Joel Koops is a friend and fellow parishoner, and I thought this would be a good story to share in these strange times. Its about making a difference with whatever you have in front of you. This story ran in The Christian Courier on April 6th here. In the second week of March, Joel Koops, … More Changing Trajectory in COVID: A Business of Building Dividing Walls
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Our local pastor Ed Jager reflected on an ancient song last Sunday March 22 (on Facebook, … More Psalm 46 in a Time of COVID
The Flourishing Congregations Institute reported a few years back that the United Church in Canada was closing a church every week. That can’t continue very long. Religious “nones” are the fastest growing religious group in the country–up to 25 percent of Canadians, and even a higher percentage of the younger generation. If churches contribute to … More Campus Ministry: Deep Roots, Wild Branches
The Reformed tradition within the Christian family is somewhat odd when it comes to apologetics—defending (and more recently, apologizing for) the faith. I was talking with one of our global scholars and I asked what angle he approached apologetics—a practise attached to what 1 Peter 3:15 implores believers: “Always be prepared to give an answer … More Wired for God: Sensus Divinitatis
Wendy Elgersma Helleman and Musa A. B. Gaiya. Early Christianity: A Textbook for African Students. Langham Press, 2019. Wendy Helleman’s co-authored textbook on early Christianity has been called “significant,” “timely,” “substantive,” “indispensable,” “in-depth,” and “comprehensive.” I would also like to add the words “a redemptive influence” to the mix as this is the centre of our … More A Christian Textbook for Africans, Muslims, Women and Martyrs
I recently co-hosted a conference at Queen’s University on “Engaging the University”–a symposium on the integrality of faith and academics. One professor spoke up at one point when the discussion was centred on expressions of faith in the public university classroom. She said: “Something as simple as the practise of starting off the semester with … More Scholarship as a Spiritual Discipline
Michael Wagenman, Engaging the World with Abraham Kuyper (Lexham Press, 2019) First appeared in The Christian Courier May 27, 2019. “There is not a thumb-breadth in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!” – Abraham Kuyper in his inaugural address at the dedication … More Kuyper the Abridged: A Review
“The contemporary university is hollow at its core. Not only does it lack a spiritual center, but it is also without any real alternative.” So said George Marsden over two decades ago in The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship (Oxford, 1997) and this was echoed in many ways twenty years later in 2017 through Glanzer, … More Four “Social Imaginaries” Shaping the Modern University
Alan Jacobs. How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds. Currency, 2017. First published in The Christian Courier here: http://www.christiancourier.ca/columns-op-ed/entry/thinking-as-conversion How To Think is not about finding truth as much as it is about preventing us from shooting people with whom we disagree. The subtitle gives it away: a survival guide for … More Thinking as Conversion: Book Review
Its a powerful technology that hopes to nurture a warm and lively community of like-minded scholars and become a significant transnational influence for good. Its is becoming a wealth of virtual libraries, webinars, job postings, and conferencing for academics who share a commitment to the Christian faith, the church, God’s kingdom, and the planet. … More Academics Who Care: The Society of Christian Scholars
Sensus Divinitatis 