L'Abri Canada

This is a new and different version of the podcast under the same name. This was recorded at the annual L'Abri Conference in Rochester, MN, USA in Feb, 2020, hosted by Rochester L'Abri.  In this talk, Clarke examines the cultural revolution of the 2000s that led many young evangelicals to despise the lack of social justice from traditional churches and led them inadvertently to abandon traditional...

During times of darkness, those "dark nights of the soul," we feel that God is not with us. We may even feel that it is the opposite of faith. That God is distant. Yet what we discover in Scripture is a rich resource to say that it is not the opposite of faith but an experience even of the faithful, and even of Jesus himself. What does it mean that God is with us, Immanuel, in the dark? This was r...

Is Christ for or against culture? One of the greatest mistakes the Church makes over and over again is to misunderstand the relationship between the Church and the wider world or culture.  How do we hold together and relate the unchanging message to the changing world?  We will look at major “paradigm” shifts in the Western World that have had profound implications for the life of the Church and h...

In Desire, Part 1 we looked at how our desires can be reordered to bring us toward God. In Desire, Part 2 we'll discuss what kind of fulfillment we should expect for our desires, and what practices might help us live well with unmet longings. NOTE: All recordings include the open discussion afterwards. The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you resp...

This talk is a straightforward biblical look at Revelation 1. The talk looks at how the apostle John speaks of Jesus as the Lord of history, standing over our past, our present, and our future. It is Jesus's voice that has the ability to drown out the deafening static noise of our age.  NOTE: All recordings include the open discussion afterwards. The Copyright for all material on the podcast is he...

The book of Daniel gives us a lens on how to think about contemporary issues. Daniel 1 leads us particularly to reflect on how to remain faithful as a Christian in the midst of being renamed and re-educated by ideology, whether ancient or modern. Identity politics, we find, is not that new. NOTE: All recordings include the open discussion afterwards. The Copyright for all material on the podcast i...

To desire is part of human experience. We often try to escape our desires or indulge them. But desire is a God-given force that, when ordered rightly, can bring us to Him. We will look at the purpose of desire and how it can be put to its proper use. NOTE: All recordings include the open discussion afterwards. The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that...

With all the talk about sex with such nonchalance, one would suppose there is little shame. However in personal discussions, most people feel a deep sense of shame around sexuality for various reasons. This talk will examine how the Bible - perhaps a surprising source for some - offers us an honest and yet redemptive look at sex and shame. NOTE: All recordings include the open discussion afterward...

This talk looks at Jonathan Haidt's fascinating book A Righteous Mind: Why Good People Divide over Religion and Politics. Haidt's hope is to build bridges between divided groups, particularly political ones. His book reveals how we have all evolved to have 'righteous minds' and shared moral foundations, and how these revelations can help us better understand how we each see the world and how we ca...

George Grant died in 1988.  He was a Canadian thinker deeply engaged in the question of how technology shapes modern consciousness, meaning the ways modernity shapes our thinking, what modernity makes it both possible and impossible to think.  In his short, profound essay, "A Platitude," Grant helps us to ask, 'what has modern consciousness led us to forget about what it means to be human?'  'How...

This ancient story of Belzshazzar's feast gives a lens from which to understand our political anxieties. We will see how Daniel's response gives us a way forward on how we might be faithful in the midst of today's polarization. NOTE: All recordings include the open discussion afterwards. The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not...

This talk looks at the significance of the imprecatory (cursing) Psalms using Psalm 137. We will see that they help us reflect on our own resentment, give us a sense of indignation at evil and help us acknowledge our own sin. NOTE: The time of the recording includes the open discussion afterwards. The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect t...

This talk looks at Daniel 4. At the center of this story stands a tree which reflects life and human culture. Holding the Bible in one hand, and looking at culture in the other, we will see that like Nebuchadnezzar we are called into God's purposes for creation, and that it best grows through small, seemingly insignificant things like humility and kindness, which grow from the roots of the 'tree'...

In 1988 William Alston, American philosopher, put forward three models which aim to explain the scriptural claim that the Holy Spirit ‘fills’ believers. Alston pointed to weaknesses in two of the models and thus favoured one model: the ‘Sharing Model’. Since then philosophers and theologians have discussed and criticised Alston’s paper. In this talk I outline the three models and offer my own cons...

This talk is looking at this cross-pressured space where atheists and Christians often live inconsistently with their own presuppositions, with atheists living as if God exists, and with Christians living as though God does not. How is this at work in society? How might we overcome this incongruity of 'as if'-ness? Pascal, C.S. Lewis, and Francis Schaeffer each give their answer. The surprising an...

If you haven't heard of Billie Eilish, you will soon. The Californian musician is just 17 but has rocketed to fame in the past few years for her moody lyrics, genre-bending musical style, and unusual fashion sense. Hailed by many as the new queen of pop, Eilish represents a push back against slick, overproduced icons like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. What makes this surly teenager so popular with...

This follow up talk on Jordan Peterson aims not at the theological but at the cultural and political. This talk seeks to answer two questions: How did Jordan Peterson become popular? and How has he remained popular? The answers are surprisingly not the same but are also not mutually exclusive. NOTE: The beginning of the talk has extensive video/audio clips that help orient a person new to Peterson...

Our cultural obsession with human beauty has led to many damaging results, both physical and psychological. Yet fascination with human beauty is present in every culture and era. Is our love of beauty just a social construct, an adaptive feature of evolution, or something more profound? Join us in thinking about how to face human beauty in a way that leads us to the beauty of God. The Copyright fo...

This is a look at Daniel 3, the story of the three friends thrown into the fiery furnace, yet preserved by God's power. This story challenges us to move away from the Peter Pan Syndrome into virtuous and courageous adulthood, and better yet, into being made like Christ. The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the ma...

Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel, published in 1931, envisions a future world governed by the mantra, “Everybody’s happy now.” Today, many of the once-shocking predictions in his novel have already come to pass as we sacrifice questions of human freedom and dignity for the pursuit of comfort and pleasure. The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you re...

Hospitality is often reduced to 'hosting' but should be seen as a faithful Christian witness not just in our homes, but intimately in our own person and widely out in society. This talk develops our understanding of Christian hospitality through the concepts of 'true truth' and 'true spirituality,' two concepts important to L'Abri's own hospitality.    The Copyright for all material on the podcast...

In an era deemed post-truth and awash in fake news stories, do we really need more fiction? Explore the ways great stories can help us dwell more deeply in reality, experiencing the wonder, heartache, and hope of truth. The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it...

How might we think of crying out to God if everything rests in God's hands? David Salverda, a pastor, looks through theological, particularly Reformed, responses at how people were called to understand their suffering in light of God's sovereign power. In light of these formulations, must we "keep calm and carry on" or might these give us the grounds for faithful and honest lament? The Copyright f...

This talk is about Francis Schaeffer's little book called Back to Freedom and Dignity where he explains how a reductionistic view of humans open us up to manipulation by an academic and scientific elite funded by the state. I will look at how his argument engaged his 1970s audience and then we will discuss together how we can see the implications in today's society. The Copyright for all material...

Are we to think of sex as one of our basic human needs? Is it a human right? The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking prior permission from L'Abri Fellowship. © Canadian L'Abri 2018