By Karri Munn-Venn
The ice-covered branches of the lilac trees outside my window look like shimmering glass against the vibrant blue sky. The sunshine is welcome after days of clouds, wind, and snow. I can see the Gatineau Hills across the way, and I am grateful. Continue reading Journeying to Justice, For the Love of Creation
By Kukedila Ndunzi Muller
At the beginning of this third millennium, humanity confronts serious ecological problems that threaten human life and all of creation. The consequences of global warming are perceptible in every country of the world: polluted air and water, serious flooding, extreme heat, etc. Continue reading Creation Care: A Biblical Mandate
By Todd Wynward
Why should I care for the environment? We know it’s probably the right thing to do, but what’s a Christ-centred perspective?
Sometimes modern Christians, in our excitement about Jesus, think the incarnation of God first happened 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem. Actually, we affirm that God has been inhabiting creation since time began. We monotheists believe that one good God created everything, and God’s blessing fills everything around us. Continue reading God Camps With His People
Kevin Wiebe’s book, Faithful in Small Things: How to Serve the Needy When You’re One of Them (Herald Press), releases March 16, 2021. The Messenger asks a few questions about the book writing and publishing process. Kevin Wiebe is pastor of New Life Christian Fellowship in Coatsworth, Ontario. Continue reading A Writer’s Perspective with Kevin Wiebe
by James Driedger
Despite the fact that Paul only addressed same-sex sex indirectly in Romans 1, his words should continue to play a magisterial role in shaping our Christian sexual ethic, as they assume his moral stance, resonate with scripture’s consistent (even if minimal) evaluation of same-sex practices, and provide the only explicitly theological setting in which same-sex sex is reflected upon in scripture. Continue reading Same-Sex Sex and Romans 1
by Darryl G. Klassen
How do we abuse scripture in relation to biblical sexuality?
If the purpose of hermeneutics is to bridge the gap between the mind of the biblical writer and our own understanding of the text, we must confess that we come to scripture with a particular set of lenses. These lenses are smudged with our cultural context, our contemporary issues, and a preconceived goal of what we want to read in scripture. This may lead to an abuse of the text to make it say what we want it to say. Continue reading Hermeneutical Fallacies and Sexuality
by Gord Penner
Historically we have often struggled to respond to the changing culture around us and fled rather than engaging it with biblical principles. I believe our world is currently suffering from two pandemics: COVID-19 and polarization.
Rather than add to the latter, we need to find ways to heed the great commands: Love God and love neighbour. Continue reading A Biblical Theology of Human Sexuality
by Gordon T. Smith
When you take the CTrain from downtown Calgary to Ambrose University, the last building you see before the train heads to its underground stop is a mosque. When I was an undergraduate student in the 1970s, I knew there was a mosque somewhere in Canada, but I had no idea where. Now, many of us have a mosque in our neighbourhood. Continue reading Being Christian in a Secular Society: Moving beyond culture wars and toward love
by Arlin L. Scharfenberg
In the September 2020 issue of The Messenger, Dr. Layton Friesen describes disruptions that COVID-19 has had on our traditions, especially in our churches. Many of the events that we as believers enjoyed in our places of worship have ceased or dramatically changed. Continue reading Earthly Disruptions or God-Given Opportunities
by Andrew Unger
In this most famous passage of Ecclesiastes, Solomon (or was it The Byrds?) tells us “there is a time for everything.” There is a time, he says, to weep, to search, to scatter stones, to dance even (although not in our churches, apparently), and even a time to laugh.
Sometimes I wonder, though, if we have abandoned the laughter as eagerly as we seem to have left out the dancing. Continue reading A Time to Laugh and a Time to Speak: Ecclesiastes 3:1–8
