#canada

It’s a Fact, Eh? – The Loonie and the Dollar

I maintain an occasional series of articles called “It’s a Fact, Eh?” which offers little glimpses at some of the joys, complexities, and eccentricities of being Canadian and living here in the Great White North. Today I want to talk about the Canadian dollar and its relationship to its American counterpart. Really, I want to talk about the Canadian obsession with the U.S. Dollar. When you listen to a Canadian news report, you will almost always hear how the Canadian …

A Pastoral Conundrum

Here is a pastoral conundrum for you to think about. In 1412 the pre-Reformation preacher John Huss found himself facing a difficult decision. The Roman Catholic Church had excommunicated him for his refusal to burn his copies of John Wycliffe’s writings and now the Church had also leveled an interdict against the city of Prague on his account. This was a scare tactic that meant that for as long as he was in the city, no sacraments could be administered there. …

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It’s a Fact, Eh? – Labour Day

I have an occasional series on this site that I’ve titled It’s a Fact, Eh?. The series looks to various facts related to the great country that I live in. Today I want to extend that series to Labor Day (or Labour Day, if you’re up here in Canada), because if you’ve got the day off, you’ve got Canada to thank. Working conditions near the end of the 19th century, whether in Canada or the United States, were very different …

The Truth About Canadian Health Care

Americans are debating the future of their nation’s health care and as they do so, they keep looking beyond their borders to the systems in place in other countries. And, very often, their attention rests on Canada. More often than not, at least today, it is conservatives focusing on Canada, telling stories of woe, describing the utter breakdown of health care. You hear of people who have been forced to mortgage their homes and travel to the United States in …

Memorizing Scripture Together – Week 2 Update

It is my intention to primarily use email to update the participants in the Memorizing Scripture Together effort (click here to learn about the program). However, this morning I logged in to the software I use to send those emails only to find that it is down for maintenance until 9 AM tomorrow morning. And so I’m going to post this on the blog today just to keep people in the loop. The email blast will go out as soon …

It’s a Fact, Eh? – Canada Day

Today is Canada Day and I, like just about every other Canadian, am taking the day off from work. But it does give me a good opportunity to add a new article to the “It’s a Fact, Eh?” article archives. Every year on July 1, Canada pauses for one day to focus on our nation. Though often compared to America’s Independence Day, Canada Day celebrates something quite different. The day marks the anniversary of the joining of the British colonies …

It’s a Fact, Eh? – Victoria Day

Today is the day that I and my fellow Canadians celebrate Victoria Day. It is a day in which we, at least in theory, commemorate the birthday of Queen Victoria (and Queen Elizabeth II, though I suspect most people are not aware that she piggybacks in her birthday as well). Most Canadians, I’m quite sure, do not know or care what the day commemorates, though they are happy enough to enjoy a day away from work and school. I will …

Together for the Gospel (in Canada!) – A Reminder

We are just a couple of weeks away from Together for the Gospel—undoubtedly one of the most highly anticipated conferences of the year. I first mentioned a few weeks ago that at the conference there will be a small gathering geared specifically to Canadians and to people with an interest in ministry to Canada. This is a ministry of Grace Fellowship Church of Toronto and there are no expenses involved. It will be lead, at least initially, by my pastor …

Together for the Gospel (in Canada!)

Some time ago I was talking with a friend who pastors a church in this area and we discussed how much we enjoy what is being accomplished and modeled through Together for the Gospel. We talked about how we wish something like that could happen in Canada. And from there we realized that maybe, just maybe, it can happen. There are going to be plenty of Canadians attending Together for the Gospel and it seemed to us that it would …

It’s Not A Compliment

It was a good couple of months ago that a little article on an obscure web site caught my eye. For some reason, that now escapes my mind, I found myself at the web site of The Peninsula, which describes itself as “Qatar’s Leading English Daily.” I hadn’t been there before and I haven’t been there since, except to read this particular article. The title of the article is, “400 sheep fall off cliff in Turkey.” Perhaps it was just …