Tag: Life

Christian Living

The Right to Die?: How to respond to the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling

Chris

Late last week the Supreme Court of Canada made a monumental ruling. It will put Canada and its people under a microscope. Though it does not take effect for the next twelve months, those months will be filled with debate, concern, and the drafting of interpretations and regulations on national and provincial levels.

If you didn’t hear about it, the Court’s decision lifts the ban on doctor-assisted suicide. (CBC News article; CTV News article; Global News article). The ruling brought cheers and concerns. Though the ruling was very specific, it isn’t freely accepted and triumphed.

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As Christians we can be loud when issues like this hit the spotlight. We consider ourselves champions of life. I found it interesting that the Court used the Charter of Canada to explain how their decision puts them on the same side, defending life. Before we start banging on doors and shouting through megaphones, we should stop and consider what drives a people to desire such a law. You might be surprised at how your response will change.

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Christian Living

Magnify the Lord: Making God Bigger in Our Lives

Chris

One of my favorite parts of church is the singing. My life was always filled with music. We learned how to play the recorder in Grade 3. In Grade 5 we were given the chance to sign up for the school band. When I went home and told my parents I needed a trumpet, they were quite surprised. All through my school years I was part of the choir, which is where I learned music theory. Later I took that knowledge and taught myself to play the piano and the guitar.

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Songs can stick with us for years. It will be a long time before people stop hearing the music of Disney’s Frozen every time they hear the phrase, “Let it go.” The songs we sing in church have the same power. We may not be able to remember them in their entirety, but parts of those songs can sink deep into our memories. They help us remember powerful truths about God and life. And no matter our situation, we can pull those songs out of our hearts, any time and any place.

Scripture describes what we do with our songs using many powerful words. One of these tells us to take the words we sing and use them to take God from the back burner of our minds and put Him front and center.

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Christian Living

When G.I. Joe Stands Before the Throne of God

Chris

One of those famous cartoons of the 1980’s, G.I. Joe was a paramilitary team of experts and super-geeks that fought the forces of Cobra who, like every villain, wanted to take over the world. But after all of the battles and rescues, just before moving on the next Saturday morning classic, the team had a lesson to teach the moldable minds glued to the television sets: “Knowing is half the battle.”

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A boy played with a kite too close to the power lines. Girls were baking cookies and almost reached into the oven without any oven mitts on. Kids were running around in the dark near a busy freeway. One of the Joe’s would step in and help them out, and the children would respond with with, “Now we know.” But knowing isn’t everything.

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Christian Living

Did You Hear the Big News?

Chris

Well, it’s September. That means is a very important time of year. The children are back to school. There’s a hint of Fall in the wind. And an entire subculture of Western civilization sat on the edge of the seats for a big announcement.

We were waiting for it. Sometime back in April or May we started to think about it. Like kids getting ready for Christmas we started to countdown the days. Google searches led us to rumors and hopes. We couldn’t stand the wait. The anticipation almost killed us. Then yesterday it finally came. The big news we waited months for: the launch of Apple’s iPhone 6.

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Unbeknownst to a lot of Apple junkies, there’s a much bigger announcement that continues to ring out around the world. It wasn’t delivered in a keynote speech at a prestigious conference of forward thinkers. There were no headlines when it came out. And just because it’s old doesn’t mean it is less powerful than the latest technology.

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Christian Living

Blood Moon Disappointment: What happens when hope for Christ’s return gets misdirected

Chris

Millions of Christians woke up this morning and turned on their favorite news outlets. Televisions, computers, smartphones and tablets tuned their signals to see if any news came out of Israel overnight.

The spark that created this firestorm was a heavenly event. In the sky early this morning was a rare occurrence, a full moon eclipse. What makes this lunar eclipse extra special is that it comes on the Jewish holy day of Passover, the celebration of God’s deliverance from centuries of slavery in Egypt.

Source: http://www.express.co.uk

But the reason that all of this spurred so many to check their news this morning was the startling appearance that such an eclipse makes in the sky. From a bright, white, full moon the Earth’s only natural satellite gradually turns red as the Earth’s shadow passes over it. Some call it a “blood moon”. And there are many who hoped that this happening would spark an event that would signal the closeness of the return of Jesus Christ.

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