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This article is reprinted with permission from Faith Today (May/Jun 2026). →en français If asked to recount the main events of Jesus’ life, most will probably list His birth, death and resurrection. But what about His ascension? Jesus’ ascension is probably easily overlooked because of how minimally the Scriptures directly mention it. A disputed longer ending of Mark includes it (Mark 16:19), but otherwise only Luke mentions it briefly in Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:9. Compared to

This article is reprinted with permission from Faith Today (Mar/Apr 2026). →en français Standing in the church sanctuary, I listened to the heart-wrenching story of a man whose mother had been euthanized. Tearfully he shared how he and his siblings had clashed over their mother’s decision to have her life ended due to chronic illness. Tragically, he and another sibling wanted their mom to live while his other siblings thought she’d suffered enough. I believe a solid biblical

This article is reprinted with permission from Faith Today (Jan/ Feb 2026). →en français This past fall I attended an event honouring the late Rabbi Reuven Bulka, a loved and respected rabbi from Ottawa. I was struck by the high level of security and how such measures are now common in Jewish circles. I thought, How sad we’ve come to this point in Canada where Jews are constantly forced to prepare for potential physical violence! Antisemitism isn’t new. For millennia Jews hav

→en français The Right Honourable Mark Carney Prime Minister of Canada Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2 Dear Prime Minister, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (The EFC) is very concerned about the rise in hate crimes targeting religious groups. We are deeply troubled by the alarming increase in antisemitism in Canada. Jews are and have consistently been among the most frequent targets of hate crimes in Canada, and the number of antisemit

This article is reprinted with permission from Faith Today (Nov/Dec 2025). →en français In 1945 Harry Emerson Fosdick, pastor and critic of American fundamentalism, declared, "I do not believe in the virgin birth. … I do not know of any intelligent minister who does." In a secular age it’s understandable that anything smacking of the transcendent is met with skepticism. Fosdick was free to question the virgin birth but – note well – his nonbelief runs against the long grain o

This article is reprinted with permission from Faith Today (Sep/Oct 2025). →en français At a catch-up coffee with a friend, we got into a heated theological argument. Fortunately, our friendship survived, but it reminded me theological disagreement can be hard, especially among friends and family. I haven’t always played nicely in theological debate. With advanced theological degrees and decades in theological education, I haven’t always loved my theological neighbour well, o

The Right Honourable Mark Carney Prime Minister of Canada 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2 Dear Prime Minister, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) is the national association of evangelical congregations, denominations, educational institutions and ministries across Canada. The evangelical community is a significant segment of the Christian population in Canada, made up of some 2.5 million Canadians. The EFC’s Seven Commitments Working Group (7CWG) is comprised

This article is reprinted with permission from Faith Today (May/Jun 2025). →en français Few could have predicted the level of political unrest we’ve seen so far in 2025. This includes the resignation of a prime minister, the election of a new one, ongoing threats of tariffs and counter-tariffs, and all the drama of a federal election (the outcome of which, as I write this, remains unknown). In such times of geopolitical upheaval, the Church has often stepped in to offer theol

The Right Honourable Mark Carney Prime Minister of Canada 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2 Dear Prime Minister, On behalf of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), I offer sincere congratulations on your election victory. We are praying for you as you serve our nation at a critical time in history. We pray also for you and your family as you face the new demands of time and expectations of your office. This is a time of great turbulence in the world and for Canada

This article is reprinted with permission from Faith Today (Mar/Apr 2025). →en français. Watch a video message based on this column According to my Aeroplan loyalty program statement, I’m a frequent flyer. I’ve almost never feared for my life on airline flights. But there was one white-knuckle trip into Toronto when extreme rain, crosswinds and turbulence caused us to hit the runway violently, only to take off again because, the pilot calmly explained later, we had been blown

This article is reprinted with permission from Faith Today (Jan/Feb 2025). →en français Growing up I went to church whenever the church doors opened. Twice on Sunday, once on Wednesday and Friday for youth group. Sometimes I even went to church when the doors were locked! (Our family took a turn on the church cleaning schedule.) I also remember the saying, “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you a car.” For years, I repeated tha

This article comes from Read directly: https://www.faithtoday.ca/Magazines/2024-Nov-Dec →en français As enchanting as it is to watch little children playact Mary and Joseph admiring a Christ child doll with shepherds in tow while adults wonder Are we running out of bath robes yet? – the Nativity scene inspired by the Gospels of Matthew and Luke doesn’t quite capture the drama of another scriptural account of Jesus’ birth. In the book of Revelation, the Seer peers into the hid

This article comes from Read directly: https://www.faithtoday.ca/Magazines/2024-Sept-Oct →en français In his 1976 book The Sunflower, Holocaust survivor Simon Wiesenthal recounted how a dying SS soldier came to him seeking forgiveness for his horrific war crimes. Wiesenthal denied forgiveness to the dying ex-Nazi. Some argued Wiesenthal should have extended forgiveness. Others affirmed Wiesenthal, noting that forgiving the soldier would have dangerously overlooked the atrocio

Articles de fond Interrompu par l'étonnement. Comment pouvons-nous saisir l'œuvre mystérieuse et surprenante de Dieu autour de nous ? Lynda MacGibbon y réfléchit. Le baiser de la joie. L'auteur Alastair Sterne, de Victoria (Colombie-Britannique), réfléchit à la possibilité humaine et divine de la joie. Cross Connections par David Guretzki Quand Dieu appelle les enfants. Souvent, Dieu utilise des adultes pour soutenir cet appel. Des aperçus de la gloire Le chemin d'Emmaüs nous

The Honourable Marc Miller Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship 365 Laurier Avenue West Ottawa, ON K1A 1L1 Dear Minister Miller, We understand that the ministry’s recent cap on international students is intended to address rapidly increasing numbers of international students, particularly at institutions who do not provide supports. However, we are very concerned about unintended consequences and impact of the cap. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) is th

This article comes from Read directly: https://www.faithtoday.ca/Magazines/2024-Mar-Apr →en français EFC President David Guretzki suggests Pontius Pilate's words to Jesus demonstrate abuse of power. The phrase "speak my truth" is often used by those who have suffered abuse at the hands of powerful people. There’s something vitally important behind this idea. Speaking out is important because without it abuse continues. Almost all who suffer abuses of power are silenced, usual

This article comes from Read directly: https://www.faithtoday.ca/Magazines/2024-Jan-Feb →en français Have you ever heard of a 2,000th anniversary? Believe it or not, we are on the verge of one in the not-too-distant future. I’m talking, of course, about the bimillennial anniversary of the betrothed bride of Jesus Christ in 2033. Talk about a long engagement! What will the state of the Church be in 2033? If Jesus doesn’t come back before then, I think most of us would be thril

Honouring the faithful and excellent service of Bruce J. Clemenger’s 30 plus years with the EFC, where for 20 years he has led as CEO and President, and recognizing David Guretzki’s leadership and his own unique gifting and expertise, the Board of the EFC is pleased to announce new senior leadership roles for the EFC. [UPDATE: See more in the EFC Update newsletter of Jan. 31, 2023] Effective January 31, 2023, Bruce J. Clemenger will be appointed to a new role as Senior Ambass