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25 Oct 2020 Fear God and Honour the Emperor: The Results of the 2020 BC Election

Posted at 02:05h in Blog, Politics 0 Comments
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According to the preliminary results of the 2020 British Columbia, the BC NDP has won a major electoral victory. The NDP is projected to win 55 of British Columbia’s 87 seats. Of the five electoral victories for the BC NDP, this election gave the party a larger margin of victory than in the 1996 and 2017 and a smaller margin of victory compared to 1972 and 1991 elections. However, these are just preliminary results. Elections BC issued almost 725,000 mail-in ballots, or about 20% of all total votes, that remain to...

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elder care in Canada

20 Oct 2020 Fully public long-term care is not ideal elder care

Posted at 01:12h in Blog, Elder Care 0 Comments
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by Anna Nienhuis A BC NDP government will move to an entirely public system of senior care if elected, leader John Horgan said. The British Columbia provincial election is coming up on October 24, and after the COVID-19 pandemic exposed many deficiencies in long-term care facilities, this is a key issue for all parties to address. As home care services improve and our senior population increases, people age at home for longer and so often require high levels of care when they enter long-term care. But is full government provision of...

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08 Oct 2020 Creation and Politics

Posted at 17:07h in Blog, Public Theology 0 Comments
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by John Sikkema “The God who made the world and everything in it is Lord of heaven and earth… He himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth.” – Paul in Athens (Acts 17). (Note: this article is part 2 of a series that began with "Christian Political Engagement in Light of Redemptive History".) “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” God was before all things and before time. God is eternal and self-subsistent....

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22 Sep 2020 BC Election Provides New Opportunity to Advance Sound Policies

Posted at 17:29h in Blog, Politics 0 Comments
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British Columbians are heading into an election. On September 21, Premier John Horgan requested from the Lieutenant-Government, Janet Austin, to dissolve the British Columbian election and trigger an election. The election date is set for Saturday, October 24. Elections are opportunities for change. COVID has brought many changes and disruptions to society, and this election is an opportunity for a political party or a movement to capture the vision of British Columbians and shape the province for decades to come. Elections are opportunities for change...

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21 Sep 2020 Politics in Light of Redemptive History

Posted at 15:29h in Blog, Public Theology 0 Comments
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by John Sikkema A pastor once asked me, “Is political engagement part of our calling as Christians? After all, Jesus and the disciples didn’t seek political power or reform.” The answer, in short, is yes (though it matters greatly how we engage politically). Christ is Lord over all, including civil government, and if we pray for His will to be done on His earth, we cannot neglect so significant a part of life on earth. In a secular climate, Christians are prone to restrict the Bible’s relevance to personal salvation, piety, and church...

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18 Sep 2020 Look out Albertans! Bylaw Bob coming to a religious gathering near you!

Posted at 14:10h in Blog, Fundamental Freedoms, Gender and Sexuality 0 Comments
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By: Ed Hoogerdyk A wave of conversion therapy bans has spread across the province of Alberta. Maybe not as fast as COVID-19, but fast enough. These by-laws are harsh and heavy-handed. Yet one municipality after another passed them with relative ease. Fort McMurray. St. Albert. Edmonton. Spruce Grove. Rocky Mountain House. And finally Calgary and Lethbridge. Many concerned citizens spoke out. The largest pushback took place in Calgary. There were phone calls, face to face meetings, Zoom teleconferences, and a public hearing with a record number of oral submissions from the...

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08 Sep 2020 A Bubble Zone for Preaching in Vancouver?

Posted at 13:16h in Blog, Fundamental Freedoms, Gender and Sexuality 0 Comments
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By Levi Minderhoud David Lynn has come to British Columbia. Kicking off his national tour, the street preacher from Christ’s Forgiveness Ministries wandered the thoroughfares of Victoria and Vancouver last week, preaching the truth of Scripture with a microphone in hand and a stereo speaker at his side. A scene like this is bound to attract some attention. Sadly, the attention of our LGBTQ-fixated society has been universally negative. This reaction underscores the need for Christians to proclaim and live the gospel. Last year on Fall Tour we touched on pastor David...

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24 Aug 2020 What do the results of the 2020 Conservative leadership race mean for Christians and social conservatives?

Posted at 19:33h in Blog, Politics 0 Comments
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By Levi Minderhoud Erin O’Toole is the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, having won this post on the final round of voting. Whether you voted in the leadership race, or identify with another federal political party, or are simply interested in politics, you may be wondering: what does this mean for me? What do the results of the 2020 Conservative leadership race mean for Christians and social conservatives? To answer that question, we should consider both the man – Erin O’Toole – and the results – the vote count on...

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21 Aug 2020 Are COVID Restrictions the Cause of “Excess Deaths”?

Posted at 10:30h in Blog 2 Comments
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By Levi Minderhoud Soon after governments first introduced restrictions to combat the transmission of COVID-19, many people asked whether these measures would do more harm than good. We encouraged you to send an EasyMail to provincial legislators urging them not to neglect the impact of provincial policies on loneliness, substance abuse, domestic violence, economic dependency, among other problems. We have been worried that such restrictions may cause harm or even deaths through their unintended consequences. Many of you answered the call. Have there been “excess deaths” in Canada? Provincial governments and Statistics Canada...

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12 Aug 2020 Further reflections and clarifications regarding mandatory masks in church

Posted at 14:45h in Blog, Fundamental Freedoms 1 Comment
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By André Schutten On July 23rd I released a 20-minute video on the ARPA Canada Facebook page. In it, I gave some reflections on the bylaws that many Ontario municipalities have adopted which mandate the wearing of masks in indoor spaces, including churches. I argued that there is some unfairness in requiring people to wear masks in church and questioned whether the civil government had authority to do so. I also tried to explain why church leadership ought to wrestle with the question of jurisdiction (church or state authority on the...

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