperity, and the daughter devoured the mother." If the good times have our nation turning from our good God, then the solution is to urge them to repentance. Most US teens are watching porn regularly This is a must-read for parents, which has help to offer. The Synod of Dort and the Sabbath (10-minute read) Today many evangelicals might argue that there are 9 Commandments and not 10. However, in the article linked above Dr. Bredenhof weighs in on how the Synod of Dort made the case for 10, and Pastor Wilson offers a very different defense in his 11 Theses on the Glory of the Lord's Day. How do Canada's 2001 climate predictions measure up? (11 min) Today's Canadian government is increasing the cost of energy based on dire predictions of what will happen to the climate if they don't. But how good is the government at prognostication? Are they prophets or pretenders? In the video below, John Robson takes a look back at Canada's 2001 climate predictions and asks, if they got it wrong then, why should we trust that they are reliable today? ...

News

Saturday Selections – June 17, 2023

How you should spend your words (2 min) We only have so many words we're going to speak. So what are you going to build – or destroy – with yours? The mental health crisis of American teenage daughters Is it just social media, or is there more causing it? Should I take the birth control pill? The birth control pill has three separate actions: the first two prevent conception, and should those two fail, the third acts to prevent the conceived children from implanting in the mother's womb – it acts as an abortifacient. Listen to this as a 20-minute podcast, or tackle it as a 10-minute read. 30% of Gen Z Americans would welcome gov't monitoring inside their homes A third of Americans under 30 would favor government surveillance in their homes, in the name of reducing spousal and child abuse. Christians might think that if we aren't doing anything wrong what does it matter if we are being watched? But do you spank your children? Might some government official somewhere want to recast that as abuse? Do you teach your children that God made us male and female? Do you insist that marriage is between one man and one woman? What might some in the government think about that? To be constantly monitored is to be constantly assessed. And knowing, as we do, that our governments don't measure right and wrong by God's standards, we should fear the prospect. That a third of these young Americans are okay with constant government surveillance shows they don't know about surveillance states of the past, like the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. They don't know about China's current "social credit system," where citizens are constantly monitored and granted freedoms based on their government score. And these young people must not haven't read 1984, or any other dystopian fiction. That a third of American young people would grant their government this much power isn't an endorsement of their government's trustworthiness, but only shows how badly it has run the public school system – young people by the millions have been so abysmally educated, they aren't aware that governments that try to run everything ruin everything. FOBO - the fear of better options It wasn't so long ago that kids had to contend with FOMO: the Fear Of Missing Out. It's a fear that can run kids ragged, going to this event and then that, to be sure they'll be there for whatever epic times might happen. Today kids have to contend with FOBO: Fear Of Better Options. Kids won't commit to an event just in case something better comes up. It's so widespread, kids will think nothing of ditching out on a friend they have committed to. So, in the quest for having the very best time, they leave behind people who were counting on them for friendship and companionship. 12 important questions to ask your dad on Father's Day This is a secular article, but very much about honoring your father (Ex. 20:12) by seeking his wisdom while you can. And for a double dose of fatherly attention, John Stonestreet weighs in on how the importance of fathers shouldn't be overlooked. The video below is humorous – different denominations discussing how they'll celebrate Father's Day – but has a mention of drag in it, so isn't all ages. ...

News

Saturday Selections – June 10, 2023

The astonishing giraffe neck Did you know a giraffe doesn't need its neck muscles to hold its neck up, but rather to bend it down? As a ruminant (an animal that chews its cud) the giraffe has to be able to bring food back up its neck to chew again. It also has to have an enormous heart to create enough pressure to get the blood up to its head. And then it has to have shut-off valves of a sort, to relieve the pressure when it bends its head down to drink, otherwise the blood pressure would cause it to blow out its own brain. The article linked above has more on giraffes' amazing design, as does the video below, though since it is a giraffe dissection (albeit a bloodless one), it might be a bit much for some kids. Population is collapsing and the world has no answers In the not too distant future there will be more grandparents than grandkids, and that's a problem. This downward population trend is happening in Western atheistic countries and Middle Eastern Muslim ones too. How can it be reversed? Different countries have tried child-care subsidies, education, and immigration, all to no avail. What they haven't tried is repentance. Only a nation that turns to God will treasure children as the blessing that God says they are (Ps. 127:3-5, Gen. 1:28, Ps. 128:3) and want more of them. But, of course, how can they know they should repent unless we tell them (Rom. 10:14)? While we can't tell anyone else how many kids they should have, the Church is, collectively, following the world's downward population trend, with smaller families each generation. So we seem to have some repenting to do too. The cult of the presidency (and prime ministership) must end This American article's point applies to Canada too (where the Prime Minister arguably has even more power than the US President): a change of government shouldn't have such a huge impact on our lives, and the only way the impact can be lessened is to have less government. What makes for a good law? Thoughts on Uganda's homosexuality bill Our society has been celebrating homosexuality for so long that even Christians may find the idea of legislating against it shocking. Samuel Sey has some thoughts above about Uganda's controversial law, as does Albert Mohler. Big Tech won't protect our kids: parents must 10 years ago if a depressed teen quit social media that'd quite likely help. But as John Stonestreet notes, that's in part because 10 years ago there were still a lot of teens who weren't on social media. In other words, if the teen left the pressures of the digital world, there was a real world of teens they could meet and interact with. But today parents are leery of taking away their teen's phone because it's the contact point between them and all their friends. At the same time, we can see these phones are a problem. So what's a parent to do? A question will  quiet them... or move the discussion forward In the New Testament Jesus asked more questions than He gave answers. Was it because He didn't have answers? Nope. So, perhaps it was because a good question can bring us right to the heart of an issue. Some of His clarifying questions include: Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your lifespan? (Matt 6:27) What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life and what can one give in exchange for his life? (Matt 16:26) Today, a simple question is still effective. We've seen how just asking "What is a woman?" can cause conniptions. In the clip below we have someone complaining about privilege. If she has some examples, great, because specific complaints can then be addressed and hopefully fixed. But if they are simply assertions without justifications, then asking her for more information is a great way of exposing her empty rhetoric. Either way, a question gets us moving forward. Other great clarifying questions Christians should ask include: When does life begin? Where does our worth come from? In what sense would you say men and women are equal? (See Genesis 1:27. Gen 9:6). pic.twitter.com/3poZbLF8Br — Davy Jones (@itsNTBmedia) June 6, 2023 ...

News

Saturday Selections – June 3, 2023

The UK, Canada, and the US meet in a grocery store One for all the social studies teachers out there. Your final exam can simply be whether your students laugh in all the right places. Is social media out-discipling the Church? Is social media the biggest challenge the Church faces when it comes to the next generation? Loving our neighbors means telling the truth about gender and identity The number of Americans who know someone struggling with gender dysphoria is now approaching 50%. And as John Stonestreet writes, Christians need to be prepared to speak to this confusion. "Rather than truly loving our neighbors, something admittedly difficult, we instead choose the easier path of not offending and only affirming. We then name that path 'love,' but it’s neither loving nor true." When self-care becomes self-absorption This is intended specifically for pastors, but the point is applicable to all: when one generation neglects caring for the body God has given them, that can lead to the next generation overreacting the other way, getting so concerned with self-care that they don't push themselves like they really could. The tragic real-life story behind "Jesus Revolution" The latest big Christian film is a well-produced true story that focuses on a tumultuous period of recent Church history. But as reviewer Mark Powell notes, it shows the triumphs while mostly sidestepping the failings of its main character. Dr. Bredenhof also had some thoughts. India has passed China This year India passed China as the world's most populous country, and now the two are heading on opposite trajectories. This 5-minute read hits some of the highlights about what that might mean going forward. 7 theses on the age of the earth (9 min) A great explanation of why this debate matters and a powerful defense of a young Earth. ...

News

Saturday Selections – May 27, 2023

Too young to smoke, but not too young for an abortion (4 min) Sometimes the Devil makes his presence pretty obvious (sharing this one from Rumble, because it seems to have been pulled or banned on YouTube).  Euthanasia for the poor? In Canada, we are already euthanizing people to alleviate their poverty. Shocking? Well, when death becomes a "treatment" for suffering, on what basis can it be withheld from anyone who is suffering? The antithesis here is between the world's lie that some lives are not worth living, and the God-given reality that all life is a gift from our Maker, ours to stewards, but never ours to destroy. That's the choice, and it is our calling and our privilege to boldly present this other side – God's Truth – to a world that is in such desperate need of hearing it. Green activists refuse to discuss the true cost of their initiatives Rare metals needed for batteries are being mined in dangerous conditions. America has no recycling plants for electric vehicle batteries, so where will they go? Turbine blades are enormous and seem destined for landfills. And etc... Tim Keller (1950-2023) on courage Pastor Tim Keller passed away this week. He was the author of many brilliant books including Counterfeit Gods, Prodigal God, Prayer, Forgive, and Preaching, but was also a leading proponent of theistic evolution. 7 arguments against female pastors This is a concise 10-minute read, addressing the issue in the context of the push for female pastors that's going on in American Southern Baptist churches. The "evolution" of the electric eel (4 min) Did you know electric eels have electric "muscles"? ...

News

Saturday Selections – May 20, 2023

Defending the unborn: when they bring up cases of rape When a young Canadian recently challenged the prime minister about abortion, Trudeau brought up the issue of rape. The young man had no answer... but Tim Barnett does! Darwin’s Arch collapses … and joins a growing collection Two years ago, a world-famous tourist attraction collapsed, and there was some irony to the fall of Darwin's Arch. The rate at which such arches disintegrate worldwide gives evidence that Darwin's old earth presumptions were wrong, as after millions of years such arches shouldn't still exist. The (fake) battle between parental and children's rights "Understood correctly, human rights are fundamentally the right to be fully human. This requires knowing, to some degree, how we were made and what we are for, especially if these things were, to any degree, built into reality." A parent's guide to money The folks at AXIS have created short guides - this one is 18 half pages - for parents as a sort of cheat sheet for discussions with their teens. They offer a conservative Christian perspective, and in this one cover topics like: should your child take out a college loan? Should they be interested in a side hustle? What should they think about debt and saving? and much more. Why I will work until the day I die Hugh Whelchel knows he likely doesn't have long to live. So why would he spend what might be his last days working? Some good news about a great revolt 85% of Anglican leaders have rejected the Archbishop of Canterbury's blessings for same-sex couplings. Archbishop Justin Welby is the leader of the denomination, which is the third largest in the world, so this is big news. An April gathering of Anglican leaders declared: “Since the Lord does not bless same-sex unions, it is pastorally deceptive and blasphemous to craft prayers that invoke blessing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” This revolt is characterized as an "excommunication from below," with African churches leading the way in rejecting Welby as their head. Politics in 20 seconds Thomas Sowell said: "The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics." This is what that looks like on the campaign trail. ...

News

Saturday Selections – May 13, 2023

Burning Ember (8 min) Steve Bell and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra may just give you the shivers – this is wonderful! Are Proverbs an ancient form of tweets? Proverbs are concise, and because they are memorable, they are also pass-along-able – they can go viral! But as author Harma-Mae Smit notes, "the most significant difference between Twitter and Proverbs is obviously the end result of reading them" – Proverbs are for developing wisdom! The restless heart of Generation Z and the mental health crisis "The timing of this unprecedented outbreak of anxiety, depression and other mental health problems, Haidt points out, corresponds suspiciously with the rise of smartphones and social media apps." Is it loving for a Christian to attend a "gay wedding"? A couple has asked you to come to their ceremony where they plan to pledge themselves to a lifelong rebellion against their Maker - should you go and lend your support and encouragement? A parent's guide to bullying (and teaching your kids to stand up for the little guy instead) Kids in Christian schools get bullied too. Might that be because Christian parents don't take the topic seriously enough? Are too many presuming their kids are immune to being bullied? And could never be bullies? Maybe we think of bullying as only a physical thing, and don't even consider how constant put-downs (perhaps disguised as biting "Dutch" humor) can cause kids to hate school. If we want to deal with bullying in our schools, this guide is really a must-read for all parents. It's crafted by the Christian parents' group Axis, short at just 16 pages, and free to download. It could be the start of something. Johnson & John's Sons & Son's (2 min) For all the English teachers out there... ...

News

Saturday Selections – May 6, 2023

The amazing Archer Fish (4 min) This critter has crazy accuracy as it shoots its food down from the leaves and branches above. Trump's pivot on abortion In his last term, President Trump may have done more for the unborn than any president before. But is candidate Trump still interested in defending the unborn this time around? Is social justice killing Science? Ideology blinds Science, but whereas in the past it was Naturalism ignoring evidence of the Supernatural, now we have "woke-ism" ignoring evidence of gender differences. Parents need to be able to opt out of "woke" education Michael Zwaagstra is on to something here as he makes a case against Canada's public school system. But he's also a senior fellow at a secular think tank, and that's where his diagnosis falls flat. Zwaagstra thinks "...teachers should be politically neutral" and schools shouldn't be "indoctrination centres." But schools can't help but present doctrine, and the only choice is which. Will they celebrate God as Lord of all, or oppose Him, either explicitly, or implicitly by treating Him as irrelevant to all that students are learning? The surprising way ChatGPT could make university better A new Artificial Intelligence tool can write original essays in seconds that are good enough to pass many a university class. Is that a problem for Higher Ed? Maybe not. The New York Times’ stunning confession on Sweden’s pandemic response In 2020 they said Sweden's no mandate approach was going to kill thousands. They're saying something quite different today. So what's the lesson we can learn? That Man and therefore government, is fallible and limited, and should therefore proceed with humility. Or, this secular article puts it: "Central planners do not possess the knowledge to effectively organize society, but they do possess the power to wreck the social order – quickly. This is precisely why Hayek said it was imperative that those with power approach society with humility." Another reason for humility? The coming "cancer bomb." Big study touts exercise to deal with anxiety, depression New research suggests that, for many, exercise may be more effective than even medicine for improving their mental health. ...

News

Saturday Selections – Apr 29, 2023

How was the canon of Scripture established? (3 min) Stephen Nicols shares that the Church hasn't established the canon, but recognizes it, and that truth is a key difference between Protestants and Roman Catholics. Should AI be shut down? "When our science and technologies are guided by an 'if we can do something we should' kind of moral reasoning, bigger and faster is not better." Housing prices up, builds are down Canada's housing-to-population ratio is the lowest of any G7 nation, because Canada has seen a general decline in home builds since the 1970s, despite a growing population. While the linked report doesn't get into why it is happening, it presses for an investigation to figure it out. Some government policies have focussed on increasing supply without increasing builds, by taxing foreigners who buy homes here. But this doesn't get at the root of the problem – we need more houses. So why aren't builders building, if there is money to be made? Parents need to be able to opt out of "woke" education Michael Zwaagstra is on to something here as he makes a case against Canada's public school system. But he's also a senior fellow at a secular think tank, and that's where his diagnosis falls flat. Zwaagstra thinks "...teachers should be politically neutral" and schools shouldn't be "indoctrination centres." But schools can't help but present doctrine, and the only choice is which. Will they celebrate God as Lord of all, or oppose Him, either explicitly, or implicitly by treating Him as irrelevant to all that students are learning? Reflecting on the Church during the time of COVID The author presents a helpful standard: did we act out of fear, or love for our neighbor? This is a question of motivation, not the end result, since the same act – closing a church, for example – could be done for either reason. However, only one of these motivations is God-honoring. So, now, 3 years later, are we in a place where we can ask, how did we do? How the Earth cleans itself If you believe our astonishingly complex Earth came about by chance and time, one lucky happenstance after another for millions of years, then you'd have ever reason to think it fragile. But if you knew it to be designed, then you wouldn't be surprised to discover that the Earth has been crafted with some impressive self-cleaning abilities. That's not a reason to neglect our stewardship responsibilities (Gen. 1:26-28), but realizing the Earth isn't a delicate egg is a reason to resist climate catastrophism. Unbelief isn't a sin...or is it? Doubters will ask all sorts of questions, but only some will put in the same effort to actually seek answers. When a person's objections are more smokescreen than sincere, we should be sure to call them to "repent and believe" and not simply dig up more answers for them that will never satisfy their rebellion anyway. The article above and video below approach doubt and unbelief from two different but complementary angles and both are worth checking out. ...

News

Saturday Selections – Apr 22, 2023

Identifying misinformation Three great tips on offer here to decipher all the inputs we receive via social and mainstream media... The false promise of electric cars (15-minute read) "The reckless pace at which vehicle electrification is being pushed through — a hallmark of central planning — will add to the pressure on electricity grids on both sides of the Atlantic, at a time when the grids are sinking deeper into the disorder brought on by their decarbonization. Europe’s energy miseries are no secret, but there have been signs of trouble here too, including grimly amusing requests to EV owners not to charge their cars during a couple of extremely hot days in Texas and California." What is the Christian perspective here? Well, one biblical principle that applies is humility. Our leaders don't know enough to make choices for all of us, whether that's what foods farmers should plant, what clothes factories should produce, or what car manufacturers should make. In humility, politicians need to quit taking on problems that are beyond them and start addressing the issues God has charged them with, like stopping the slaughter of the unborn (Ps. 82:3). The gospel of self-forgiveness? What if you've done something so bad you just can't forgive yourself? The good news is, you don't have to. Is raising the minimum wage a Christian thing to do? Raising the minimum wage would help some people and hurt others so does that just make it unclear what we should do? This article offers 3 biblical principles to clarify the case against the minimum wage. Contention in the creationist camp... and that's a good thing! (10-minute read) Dr. Randy Guliuzza is the president of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR.org), so his creationist roots run deep, and any critique he's offering of creationist conclusions is going to be worth considering. So what new point is he making? Guliuzza thinks creationists have conceded too much when we say that random mutation and selection can have beneficial results. One example creationists will share of a beneficial result is the loss of eyes in fish trapped in a dark cave. Their eyes aren't needed in the lightless conditions, and perhaps could be harmful as they are vulnerable spots on their bodies. Another often-cited cited example is the loss of wings on a beetle that lives on a windy island where flight might result in getting swept out to sea. Creationists (myself included) have acknowledged these as examples of where mutation might lead to a creature becoming better suited (fitter) for its environment. But we were quick to add, such a benefit is coming through a loss of information which is very different from the gain of information and increase in complexity – taking us from molecules to Man – that's needed for evolution to be true. Now Guliuzza is saying that even this concession to the power of random mutation and natural selection is too much. Why? He says we are attributing to chance what should be credited to brilliant design. How is it that so many creatures are so adaptable? Is it just happening, or did God build in that adaptability?  Do, for example, blind cavefish go blind because that's a built-in adaptation they've got hidden somewhere in them? Good question (Prov. 27:17). And I suspect that Guiliuzza is taking us in a very good new direction. This might well turn out to be a pivotal essay for the creationist movement. Top 10 problems that government spending has solved Waaaaaaaait for it.... ...

News

Saturday Selections – Apr 15, 2023

10 guys on a scooter (4 min) Eco-friendly? Or simply friendly? Dude Perfect star Tyler Toney says God redeemed his marriage He might be your kids' favorite Christian YouTube star because of his team's trick shots and good-natured pranking. But like many before him, Tyler found out that fame and faithfulness often don't mix – offscreen Tyler wasn't playing the leading man in his own family. I didn't marry the woman of my dreams Samuel Sey dreamed of the woman he would marry, and it was a woman he knew. His friend had the same dream that he'd marry that woman. But what he thought might be a prophetic dream turned out to be what drove him out of his Pentecostal church. "My dream isn’t inerrant, inspired, infallible, and authoritative – the Bible is." What's wrong with Digital ID? "...are you starting to feel the depth of the problem? Do you feel the government’s eyes boring into your life? Can you feel the presence of the corporations who are storing your personal information and sifting through your private affairs?" Climate change: an excuse for socialists to push socialism Dr. Rainer Zitelmann notes that when socialists propose solutions that require socialist governments, then that's a reason to question their motivation. Intrusive government isn't portrayed positively in the Bible (1 Sam. 8:10-18), so if a crisis can only be solved by doing what the Bible warns against, that either means the crisis isn't nearly so critical, or that it doesn't actually require a massive expansion of government. Things you couldn't say (6 min) "Gaslighting"  is a type of psychological manipulation where a husband or boyfriend plays on the trust of his partner, but so systematically lies to her that she'll start to doubt her own memory, and senses, and even sanity. That strikes me as an apt metaphor for what the media, government leaders, and social media platforms have done to us over the last few years... ...

News

Saturday Selections – Apr 8, 2023

Christ is risen (2 min) The resurgence of sea shanties might be a bit of a lockdown silver lining – a musical form that lent itself to collaboration at a distance. Needed: teen fashion rebels A Canadian mom offers some advice for "explaining modesty to teenage daughters." I found some of this helpful, and other bits less so, but appreciated the general goal of encouraging our children to be contra mundum. How to know you are marrying the right person (30-minute read) The author of Marry Wisely, Marry Well points us to Proverbs for answers to one of the most important questions you can ask. This is a longer read but rewards the effort. It is also available at the link as a 50-minute listen. Best critique of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is Chrystia Freeland  Though Rupa Subramanya doesn't cite Matthew 7:1-2,  Christians can see the connection when the National Post writer evaluates Deputy Prime Minister Freeland on the basis of what an earlier, crusading journalist Freeland, thought about groups like the WEF. Alternatives to YouTube, Facebook, and more In keeping with the notion that "it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness" someone has created a website that lists all sorts of alternatives to online social media platforms, word processors, crowdfunding, and much more. The site seems to come from a bit of a libertarian bent (which isn't a surprise for an anti-Big Tech site) so discretion is advised. What we can learn from the history of lobotomies The "inventor" of the lobotomy, Dr. Egas Moniz, won a Nobel Prize for it, though the main impact was "the dismantling of patient's personality." The American psychiatrist Walter Freeman lobotomized 4,000 people and the lesson we can learn from him is applicable to transgender surgeries today. A Washington Post columnist put it this way: "Freeman and his partner lobotomized 20 people in their first four months, and with every operation, I suspect it became more necessary to believe in the good of them, rather than admit you had killed one person and irreparably scarred the brains of 19 more to no good effect. Vanilla is designed (3 min) Why did they get vanilla in Mexico and nowhere else? ...

News

Saturday Selections – Apr 1, 2023

Matt Maher: It's Yours (4 min) The first 30 seconds are misdirection but stick around for the transition for this great one. Not so long ago the AMA was puffing the tobacco industry  When we aren't in a position to evaluate something for ourselves – when we don't have the needed expertise – then the next best thing we can do is evaluate the trustworthiness of the experts we're forced to rely on (Matt. 7:20, Prov 12:17). And the AMA's long involvement with the tobacco industry – a product that has harmed millions – gives us reason to doubt either their ethics or their expertise, or both. Then skepticism is also reasonable when we are relying on their take to shape what we think about a novel vaccine. 5 things you should know about about the Trinity Our God is three in one. That's something we may never fully grasp, but because we love God we should be interested in seeking to grasp in part. And this short introduction to the doctrine of the Trinity is a great place to start. Social media means there's no "backstage" for our kids  For kids, school can feel like a performance. They have to think through what they say and do every minute of the day, not only in class, but even in the hallway, because there's always an audience around, always looking to critique. That's brutal, but at least coming home can be an escape... except that social media means even time away can be "performance time" – the critics are still ready. How to be a prolific writer For an aspiring author, these are a half dozen great tips. Creationist on the Babylon Bee Podcast (1 hour) President of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR.org) Dr. Randy Gulizza spent a fascinating hour on the Babylon Bee Podcast talking about how creationists can find deeper and deeper design because they know to look for it, even as evolutionists try to explain complexity via genetic breakages. ...

News

Saturday Selections – Mar 25, 2023

How do evolutionists explain how the first cells replicated? (14 min) To evolve, cells would need to be able to replicate, so how do evolutionists explain the origin of replication? This cartoon Intelligent Design presentation is a fun watch but, admittedly, gets pretty technical. Fortunately, you don't need to get it all to catch the gist: that evolutionary explanations for the origin of life don't explain it at all. The one-sided environmental thinking behind Avatar: The Way of Water While this is a secular critique of what has become the 6th highest-grossing film of all time, the latter half lines up with God's mandate for us to have dominion over Creation (Genesis 1:26-28): ours isn't simply to have a hands-off approach. Don't trust ChatGPT When Dr. Bredenhof did some testing on the AI website ChatGPT, he found that it provided both dreadful and impressive answers. What does "woke" actually mean? Folks who are too scared to define "woman" really want us to define the term "woke." Can we do it? Yes we can. Tim Challies on the changing of the dictionaries Dictionary.com's word of the year for 2022 was "woman" but how long will they have a clear definition of it? Steve Jobs pitching educational vouchers (4 min) In this 1995 interview, Apple's founder makes an impassioned plea for more parental control in education via vouchers. It's a great idea, but comes with its own hitch: government money comes with conditions, so a school might only be accredited if they adopt aspects of the government's ideology. Still, distributing educational dollars through parental hands would be a real upgrade on the direct government distribution we have now. ...

News

Saturday Selections – Mar 18, 2023

St. Patrick's bad analogies In honor of St. Patrick's Day just past, and our God who has made Himself known, and yet remains incomprehensible. Case studies – 2 Canadian, 1 Australian – show how ideology is preventing inquiry When it comes to the free exchange of ideas, Christians are often portrayed as suppressors because we have a problem with pornography and blasphemy - we do want to put some restrictions on "speech." But God has told us that iron sharpens iron (Prov 27:17) , and that one person questioning another can help us find the truth (Prov. 18:17). Thus there is a biblical basis for allowing speech we disagree with: to help us better seek the truth. But what basis outside of Christianity is there for freedom of speech? Whatever reasons are offered will either be founded on a Christian foundation (if only you dig deep enough) or aren't strong enough to stand up to groupthink, as is evidenced by the reaction to the three follks here, who are guilty of wrongthink. Britain's 1984 moment The "conservative" government across the ocean has just voted for criminalizing the thoughtcrime of silent prayer outside abortion clinics. The silver lining here is that when the Devil overreaches – when he uses the iron fist, rather than the siren song – his lack of subtlety makes it possible for even the most tongue-tied among us to clearly present the antithesis: that the world must choose between bowing the knee to God, or standing with the baby-killers and the thought-police. That's clarity we can be grateful for. Fight for your pastor Shepherds not only have to contend with wolves but they are called to tend sometimes contentious sheep. So what are we doing to sustain them in their role? Are you fighting for your pastor? 3 rules of rational parenting derived from... economics? A Christian professor taps into economics to explain why you should never give in to your child's tantrums – this is a parenting lesson unlike any other :) This is a coat! (4 min) For parents everywhere.... (h/t Anita) ...

News

Saturday Selections – Mar 11, 2023

"Cascading problems" showcase your body's design (2 min) Your cells need oxygen, and that creates a problem because, how are they going to get it? You need a respiratory system to distribute that O2. But oxygen doesn't dissolve all that well in the bloodstream – to carry it you need hemoglobin. To get the right amount of hemoglobin you need your kidney cells to regulate their production. And hemoglobin needs iron, but too much iron is toxic to you, so you'll need a mechanism to regulate the amount of iron your intestines absorb. And you'll need some means of transporting that iron to where it needs to go. And on and on it goes. One problem requires you to solve another and another... and all at the same time. Should we treat Big Tech like Big Tobacco? "A mounting body of evidence suggests that social media contributes to the skyrocketing rates of anxiety and depression among teens." This article suggests the government as the solution, but if parents understand the need, they are already in a position to act. Marie Kondo has kind of given up on cleaning after her third child Did you know that the queen of tidying up wrote her bestseller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up as a single woman of 27? Now, as a mom of three at 38, she has discovered that if the choice is between a perfectly tidy house or feeding the kids, the kids win every time. Tim Challies on Asbury: a cold take The Asbury Revival is over, but for two weeks in February, something was happening on the campus of Asbury University – students and a growing crowd of thousands of others prayed and worshipped non-stop. For those of us at a distance, there was no pressing need to evaluate what was happening, and as Tim Challies suggests here, we could simply offer guarded optimism. Woke ideology now dominates Ontario public schools This is a secular account, but even the irreligious are saying enough is enough. How the Canadian government funds the Left Here's a practical argument for small government: for decades now Canada's federal government has been using taxpayer dollars to fund a leftwing agenda via the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The Amish go green (4 min) When this video came out 10 years ago, it was meant to be humorous, more than satiric. It could only be more on the nose now if the speaker had flown in on a private jet to impress on the Amish how they must do their part. ...

News

Saturday Selections – Mar 4, 2023

Trick shot basketball (5 min) Everyone talks basketball in March, so here are some highlights from the "That's Amazing" crew and the Harlem Globetrotters. 60 questions for pro-choice Christians For anyone you know who professes to be both Christian and pro-choice, here are questions to clarify a different sort of "choice" they need to make: between supporting abortion or following Christ. Our badly designed pharynx?  Christians will sometimes wonder if they should give evolution a hearing since there's supposed to be so much evidence for it. But how much of that evidence is simply ideology? Here's one example: some evolutionists will point to humans' pharynx  – the shared opening we have in our throat for both food and air – as an example of the bad design you'd expect chance and time to produce. They point to it as evidence of evolution's trial and error. But if we don't presume that our pharynx was Designer-free, then you'd see it for that example it is of stupendous design – it took genius to make this work just so. COVID might have been created in a lab... and now you're allowed to say it The findings are still not definitive. What is definitive is that the social media censorship and mainstream media dismissal of this possibility two years ago tells us a lot about how little we should trust these information gatekeepers. Girls are getting sick from Tik Tok "One of the strangest stories of the last couple of years is how teenage girls have been stricken with facial tics after browsing the video-sharing app TikTok." But is it only facial tics that are contagious over social media? Or is social media also responsible for “rapid-onset gender dysphoria” and the increase in teens identifying as LGBT? "Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues, in a sweeping new analysis, that this catastrophic rise in teen mental illness is largely caused by social media use." What's the greatest of all Protestant "heresies"? Roman Catholic Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) thought assurance was the worst of all Protestant doctrines...which is high praise indeed. A dueling banjo To set the scene: in this clip from The Song, Rose has just met Jed King, the singing act for her vineyard's annual wine-tasting festival. When Jed asked her why she seems distracted, Rose finds herself oversharing – to a complete stranger! – that she'd just bumped into her ex-boyfriend Eddie who'd dumped her for... well, for being a good Christian lass. And to top it off, the jerk brought his new girlfriend along. So... Jed decides to sing Rose a song.  ...

News

Saturday Selections – Feb. 25, 2023

Cell membranes are amazing! (11 min) Each one of your cells has its own protective shell that has to be able to let food in, allow garbage out, and repel invaders. And there was no time for these abilities to evolve separately because a cell needs all these abilities from the get-go... otherwise it will die. Why do Christians make such a big deal about sex? When the world throws slurs at the church - "Why are you guys so obsessed with sex!" – we might be tempted to deny the attack. But as Rebecca McLaughlin notes "Whenever people ask me why Christians are so weird about sex, I first point out that we’re weirder than they think. The fundamental reason why Christians believe that sex belongs only in the permanent bond of male-female marriage is because of the metaphor of Jesus’s love for his church." The most dangerous type of Christian parenting Parents worried about how their kids are going to embarrass them are focused more on their "spiritual reputation" than their children's actual spiritual sanctification. Is this the dawn of a sexual counter-revolution? Another secular critic is rejecting the world's approach to sex and love and marriage, because of all the damage done. But while secular folks like this are starting to see through the lie, they still need someone to point them to the Truth. The Second Commandment, the Westminster Larger Catechism, and images of Jesus The focus of this article is on pictures of Jesus in story bibles, but the point being made is relevant too, to the popular The Chosen TV drama about Jesus's disciples, but which also features Jesus Himself. Some Christians argue it is different to portray the incarnate Jesus – rather than the invisible Father or Holy Spirit – because He did have a physical body. This article offers up what the "Westminster Divines" thought. There are also practical considerations: when Jesus is portrayed, there's the matter of accuracy. Historically, European artists have portrayed Him as European, making it easy to forget His Jewishness... and might that have contributed to anti-Semitism? In making a visual representation of Christ it seems unavoidable to, at least in part, recast Him in a contemporary hue. In keeping with our time, The Chosen's producers have given women a more prominent placement than they have in the Scriptures, with perhaps the most notable being the healing of the paralyzed man of Luke 5:17-25. It was men that arranged for their friend to be lowered through the ceiling; in the series two women, Tamar and Mary Magdalene, are credited with the idea. Don't just vote (2 min) Every election cycle there's a push to get everyone to vote. But why are we trying to make it easier (with mail-in ballots) for uninterested people to vote? ...

News

Saturday Selections – Feb. 18, 2023

Recycling plastic is bad stewardship (7 min) Recycling paper and cans can make sense. Despite what we've been told, recycling plastic most often doesn't. How long have you been battling sin? Tim Challies on how "In some way each of us carries a heavy load through this life. In some way each of us finds it a long marathon more than a brief sprint. In some way each of us is called to endure with fortitude, even for a very long time." 1984, China, and Sydney WorldPride 2023 As George Orwell wrote, "Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four" - it is the freedom to say what really is, including that men can't become women, and homosexuality is a sin. Declare that anywhere around Sydney this upcoming week, and you will not be tolerated or celebrated for your diverse thinking - you will be instead a candidate for the "two minute hate." Trans "medicine" is based on bad science A new study is debunking the “Dutch Protocol” research that was being used to promote and legitimize "trans" treatments. Creationist Christians were always aware that ideologically-driven bias exists in "Science" but now the trans agenda is making that increasingly plain to everyone else too. A biblical identity for adoptees Adopted children can struggle with their sense of identity. How can we help them to cultivate a biblical identity? Coherence - amazing evidence of our design (1 min) If you've ever had to replace a missing screw from this or that gizmo in your house, you already know the importance of coherence – it isn't enough to have a screw; you need to have the exact right screw that the gizmo has been designed to work with. The coherence in our bodies – eyes that precisely fit eyeball sockets, wrist bones that each, individually fit alongside the other wrist bones, muscles that attach at just the right points, arteries that carry blood to exactly where it is needed, etc. and etc. – is clear evidence of our own brilliant design. ...

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