A meditation on boat idioms as a way to talk about the culture wars that rock the church today. “Whatever floats your boat” is inadequate, but “don’t rock the boat” is also unwise. Is it even possible for us all to “be in the same boat” anymore as smaller Protestant denominations? … More NO LONGER IN THE SAME BOAT: How the Storm of Culture Wars Leaves Us Out at Sea
This documentary film is being shown in churches to spark conversation on sexual ethics, although it is not trying to portray both sides of the ethical divide. Yet it points out the complexities of Biblical translation, the tensions of family relationships, and leaves us wanting more. … More Two Stars for the film _1946_: Lessons in Bible Translation and Ethical Debate
A meditation by Pastor Carel Geleynse urging Christians to imitate their Lord and restore the reputation of the church in an age of startling abuse and cultural polarization. … More After Abuse, Still the Sanctuary: Living Stones of the Spiritual House Whose Cornerstone Never Fails
Many Christians live with a distorted understanding of death and heaven, and it is mostly because we get our cues from near-death experiences and other Platonic stories of the after-life. Here I explore some Reformed, Biblical teaching on “the new heaven and the new earth.” … More Eschatology 101: The Problem with Saying “We Go to Heaven When We Die”
A few notes from our vacation in Hilton Head, South Carolina and our education in the history of racism. The kids were out of school, but learning in a different way about their world and our calling as Christians. … More A Holiday of Racism: Education Beyond the Classroom
Why do we sing so many songs produced by Hillsong in our churches? I did some investigating, asking lay people and experts on the value of these songs, and put it all in the context of recent scandals in this church. Is there nothing else we can sing? … More Discordant Notes on a Scandalized Hillsong Music Industry: When Praise Becomes Performance
A meditation on Psalm 139 for our polarized times using a neologism of “anthropological math.” … More Honest to God: A Meditation on Psalm 139
I teach World Religions at Redeemer University and require my students to visit a non-Christian house of prayer: a temple, mosque, gurdwara, or synagogue. Many of them are conservative Christian students, and many have never been to such a place, and some are worried and anxious about the assignment. Here I delve into the reasons why this is such an important experience for a Christian. … More Why Enter A Temple of Another Religion? Crossing the Threshold into Your Neighbour’s House of Prayer
“Moving Forward Together: The Future of Science and Faith” was the title of the annual conference for the ASA and the CSCA July 28-31 2023 at the University of Toronto Mississauga campus. Attendees engaged each other over a host of wicked problems that confound and intrigue humanity today, and did so with a depth of realism and hope. … More Science and Faith Conference Tackles Wicked Problems: 50 Years of Christian Scientific Discussions
Here I explore Canadian sociologist Sam Riemer’s book Caught in the Current: British and Canadian Evangelicals in an Age of Self-Spirituality (McGill-Queens 2023). His argument is that concerns over church decline, sexual ethics, and the exit of youth from church are just the surface of our cultural sea. The underlying current that drives all the visible issues is self-spirituality, and more specifically, a shift from a locus of external authority to internal authority. … More “To Thine Own Self Be True”: A Pathway to Liberation or Loneliness?
Sensus Divinitatis 