We can’t forget about the Great Commission
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We can’t forget about the Great Commission

It’s been three years since Synod last met in-person. Since Synod 2019, a tremendous amount of change to ministry has occurred while we as Christian Reformed Church (CRC) members and leaders all waited for the day when we could have Synod together again. Such change has left the CRCNA in a state that eerily echoes…

Ushering in change
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Ushering in change

Because of the first Easter, the behaviours of the followers of the one true God changed dramatically. The gospel was thrown wide open to people of every nation. Eating habits began to differ. Long standing practices such as circumcision and sacrifice were given flexibility. For a first century resident in Jerusalem it would have felt…

Waiting
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Waiting

I am sick of waiting – literally sick and tired of it. I’m tired of waiting to get closer than six feet to loved ones who are outside my social bubble, waiting for a decision on Medical Assistance in Dying to be rightfully dealt with in Canada, waiting for my neighbour to say “yes” to…

‘Let Us Make Man in Our Image’
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‘Let Us Make Man in Our Image’

The COVID-19 pandemic has welled up a large inner fear within many Christian leaders in North America. They fear empty pews, forever. I have heard pastors postulating that the self-isolation, necessary in our current pandemic, will translate into a self-absorbed “I don’t need the church community” kind of attitude when the pandemic is over. The church of tomorrow, they say, will be characterized by a hyper-individualism.

A New Day in Ministry for Canada
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A New Day in Ministry for Canada

As many have heard, there are changes afoot in the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) that have some a tad anxious. For those who have not heard, over the past several weeks and months, the Canadian governing directors of the CRCNA in Canada served well in their roles of guiding and protecting the church by making changes to fulfill its legal requirements according to Canadian charitable law.

The Impact of Sacrificial Grace
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The Impact of Sacrificial Grace

There is a bit of a cryptic account at the end of the gospel of Mark that leaves me curious. The Roman centurion professes to believe that Jesus is the Son of God after seeing “the way he died.” What was it about the way Jesus died that left the centurion so convinced?

An Update on The Bridge App
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An Update on The Bridge App

Regular readers of the Christian Courier will know that “The Bridge App” (thebridgeapp.org) is a communications tool for tablets and cell phones, that was developed by the Christian Reformed Church in partnership with Extreme Technology.

Time for a Handgun Ban?

Time for a Handgun Ban?

As a pastor and follower of Jesus Christ, I come back to the same key question every time a shooting makes front page headlines: Is there a way in a Reformed faith structure to conclude “NO” to handguns in the hands of a nation’s citizens? I mean, biblically/theologically speaking, is there way to say “NO MORE HANDGUNS”? Will you wonder with me?

You Are Invited to a Grand Opening
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You Are Invited to a Grand Opening

The CRCNA offices in Burlington, Ontario recently underwent a major renovation. We are having a Grand Opening in November, and we’d like to invite people from far and wide to come see the new space, and find out what is central to our ministry.

A Partnership on Paper?
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A Partnership on Paper?

The Christian Reformed Church in North America is trying a pilot project with CC where we partner with them for one page of space in select issues.

Fresh orthodoxy five centuries later
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Fresh orthodoxy five centuries later

Sometimes I am part of conversations in which the CRC is understood to be the most liberal expression of Christianity from which a believer would want to run. And indeed, people do, thinking that the CRC is “going to hell in a handbasket.” At other times, I am part of conversational circles or leadership groups in which this faith tradition stands out as a lonely bastion of conservative Christianity, and people look at me sideways because my faith is so markedly conservative, so “reformed.” Both cases can spark an identity crisis.

Canadian Christians emphasize ‘every square inch’
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Canadian Christians emphasize ‘every square inch’

I am not sure the average pew sitter sees, feels or cares about the difference between the faith life of typical Canadians versus Americans. Spoken simplistically, he would probably say “because Christ died for the forgiveness of my sins, my relationship with God is of first importance and I want others to share in my joy. I want my faith to make a difference in the lives of my coworkers, family and Tuesday night slo-pitch teammates.”

Shouldn’t this kind of faith be universal? Is not this faith the same above and below the 49th parallel?