Sad to say, the past weeks have been devoted to the events surrounding a visit to my ailing sister Pam and her subsequent passing. I flew to Pasadena, California, last month to bid a final farewell to her. Eight days after my return home, she died in the hope of the resurrection. We who loved her are grieving but not as those without hope. Indeed our ultimate faith is in Jesus Christ, who will one day raise us to new life and bring his coming kingdom to fruition. You can read her obituary here. Incidentally, Pam's favourite psalm was Psalm 62. Please pray for our extended family as we mourn her passing.
Despite grieving this great loss, my work continues through the summer months. Two popular articles of mine were published recently: An extraordinary Hollander, on Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, who died 150 years ago this year; and Our ancestors hated each other, on my wife's and my unexpected discovery that our respective forebears were political opponents in late 17th-century Maryland.
Christianity Today published an article by Kyle Tucker, titled, Political Faithfulness in a Polarized Age, in which he draws on my book, Political Visions and Illusions. Many churches in the United States are having to deal with politically divided congregations, reflecting the persistent reality of a divided electorate. I am pleased that the author found my analysis helpful in exploring this subject. As Americans go to the polls in November, let us hope that Christians in particular will weigh their options carefully before casting their ballots. One of the chapters in my Citizenship Without Illusions is titled "How to Vote," in which I offer advice for those considering the respective merits of admittedly less than happy alternatives.
Last January I was interviewed on two occasions, and only now have these interviews been posted. One was by Tommy Lee, founder and president of Resource Global, for his UpNext Podcast on the subject of my most recent book. We had a good conversation that ran for a little over half an hour. You can view the interview here on my blog.
During that same month, I travelled to Scarborough, east of Toronto, to the offices of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, where Brian Stiller interviewed me in studio. This was episode 89 of his Evangelical 360 podcast. Here too I have embedded on my blog the full interview, which you are welcome to watch. Its length is about 47 minutes.
Not quite a year ago, I learned of the existence of the Center for Christian Civics through my niece who knows Rick Barry, the head of that organization. I met Barry in Grand Rapids, Michigan, near the end of March and enjoyed our conversations then. Among other things I agreed to serve on his advisory council and to be interviewed for his Christian Civics podcast. As someone who has been interviewed many times and by many different people, I will admit to having developed favourites among my interviewers. A good interviewer is one who knows how to draw the best out of the person he or she is interviewing. Not everyone is equally skilled at this. My own judgement is that Barry is one of the best. Not only did he draw out quality, but he edited my comments into a solid slightly more than half an hour, which you can listen to here: Citizenship: blessing and burden.
There is more to report, but I will hold off until next month so as not to lengthen this newsletter excessively.
Thank you as always for your ongoing support for my work. If you
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Or, if you prefer, Canadian donors can donate publicly traded securities (shares or mutual funds) directly to charities without having to pay the capital gains tax. This is a cost-effective and painless way to make a donation that comes with a substantial tax incentive. By donating securities, donors pay no tax on capital gains, receive a tax receipt for the fair market value of the securities, as well as reduce their taxes. Watch this video for more information about this option: Link Charity Canada: Donation of Securities. If interested, please visit the Link Charity Canada Inc. website, and call for details at 1-800-387-8146. Link Charity Canada is a partner organization of Global Scholars Canada, so Link Charity can easily direct funds for my work. Thank you!
Yours in God's service,
David Koyzis, Global Scholar
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