Real Talk

We're grateful to have ARPA's, Director of Advocacy, Mike Schouten join us for this episode to share about MAiD (medical assistance in suicide), its dangers and the work that ARPA is doing to fight against it. Mike also shares the personal advocacy work him and his wife did, after the parliamentary committee on MAiD asked them to share their testimony. This past May after a battle with cancer, their son Markus at the age of 18, passed on to be with Jesus. Markus' journey showed that there is a better way than requesting MAiD, for suffering truly unleashes love.
We hope this episode will not only educate you but inspire and encourage you to engage in your own real talk, especially regarding suffering in the life of a Christian and those in the world.
0:00 - Intro
3:40 - Mike’s family’s personal experience with suffering.
5:45 - Mike and Jenn’s testimony to the parliamentary committee on MAiD
27:20 - History highlights of
35:50 - Palliative care
40:00 - Reasons for Hope
49:00- ARPA’S work and messaging
53:47 - The March deadline
55:55 - What if the Conservatives come into power?
 
A BIG THANKS TO OUR OFFICIAL SPONSOR, TRIVAN! WE APPRECIATE YOU HELPING US MAKE THIS CONVERSATION POSSIBLE. BE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT AT WWW.TRIVAN.COM 
To keep up with the podcast, check out our website: https://www.realtalkpodcast.ca/
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We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or other feedback at reformedrealtalk@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please share this podcast with your family and friends!

We are beyond thrilled to have Dr. Eric Watkins on the podcast to chat about church planting and evangelism. Dr. Watkins has an incredible story of coming to faith in the Lord and is using his life solely for the advance of the Gospel and God's glory - this is evident in his experience of church planting and his heart for seeing church's be faithful in all aspects, especially evangelism.
In this episode we discuss, what evangelism is versus outreach, the tension of supporting the household of faith and reaching the lost. We also discuss the history of evangelism, including how we may have drifted from John Calvin's evangelistic mission and the difference between creating walls around our kids vs equipping them to engage the world. Be sure to let us know your thoughts! 
0:00 - Intro
12:49 -  Church planting experience
16:50 - What is evangelism
25:00 - The tension of outreach and inreach
31:30 - The history of the lack of evangelism
38:00 - How did we drift from Calvin’s evangelistic mission?
42:20 - High-walls vs equipping?
54:14 - Discipleship and Mentorship
A BIG THANKS TO OUR OFFICIAL SPONSOR, TRIVAN! WE APPRECIATE YOU HELPING US MAKE THIS CONVERSATION POSSIBLE. BE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT AT WWW.TRIVAN.COM 
To keep up with the podcast, check out our website: https://www.realtalkpodcast.ca/
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, clips, and more!  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReformedRealTalk
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We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or other feedback at reformedrealtalk@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please share this podcast with your family and friends!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Starting off 2023 with this episode featuring the coordinator of the League of Canadian Reformed School Societies, John Wynia. We chat about the history of the league, what they actually do, the hallmarks of reformed education and the our school's relationship with the government. We hope this episode gives you a bit more insight into the League's important work. Be sure to let us know your thoughts.
0:00 - Intro
5:20 - History of the League?
15:00 - Why do we have reformed education?
17:30 - Differences with other schools
20:00 - Hallmarks of reformed education
28:00 - What work does the League do?
53:00 - Schools relationship with the government
1:20:00 - Teacher Retention
A BIG THANKS TO OUR OFFICIAL SPONSOR, TRIVAN! WE APPRECIATE YOU HELPING US MAKE THIS CONVERSATION POSSIBLE. BE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT AT WWW.TRIVAN.COM 
To keep up with the podcast, check out our website: https://www.realtalkpodcast.ca/
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, clips, and more!  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReformedRealTalk
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We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or other feedback at reformedrealtalk@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please share this podcast with your family and friends!

Joining Lucas and Tyler on this Real Talk Round Up is Reformed Perspective's Marty VanDriel and Jon Dykstra. We cover the last three episodes and discuss the newest trend of Canadians heading south of the border. Let us know if you have any thoughts or if there are any guest you'd like to see on the show in 2023.
A BIG THANKS TO OUR OFFICIAL SPONSOR, TRIVAN! WE APPRECIATE YOU HELPING US MAKE THIS CONVERSATION POSSIBLE. BE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT AT WWW.TRIVAN.COM 
To keep up with the podcast, check out our website: https://www.realtalkpodcast.ca/
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, clips, and more!  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReformedRealTalk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformedrealtalk/
We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or other feedback at reformedrealtalk@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please share this podcast with your family and friends!

Joining us today is Matt Morrison. Matt has spent an extensive amount of time researching the topic of six day creation vs. evolution. We cover the different aspects of evolution/atheistic beliefs and why we as Christians believe in creation and how we can defend it. We hope this is episode is helpful for you. Let us know your thoughts! 
0:00 - Intro
7:25 - Why do Christians need to see Genesis as literal? 1
8:20 - How has evolution developed into religion
23:00 - Microevolution and genetic mutations
33:00 - The current accepted evolutionary theory
40:00 - 'Discoveries'
59:00 - How can we defend the theology of creation
1:13:00 - ‘Explaining away’ God
A BIG THANKS TO OUR OFFICIAL SPONSOR, TRIVAN! WE APPRECIATE YOU HELPING US MAKE THIS CONVERSATION POSSIBLE. BE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT AT WWW.TRIVAN.COM 
To keep up with the podcast, check out our website: https://www.realtalkpodcast.ca/
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, clips, and more!  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReformedRealTalk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformedrealtalk/
We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or other feedback at reformedrealtalk@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please share this podcast with your family and friends!

Joining Lucas on today's episode is Ray Pennings the Executive Vice President at Cardus - a Canadian non-partisan think tank that seeks a healthy society through independent research, policy analysis, and advocacy. We chat about the history of Cardus, what they actually do and the impact they have. We also cover topics such why think tanks matter, MAID (medical assistance in dying) and of course we briefly analyze the covid response. Be sure to check out Cardus and the work their doing by going to: https://www.cardus.ca/ - Let us know your thoughts!
0:00 - Intro
9:00 - History of Cardus
14:00 - What does Cardus do
20:00 - Approaching issues/topics
27:26- Why do think tanks matter?
32:00 = How does Cardus maintain being bipartisan
41:40 - Faith and public life
52:09 - MAID
1:01:54- Covid post morum
1:17:40 - Political leader analysis
1:31:00 - What are things we can do to make lasting change
 
A BIG THANKS TO OUR OFFICIAL SPONSOR, TRIVAN! WE APPRECIATE YOU HELPING US MAKE THIS CONVERSATION POSSIBLE. BE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT AT WWW.TRIVAN.COM 
To keep up with the podcast, check out our website: https://www.realtalkpodcast.ca/
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, clips, and more!  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReformedRealTalk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformedrealtalk/
We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or other feedback at reformedrealtalk@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please share this podcast with your family and friends!

Today, we have a really exciting topic at hand, Joining Lucas in this episode is Dr. Calvin Beisner, the founder and national spokesman of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation. Dr. Beisner and Lucas discuss what the Cornwall Alliance is, the history and worldviews surrounding climate change and how we as Christians should think about this topic. 
Be sure to check out the Cornwall Alliance (cornwallalliance.org/) and all the resources they have there, especially their podcast: Created to Reign 
 
0:00 - Intro
7:00 - History/influence of the Cornwall Alliance
11:30 - The history of climate change
19:30 - Worldviews and climate change
32:00 - How should Christian view climate change
42:00 - Bjorn Lomberg
48:20 - Conservation
53:00 Green policies/tax implications
59:00 - Dutch Farmer protest
A BIG THANKS TO OUR OFFICIAL SPONSOR, TRIVAN! WE APPRECIATE YOU HELPING US MAKE THIS CONVERSATION POSSIBLE. BE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT AT WWW.TRIVAN.COM 
To keep up with the podcast, check out our website: https://www.realtalkpodcast.ca/
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, clips, and more!  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReformedRealTalk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformedrealtalk/
We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or other feedback at reformedrealtalk@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please share this podcast with your family and friends!

Happy Monday, friends! Today, we're testing out a new type of feedback episode, calling it the Real Talk Round Up. Joining us for this is Reformed Perspective's Executive Director, Mark Penninga and editor, Jon Dysktra. We're grateful for their thoughtful perspectives on these last number of episodes. Also included in this new format is the brief coverage of a certain topic (this weeks being teacher shortages) and a book review/recommendation. Be sure to let us know what you think of this style of feedback. We are always open to new ideas. Contact us via social media or email us at reformedrealtalk@gmail.com 
0:00 - Intro
3:00 - Youth Culture Recap
8:40 - New Reformation Catechism on Human Sexuality Recap
13:35 - CanRC and URC Relations Recap
As mentioned, If you have a voracious reader in your house, and they’ve already worked their way through Tolkien’s the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and Lewis’ Narnia, what’s next? Well, Jon Dykstra had on offer a top 10 list of fantasy books that, while not all explicitly Christian, do seem to come from a Christian worldview. 
 
10. The Sword Bearer - by John White - written by the author when his kids request more Narnia stories. It is imitative, kids going to another world, though updated in that instead of going through a wardrobe, they enter via a TV. 
 
9 .Wings of Dawn by Sigmund Brouwer - Thomas is a young boy seeking to win back his castle by using the technologies that might seem like magic in England, but which were in use at that time elsewhere in the world (like gunpowder, or kites).
 
8. Warlord of Nin - Stephen Lawhead - well written sword and knights story set in another realm. Lawhead had some clear Christian undertones to this earlier stories that get lost in this later book, so go with early Lawhead.
 
7. Urchin of the Riding Stars by M. L McAllister - squirrels with swords. Need I say more?
 
6. The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton - a fun romp, with all sorts of inventive ingredients including:
 
• Piles of poison-tongued jumping turtles
• A castle built on top of a mountain that rises and falls once each day.• A tyrant twelve-year-old pepper-hoarding king
5 Brave Ollie Possum by Ethan Nicolle - the author is one of the guys behind Babylon Bee. A kid who is scared of everything can’t get his parents to believe him that there is something on the roof outside his window. But he’s right. Kind of a terrifying premise, but the comic hijinks soon take over, with the scared boy getting turned into a possum, a creature that faints whenever it is scared. 
 
4. Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw - a nephew made me and most of our church read it. And no one has regretted doing so. Only downside is that book 2 has been more than 5 years in the waiting. 
 
3. The Green Ember by S.D. Smith - rabbits with swords. ’Nuff said.
 
2. Bark of the bog owl by Jonathon Rogers - loosely and hilariously riffing off the story of David and Saul. But in the American South, if it had castles. It’s been described as a Mark Twain crossed with C.S. Lewis. 
 
1. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson - sat on shelf how can person so go at music really also be good at writing too? What are the odds? But this is fantastic, rating right up there with Lewis and Tolkien. Three children contending with the Fangs of Dang, Lizard Creatures that have conquered the land of Skree, and their ruler Gnag the nameless. 
 
A BIG THANKS TO OUR OFFICIAL SPONSOR, TRIVAN! WE APPRECIATE YOU HELPING US MAKE THIS CONVERSATION POSSIBLE. BE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT AT WWW.TRIVAN.COM 
To keep up with the podcast, check out our website: https://www.realtalkpodcast.ca/
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, clips, and more!  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReformedRealTalk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformedrealtalk/
We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or other feedback at reformedrealtalk@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please share this podcast with your family and friends!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian listeners. Today, we have a really exciting episode that has been a long time coming. For this conversation we're joined by Pastors, Steve Swets and Dick Wynia who are well versed in this topic as they both have been heavily involved in unity discussions. We cover the history of these denominations, especially how it relates the CRC churches. We also discuss what conversations are happening currently and how we can move forward. 
00:00 - Intro
04:50 - Dividing vs. Leaving
06:40 - The History 18:00 - Current State of the CRC
22:50 - Why didn’t those leaving the CRC join the CanRC?
35:00 - How the denominations have changed
43:20 - What stalled these unity conversations?
A BIG THANKS TO OUR OFFICIAL SPONSOR, TRIVAN! WE APPRECIATE YOU HELPING US MAKE THIS CONVERSATION POSSIBLE. BE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT AT WWW.TRIVAN.COM 
To keep up with the podcast, check out our website: https://www.realtalkpodcast.ca/
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, clips, and more!  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReformedRealTalk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformedrealtalk/
We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or other feedback at reformedrealtalk@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please share this podcast with your family and friends!

We got a great episode for you. All the way from California, we chatted with Rev. Christopher Gordon, pastor of Escondido United Reformed Church and author of the New Reformation Catechism on Human Sexuality. This piece was featured in the latest issue of Reformed Perspective. We cover why Gordon wrote this new catechism, how it differs from others and also the importance of sharing the positive message of God's good design. If in Canada be sure to get your copy at Reformed Book Services and if in the US at Reformation Heritage Books. 
 
0:00 - Intro
5:50 - Why write a new catechism
17:00 - Difference between this and the confessions
21:30 - How to use this resource
26:00 - Why does the devil attack sexuality
32:00 - The positive message
40:00 - What is covered in this
54:00 - Sexual desire and Sin
1:00:00 - Children and Parents
 
A BIG THANKS TO OUR OFFICIAL SPONSOR, TRIVAN! WE APPRECIATE YOU HELPING US MAKE THIS CONVERSATION POSSIBLE. BE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT AT WWW.TRIVAN.COM 
To keep up with the podcast, check out our website: https://www.realtalkpodcast.ca/
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, clips, and more!  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReformedRealTalk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformedrealtalk/
We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or other feedback at reformedrealtalk@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please share this podcast with your family and friends!