The Forever Priest

Many non-religious folks don't mind a bit of religion at this time of year. After all, what would Christmas be without nativity scenes on cards or at public displays on people's properties, churches, etc.? And let's not forget about the theology-laden Christmas carols. "Veiled in flesh the Godhead see. Hail the incarnate Deity", from Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Santa, Frosty, the Grinch and "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" aren't the only components to the Christmas season even among the religiously non-observant. Everyone wants some level of substance to the holidays and there's so much more to the story.

Time to step back a bit. Near the beginning of the Bible, we are introduced to a man named Melchizedek. He lived about 2000 years before Jesus and is first mentioned in the Book of Genesis, chapter 14. We first encounter him when he met with Abram (before he was called Abraham) and is described as the "king of Salem" and a "priest of God Most High". Salem, which means "peace", could've been the name of Jerusalem at the time.

Little is known about this mysterious figure but we know that he was both a king and priest, that he worshipped the Most High God and that he blessed Abram after Abram returned from battle victorious. We know that Melchizedek was greater than Abram because he blessed Abram. In Scripture, the one who blesses is always greater than the one who gets blessed. Abram also gave him a tenth of the plunder from battle. Melchizedek's name appears in just two other places in the Bible. A thousand years after he blessed Abram, King David uttered something that can only be described as inspired by the Holy Spirit. In Psalm 110:1 David wrote, "Yahweh says to my Lord: 'Sit at My right hand until I put your enemies a footstool for Your feet.'" And then in verse 4 of that same Psalm, "Yahweh has sworn and will not change His mind: 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.'" Still, another thousand years later, the author of the Book of Hebrews wrote this about Melchizedek, "was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also, king of Salem which is king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest continually" (Heb. 7:2-3). (Note the parallels: Melchizedek was called the "king of peace" and we call Jesus the "Prince of Peace").

Scholars agree that Melchizedek was not a pre-human appearance of Christ but was someone who was like the Son of God. What is stated in places throughout the Bible is that the priestly order named after him is a superior priesthood to the order of Aaron, or the Levitical priesthood, that was brought in at the time of Moses. Melchizedek existed long before Moses, so why was he a priest? Because God said so. The Old Testament priestly line in the Jewish tribe of Levi was the only Jewish priesthood known at the time but would later be revealed as only transitory and it would end at the Crucifixion of Jesus. It was never meant to be permanent. If it was to be permanent, Jesus would likely have been of the priestly Jewish tribe of Levi (a Levite), but He wasn't. He was from the tribe of Judah, a non-priestly tribe. And this is the crux of the issue. His primacy as the Son of God was not contingent on any inherited worldly birthright or religious position. A closer look at the Old Testament reveals this and it's a mystery how the learned ancients missed it. They were more interested in religion as an end in itself rather than a relationship with the living God.

The priesthood that is eternal is the one ushered in by Jesus Himself. It is made permanent by the shed blood of the Lamb (Himself), pictured in the Passover and subsequent Levitical priesthood but validated long before that with the faith of Abraham who was counted righteous because he believed in the one true God. This is the priesthood that every believer in Christ belongs to, not because of pedigree, but by God's royal decree. Membership in this eternal priesthood is given freely to us by the grace of God just as it was given to Abraham and Melchizedek. It is the new and everlasting covenant, the last will and testament of God Himself authored in blood by Jesus Christ, sealed for all time with His death as with any will, for the purpose of our redemption and reconciliation with our Maker.

Genuine belief in the person and work of Jesus, a life-changing belief with the faith of Abraham, is all that is required of you to join this priesthood. And mere words and concepts in this life can't begin to describe the glorious inheritance of those who believe in the life to come. Merry Christmas.

The Waiting

Today is the first Sunday of Advent 2015, the beginning of the season where Christians of all sects commemorate the first coming of Jesus Christ and wait in anticipation for His second coming. Though His earthly birth took place in less than ideal conditions, it was announced with great fanfare. According to the King James Bible, the angel Gabriel said to the shepherds, "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14). At first glance, this is a noble statement. Every year at Christmas we talk about extending good will toward others and we get all warm and fuzzy by wishing each other well. And that's ok. That said, the angel's announcement about "peace on Earth and good will toward men" for many is little more than a religious-sounding "Merry Christmas". There is actually more to it.

The New International Version of the Bible translates this verse in Luke 2 as, "Glory to God in the highest Heaven, and on Earth peace to those on whom his favor rests." The New Living Translation: "Glory to God in highest Heaven, and peace on Earth to those with whom God is pleased." When you look at these two versions it begs the questions, "Do you mean there are those with whom God is not pleased and that His peace is not for them?" Well, yes.

Let's go ahead thirty-some years when Jesus, now an adult, said this, "Do you think that I came to grant peace on Earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household there will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law" (Luke 12:51-53). All mother-in-law jokes aside, the words of Jesus Himself appear to contradict the purpose of His birth as told by the angel Gabriel.

But there is no contradiction. We people have just misinterpreted the angel's words. The peace he was talking about wasn't a universal world peace. If he meant that then the purpose of Christ's mission was an epic failure. This world doesn't know lasting peace. According to one study, in the last 3,500 years the world has known just 230 years without war. And that's just the "civilized" world. When you factor in remote tribes and other people groups, the number is likely far lower than 230. If God's common grace wasn't shown all people, we would've self-destructed long ago.

The peace spoken of here is the inner peace of a clear conscience in a life reconciled to God through a genuine belief in Christ. Therein lies our hope. God's peace and good will is for those "with whom He is pleased", in other words, those who, by His saving grace, believe in Christ and have had their sins forgiven. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful" (John 14:27). Notice that He said, "my peace" and not the world's peace. That's important. Note something else Jesus said, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29). God's will for people is that they believe in and follow Jesus. Obviously, not everyone wants to do this and those who do (and receive God's favor) will be antagonized by those who choose not to follow Him. People on both sides of the issue will be of the same household, of the same family, the same workplace and on and on it goes. Such is life.

Today, we light the candle of hope on the Advent wreath. Instead of debating over the right to say "Merry Christmas" publicly or the color and design of Starbucks Christmas cups, let's let others see the Christ-life in us, the life of true peace available to all who will have it.

Stephen's Story - A Family Journey

Jesus answered and said, "Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. For this reason I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you."

Mark 11: 22-24

For those of you who don’t know us that well, we moved to Chatham from Belleville in December of 2007. I was part of the team that launched the first UCB Canada station which went on the air in Belleville in October 2003. My wife, Rosanne, and I have three children, a daughter, Emily, and two sons, James and Stephen. We’ve also had a few foster kids along the way. Our household is a busy and often loud one, just like many of yours and a few years ago, our life got even crazier. In July of 2009, our youngest – Stephen – was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (A.L.L.). Disease is not a respecter of persons and this hit us completely broadside. The whole focus of our life changed in one afternoon. I can’t say enough about the level of care that he received at the Children’s Hospital in London. He was diagnosed on a Tuesday, admitted the next day and by that Friday, they had his three-year chemotherapy protocol all mapped out – a very thick binder filled with words we had never heard of - and he received his first treatment on that Friday. Within five weeks, after some time in Ronald McDonald House, his cancer was in remission and he was allowed to come home. You’ll never hear us complain about the health care system in this country. Despite what Liz Cheney argued recently on Larry King Live, children in Canada aren’t dying of cancer because of delays in care due to socialized medicine.

As far as leukemia goes, Stephen had the good kind, if I can put it that way. There are different types and different levels of leukemia and Stephen had what they call “standard-average” A.L.L. There are three broad levels: low, standard and high risk.  His daily chemo treatments would last three years. There were no major complications in his first round of treatment and after the first six months of heavy treatment (“induction”), he settled into what they call “maintenance”. This consisted of daily methotrexate pills to take at home and a monthly trip to London for an IV of a very potent chemo drug called vincristine. He also had to have a Lumbar Puncture every three months which involved an injection of methotrexate directly into the spine. Every treatment in London was followed by a tough week of nausea, weakness, etc. The medical staff said to us back then, “We’re going to take your boy away from you for a while but don’t worry, we’ll give him back.” It didn’t take us long to realize our own powerlessness. Like you, we help our kids and they think we’re miracle workers or something, but there was nothing we could do this time except give him to the oncology department in London – and pray.

A few days after Stephen was diagnosed our church held a special prayer meeting for all the sick people in the congregation. I was still feeling a bit numb and wasn’t in the mood to go but felt I had to. Rosanne was staying full time at the hospital with Stephen. Others would be praying for us and the least I could do was pray for them. So I went and I remember not really knowing what to pray so I said a blanket prayer for healing and named each person on the list provided, including Stephen. And there was something else I prayed that night. I confessed that regardless of how things turned out, God is still good. In a moment of spiritual clarity, I knew I had to pray that and so I did. It struck me at the time how good it is to pray even when you don’t feel like it. Regardless of our circumstances, God is a good God and there is much relief in trusting Him.

Over the first few months the church helped us out with meals and babysitting and we would find things like gift cards and gas cards in our church mail box, things we will always be grateful for because they helped lighten the burden. Here is Rosanne’s account of the first few days and weeks in the hospital with Stephen:

“During those first few days a woman came knocking on Stephen’s hospital room door. She introduced herself to me mentioning a mutual acquaintance from Belleville. Lisa Elliott is a Christian whose 19 year old son, Ben, was battling leukemia and they were trying to get him into remission. (Google search her book The Ben Ripple). We were still a bit shell-shocked and on a huge learning curve and God “just happened” to place her in my path. She encouraged me as a mom who had gone before and we would correspond afterward as one “A.L.L. Mom” to another. Those were dark days for her and us on different levels. It wasn't easy sharing with our son about those who had passed away from the same disease he had and talking about why God allowed these things to happen. However, God is always with us, knowing what we need and when. He has shown that over and over to us. I was with Stephen 24/7 for those first 30 days. At one point, everyone was encouraging me to go home for a break but I didn’t want to. Emily and James were away with family in the Ottawa area for the first two weeks and I was nervous about going home to an empty house while Al stayed with Stephen in London, but eventually I went. The flood of emotion that came over me when I got home was overwhelming but I needed to reconnect with home, with things non-medical. I needed to pick up some items at the store as well and I recall so vividly walking in the parking lot and seeing people come out with what seemed like not a care in the world and inside I felt very alone. My life had a new normal. I went in and out of the store like a zombie. However, as I walked out I knew that God was with me because He opened my eyes to how many times I had been the one with no major concerns and walked right past someone whose world was falling apart. Those firsts are difficult – like coming home for the first time, shopping for the first time, walking through the doors of our church for the first time in a long while. Whether it is with a child that is dealing with a potentially terminal illness or your world has been rocked by something else, God is constant. He is there.” [End of Rosanne's account].

Things continued relatively smoothly until May of 2012 when Stephen, with little to no immunity, picked up a bad ear infection. He began to get more lethargic. The doctors couldn’t figure out what was going on. In August of 2012, he was hospitalized twice in London and to make a long story short, we were told that he would have to have a kidney biopsy and some other tests to properly diagnose him.  It was finally determined that his kidneys had been damaged due to a latent virus that 90% of us carry but usually stays dormant. This virus – called Polyoma BK - came out of dormancy most likely due to the chemotherapy drugs which decreased his immunity. A few weeks after this, on September 12 of 2012, Stephen had his last hospital chemo treatment. His home chemo would last for another three days. Stephen wasn’t in very high spirits that day but was glad he was at the end of his three years of treatment. Then the medical staff asked Stephen to go get ready for his treatment while they talked to us. Things didn’t feel right. Rosanne was looking at Stephen’s blood numbers from the past few treatments and they were erratic. We had learned enough in three years to know when blood count numbers aren’t good and so we had to ask the question why. The nurse case managers looked somber. I took Stephen out of the room and when we were gone, they told Rosanne they were pretty sure his leukemia was back. Again, we were devastated. Later, I asked them what happens if it’s back and they said, “We start all over but this time the treatment will be more aggressive.” We asked if his kidney trouble could be messing up the blood counts and they said no, the two were not related. It was on this day that we were told two things: that he needed a kidney biopsy and that his leukemia had likely returned. They were going to schedule a bone marrow test for the following week. They also said, “Whatever you do, don’t go looking all this up on the internet!” So, when we got home, I looked it all up on the internet. I wished I hadn’t. It said with recurrences this soon, survival rates drop to 10%.

This was easily the worst day of our lives. We had a camping trip planned for that weekend and part of it was an end-of-chemo celebration with friends as well as a birthday celebration for Emily. When we mentioned the trip to these two senior nurses, they told us to go anyway and said, “Take a bottle of wine with you”. They didn’t come right out and say it, but they might as well have. “Go camping. You don’t know how many more times like this you'll have together as a family.” We just wanted to die. Anyway, we decided not to mention any of this to Stephen or anyone else and to just go camping. It would’ve been worse not to go. On the Saturday afternoon that weekend our kids were off with their friends and Rosanne and I were sitting outside the camper. I was reading a book…You Can Be Healed by Bob Gass…and I was quite taken by it. I shared some of the insights with Rosanne and I said to her, “We need to pray right now.” So we did. We prayed for Stephen’s healing, asking in faith, according to God’s Word and after we prayed, we both had what the Bible calls "the peace that surpasses all understanding" (Phil. 4:7). We were not just happy and satisfied, we were elated. At the time, I wasn’t sure if we were on some sort of a cathartic emotional high but we both felt pretty good. We were not in control but had taken God at His word more seriously than we ever had in the past. We were in a very different place spiritually than we had ever been before and we knew it was the best place to be. A burden had been lifted. We felt joy. It was good that we went camping.

We had to ask ourselves, though, what we truly believed. Do we really believe that there is a God in heaven who will heal people? Do we really believe that He is in control of our circumstances? Do we really believe what Jesus said in the passage that I began this post with? Do we really believe any of it at all?

I've often wondered about Christian healing. Jesus had a 100% track record. He never missed, never had to tell somebody, "Sorry, I guess it's not God's will for you to be healed." There are instances in the Bible where it says that He couldn't do too many works because of the unbelief of the people, but all who asked to be healed were healed. The reality of today, however, is that many ask in faith but not everyone gets healed. I don't understand this. I guess the answer for some is, "My grace is sufficient for you". Each of us gets dealt with by God in different ways at different times. Sometimes we get delivered from trials, other times He stays with us through the trials. Regardless, God’s promises are still true. (Here are some verses for your reference: Exodus 15:26, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 34:19, Isaiah 57:19, Hosea 6:1, Mark 11:22-25 and James 5:15.)

When we prayed the way we did, it became apparent that God was asking the two of us specifically, "Do you believe your circumstances as you see them or do you believe in Me, the author of all circumstances?" It's easy to talk about this now but it was very difficult at the time. On the one hand, we had the medical opinion of some very well educated and highly trained people. On the other, we had the God we could not see, the One who calls us to trust in Him regardless of what we see and this is gut-wrenching because you have to give up any notion of control and common sense. You have to go beyond that. As I said, we don't have control over things anyway, but our pride says we do and we act like we do because we believe that we do. But we don’t. It's a very powerful myth.

Choosing to trust God over against our circumstances is a scary thing because we don’t know what’s going to happen. Hebrews 10:31 says, “It’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Lord” because once we fall into God's hands, we have to let go of everything else and hope and believe He’s going to be there because if He doesn't catch us, we're doomed. And there’s a great fear of looking like a fool. However, He has promised to catch us and He calls us to trust Him. The promises are there and are just as relevant today as they were in the time of Jesus and before that. The issue isn't that, the issue is our trust in His promises. Our own hearts will fail but not His promises. I think our problem is we have too small a view of God and often we just give up too easily. We just accept the bad things that come our way. We capitulate to our circumstances and pay lip service to God instead of surrendering to God and asking Him to change our circumstances.

For the rest of that weekend, we both struggled to keep our eyes on God and not on our circumstances. When we got home from the camping trip that Monday, we asked our pastor, Gord Reynolds, to bring some elders to our house to pray over Stephen. When they arrived, I met them outside and told them that we were told the leukemia was probably back but we had not told Stephen yet. We decided to wait with telling him after his next scheduled blood test which would be the next day. Pastor Gord and the elders, Greg Baker (no relation) and Laird VanderEnde, came in prayed over him and anointed him with oil. They were there for about 15 minutes and then they left. The next day Stephen had his blood tested here in Chatham. They sent the results to London and told us somebody from the hospital would call us with the results. Just before lunch, I phoned home to see if anybody had called and Rosanne said they hadn’t.

I left work to go home for lunch and on the way I got thinking about the past week and again, I felt that inner joy again. I remember thinking, “Why do I feel this way? Joy, of all things. I may be going home to the worst news of my life and I feel joyful.” It seemed morbidly out of place. At home, Rosanne also had this inner joy and peace before receiving the results. When I walked in the door, Rosanne kind of floated to the front door with a big grin on her face and said, “The hospital just called and his blood counts are all normal.” They told her that the bone marrow test would not be necessary and that they would see us in five weeks for our regular follow-up appointment. Rosanne told me later that when she hung up the phone all she could do was give God thanks. Just like that, we were now having the best day of our lives.

Doubts are never that far away, though. We wondered if he was actually healed or if those nurses just got it wrong. Was he really well the whole time? But then I remembered that these nurses aren’t rookies. They didn’t just graduate from university the previous year. The one nurse practitioner has worked in oncology for 25 years and performs the exams when the doctor is away. They’ve got years of experience and have seen hundreds of these tests. They know what’s good and what isn’t. Also, I felt something - twice - on the camping weekend and again on the way home from work that day, that joy that was seemingly misplaced. I believe and yet, I still don’t fully understand.

You know how they say you can lose years off your life because of the stressful things you go through? Well, I’ve often joked that someday, when I’m on my death bed, I’ll be thinking, “You know, if it wasn’t for that youngest one, this wouldn't be happening until a few years from now.” Seriously, though, I believe God will restore the lost years of our lives in due time. There’s a great promise in Joel 2:25 that says, “The Lord will restore the years the locust has eaten”, and I believe that.

In closing, as of August 2015, there was no evidence of his cancer. Stephen has passed the five-year remission mark. The oncologist is very happy with his progress. They will be tracking him the rest of his life at the Children’s Hospital because he had a childhood cancer. His nephrologist (kidney doctor) was equally happy. The doctor couldn’t believe that Stephen was dealing with Polyoma BK because, until now, it was only a problem with kidney transplant patients. Stephen had to take what they call immunoglobulin intravenous treatments, but they did nothing. The doctor then opted to not treat it and see what happens and within a few months, the virus had all but gone. The occurrence of Polyoma BK in non-transplant patients was new and hopefully this will enable science to help other children who get the same thing. At about the same time, I asked the oncology nurse case manager about the time she told us the leukemia had returned. I asked her why the blood numbers were wonky and she said it must have been his kidney problem affecting them, the very thing she said was definitely not the problem a few months earlier.

When we go through negative experiences many say, “I can hardly wait to put this behind me”, or, “I’m never going back there”. We don’t ever want to go through that experience again either – in the physical sense. Even emotionally, when I think or talk about it stirs up many emotions that can be very overwhelming. However, when it comes to the spiritual aspect, we want to re-visit that over and over. God touched us deeply and met us there. There is a sweetness amid the trial. I said earlier that I didn’t understand why sometimes there is healing in people and other times there isn’t. I was hoping to find out but today, I’m none the wiser. That said, I have learned to trust in God more and when I look at my own independent streak, perhaps that is the larger miracle.

The "De-Peopling" of a People Industry

During the Great Depression of the 1930s the famous Pennsylvanian chocolate magnate, Milton Hershey, took advantage of the low cost of building materials and set out to construct a community building, a hotel and a school. In making his announcement, he said, “Regarding the steam shovels that do the work of 40 men, take them off this job and hire 40 men.” And so they were hired—40 of them—during the Great Depression. Some lessons can be drawn from this, still many more from Hershey’s life, but that’s another article.

At the risk of waxing sentimental, I would like to reminisce about how the Radio business used to be. Over the years, we in the business have scaled back on our most valuable resource— people—all in the interest of technology and economics. Not that long ago there was at least one person in every radio station overnight, and a handful in the evening complete with a live local news cast at 10 or 11 p.m. Now, many radio stations are deserted after 5 p.m. with everything running on one of the various software systems that enable voice tracks and run a fully loaded music library in a box.

Even the look of radio stations has changed. I’ve been in some that look more like high-tech firms, very corporate, quiet and blah. Where are the posters and records (or CDs) in the halls? Where is the loud music from the studios? What about the oddly-dressed announcers (and producers) talking to the sharp dressed sales people… you know, “the suits and the dungarees” of WKRP in Cincinnati fame?

I remember a time as an evening announcer having to jam the request lines after 10 p.m. because I didn’t think I could handle another request for Bon Jovi’s You Give Love A Bad Name, (which most kids called “Shot Through the Heart”). I remember settling music trivia arguments between late night revelers, helping high school students with their homework and explaining to young listeners why I couldn’t play their songs on other radio stations. Then there was the distraught woman who called me up wondering what to do about the duck that had been defecating on her front lawn for three days straight. True story. (Not quite knowing what to say, I told her to stop feeding it. I don’t know if that worked but she never called back.) Those calls were genuine people moments.

I believe listeners miss hearing and connecting with their favourite night-time announcers. It was a good time when people knew that they could call them up to request a song or to just chat. It made listeners feel good and motivated announcers. Now if I’m in the station after hours, I’ll often hear the studio line ringing down the hall in the booth. It’s just too bad that there’s no one there to pick it up.

The radio industry, hung up on the bottom line, seems to have lost interest in people—and therefore, people have lost interest in it. By “going virtual” (read: cheap) in most day parts, I think we’ve cut off our noses to spite our faces for radio. They say things change but I don't think everything has to change.

Here’s what I think. Radio—especially Christian radio, in which I now work—needs to return to an earlier time and “people up”. Years of “people-cutting” and selling stations to large media conglomerates hasn’t led to record profits. Building relationships is what this business is about. Let’s hire evening and overnight jocks to do live local shows and have someone in our stations all the time. Live night-time radio was special, so let’s bring it back and the buzz that went with it will return as well.

I say this believing that there is still room for local radio (and TV) stations in the communications universe. This could very well be local radio and TV’s time. Is this just a pipe-dream? You don’t think you can afford it? Sure, money is a big concern, but when it came to investing in people, Milton Hershey, who died a multi-millionaire, knew he couldn’t afford not to.

A slightly altered version of this article appeared in Broadcast Dialogue magazine in July 2009

Our Christless Heavens

Five years ago, a book hit store shelves claiming to be a true account of a young boy dying, going to Heaven and then coming back to life on Earth. The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven quickly became a New York Times bestseller. In the story, six year old Alex Malarkey related his heavenly vision of angels, etc., after supposedly dying in a 2004 car accident. Alex and his father, Kevin, are the book's co-authors. In January of this year, Alex, now a teenager and a Christian with a guilty conscience, confessed that he made the whole thing up. He said he didn't die, though he was left paralyzed and was in a coma for two months, and he didn't go to Heaven. He said he lied back then to get attention, something not unusual for a six-year-old. The amazing thing is the number of people who were willing to believe the story.

A few days after Malarkey said his story was...well...malarkey, Colton Burpo, who had a similar experience when he was four, said his story was true. Burpo said he visited Heaven when he was undergoing an appendectomy. His story was told in the book Heaven is for Real, and like Alex Malarkey, Colton's father also authored it. To this day, the Burpos maintain the experience was true, an experience where Colton said he met Jesus, saw Mary and some angels as well as deceased relatives he was too young to have ever met.

There are many other books whose authors claim to have died, gone to Heaven and come back again and they've been around for years. The heavenly tourism industry is a big one and it continues to thrive today. Knowing this, I rolled my eyes recently when I was asked to interview Don Piper, a Baptist pastor and author of the book 90 Minutes in Heaven. This book was first published in September of 2004 and depicts Piper's experience of being in a car crash, visiting Heaven and then waking up in the wreckage wishing he had stayed dead and in Heaven. The story is receiving some renewed interest because 90 Minutes in Heaven, the movie, hits theatres on September 11 this year.

Not knowing quite what to expect from Pastor Piper, I welcomed the opportunity to talk about his experience and was also glad his wife, Eva, was part of the interview. They were both very nice which made it harder for me because I had some questions that weren't so nice. I asked them anyway and was relieved by the graciousness with which they answered them. For instance, I asked him if what he experienced could have been just a cultural hallucination, that is, a dream sequence of his life experiences and religious knowledge brought on by a bodily shock. He said it was possible and then he really impressed me when he said he wouldn't have believed the story if it hadn't happened to him. He said that as an ordained Baptist minister, things like this weren't a part of his theology. Good answer, I thought. I then asked him if he saw Jesus in addition to all the dearly departed friends he said he met and he said yes, but not as a man. He said Jesus just filled the place and said that he believes if he had met Jesus face to face, he would not likely have returned to his earthly life. Then he really stole my thunder when he said all proceeds from the coming movie are going to charity. Don Piper speaks in a mild-mannered way with a confidence that is not afraid to acknowledge people's difficulties in believing his story.

It is obvious he experienced something. Exactly what, I don't know but this man is no flake or charlatan out to make a buck on a sensational tale. Still, this doesn't make what he saw Heaven. As for the other stories, the stories of the heavenly trips that come out once a month or so, I don't believe them. Most of them don't include Jesus and there is no Heaven without Christ, for He is Heaven. In this day of biblical illiteracy in the Church and widespread ignorance of the Bible outside the Church, many people will believe anything.

Pastor and author John Piper (no relation to Don as far as I know) wrote these words in his book God is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself. “The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this: If you could have Heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on Earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with Heaven, if Christ were not there? ”

This is an important and penetrating question. A Heaven without Christ is Hell and there are many who want to tell you about such a Heaven. Be careful. It's an ignorant and misguided world out there.

Oh Canada II

Why did the Canadian cross the road? To get to the middle. How do you get 25 Canadians out of a pool? Ask them to get out of the pool.

Some more Canadian funnies: Once upon a time, in the Ottawa galaxy not so long, long ago, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in Parliament wasn't so loyal. It was a federal party called the Bloc Quebecois and they were separatists. Its members were duly elected to advance the interests of Quebec only with a view to tearing the country asunder. An aboriginal protester from South Central Ontario, who had a penchant for wreaking havoc by blocking railway tracks for days on end, resisted arrest by saying that he would report to police only when he finished his public mischief and spent some time afterward with his family. We have a history of vague governance - conscription if necessary but not necessarily conscription. In the 1970s, the provincial Quebec separatists, the Parti Quebecois, bandied about terms that received far too much federal attention. Terms like "asymmetrical federalism" and "sovereignty association" were fancy terms for "We want Quebec to be its own country but we want privileged economic links to Canada and a common currency plus a whole bunch of other stuff." (Oddly, one separatist leader, Jacques Parizeau, wanted to remain loyal to the British Crown, something many English Canadians couldn't be bothered with). This party conducted two referendums on separation with the rest of the country watching helplessly.

For years, Canadians were slaves of intrinsic mediocrity. There was a time when the West Edmonton Mall had as many submarines as the Canadian Navy. Those of a certain age will remember "Joe Who?", "Fuddle Duddle" and a newly-adopted flag that nobody really liked back in 1965 but was thought to be the least offensive choice. After all, we don't like offending people. And then there is the Queen of Canada...who is not Canadian.

Many moons ago the great Canadian journalist, Bruce Hutchison, discussed the Canadian personality in an essay of the same name. He described it as, "The smallest needle in the largest haystack in the world". We tended to be invisible to the world at large, obscured, I think, by our great neighbour to the south. If we differ from the Americans, they are small differences, but differences some still like to tout every now and then.

That said, we Canadians seem to be growing more and more content with ourselves. Gone are the days of the vocal and embarrassing outbursts of insecurities regarding the Americans. This seemed to change with the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics when we "owned the podium". We garnered the most gold medals of any country in any prior Winter Olympics, though we still rather suck at the Summer Olympics. We seem less shy about waving our own flag. We are comfortable with the leaders who represent us on the world's stage and, I think, we finally like ourselves.

So, here's to life, liberty and security of the person and to peace, order and good government! Happy Canada Day!

Looking for a Brave New World

The first time I heard of the book 1984 was in my high school English class in 1981. As the teacher took us through its themes and I got acquainted with Mr. Orwell's dark satire on socialism, I remember thinking that we were just three years away from the actual year 1984. Those were the days of the waning years of the Cold War, though we didn't know it at the time. None of us suspected the power of the former Soviet Union would last only another decade. Tensions were running high as the Goliath Russian Bear was clamping down on the anti-communist Polish trade union Solidarity and its much-loved leader, Lech Walesa, the David of the Gdansk shipyards.

Once we as a class finished 1984, our teacher then introduced us to the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. This book was also a satire on socialism, mocking the control of the World State on its citizens, but with devices opposite to those used in 1984. It was a fascinating study in contrasts. Where Orwell themed his world control on hate, Huxley themed his controlled society on "love"; not real love but its counterfeit, lust, along with hedonism, consumerism, drug-induced hallucinations - anything to escape reality.

Both societies ultimately came up short of successful because neither society allowed the truth into it. Orwell's hateful O'Brien dismissed the truth in dystopian Oceania by declaring that 2+2=5 because he said so and the drug soma and "the feelies" did it for the World State's people in Huxley's utopian London. The foresight of the authors is astounding. Brave New World was written in 1932 and 1984 was written in 1949. Our recent history swing from the world wars, the Holocaust and communism to the "love is love" generation is represented in these books.

And so, here we are in 2015. A mere 48 hours ago, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) expanded that country's definition of marriage by legalizing "same-sex marriages" in all states. Even though other countries have already done this, Canada included, there is something different when the Americans do it. It takes on greater momentum. Now, a superpower has altered the oldest and most exclusive institution known to mankind. With the stroke of a pen, a majority of the nine justices made 2+2=4 and 5. 

What is sad is the number of people who identify themselves as Christians but support "same-sex marriage". In short, they reason that Jesus is all about love and "love is love". It doesn't matter who you love as long as you love them sincerely. In their minds, Jesus would approve of gay marriage. I'm afraid that's a distortion of Jesus and His message to the world. Yes, Jesus loves all people. He came to reconcile a sinful world to God who also loves the people in it. But Jesus also came to bear witness to the truth and said in John 18:37, "Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

The child-of-God-like character who "invaded" Huxley's London of the World State, John the Savage, hungered and thirsted for truth and righteousness but was spurned. The masses were at first intrigued by his celebrity but when he failed to play to the crowd, they lost interest. John left his mark, though, on the Magdalene figure of Lenina and the Judas-like Bernard who thought he could control him. Christians carry similar burdens in this world and would be crushed were it not for the sure victorious hope we have in trusting Christ.

Friday's SCOTUS decision will have a great impact on culture, and because the U.S. exports its culture, it is going to impact the world. It will advance liberalism which will demand a blessing on whatever liberals demand. Our Brave New World will continue to try and erase the differences between the genders and universalize love under its commandeered rainbow symbol. This may spark a conservative backlash and will polarize those who claim fealty to Jesus Christ and His Church. In fact, it's already happening, a storm that has been gathering for a while.

It is ultimately God who decides what is right and wrong. It is not for man to do so. Before he became the U.S. President, Calvin Coolidge said, "Men do not create laws they do but discover them. Laws must be justified by something more than the will of the majority. They must rest on the eternal foundation of righteousness." We are to be ruled by righteousness, not consensus.  

Oh Canada

With Canada Day getting closer I expect we'll see more posts like the recent one about an American study that showed 23% of eighth graders in the U.S. think Canada is a dictatorship. CBC TV recently featured it. The national pride that gets displayed every July 1 always seems to be mixed with an insecurity about our American neighbors with whom we are joined at the hip. Canadians love to highlight American ignorance of things uniquely Canadian as a way of dealing with our national inferiority complex.

In late April of 2001, when Rick Mercer's "Talking to Americans" show was a brief but big hit on CBC TV, I was the producer of a radio talk show. Just for fun one day, I wrote out a bunch of questions for the host to ask our listeners what they knew about things American. This was in response to the Mercer gag-fest on Americans who thought Canada got FM radio for the first time in 2001 and is a country that has high-rise igloos. After all, it's Canadian to be fair, right? Here are some of the results of "Talking to Canadians". As it turned out, we weren't - and maybe still aren't - much better.

The show was two hours long and in the first hour it took four calls before someone could tell us the correct number of stars on the American flag. An American expatriate who phoned in didn't know that the stripes on Old Glory depicted the original 13 colonies and thought for sure Richard Nixon was impeached (Nixon quit before that happened). It took a while before someone guessed which century the War of Independence occurred in and a former local politician thought the colors of the American flag were blue and gold. Really. I'm not making this up.

The second hour featured questions about Canada. Oh boy. One caller thought our first Prime Minister was William Lyon Mackenzie King and our first (and only) woman Prime Minister was "Somebody Crosbie". Very few people knew about the new Canadian territory of Nunavut, which had already been around for two years, and one caller thought that Saint John (as in New Brunswick) was the capital city of Halifax (as in Nova Scotia). I remember the host sitting in somewhat stunned silence.

In the weeks leading up to this Canada Day, let's be careful about what stones we throw.

Being and Somethingness - A Rejoinder to Jean-Paul Sartre

In his defining philosophical essay Being and Nothingness, French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) established this work as the standard for modern-day existentialism. Existentialists believe that the people and things of this world have no meaning unless we give them meaning. The existentialist maxim is, "Existence comes before essence", that people exist first and then give themselves meaning by acting in some way. For the record, Sartre was also an atheist and a Marxist. Today's humanism and moral relativism are outgrowths of existentialism and these viewpoints permeate our society.

The problem I have with existentialism, i.e. with humanism, is that it rejects any idea of the intrinsic worth of people. It states that there is no inherent purpose for our lives, that there is nothing in us that needs fulfilling but that we should live life anyway because to not do so would be boring. Since we create our causes for our own sakes, there's no moral obligation to act on behalf of anything higher than ourselves. In other words, life is all about us and morality itself is ultimately by consensus. A lot of trees have died needlessly over the years so people could write book after book trying to justify this philosophy. It all came to naught in Russia. The political entity of humanism, communism, eventually blew away under its own weight of nothingness.

The thirst for meaning in life is unquenchable in the human heart, even in those hearts that are horribly distorted by sin. Why is there a desire, then, for meaning and purpose if there is no meaning and purpose to life? For this reason, I would argue that essence comes before existence and the only view that addresses our desire for purpose is that we were created for one. That purpose may be fulfilled in one way or in many different ways but there are few things more satisfying than seeing and coming into that thing you feel you were born to do.

The great paradox of life is that it is for God's glory when we come into our life's purpose. To be who He made us to be is to honor Him and His creation. It is true that we have to seek and work things out for ourselves but that's all part of the excitement of life's journey. Ask Him who you are then step out of the boat, as it were, and walk toward Him and He will guide you. There will be storms but in them there will also be the deep contentment of knowing that we are His.

St. Augustine said it best when he wrote, "You have made us for Yourself, oh God, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You." Because of our fallen natures, we won't come into the fullness of who we are and are meant to be in this life. However, there's a great and mysterious promise written down by the Apostle John. 1 John 3:2-3 reads, "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know that when He is manifested, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."

Truly, there is a "somethingness" to our lives and the best is yet to come.

Disorderly Conduct

Those who don't hate Jesus Christ often mistake Him for their buddy or a guru of peace and love. Often, He is portrayed that way in stories and movies about Him. While He will certainly be a friend, only those who see Him rightly see Him as friend and Lord. And our Lord once said, "Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:5-6). So much for the dreamy-eyed, peacenik image of Jesus.

This past week, NBC Nightly News ran two separate features on transgender children, that is two children who were born as one gender and have since "changed" to the other. As I watched the features I felt sick inside. They are just kids, one age five and the other, eight. The five year old was a little girl who at the age of two said she wanted to be a boy. According to the parents, this went on for a couple of years so the parents finally cut her hair, dressed her like a boy and told family and friends that her new name was Jacob. The story is pretty much the same for the boy who wanted to be a girl. He liked pink and liked to dress up as a girl so the parents asked him what he wanted to be. He said he would like to be a girl and on his eighth birthday, the family made the switch and began calling him Malisa, which is pronounced the same as "Melissa".

It remains to be seen if these kids actually suffer from Gender Dysphoria, formerly called Gender Identity Disorder. For all anyone knows, this could just be a childhood phase they are going through and in a few years they may ask themselves, "What was I thinking?". In fact, many clinicians have stated that a high number of kids like those featured on NBC grow out of their feelings when they reach puberty and become content with their gender. What is truly egregious about these stories is how they are being presented. They aren't information pieces per se. Clearly, these are sensationalized stories that are being celebrated by the families of these kids as well as by the media. It's "yellow journalism" at its worst ever. Incidentally, also this week, ABC's Diane Sawyer interviewed Olympian Bruce Jenner who is now attempting to change his gender. His 24-year marriage to Kris Jenner formally ended last month.

The movie A Beautiful Mind is the true story (with some Hollywood liberties thrown in) of John Nash, Jr., a brilliant mathematician who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After years of treatment he chose to go off the medication. Near the end of the movie, he was still seeing the visions and hearing the voices but he had learned over time to ignore the delusions in whatever form they presented themselves. In his words, "It is a diet of the mind. I choose not to indulge". Now, I don't want to oversimplify the identity struggles that trans people have but I will say this. Gender Dysphoria, or Gender Identity Disorder, is just that, a disorder. You don't deal with a disorder by altering your body to fit the delusions in your mind. You leave your body alone and seek help to deal with the delusions. The delusions are the problem, not the assigned gender.

It is not for us to play God. He made them male and female and He makes no mistakes. It is not right to alter our assigned, created physical make-ups to suit discontentment with oneself. Those who applaud such things are more messed up than those who struggle with the condition. Nothing good will come from accepting and applauding transgenderism. In fact, "For they sow the wind and they reap the whirlwind" (Hosea 8:7). 

Receiving Sight

Anais Nin was a French-born American author who was two people, so to speak. She was married to two men at the same time for a while and had one identity in Los Angeles and another in New York City. She was a confessed liar who kept what she called a "lie box", a big purse that contained all the documents of her two identities, things like bank account information, medical prescriptions, etc. She also maintained an elaborate filing card system that outlined all the lies she told so she could keep them all straight. No easy task.

Perhaps as an observation of her own life, she once made a profound statement on the human condition. She said, "We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are." In other words, we shape our world and life views through the lenses of our personalities and we judge things according to how they match up with the coloured vision of our personalities and character traits, our likes and dislikes. This is nothing new and there is certainly nothing new about Nin's personality and her double life. Many people are double minded. However, what I find intriguing about her statement is that she acknowledges a benchmark outside of herself that defines reality and truth. She tacitly admits an ultimate objectivity and sees that people live their lives subjectively, herself included. Not everyone will concede that. It's a brave admission.

The famous Scottish preacher of the 19th century George MacDonald made an equally profound statement about our condition and destiny (unless we change) when he wrote, "The one principle of hell is 'I am my own'". The Christian Church today could learn much from MacDonald but, sadly, much of his work has been forgotten. His maxim is what sin is; hubris, the root of all sin, says, 'I am my own king and will bend the knee to no one, not even the true King, the Creator of the universe'.

The deceptive nature of sin is such that it doesn't always look like a bad thing. Everyone suffers from a measure of pride of life whether that means smug family pride, arrogance with wealth, position, power, whatever. Sin is not always disgusting, at least from our view. In fact, every society has its respectable and cultural sins. However, once we have the proper definition of sin straight in our minds, we can begin the process of honestly stepping away from it. Step 1 is to acknowledge, as Nin did, that we are all selfish and all about ourselves to one degree or another. Step 2 is to acknowledge that there is an Ultimate Other apart from ourselves that defines right and wrong. Step 3 is to acknowledge that God is God (and we are not) and to seek His forgiveness.

When we study the religious leaders through the ages there is no shortage of information about their personality traits. All were noted for their charisma, their ability to attract and have people follow them - all, that is, except one. In his Old Testament prophecy, Isaiah described the coming Messiah as having, "no form or majesty that we should look at him, and beauty that we should desire him". In a post script on Jesus' life, the Apostle Paul wrote that, "although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a slave" (Phil. 2:6-7). About Himself, Jesus said, "I can do nothing from Myself. As I hear, I judge and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent me" (John 5:30).

Jesus was empty of 'self' and filled with love for His Father. He had no agenda except God's. He had no religion except devotion to His Father, both inwardly and outwardly.  He was free because He loved His Father and did what He ought - and this was His utter delight. He would go to the cross and die for the sins of undeserving people because it was His Father's will to save the unworthy. Jesus, more than anyone else, could see things as they really were precisely because He wasn't absorbed with 'self'. He was not His own and His sight was perfect.

For our part, we would do well to heed the words of C.S. Lewis who said, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

Isaac and Ishmael

"Anti-Semitism is not simply a pernicious evil of hate and intolerance, nor simply a threat to the Jewish people as a whole and to the State of Israel in particular. The greater danger, as expressed so succinctly by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is that 'Those who would hate and destroy the Jewish people would ultimately hate and destroy the rest of us as well.'"                                                                                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                             Michael Curtis, Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University, January 30, 2015
                                                                                                                                  

Last Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of the American Congress. In his address, he urged the United States government not to negotiate with Iran on that country's nuclear capability. Netanyahu disagrees with U.S. President Obama that negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran will prevent them from building a nuclear arsenal. In fact, Netanyahu said it will only fast track Iran in building its bomb. President Obama's administration believes it can achieve a measure of peace in the region by striking a deal with Iran by getting the country to agree to sidelining its nuclear ambitions in exchange for an easing of sanctions. The temptation is strong. Who doesn't want long-lasting peace? However, it is a pipe-dream. Peace is not possible when one of the players has a deep-seated and fevered hatred of another player, meaning Iran's hatred of Israel.

In the fable of the frog and the scorpion, the latter approached the former with a request. The scorpion needed to cross a river but couldn't swim. The frog could swim so the scorpion asked if he could cross the river on the frog's back. The frog asked why he would place himself in such a vulnerable position since the scorpion might sting him half way across the river causing the both of them to drown. The scorpion replied that he wouldn't do that because he would only be hurting himself. This seemed reasonable to the frog so the two of them set out across the river, the frog swimming deftly with the scorpion on its back. Sure enough, half way across, the scorpion stung the frog and both began to sink to their deaths. Just before going under, the frog asked why the scorpion did it. The scorpion replied, "I can't help it. It's my nature."

There is no negotiating with inherent viciousness, and anti-Semitism is just that - irrational, inherent and ultimately self-detrimental viciousness. Benjamin Netanyahu knows this while Barack Obama, I fear, has yet to learn it.

In his address, Netanyahu stated that while the U.S. seeks security for its country, Israel seeks its very survival. It is a country with many enemies and despite its ingenuity in self-preservation, Israel needs an ally like the U.S. The question is "Why do so many people hate Jews?" I don't know. There are many theories out there like they are successful in the business world which causes jealousy among the not-so-successful. However, there are poor Jews as well as rich Jews just like in any other people group. I've heard it said among religious circles it's because they are God's chosen people and that raises the ire of  non-Jews. Perhaps it's because the Jews gave the 10 Commandments to the world and in a world that hates God, His people become the target. Personally, I think the conflict between Isaac and Ishmael, both Abraham's sons, is still going on, unresolved, and Isaac's stability and legitimacy is despised even today in Ishmael's descendants. Other opinions are welcome on that.

Religion is man's attempt to reach God and there's no religion more dedicated to that than Islam. Islam is the extension of the cry of Ishmael's heart, rejected and deeply wounded centuries earlier (see Genesis 21:8-21). When dealing with real or perceived rejection, people adopt attitudes and coping mechanisms that are mostly unbeneficial. Bitterness takes over causing strife with everyone. This is why Muslims have just as much conflict among themselves as they do with the Jews and the rest of the world. The Lord foretold this in Genesis 16:11-12.

In his book The Haj, bestselling author Leon Uris wrote the following narrative of a young boy named, perhaps not coincidentally, Ishmael. "Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; the tribe against the world. And all of us against the infidel."

Life is about relationships. People were made for them and they have always mattered. And we pay a terrible price when we live as though they don't.

A Christian Response to Bullying

Bullying has always been with us. The first recorded incident of it is in the Garden of Eden when the serpent manipulated the first couple by tempting them with the forbidden fruit that would supposedly lead them to "true" happiness, a happiness apart from God. The first murder took place before the first generation had passed and innumerable murders have taken place since.

Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, taught us that bullying is murder in embryo (Matt. 5:21-22). If you see a bully, you see a killer. Many people die inside long before their physical deaths because of the harsh words spoken to them in times past. Such is the convoluted and complex mess that sin causes: the bullied become bullies themselves, striving for some shred of dignity and hoping to find it in someone else's shame. And on and on it goes.

Since relational conflict is always with us, bullying is a fact of life. So, as a Christian, what does one do about a bully? Turn the other cheek? Yes, Jesus said to do that in the same sermon a few verses later (Matt. 5:39). It is an irrevocable command in Christianity that we are not to return evil for evil. However, I don't believe this means we can never fight back. When bullied - emotionally or physically - turn the other cheek and then take a step backward. Try to resolve the conflict as best you can but if the bully doesn't want resolution, walk away. If the incident was a one-off, shake it off and move on. But what if the bully is a family member, a co-worker or someone else who isn't going to leave your life sphere anytime soon?

I believe there is a way to fight back without compromising our Christian convictions. Remember what Jesus said in Matt. 5:22, "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court". Some manuscripts read "whoever is angry at his brother without a cause..." which would make some sense since Jesus Himself got angry at times. Whoever is angry without a cause is the one in the wrong and before taking action, you need to be sure that your adversary is harassing you without cause. We need to check our own thoughts; each of us has the capacity to do that. Once satisfied that you are dealing with a bully, you need to stand up to him (or her). How? First, take another step back.

Now here comes the spiritual response. Pray for the situation to change. Then you need to face your own fears and anxiety. Confess them to God. Then I would read a psalm or two (I recommend 35 and 139). Know that you are a child of God and accept the fact that you are what He says you are and not what others say. They didn't make you, He did. Know that you are loved by God because He says so and the fear in you will be defeated. "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). Once this is settled, God's transforming love in you will show forth in kindness and in the quiet and noble strength that only God can make happen in you.

Bullies don't know what to do with that. They are self-centered and insecure and delight in other people's humiliation. It's particularly sad to see such people in church on Sunday. They seem completely unaware that healing is available to them, too, but they won't have it. God is not a part of their lives despite what they may say. Pray for them but don't return evil for evil. Don't let them own you.

Assume the dignity and self-worth that are yours from God. Abraham Lincoln said, "It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels he is worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him."

October Crisis II

We’ve been here before but it’s been a while. During Canada’s first October Crisis, in 1970, roughly half of the country’s current population either wasn’t born or was just being born. Many of us, though, can recall the brazen kidnappings of British Trade Commissioner James Cross and Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte by the homegrown urban terrorist group, the F.L.Q. (Front de Liberation du Quebec). Prior to 1970, this group was responsible for setting off bombs in public and other terrorist acts before their fanaticism came to full flower in October 1970. Before it was over, Mr. Laporte had been murdered and Canada was effectively a police state with the imposition of the War Measures Act (later replaced by the less-restrictive Emergencies Act in 1988).

People are saying that after the shootings in Ottawa last October 22 that resulted in the deaths of a National War Memorial honor guard and his assailant, Canada has lost her innocence. I beg to differ. This kind of thing may be new for the generation of Canadians that has known little or no relatable conflict, but to suggest that this is new territory for Canada is a tad naïve and perhaps revisionist. What is unclear to many is where to go from here. Many of us are angry and we should be. That said, to allow our anger to fester and to direct it against a particular group of people would be self-detrimental.

You may or may not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God but no matter. He has some words that will help us out with all of this. It is recorded in John 10:17-18 that Christ said, “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it back up again. No one takes it away from Me, but from Myself, I lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” 

To put these words in their proper context, they refer to His God-ordained mission and purpose and were pointing to His pending death and resurrection. However, consider for a moment the curious statement that no one takes His life from Him but, rather, He lays it down. Why does He distinguish between laying down His life and not allowing it to be taken from Him? It’s a control issue. Jesus refused to surrender His life to His enemies by giving them justification for killing Him. He never struck back or retaliated in any way. Instead, He allowed their injustice to come to fruition so it could be seen for what it was, a travesty based on lies, a suppression of the truth. For Him to lash out in revenge would’ve been to taint Himself, to allow His life to be taken from Him. Those who embitter us control us. Those who receive the brunt of our grudges own us and have taken our lives from us. They win.

From now on, we must be vigilant but not prejudiced. We must strive for justice and resist vengeance because vengeance isn’t ours, it is God’s. And finally, we must understand that forgiveness is for our own sakes. It never validates the bad deeds of others but spares us from the bitterness we allow into our lives that will ultimately destroy us. It won’t be easy but we must not allow our enemies to take our lives from us. They aren’t worthy of them.