Words for change
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Words for change

Change.Are you excited or frightened? Is it a command, a request, a statement? Do you see it as external or internal? In the changing of the year, we reflect on change “for auld lang syne.” Time, by definition, changes, and studies suggest the pace of change is increasing. There is economic change, social change, political…

History and advocacy
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History and advocacy

Dr. Beth Allison Barr’s The Making of Biblical Womanhood takes the reader on a journey of the Christian woman through historical facts, clever quotes and heart-wrenching stories. As a professor of medieval, women’s and church history at Baylor University, Barr is more than qualified to lead us on this entertaining and knowledgeable exploration into why…

Can We Stay Together?
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Can We Stay Together?

I was recently involved in discussions among evangelical church leaders as to whether our churches could continue to work together. The focus was same-sex marriage, which seemed to us a convenient peg on which to hang broader questions of sexuality. The jury has not yet returned a verdict. When I say these leaders were “evangelical,”…

What if . . . ?
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What if . . . ?

I am currently reading The Sin of Certainty by Peter Enns. Enns’s main argument is that Christians have become enamoured of true beliefs at the cost of trust as our faith’s central virtue. We are too concerned about being correct, and we require others in our community, especially our leaders, to hold correct views on…

Accented antithesis
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Accented antithesis

“So long as you pick up and use Proverbs like a telephone book, you are most likely to get a wrong number.” – Calvin Seerveld If you dare, crack open this book and be ready for a jolt. It’s a book that strives to refresh the “literary verve and contentious bite” of scripture. It’s a…

Challenging the old labels
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Challenging the old labels

Will you allow me to ask a taboo question? What constitutes a liberal or a conservative Christian? Is it whether you prefer a piano or guitar in the worship service instead of an organ? Is it how you think about Genesis and the scientific measurements of the age and history of the universe? Is it…

BREATHE!
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BREATHE!

Not long ago the Canadian Lung Association ran an ad campaign with the slogan, “when you can’t breathe nothing else matters.” That ad invoked empathy and requested support for people who had lung disease or some condition that made breathing difficult.  Those billboards always caught my attention. I used to try and hold my breath…

An Exercise In Hope For All
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An Exercise In Hope For All

Rev. Dr. Esau McCaulley is an assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, a priest in the Anglican Church of North America, and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. He has served in a number of professional and cultural contexts throughout his academic and ministerial careers. Rev. McCaulley’s ecclesiastical experiences include…

The resting place
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The resting place

Rabbis point out that creation’s seventh day had no end, no “evening and morning.” It is the context for life, the whole story to come. Key words in Biblical passages help us make connections. The parallel words and days in Genesis 1 show the construction and populating of God’s creation temple. We miss out because…

Check Your Filters
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Check Your Filters

Many current controversial ethical issues lead back to Genesis. Climate change. The role of women in church and society. Treatment of Black and Indigenous peoples. Who should be allowed to get married. The problem is not the text itself. Christians so often find themselves having to apologize for harms done because of the filters used…

Tradition Shapes the Heart
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Tradition Shapes the Heart

Remember the song “Tradition!” from the Fiddler on the Roof? Tevye sings the play’s theme of how to have balance in life in a rapidly changing and threatening world. Tradition gives structure and stability. Tradition forms our identity (being) and direction (doing). Christian Courier is a tradition, and this issue explores other traditions. Tevye says that, “without…