Shine Jesus shine! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5
This weekend the story of Christ’s nativity, its historic and modern impact, will be presented to our community. Twenty-six times our tours (2600 tickets) will launch dialogue with both people from CLA and with neighbours. Wrapped in Wonder is an experience for the whole family, it’s free and it’s a beautiful way to volunteer. Specifically I want to thank Jonathan Keller and Neil Muth (CLA’s manager) who have quarterbacked the construction and Sara-Lee Hamre who has been the set director and inspiration of the play in the theatre. This year’s 25-minute drama is about her dad, Rev Ken Gaetz. There are still tickets available here and we will allow a certain number of walk ups for each tour. Thank you for supporting “Help Us Tell the Story”.
Bill C9 in Ottawa. As you may have heard, there is legislation before a parliamentary committee that could influence the way faith is taught or expressed in Canada. C9 is an act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda, hate crime and access to religious or cultural places). This change would mean that Canadians who express a "sincerely held belief" based on their faith, could be prosecuted for hate crimes. MP Mark Miller recently stated that certain texts of the Bible could be included in this. This bill (legislation) has come before parliament for first and second readings and was then sent to a committee for study, after the committee it is advanced on to the senate for a vote prior to becoming law. The committee has been studying the bill since September but recent signals from Liberals and Bloc Quebecois members on the committee indicate they have enough votes to move this through. Our partner, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, has been active on this file all fall and more information can be attained at their website here. The MP for CLA Langley is Tako Van Popta and you can contact him here. He is also concerned about this legislation. Our reasonable response to national, provincial or municipal acts that concern us is first to pray. Second, it is to make our concerns known. Third, it is to work with others as CLA does with the EFC and PAOC. The EFC is very active on Parliament Hill and I’m proud of our partnership with them.
