The Laity Square Blog

Two Thoughts on John Tory’s Affair
On Saturday evening I joined those shocked and saddened to learn that Toronto mayor John Tory would step down due to an inappropriate relationship with a former employee. I don’t live in Toronto, but I feel like we lost a valuable public servant to a lapse of judgement. I can only pray for Tory and his family as I reflect on this somber episode. From a biblical perspective, this issue highlights two facts. Read more

A M’Cheyne/BHS Bible Reading Plan
In 2022 I followed the M’Cheyne plan to read the Bible in one year. I plan to do this again in 2023, but I adjusted the plan to combine the Old Testament sequence from the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia with M’Cheyne’s New Testament and Psalms cadence. Scroll to the end to download the plan, or read on to learn how I built it. Read more

News Round-Up – September 2022
My writing hasn’t recovered from an emotionally brutal summer, but I’m still around. Here I reflect on three news that share a common theme: they highlight that our most important fight remains the fight for reality. Read more

News Round-Up – June 2022
I didn’t mean to go on a three-month hiatus after my last article, yet here we are. I’ve hit unexpected issues starting a new online project, coupled with a busier pace of life leading up to our first “normal” summer in a while. But now I’m back, and here’s my take on a few things I’ve found noteworthy this month. Read more

The Religion of Marxism
March 14 is the death anniversary of Karl Marx. He was a well-known atheist, with a worldview firmly rooted in scientism, and a staunch opponent of religion. However, the consequences of his ideology spawned a pattern of government that consistently matches those of polytheist pagan civilizations. For someone wishing to abolish religion, this would have been scandalously contradicting. But when you analyze it from a Christian perspective, it makes perfect sense. Read more

The Joke’s On You
Humor brings joys and levity to our lives. It lightens our load, helps us make sense of hardship, and it might even influence how we select the love of our lives. But humor can also be offensive, speak truth to power, and fall out of fashion. Let’s take a look at the mechanics behind humor, and see how they operate in society, politics, and –of all places– the Bible. Read more

News Round-up (February 2022)
I’m posting on a bi-weekly schedule this year, and one benefit of that is being able to offer cool(er) takes. So, perhaps belatedly, here are my brief thoughts on the ongoing protests across Canada, Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, and the more recent news of a constitutional challenge against Ontario’s publicly funded Catholic schools. Read more

Non-Technical Issues
She privately listens to music through her wireless earbuds as she waits for the train. Suddenly, the music fades and her ringtone pipes in. She raises her smartwatch and eagerly accepts the incoming call, ending it as she boards the train. Then, she opens her laptop and seamlessly continues work that she started on her tablet last night. Read more

News Round-up (January 2022)
Happy 2022! I realize I’m late to this party, and I’m not claiming the year is new anymore. Still, I wish you the best in the next 11 and a half months. This year is definitely off to a busy start, so we kick things off with a news roundup. And as always, whether it’s about Greek alphabet letters, astronomy, sociology, or religion, philosophy and worldviews shine through. Read more

The Gates of Hell Won’t Prevail
This weekend, Global News published a two-part report on the decline of religion in Canada. The report elaborates on a study by Statistics Canada released last October, documenting the evolution of religiosity in the country over the last 34 years. Both sources cover several religions and denominations, and I want to share my thoughts on what I think this means for Christianity in this country and age. Read more