The God who accompanies us is himself silent before human pain and suffering, whether his own or that of his sisters and brothers. The incarnate God is not silent in the sense that he acquiesces to the injustices of our world, but in the sense that he refuses to explain suffering (away).
When we drink water, we are not filling up a water storage tank in our abdomen that is waiting to be topped up periodically. Rather, our bodies are actually made up of about 60 percent water, and it is distributed not only in the blood running through our veins, but also throughout the cells and spaces that make up every part of our body. We have an entire organ system (kidneys) devoted to making sure we have the right balance of water in our bodies at all times, as well as a complex network of hormones interacting in feedback loops to manage it all.
About a year ago, I was interviewing the director of Crieff Hills Community Retreat and Conference Centre, and mentioned that I’d love to attend a retreat for moms with young children at Crieff. His reply? “Well, start planning one!”
In the Scriptures, there are many instances where prayer was answered with a resounding “yes.” Hannah received the child she prayed for. Elijah called out to God and brought a widow’s son back to life.
But what about when God says no? Why are some healed from life-threatening diseases and not others? Did we not have enough faith? Did we not pray properly?
Much of mainline theology over the last hundred years has been an attempt to repackage the gospel into modern categories. Lutheran theologian Rudolf Karl Bultmann wrote in 1941 that “the task of theology is to demythologize the Christian proclamation.”
“I have to make sure when I go out to have the ‘holy trinity.’” Recently, I heard a preacher say this in a sermon. At first I was not sure what he meant. Then he said, “I check for my keys, my wallet and my phone.”
This present age between the first and second comings of Jesus Christ is where we experience the ‘already/not yet of the Kingdom of God.
“It’s a myth that religion is dying in Canada. There remains a solid core – about one third of the country – who deeply value faith. Another one third reject it, and the final third make up the ‘ambivalent middle.’”
Professor Ron Dart has taught Political Science, Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, B.C., since 1990. During that time, he has also authored over 30 books and is renowned as the leading authority on the North American High-Red Tory religio-political tradition. The High Tory tradition is a unique Canadian tradition that is withering away under the domineering trend toward philosophical liberalism.
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.
Orthodox convictions – and the sense that believing key doctrines matters and that this good news ought to be shared with neighbours far and near – that lead to healthy growth.
Heaven is without strangers, or borders, or suspicion. It is like stepping outside the doors of the last airport, and finding car after car lined up, each driver calling you by your true name: “Stay with me before the wedding! We have plenty of room! Come, drive with me to our home, sister! Let me grab your bags, brother! It’s so good that you’re coming home!”
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