CRC Do Justice

How can this be?
for those who claim to be--
Christ followers, you and me

A Poetic Response to the Doctrine of Discovery Our Hearts Exchanged cohort spent time learning about the Doctrine of Discovery through readings, videos, stories and conversation. We had taken in the magnitude of how contrary to the way of Jesus this was and how incredibly inappropriate it was for the church to make such a declaration. We felt th...

Civil War in Sudan has made the heavy rain more lethal. When a dam crumbled after days of heavy rain that had come much earlier than usual, it wiped away homes, electricity and water pipes, burying the working airport and roads needed for aid delivery. It also killed dozens in its wake. Sudan’s dams, roads and bridges were already in disrepair before the war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023.

Both sides have since funnelled the bulk of their resources into the conflict, leaving infrastructure badly neglected. In this time of trouble upon trouble we pray:

https://loom.ly/nGgV_Hg

God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.
- Ecclesiastes 5: 1-3 NIV

Justice Prayers - August 28, 2024 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words b...

In olden days where communication was limited, this would be the signal for those looking for someone who might have gone missing. Making such events an opportunity to exploit and extort resources is unjustifiable.

Hope In The Broken World In one of my recent blogs in 2023, I shared about an elderly lady who my wife met. The greatest question was who is my neighbour? What are the expectations of the neighbours? As a Christian the body of Christ is meant to be neighbours. The story in Luke 10:25-37, the response of the Levite, Priest a...

In the chaos unleashed by the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the civil war that followed, Islamist militias systematically targeted Christians in Iraq’s cities, kidnapping and murdering priests, expelling Christians from their homes at gunpoint, and bombing churches.

Iraq, ten years after ISIS’ genocide Ten years ago this month, the army of the Islamic State (or ISIS) swept through Sinjar and the Nineveh Plains in northern Iraq. These two regions were the ancestral homelands of two of Iraq’s oldest religious communities – Yazidis and Assyrian Christians, respectively. Overnight, over 120,000 Ch...

The Bible is bookended with trees. In Genesis, the tree of life stands in for the Garden of Eden. In Revelation, the tree represents the restored New Jerusalem, a tree whose leaves “are for the healing of nations.”

Spirituality and Justice for Trees The Bible is bookended with trees. In Genesis, the tree of life stands in for the Garden of Eden. In Revelation, the tree represents the restored New Jerusalem, a tree whose leaves “are for the healing of nations.” The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. This is a passage of s...

One of the days, students spent the afternoon at a housing simulation where they were given a profile of a real person who was unhoused with the goal of finding long-term housing. Depending on the profile they were given, they may be on crutches, have no family, struggle with mental health, etc.

SERVEing in an Urban Community Nestled in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan sits LaGrave Avenue CRC. Over thirty years ago, LaGrave was the very first church to host SERVE – a week-long mission trip experience for high school students run by ThereforeGo Ministries (formerly known as Youth Unlimited) – and they have...

The King of love my shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am his,
and he is mine forever.

- The King of love my Shepherd is

Justice Prayers - August 21, 2024 The King of love my shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never. I nothing lack if I am his, and he is mine forever. - The King of love my Shepherd is Israel’s war on Gaza live: UN says Israeli ‘strikes are now relentless’ A spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palesti...

The Pantanal wetland, which falls within Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, covering an area almost half the size of Germany – is facing the proposed construction of a commercial waterway which involves dredging wetlands and permanently altering natural flood cycles. The Brazilian government wants to develop the upper 435 miles (700km) of the Paraguay River into the Paraguay-Paraná hidrovia (waterway). In 2022 and 2023, preliminary licenses were issued for the construction of port facilities within the Pantanal. A cohort of 40 scientists have released a paper, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment saying that this waterway development represents an existential threat to the ecosystem: reducing the floodplain, increasing the risk of fires and transforming the area into a landscape that could more easily be farmed.

Prof Karl M Wantzen, an ecologist from the University of Tours, and Unesco chair for river culture, said the wetland “is a real paradise on Earth. Nowhere else will you see so many hyacinth macaws, jaguars, swamp deer, anacondas, caymans, more than 300 fish species, 500 bird species, 2,500 species of water plants … All of that is at risk.”

https://loom.ly/_pjHhhU

“For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies.
Christ, our Lord, to you we raise
this, our hymn of grateful praise.”

For the Beauty of the Earth, English Hymn, 1864

Justice Prayers - August 14, 2024 “For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies. Christ, our Lord, to you we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise.” For the Beauty of the Earth, English Hymn, 1864 Protests Over Lithium Mining in Serbia Thousands of people ha...

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on Monday after hundreds of people were killed in a crackdown on demonstrations that began as protests against job quotas and swelled into a movement demanding her ouster. Jubilant crowds stormed unopposed into the opulent grounds of the presidential residence, carrying out looted furniture and TVs. One man balanced a red velvet, gilt-edged chair on his head. Another held an armful of vases. Elsewhere in Dhaka, protesters climbed atop a statue of Hasina's father, state founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and began chiseling away at the head with an ax. The flight into exile ended a 15-year second stint in power for Hasina, who has ruled for 20 of the last 30 years as leader of the political movement inherited from her father, assassinated with most of his family in a 1975 coup. Hasina had left the country for her own safety at the insistence of her family, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy told the BBC World Service.

https://loom.ly/taL6KcQ

On that day the Lord their God will rescue his people, just as a shepherd rescues his sheep. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown. - Zechariah 9:16

Justice Prayers - August 7, 2024 On that day the Lord their God will rescue his people, just as a shepherd rescues his sheep. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.

What does it mean to work toward a more fair and humane world, when there are so many different roadmaps to get there? How do we know where to put our time, energy, and resources with so many things calling for our attention?

‘Es complicado’ Each year, when my students and I travel to Cuernavaca, Mexico to visit with local activists, community builders, human rights workers, and anti-poverty advocates, we meet with a lifelong justice and peace practitioner named Juan Francisco. After discussing his lifelong work for equality and justice...

This disturbing incident left me mulling over the pressure on girls and women (and sometimes boys and men) to be nice at all costs.

The pressure can be even higher for social justice-minded Christians; it can be a particularly confusing and complex road to navigate.

Must Christians Always be Nice? The other week, while on vacation, my two youngest kids and I were happily soaking in our hotel’s hot tub. Across from us was a swimming pool, which two girls, aged five and 15, entered. Their mother sat nearby. Immediately, a large young man in his early twenties beelined toward the girls. He see...

Are there people on the brink of disaster to whom our hearts can sleep peacefully with no regard for their value or God’s concern?

The CRCNA’s Nineveh It is very easy to be hard on the Jonah of the Bible. It seems so obvious to us what he ought to do. However, I believe that each of us has a Nineveh we brush aside as quickly as Jonah does. When God calls Jonah eastward, Jonah goes as far as humanly possible westward. Of all things he goes on a boa...

In God's green pasture feeding by His cool waters lie Soft in the evening walk my Lord and I - His Sheep Am I

Justice Prayers - July 31, 2024 In God's green pasture feeding by His cool waters lie Soft in the evening walk my Lord and I - His Sheep Am I Jasper Fire Last week the town of Jasper, AB’s 5000 permanent residents and 1000s more seasonal workers were evacuated and a fast-moving wildfire destroyed approximately 30% of the town’...

"When we see ministry through the church open-handedly, I think it allows for the breath of the Holy Spirit to merge with our human abilities."

Navigating Change: Lessons from Church Renewal In this episode we discuss the 'elephants' of church renewal. Rev. Dr. Elaine May discusses her work in church renewal and leadership development within the Christian Reformed Church in North America. She highlights the importance of shifting from ownership to stewardship, aligning church ministry w...

I have a picture and a card from a dear former member on my wall where I pastored for twenty years. The picture showed her smiling face with a short hairstyle. The background of the picture showed her knitting, using her fingers to make gestures of love through yarn.

Decay Does not have the Last Word We (Paul and Barnabas) tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’ The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is state...

Multiple wildfires in the Canadian Rockies' largest national park sent up to 25,000 visitors and residents fleeing west over the last open mountain road Tuesday, navigating through darkness and soot following a government alert during the area's busiest tourist time of the year.

“It’s wall-to-wall traffic,” Carolyn Campbell, an Edmonton resident, said by phone from her vehicle. “(The smoke) is pretty thick. We’ve got masks in the car.” She said it took hours to move just seven kilometers (about four miles), and worried about others who fled with little gas in their tanks. Hundreds of wildfires are burning in western Canada, and those fleeing Jasper National Park and Jasper town — home to 4,700 residents — in Alberta province were given the unusual order later Tuesday to make a vast U-turn east if they needed a place to stay. To the west, British Columbia province already had more than 300 wildfires of its own. Stephen Lacroix with the Alberta Emergency Management Agency said Jasper town estimated about 10,000 people, including seasonal workers, were there when the evacuation call went out. Lacroix said police were going door to door to make sure everyone had left. He also said Parks Canada estimated about 15,000 people had been in the park.

https://loom.ly/i_0rYKQ

We continue to hear great feedback about the Hearts Exchanged program including quotes like this one. You (and your church) can sign up for options starting this fall.

https://www.crcna.org/hearts-exchanged

Your sure provisions gracious God
attend me all my days;
oh, may your house be my abode,
and all my work be praise.

- My Shepherd Will Supply My Need

Justice Prayers - July 24, 2024 Your sure provisions gracious God attend me all my days; oh, may your house be my abode, and all my work be praise.

In this episode we discuss the 'elephants' of church renewal. Rev. Dr. Elaine May discusses her work in church renewal and leadership development within the Christian Reformed Church in North America. She highlights the importance of shifting from ownership to stewardship, aligning church ministry with God's mission, and the challenges and blessings of navigating change and discernment in congregational contexts.

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/do-justice/episodes/Navigating-Change-Lessons-from-Church-Renewal-e2lq0l2

Three kind events from three random people. You might be tempted to make the inference that California is a place full of kind humans. While I don’t disagree for some reason it made me draw a different conclusion: There’s kindness and goodness in human beings because we have the stamp of our creator. We’re his image bearers, believers and non-believers alike.

What do you see? Sometimes I travel solo and when I do, it allows me to people-watch and be more perceptive of situations around me. One such time was a trip to California this past May. It was my first time in California so I crammed a lot into this trip. Less than 24 hours in San Diego then on to my next destinati...

I am a firm advocate of self assessment and reflection. While it can be uncomfortable to delve deep into our own thoughts and actions, I believe it is our duty as church leaders to be willing to ask ourselves hard questions to ensure we are helping to create safe churches led by safe people.

https://loom.ly/7LR2xaU

Words of Safety Words are powerful. With God’s mighty power, He only had to speak the words, “Let there be light” for light to be created into existence. While not as powerful as our Lord Almighty, the words we use are also impactful, filled with meaning and associations. Used with good intentions, they can e...

Lead on, Good Shepherd, I’ll follow all my days
There ain’t nothing sweeter
Than to watch You make a way
- Lead On Good Shepherd, Patrick Mayberry

https://loom.ly/CFT25TM

Justice Prayers - July 17, 2024 Lead on, Good Shepherd, I’ll follow all my days There ain’t nothing sweeter Than to watch You make a way - Lead On Good Shepherd, Patrick Mayberry Assassination Attempt Consequences reverberate after an assassination attempt on Republican nominee Donald Trump in the U.S. As people who follow the...

"Church benevolence is about more than giving money; it's about building relationships and supporting long-term solutions."

Persistent Pursuit: Mark's Journey from Haiti to Deaconship Mark Vanderwees from Diaconal Ministries Canada joins us to talk about his journey to becoming a deacon and suggestions for best practices for deacons. This episode discusses the evolving role of deacons, community engagement, and practical support for church benevolence and justice initiatives. The...

Jesus, you who make bad things disappear and you who heal people, it is not a dangerous road, the good Word/news that you teach. You give us everything; your outstretched hands help and heal us and settle the storms of what is cruel.

https://loom.ly/G-ELnww

God With Us "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?" - Psalm 56:3-4 Mohawk Sonkwaiatison, Takwaienha, Kanistensera, tanon Iontsenha, Tekatkakwarisi katkato kiotkon takwanoronkwa nonon wennisaratenion Teiotsathaien...

Welcomed in by drumming and song, enjoying bannock tacos and gathering around a wood fire to listen to Tony Dandurand, a Kwantlen First Nations storyteller, folded us into an evening of a good beginning together.

https://loom.ly/qc1GvfM

Walk for Reconciliation How shall we demonstrate our solidarity with our First Nations brothers and sisters? This was the question that a small group of people from several Langley, BC area churches asked themselves over nine years ago. This was the beginning of the “Walk in the Spirit of Reconciliation'' that has been h...

President Joe Biden called one of the heaviest Russian airstrikes on Ukraine since the war began “a horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality”, amid widespread international revulsion at Monday’s attacks and as NATO leaders gathered to announce new measures to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses. The government of Volodymyr Zelenskiy declared Tuesday a day of mourning after at least 38 civilians were killed in a series of attacks where targets included Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, leaving an unknown number trapped under the rubble in Kyiv. Four of the dead were children, the Ukrainian president said on Tuesday. The strikes across Ukraine on Monday highlighted the country’s air defense vulnerabilities a day before NATO leaders are set to meet in Washington for their annual summit, where they are expected to announce new measures to aid Ukraine. Twenty-two people were killed in the capital, including two staff members at the hospital, where three children were hurt. The strike largely destroyed the hospital’s toxicology ward, where children with severe kidney issues were being treated. Hundreds of rescue workers and volunteers joined the effort to clear the debris and search for survivors. Officials and emergency staff said it was not immediately clear how many doctors and patients – dead or alive – remained trapped under the rubble.

https://loom.ly/sjZkmOQ

And you shall know My voice
In the stillness of the dawn
In the morning that never fades
There you shall find Me
- The Shepherd and His Sheep, David Ogundeko

Justice Prayers - July 10, 2024 And you shall know My voice In the stillness of the dawn In the morning that never fades There you shall find Me - The Shepherd and His Sheep, David Ogundeko Canada's Rising Unemployment Canada's unemployment rate rose to a 29-month high of 6.4%, data showed on Friday, highlighting that people might...