All posts filed under: z85

Canada's House of Commons in Ottawa Credit: Onasill~Bill Badzo/Flickr/Creative Commons

Canadian Government’s Assault on ‘Freedom of Speech’

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With the election of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2015, Canada has taken a hard left turn against free speech. Last year, the Liberal government announced that it will no longer be handing out grants under its Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program to organizations that do not agree with abortion. Under the program, the government provides funding for about 70,000 students to be hired by religious groups that run day cares, summer camps and drop in centers. The problem started when an organization called the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada complained that the federal government was funding pro-life groups through such mechanisms as CSJ. The federal government publicly responded by saying that it will not longer fund anti-abortion groups. In order to prevent funding, last year the Canadian government chose to only hand out the CSJ grants to ridings that had Liberal MPs who could make sure the money only went to pro-abortion groups. Apparently, Liberal MPs are not allowed to think abortion is wrong. However, three pro-life groups who did not receive funding last …

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Does the Bible speak of ‘social justice’?

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“Social justice” is a favorite term of the left, and recently I have been finding the phrase creeping its way into Evangelical Churches. The concept is defined this way: Justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. “individuality gives way to the struggle for social justice” “Social justice” involves a redistribution of wealth and notice in the last line that the rights of the individual are set aside in favor of the rights of the collective or group. This is nothing more than cultural Marxism pervading our society similar to the political Marxism found in the old Soviet Union or Maoist China. “Social justice” is made up of an adjective “social” and the noun “justice.” By definition an adjective is added to a noun to either “modify or describe it.” Since one of the intents of an adjective is to “modify” or change, it can literally be used to redefine a word. So when you add the adjective “social” to “justice,” you no longer have justice, but some form of …

Forest near Oslo, Norway Credit: Thorbjorn Sigberg/Flickr/Creative Commons

Surviving a winter season

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As I enter the last half of January, I find myself bracing for the emotional challenges these months have brought in past years. It involves a slow descent into darkness. I often feel trapped, restless and revisit old issues that I thought were healed. Depression and feelings of worthlessness can overtake me as the days get shorter and the cold settles in. But not this year! I am putting  my best foot forward as we descend into the shadows of winter. I am like the groundhog who hibernates and waits for the right conditions to resurface. Actually, in a spiritual sense, it’s the perfect season to ‘exercise grace’. What does ‘exercising grace’ mean?  For me, it’s the  full release of my ‘doing mentality’ that has been known to drive me and others in my family to utter insanity. In other words cease trying to make things happen. It means that over these next couple months I choose to embrace knowing that it is ok to ‘just be’ and that ‘I am enough.’ It’s about accepting …

Even the doctor called it a miracle

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In an incredible testimony reported by CBN, teenager Juan Spence was tagging along in a car ride with a friend on May 22, 2017. His parents pastor a church in Williamsburg, VA. The road was wet, the friend was speeding and Juan did not have his seat belt on. The car spun out of control, hitting a post causing it to tumble. When Juan was thrown out of the vehicle through the sun roof, the car landed on his head. Suffering traumatic brain injury, he was rushed to the nearby MCV Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. When he arrived, the doctors were forced to cut away a part of Juan’s brain to release the pressure. When officials contacted Juan’s mother, Elizabeth, about the accident, she immediately began praying for her son. Not knowing the full extend of the injury, the Holy Spirit told her, “He shall live and not die.” Juan’s father Alex had also received a similar word from God that his son would survive. When his parents arrived at the hospital, the doctors said …

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Joshua’s Longest Day

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Many people want to understand the  Bible but have difficulty answering questions about some of the seemingly unbelievable miracles that God has performed. But Peter exhorts us to be ready always to give an answer to every man (1 Peter 3:15). I would like to offer just such an answer as we analyze the miracle of the long day in Joshua chapter 10. The Israelites had just defeated Jericho and Ai in their initial invasion of the Promised Land. Five Amorite Kings — fearing they would be next — formed an alliance to repel the Israelite invasion. In the ensuing battle, Joshua quickly gained the upper hand, but he also realized that he was running out of daylight to fully route this unholy alliance. With nightfall looming, the Amorites would be able to safely withdraw from the battlefield and regroup for a later attack. To stop this from happening, Joshua called upon God to stop the sun from setting. 12 “He said in the sight of Israel, ‘O sun,  stand still at Gibeon, And O …

Is comedian Russell Brand turning to Christ for help?

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I can honestly say I didn’t see this coming. But is something spiritual happening to outlandish English comedian Russell Brand? I am not sure how to describe Brand. He has worked as an actor, writer, stand-up comedian, MTV and reality TV host. He is or was an atheist, borderline communist and activist. He is renown for his outrageous and often vulgar behavior. He was also briefly married for 14 months to pop-star Katie Perry. But recently in an interview with Relevant magazine, Brand revealed that he may be going through a spiritual awakening. He said, “My personal feeling is the teachings of Christ are more relevant now than they’ve ever been.” He continued: “If Christ consciousness is not accessible to us, then what is the point of the story of Jesus, you know? He’s just a sort of a scriptural rock start, just an icon. Unless Christ is right here, right now, in your heart, in your consciousness, then what is Christ?” So what happened? Brand said that his divorce with Katie was the starting …

Mototaxi on the border of Bolivia and Peru. Credit: Tobias Mayr/Flickr/Creative Commons

Whose law will we obey?

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Believers in Bolivia may soon be facing a difficult decision. According to a report on Evangelical Focus, the left-leaning Bolivian government of President Evo Morales recently passed a law that could make it illegal for Christians to share their faith. Article 88.11 of Bolivia’s penal code reads: “Whoever recruits, transports, deprives of freedom or host people with the aim of recruiting them to take part in armed conflicts or religious or worship organizations will be penalized five to 12 years of imprisonment.” The way it’s worded, the law suggests that recruiting (sharing your faith) with another person could be considered illegal. Transporting a person to church or even to a religious camp could also be interpreted as an illegal act warranting jail time. The law also equates sharing the Christian faith with armed rebellion. Because of its vague wording, many are concerned Morales could use the law to clamp down on evangelicals. Bolivia has a population of about 11 million of which 78% are considered Roman Catholic, 19% (two million) Protestants and 3% non religious. …

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Human Evolution in 2017

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“It takes just as much faith to be an atheist as it does to be a religious believer. I don’t point to the Bible to prove this, but rather to the universe.” — Mick Mooney, Why I’d Still Believe In God Did you know, our picture of the world changed in the year 2017, in a big way? I am writing this in early 2018, and some science writers are looking back in shock and awe. For example, when I was a boy, public schools and libraries and publications like “Scientific American” and “National Geographic” gave one orthodox picture of humans who are apes that climbed down from trees and walked on the planes of Africa, and evolved into us. This was science, and there was no other way, and for sure there was no God. I was a Christian who went to church every Sunday, and I also studied and worked in a large university. My first degree was in Anthropology, the driver of human evolution ideas. I learned to keep my head down …

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Clouds of Emotion

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Is there a message in the madness when our emotions are out of control and things are not going the way you hoped? Of course it’s about them, the other people, who don’t understand or ‘get it’. It becomes so frustrating as we repeatedly circle the situation with increasing intensity. The light dims as we are encompassed by thickening clouds that become darker and more controlling. We start to lose our reason and perspective. I must admit that I was being swallowed up by clouds of emotion that were surfacing in my life. My elderly parents are resisting the inevitable changes that are coming for them. I have been trying to help them navigate this transition and they have been fighting it. This has been emotionally draining as I watch them struggle in this season of life.  Anger, tears and overwhelming concern for them caught me up in whirling and intensifying emotions.  It was a brewing storm cloud in my life. Often in these difficult times, we want to blame others and I was blaming …

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Six Sigma and Jesus

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If you are a Christian, are you also on the shelf? And is it comfortable? I am writing this in January, which is a good time to think about the new year we are in and about an hour ago I saw something that made me sad. I was waiting for a friend at a Tim Hortons and a young family came in; mother, father and two little boys. They were ragged and poor, but polite to everyone. Their order was a large coffee, probably for the parents to share, and a very small box of Timbits donut holes. That was their family break time. I guess they were probably Christians, and I know people come to Alberta, where I live, to find work. One nickname for this province is “tomorrow’s country” and I see struggling start-ups all the time. My parents did that. Today, I wish I had moved faster to buy cookies for the kids in that little family, but they walked away too fast into the cold and the snow, probably back …