AUGUST NEWSLETTER

I hope all of you are having a productive or restful summer or winter, depending on your current circumstances and locale. It is summer here in Canada, of course, and while there have been wildfires and drought out west, here in southern Ontario we have had more rain than usual and somewhat cooler temperatures. Our prayers are with those who have been affected by climate-related disasters.

For the past two months I have focussed almost exclusively on a project that I began in the mid 1980s and have now at last brought to completion. Around that time, while I was still a graduate student at the University of Notre Dame, I came into contact with the 16th-century Genevan Psalter, one of the first full metrical psalters intended for congregational singing during the Reformation. Shortly thereafter, I began to come up with English versifications of the Psalms that could be sung to their proper Genevan melodies, inspired by, among others, Calvin Seerveld, the Canadian Reformed Book of Praise, and a one-volume psalter and hymnal in Czech published in 1900 that I purchased at an antiquarian bookshop in Prague at age 21. In May I received a grant from the Stanford Reid Trust enabling me to complete this project, which I did indeed do last week. You can read more about it here: GENEVAN PSALTER PROJECT (1985-2021). Of course, this is a sideline from my usual Global Scholars work, which largely revolves around writing and speaking on subjects related to my two published books. But it has been a labour of love which I hope will enable and encourage English-speaking Christians to sing the biblical Psalms with gratitude and enthusiasm. This week Uriesou Brito, pastor of Providence Church in Florida will be interviewing me on this project. Please pray that I will be able to find an appropriate publisher for this effort.

I am in the latter stages of preparing recorded video lectures for the Jonathan Edwards Seminar in Brazil. This is the second course I have prepared for them. The first is called "Christianity and Political Ideologies" and became available for enrolment in January. This new course is called "Ideologies and the Church." Both are based on the material in my book, Political Visions and Illusions, now out in a second edition in Brazil as well as in North America.

This month GodBooks and Thomas Nelson Brasil released their new book, O Evangelho da Paz e o Discurso do Ódio (The Gospel of Peace and Hate Speech), to which I have contributed a chapter. I hope to receive a copy soon.

There are several online lectures and conversations in which I will be participating in the coming weeks and months. This week I will be fielding questions remotely for the Rev. Dr. Aaron Perry's doctor of ministry class at Wesley Theological Seminary in Indiana, USA, where he has been using my first book. Next week I will be interviewed by Jason Thacker, who holds the Chair of Research in Technology Ethics at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. In November I will be leading a Global Scholars-related webinar on "The True Nature of Freedom," based on my second book, We Answer to Another: Authority, Office, and the Image of God.

Two months ago, I was issued a challenge by an anonymous potential donor. Up until 31 December  2021, they will match every dollar raised over and above last year's funds up to $8,000. If a particular donor gave $200 last year, what counts this year for purposes of matching is what he or she gives above the $200 amount. All new donations from people who have not previously given count towards the total. This means that if someone gave $500 last year and gives $800 this year, $300 of that will be matched by the donor. A new donor who gives $1,000 this year will in effect be giving $2,000 in total. As always, our accountant will be conscientious in assuring that all qualifying donations are properly matched.

GSC's page for giving can be found here. Once you are in the page, scroll down to the heading marked DONATION DETAILS, and then choose one of the options under FUND. Americans may donate through our sister organization in the US. If you cannot afford to give, please do continue to pray for my work. I am thoroughly persuaded that God works through our prayers for each other.

Thank you to all who have been so faithful in supporting my work financially and in prayer.  May God bless you as you live out your commitment to his kingdom.

Yours,

David Koyzis, Global Scholar