Click here to read what appears to be a lengthy excerpt from Marci McDonald’s book, “The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada,” due to be released Monday. One of the many illustrations of the absurdity of Ms. McDonald’s conspiracy theories is her labeling of the Canadian Constitution Foundation as a “Christian advocacy group.” One of CCF’s leading representatives and in-house lawyers is outspoken atheist libertarian, Karen Selick. How much credibility is Random House Canada going to get for publishing this book? The Toronto Star – May 7, 2010 How Canada’s Christian right was built From Stephen Harper’s refusal to fund abortion as part of his G8 initiative to the outcry that forced the cancellation of Ontario’s sex ed curriculum, the religious right is making its growing muscle felt on the political landscape. In a new book called By Marci McDonald From the moment I began this book, I was confronted by skeptics who insist that a truly influential religious right could never take root in Canada. For some, that denial seemed like an exercise in wishful thinking, a refusal to face the possibility that the idea of the country they cherish — liberal, tolerant, and not given to extremes of action or belief — might not be in sync with the changing reality. Others argued that if a Christian right did exist here it would have burst fully formed on to the political scene, a carbon copy of that in the U.S. — raucous and confrontational, openly pulling the strings of the Conservative party and captained by outspoken television preachers with millions of viewers ready to respond to their bidding. But the American movement has had more than three decades to take shape and flourish; by the time scholars and the mainstream media noticed, it had already infiltrated nearly every level of government from school boards to the Senate, often by stealth. In this country, where the CRTC has kept the reins on religious broadcasting and Catholics make up a larger proportion of the faith community, the emergent Christian right may look and sound different than its American counterpart, but in the five years since the prospect of same-sex marriage propelled evangelicals into political action, it has spawned a coalition of advocacy groups, think tanks and youth lobbies that have changed the national debate. The “sleeping giant” that Capital Xtra! magazine had warned against in 2005 is now up and about, organizing with a vengeance that will not be easily reversed. As Faytene Kryskow, leader of Christian youth lobby called 4MYCanada, told a parliamentary reception, “We are here, and we are here to stay.” With funding from a handful of conservative Christian philanthropists and a web of grassroots believers accustomed to tithing in the service of their faith, those organizations have built sophisticated databases and online networks capable of mobilizing their forces behind specific legislation with instant e-mail alerts and updates. Setting up an array of internship programs, they are also training a new generation of activists to be savvier than their secular peers in navigating the corridors of power. Already, their alumni have landed top jobs in the public service, MPs’ offices and the PMO, prompting one official from the National House of Prayer to boast in an unguarded moment, “If the media knew how many Christians there are in the government, they’d go crazy.” Click here to read what appears to be a lengthy excerpt from Marci McDonald’s book. ...

By Ron Gray Xtra’s article shows nude men in the ‘Gay’ Pride Parade. This has been happening for four or five years. The first time, the police arrested the naked men, but a homosexual Crown counsel in Toronto conspired to have the charges stayed, on the spurious grounds that they were “not naked” — they were wearing shoes! It’s this sort of sophistry that brings the law and Canada’s ‘justice’ system into disrepute. At the same time, a pro-life activist like Don Spratt — who went into Vancouver’s ‘Bubble Zone’ with tape over his mouth, to illustrate that the Supreme Court refused to defend his Section 2 Charter rights — gets put in jail for trying to be a voice for the most helpless among us. Shameful! Quite understandably, in subsequent years the Toronto police didn’t bother to arrest naked men in the shameful ‘Pride’ parade: why should they waste their time when Crown counsel will not pursue an open-and-shut case? Many Torontonians now take their children to see the parade; this is outright child abuse. Yes, the federal government is contributing to criminal actions. Why? because our supposedly “Christian” Prime Minister and high-profile “Christian” Minister of State lack the guts to say “No!” to bureaucrats and political advisors who tell them such acts of betrayal will gain public support. • The Prime Minister has made the Conservative government the defender of the abortion industry. • His government has introduced the most extravagant budget in Canadian history, adding to the burden that will have to be repaid by our children and grandchildren. (And the Liberals and NDP criticize them for not spending enough!) The men and women now sitting in the two chambers of Parliament apparently don’t understand that buying votes today with money that belongs to future generations is theft. • They are anti-life, anti-family, and anti-thrift and antinomian. If the Christians who stayed at home during the last election had gone to the ballot-box to vote for the CHP, we would have about 60 CHP Members of Parliament to call the government to account for this kind of criminal behaviour. So whose fault is it? It’s ours! We lack the conviction to “throw the rascals out”! Ron Gray is the past leader of the Christian Heritage Party. ...

The latest battle between an embittered, activist teacher and a faith-based educational institution in Alberta, a transgendered substitute teacher has filed a human rights complaint against the Greater St. Albert Catholic School Board. Janet Buterman, 39, claims she was dismissed by the school board because she was undergoing a sex change. The Catholic school board argues the procedure is in conflict with Catholic values. Buterman filed the complaint the same day Alberta formally includes sexual orientation into its provincial Human Rights Act. The complaint is just the latest attack against freedom of religious expression and conviction in the province – similar precedent-setting cases involve Red Deer pastor Stephen Boissoin’s current Court of Queen’s Bench appeal against the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal and chemistry instructor Delwin Vriend’s 1991 battle against King’s College over a dismissal regarding Vriend’s sexual orientation. The Vriend dispute led to a Supreme Court appeal, pitting Vriend against the province. The court ruled in Vriend’s favour, resulting in the province’s current Bill 44 efforts to enshrine sexual orientation into its provincial Human Rights Act. ...

Read this article online here. American Vision – Feb. 26, 2010 The Unity of the Covenants By Joel McDurmon The publication of the first volume (927 pages!) of Joseph Morecraft, III’s Authentic Christianity: A Exposition of the Theology and Ethics of the Westminster Larger Catechism provides us with a healthy review of classical Reformed covenant theology. As such, it gives us important perspectives and a good occasion to approach covenant theology today. Against those who would draw rigid or overly-stark lines between the Old and New Testaments, or between, say, the Abrahamic Covenant (representing “faith”) and the Mosaic Covenant (“works”), Morecraft illustrates that the purposes, promises, framework, and message remains fundamentally the same throughout the various Covenants in the Bible. As such, a single central focus of creating a grace-based community continues through all the permutations of the covenant: God’s promise to his people – “I will be your God” – is the focus of the patriarchs (Gen, 17:7, 8), Israel’s faith under Moses’ leadership (Ex. 20:2; 29:45; Deut. 5:2, 3), Israel’s faith in Babylon (Jer. 24:7; 30:22; Ezek. 11:20), Israel’s faith after Babylon (Zech. 13:9), believers’ faith in the New Testament (2 Cor. 6:6; Heb. 8:10), and of life in heaven (Rev. 21:3).[1] Morecraft shows how God’s covenant gives the Bible a unifying framework through the unity that exists between the successive versions of the Covenant of Grace. He writes, An obvious unity exists between the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1–3; 17), the Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 19–24), and the Davidic Covenant (2 Sam. 7). This unity is evident in (1) The history and experience of God’s people from Abraham to David, and (2) The development of the covenants genealogically, in the line of continued generations.[2] Morecraft goes on to explicate these two lines of evidence. The explanation includes a panoramic Bible study well worth sitting down and reading through. First, he offers the biblical evidence regarding the history and experience of God’s people, showing how each of the covenants (often taught as completely separate today) intertwine with, comprehend, and repeat each other: we see that the Exodus and the possession of Canaan are fulfillments of the Abrahamic Covenant (Ex. 2:24; 6:4–8); the history of Israel after Mt. Sinai under Moses continues to focus on the divine promises to Abraham (Ex.32:13, 14; Gen. 15:18; Ex. 23:31; Josh. 1:3); the Mosaic Covenant is rooted in the Abrahamic Covenant (Ex. 6:1–8; Deut. 1:1–8; Ex. 32:13; Ps. 105:8–10; Lev. 26:42); the Mosaic Covenant in no way annulled or interrupted the Abrahamic Covenant (Gal. 3:17); the Davidic Covenant is rooted in the Abrahamic (2 Sam. 7:8–16; 23:5; 1 Chron. 16:15–18), and is a development of the Mosaic (2 Sam. 7:6, 23; 1 Kings 2:3–4). The centralization of worship under David was anticipated by Moses (Deut. 12:5, 11, 14, 18); and the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem connected with the coronation of the king and the establishment of God’s throne was in fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant (1 Chron. 16:15–18).[3] Each of these covenants builds on and assumes the others, each one requiring measures of faith alone, works flowing from faith unto life, and containing various material blessings. This same idea appears in the “seed” principle that began with Adam, runs through Abraham, through the Mosaic “seed” separation laws, and all the way up to Christ. Morecraft explains: God’s covenant arrangements run in a genealogical line as is evident from the “seed” concept (Gen. 15:18; Ex. 20:5, 6; Deut. 5:2, 3; 7:9; 2 Sam. 7:12). David’s son is heir to the promises to Moses and Abraham. (See also Deut. 29:14–15; Ps. 105:8–10; Isa. 59:21; Acts 3:25.) Deuteronomy 7:9 shows us that covenant promises extend to one thousand generations, not only reminding us that this is an eternal covenant, but also that it involves a continuous succession of generations.[4] And this type of unity does not only exist among the different installments of the covenant in the Old Testament, it runs right through the New as well: An obvious unity also exists between the Old Testament covenants and the New Covenant in Christ.[5] The New Covenant may be understood in no other way than as the realization and fulfillment of the projections and promises of the Old Testament covenants. Jeremiah 31:31–34 and 32:39–41 show the intertwining of the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants in the New Covenant (Heb. 8:6–13). Ezekiel 34:20–31 shows the intertwining of the Davidic Covenant and the New Covenant. And Ezekiel 37:24–26 combines all three – the Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic – in the New Covenant. (See also Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 8:6–13; 10:15–18; 2 Cor. 1:20). Everything that happens to God’s people happens because of God’s Covenant promises, laws or sanctions. Morecraft teaches the “Covenant of God” for over 175 pages in his magnum opus, covering every facet of classical Reformed covenant theology in Westminster Standards-style depth and precision. The difference between Morecraft’s work and that of the Westminster Assembly’s (1643–1646) is that we didn’t have to ask Morecraft to go back and add the Scriptural proofs – he supplied them up front. His 175-page treatment of the Covenants, while not necessarily a full-fledged “Covenant Theology,” could nevertheless be published as a stand-alone book on the subject and be received as a very helpful guide by itself. I have taken the time only to relate Morecraft’s treatment of the unity of the Covenants. He treats the differences as well, but today the Unity needs stressing more than ever. There is a growing trend today – built on the innovative and dispensational-like “covenant” theology of the late Meredith Kline – to maintain a sharp divide between the Mosaic covenant (“works”) and the New Testament (“grace”). While Paul does speak allegorically and in application with these terms on occasion, he usually does so for very limited and particular purposes – for example, to counter those “Judaizers” who wished to impose things like circumcision and the Jewish calendar as necessary terms for salvation. But this application is a far cry from the modern efforts to completely deny continuity of the Ten Commandments (along with their social and civil applications) and the New Testament, to argue that Christians should keep absolutely silent in the public square, and to deny that biblical law should inform public policies. Nothing could be further from the teachings across the Bible. By showing the essential unity of the Covenants – including the law of the Covenants – Morecraft gives us a helpful study in countering the radical modern expression of this “two kingdoms” error. Endnotes: [1] Joseph C. Morecraft, III, Authentic Christianity: An Exposition of the Theology and Ethics of the Westminster Larger Catechism, 5 vol. (Powder Springs, GA: Minkoff Family Publishing and American Vision Press, 2009), 1:696. [2] Morecraft, Authentic Christianity, 1:702. [3] Morecraft, Authentic Christianity, 1:702–703. [4] Morecraft, Authentic Christianity, 1:703. [5] There is even a clear unity of the Adamic and Noahic Covenants with the New Covenant (Gen. 8:22; Rom. 16:20; Gen. 3:15). ...