Seven tips for concerned grandparents
If you’re concerned about your child’s parenting style, you’re not alone. Here are a few ways to mitigate conflict in your relationship with your adult children and grandchildren.
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The CRC is debating church discipline. How far will it go?
Can we be strong and weak? Many would reject this as unrealistic, but it’s a paradox that provides hope for the leadership complexities facing the church today and the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) specifically. In his book, Strong and Weak, Andy Crouch explores this paradox and provides a helpful framework for flourishing leadership. A framework…
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Mary, both ponderer and prophet
I grew up with images of the mother of Jesus as an idealistic, serene lady quietly sitting in the background. Maybe you did too. Mary was “meek and mild,” a docile observer, patiently “pondering” all the lovely things around her. Recently, I heard a preacher critique this sanitized portrayal. He explained that Mary was actually…
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Dear Uncle Gary…
I’ve noticed that many churchgoers your age aren’t involved with the youth at all. Everyone assumes that young people will just keep coming back every week, even though the stats show a steady decline in Canadians engaging in religion. The number of people proclaiming their faith has declined from 90 percent in 1985 to 68…
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Divine art can save us
These days Lydia has become very fond of what we nicknamed the “drum CD.” Its true title is “Orient-Occident 1200-1700.” The performers are musicians all the way from Afghanistan to Spain, who play traditional instruments such as the rebab (fiddle), tulak (flute), oud (lute) and daf (drum). Lydia likes the energy, the movement and the…
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Social media stardom
Although I consider myself reasonably knowledgeable about the world around me, I have too often initially heard the name of a prominent person on the occasion of his or her death. Somehow I have managed to miss certain people’s fame or notoriety while they were still alive, probably because I travelled in different circles and…
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Stop censoring unpopular speech
Many residents of Hamilton drive the Lincoln Alexander Parkway daily. While billboards are not as ubiquitous along Canadian highways as they are along their American counterparts, there is a single digital one adjacent the “Linc,” allowing multiple advertisers to communicate their respective messages in quick succession to the public without unduly cluttering up the surrounding…
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Wisdom and folly
“Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him” (Prov. 26:4). “Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes” (Prov. 26:5). These back-to-back proverbs contradict each other. My wife and I joke that she tends more toward the latter…
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Faithful before God
“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2). The Canadian elections this past spring highlighted a general difference between Christian and other organizations and communities that is not often understood or addressed and that change leadership realities. In politics, you succeed by winning over people…
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Arts & Culture | Media | News
Tools and toys. Wonders and weapons.
Technology has always been both a threat and a thrill to artists. Every new tool is like having a new toy. Even going from something like an animal-hair paintbrush to a Photoshop paintbrush has been a challenge and an excitement to the creative mind over the last few decades. Now we are quivering with the…
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Scripture and the language of prayer
In this study of biblical prayer, Nathan Ward considers various prayers in scripture, from Abraham to Hannah and Jesus to Paul. Starting as a course he taught for his adult Bible class at church, Ward’s work grew from 20 prayers to the 35 he writes about in this book designed to help readers improve their…
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Forbidden words
On the ground, feeling like I had been shot in the leg, I kept repeating one word: “sh*t.” I had just badly pulled my calf muscle exiting the batter’s box in senior softball. This would end my play for a few weeks. I was frustrated. Was it okay to express my frustration like this? I…
