Prudence, Posture and Provincial Guidance

The number of challenges and nuanced tensions that have arisen over the past year have certainly created a context for administration that have been unexpected and sometimes overwhelming. 


Last summer the decision was ultimately made to not proceed with summer camps in any of the NCEM facilities. This summer we are faced with difficult decisions once again. No one desires to cancel camp. However, it was brought to my attention very recently that there are still some misunderstandings out there in the ether about Arrowhead and our posture as a parachurch ministry in 2021. It has been my experience that for every concern that is brought to my attention there are ten more in hiding that fester and bubble up in the "later-on". With that in mind I want to take a brief opportunity bring everyone up to speed with respect to our posture as a Gospel ministry in light of Provincial guidances and plans moving into Summer, 2021.


What About Provincial Guidance?

Last summer it was announced early that summer camps would be approved to proceed with programs. However, the guidance for this was not forthcoming until the latter part of May. Because of the logistics of working with volunteers and communities, our planning typically takes place in February and March for summer camps. Once again we have been told we can have camp programs, but no guidance has been forthcoming. Yet we have to make decisions about the ministry right now for July and August.

It was said to me that if non-christian camps are running this summer, then no Christian camp has an excuse for not running a program. I can certainly understand the sentiment of this, especially in light of the idea that the Church is somehow being persecuted in ways that are above and beyond the rest of society. Fortunately, that sentiment is not an accurate picture of the situation in NB. The province has elevated the value of the Church and given extra dispensation to church for gathering. The reality is; the decision to change a program, to operate or not operate—is about the ability of each facility to adequately follow the provincial guidances. It is not a comparison across the table at other camp facilities or other churches, each ministry must determine how they can best honour God and serve the Gospel in their particular context. For example, my friends at another Bible Camp have been able to operate a half capacity camp because they have large cabins and can maintain social distancing for sleeping arrangements. We are not in as favourable a position with our cabin sizes. This is just one example of the multitude of details to be considered with respect to our program.


It is our position at ANBC that we will strive to follow the guidance of the Province with respect to Covid to the best of our ability. We believe this honours God well, and serves the Gospel in a way that rebellion would not. This may mean that our program will look different than "normal" this summer. We will celebrate whatever opportunities God sees fit for us to have and we will pursue those fervently. 

No Ministry For Two Years?

It was said to me that public perception of our ministry will not tolerate another entire year with no ministry. I am thankful to say, irrespective of what may be observed by the public, the ministry has continued to grow and function throughout the pandemic. The team at ANBC has been working very hard to develop, launch and facilitate a number of ministry initiatives aside from Summer Camps. The initial vision of the missionaries who founded and named Arrowhead Native Bible Centre was that it grow and flourish in a number of areas. For anyone who has read our Field Notes over the past 2 or 3 years, you will know that we have a variety of ministry arms serving a variety of purposes; podcasting, bookstore, pastoral care, compassionate care, Mission Barrel, these things continue to flourish and fill out the ministry. We are not idle at ANBC. 

The fact of the matter is, we have always believed that these ministries belong to God. He provides the staff, He provides the financing, He governs the Government that allow us to operate, He provides safety and camp speakers. This summer is no different. We are diligently striving to plan a program, but ultimately God will see His ministry run this summer as He sees fit. It is our desire to simply follow Him in obedience. In the same way that we have never measured the success of our camps on the number of campers that come, we do not measure it by it’s traditional function — it is not something less if it is done in a different way. The success of our camp is found in the clarity and consistent presentation of the message of the Gospel
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What About Staff?

The reality is that our programs all run on the faithful service of volunteers. Without the loving labours of those who wish to see the Gospel go forward we cannot run any programs. Many of our volunteers in recent years have come from Ontario, which will undoubtedly not be an option this year - and even if it does become an option it will in all likelihood be far too late to find anyone who has not already filled out their summer commitments. We are relying entirely on volunteers from NS and NB this year. This reality has an impact on what programs we are able to run in compliance with our own regulations. 

What Does it All Mean?

Certainly, our hearts desire would be to have a "normal" summer and normal camps. We love camp and we want nothing more than to see camps flourish and grow. We value the gospel highly and want to see it transmitted clearly and in a way that brings glory and honour to God. As we pursue the camps for 2021 and seek to follow guidances from the province, our hearts are striving to be settled in obedience to God, not rebellion and bitterness. We would love for you to consider joining us for a week this summer to assist us in running a week of programs. It may be day camps, it may be a micro camp, it might be a full on regular camp, perhaps a family camp or even a camp out. We will know the full nature of what the schedule will look like in coming days. 


As you pray, please consider all of the summer bible camp ministries in Atlantic Canada and across the nation this summer as we struggle to make decisions. That we would have wisdom and clarity and that our primary focus would be bringing glory to our Good and Holy God. 

God Given Rights

Recent weeks have seen a social and political outcry, demanding the “God Given Right” of Christians to assemble in church buildings for regular Sunday worship. It is a wonderful thing to be a part of the Body of Christ, to have Christ as our head and to have committed to live as slaves in His service. Being recipients of a new nature, having been born anew through the gifts of faith and repentance we have a kinship together as children of God — our good and perfect Father. Desiring to gather together for worship is a good and real affection that we, as the body of Christ, should obediently express regularly. Missing this gathering is good and obedient.

But as we make demands and express desire to gather together physically, we are forced to ask ourselves if this is the only command for the Church that we are pursuing, and if that pursuit is rooted in obedience or selfishness.

It is good to desire gathering as the Church. Good Ecclesiology doesn’t end with simply gathering in a particular way in a particular building. I fear that is the extent of thought for so many who are clamouring and fist shaking at the government for the right to gather at this time. The doctrine of the Church, or how a Church should obediently express worship and ministry together under the authority of God involves far more than simply sitting in a pew in a building once a week.

It is good to desire gathering as the Church, but it shouldn’t rooted in a passion for a building or particular traditions, it is rooted in a person, the person of Jesus Christ. The Church is a people, one of the greatest downfalls that I think we have fallen subject to in Western Christianity is the propensity to refer to a building as the “Church”. Though this may seem equivocal, I think it has led to a larger confusion about just what it is that constitutes the Biblical Church.

It is good to desire gathering as the Church, Christians are of the Church, the body of Christ, His bride, elect, set apart for righteousness. The command isn’t simply to meet once a week and sit dumbly on our pew and be consumers, the Church serves and submits, it works and labours together. I fear that for so many, this desire to gather is an attitude borne out of selfish consumerism. A product has not been delivered as expected and that product is a weekly service that is used as a salve to serve and enable me for the week to come. This kind of gathering is not obedient gathering, this is a kind selfishness that ignores the centrality of Christ and commands of submission and worship. The desire for obedience is good, but we must ask ourselves if it flourishes in all areas of Christian living or simply in this aspect of gathering for my own personal benefit.

It is good to desire gathering as the Church, the Church gathers to bring mutual glory, honour and worship to the King. We submit to Him, He continues to sanctify us so that we might bring Him glory and honour. While we consider the reality of meeting together, and just why we should desire this. It is incumbent upon us to consider all of the other areas we are commanded to obedience in. We are to have a spirit of humility and obedience, to serve in our churches and give of ourselves. Under the authority of our local church we must engage in reaching out to neighbours and friends with the message of the Gospel. Biblical Church membership submits humbly to pastors and elders — to correction and rebuke, it gives financially of it’s abundance. We submit to the headship of Christ and shirk worldliness, we redeem our time and offer thanks in all things. As we demand our right to gather, have we committed to redeeming our lockdown time invested in reading God’s Word and prayer? I need to reflect on that.

It is good to desire gathering as the Church. Social Distancing and this context of worshipping at home — together but apart — has given us an opportunity to look critically at our relationship with the Church. If Church is simply your name on a list and a spot on Sunday morning to consume a sermon and music, then obedience to gathering is only one area of obedience you should be concerned about. We have an opportunity to consider our relationship with the Church, both in gathering and in submitted service to the King, the head of the Church. Don’t simply pursue what you perceive you have lost, pursue Christ and strive for a deep, committed, humble faith that informs your worship and ultimately is for the Glory of God.

We must all return to gathering together again in person as Christians for corporate worship, at the appropriate time. This is an obedience that cannot be set aside. What we must examine in the meantime is our attitudes and affections in approaching this return to gathering. Every Biblical Church should be flourishing with humble submitted Christians chomping at the bit to serve God together, having invested their lock-down time in a faithful pursuit of God in His word and in prayer.

Our affections right now, as always, should be the pursuit of God in Christ by His Holy Spirit.

The Year God Stopped the World

God's grace is at work. He stopped the world, and you're here to see it.

When tragedy strikes, when darkness descends like a blanket, when hope seems to fade — we can tend, in our flesh, to feel overcome and discouraged. We exert effort in finding reasons for the darkness and pushing against that darkness. We strain against what we don't understand, especially when it intrudes on our plans. Yet, we don't have to strain against the darkness because we have the light.

We do not have to read Scripture for very long before we are confronted with the sovereignty of God. There is nothing that happens outside of His control (Ephesians 1:11, Romans 8:28) and in fact He is actively achieving His own good and perfect will in a world that is drenched in sin and darkness (Job 42:2, Genesis 50:20). Yet we make our plans, and we see ourselves as wise and wonderful in our own minds and we feel like we have achieved some magnificent level of enlightenment in post modernity. But we simply follow the same patterns that humanity has been locked into since the fall (Proverbs 16:9).

Covid-19 is a global pandemic that has turned everything on it's head, the economy, social norms, political arrangements, borders, food supplies, gatherings even Sunday Worship has been affected by the changes in our world — all in response to this microscopic virus. We have been forced in our fast paced, globalized culture to stop, slow down and narrow our social exposure. God did that. In 2020, God stopped the World.

"For from him and through him and to him are ALL things. To him be glory forever. Amen." Romans 11:36 (emphasis mine)

We have an opportunity to pause, as the world reels and strives to recover what it once was, desperately grasping at what has been deemed most valuable by culture. We have an opportunity to reflect, as the world bemoans personal loss in individualism, convenience, entertainment, sport and travel. We have an opportunity to look forward into the light and pursue Christ; what was — is profoundly diminished by He who is.

We have an opportunity to see God's Grace reflected, even in the darkness. We have an opportunity to intentionally and with great purpose, pursue God in obedience and faith. God stopped the world, but we don't have to respond like the world. God, in His grace, has given every person on the planet an opportunity in the quiet of their home to pursue Him. That pursuit begins with me (2 Corinthians 13:5), but it doesn't end there. This is a dark time, and Christ is the light. Reflect that light, first to your family, and then to your friends and then to everyone you can.

A line from one of my favourite songs; "We serve the uncreated God, so what should we fear?" Now is the time we can abandon fear and proclaim God's grace. Be of good courage, we serve a good and glorious King and He knows what He is doing.

Christ is King (even during a pandemic)

“He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” Matthew 22:37-40

The Golden Commandment seems a pertinent passage to reflect on today. The latter portion of this scripture is often co-opted, always leaving out the centrality and primacy of the Lord God. Loving God in completeness is a posture of submission that is contented in faith with all that God may bring into our lives. The greatest command is complete and utter satisfaction and submission to God. Second to that we must love our neighbours — near and far.

Love God (even during a pandemic)
It can be easy to be afraid when the world is roiling in a global crisis. When there is an abundance of misinformation and confusion, what do we believe? Though the spirit may be willing, so often the flesh cannot but help be overwhelmed by the circumstances mounting around us.

As with all things there tends to be a polarized response; in the case of the Covid-19 pandemic, there seems to have been two primary responses that are dramatically present. People seem to either be overtly given to panic or they are indignant and ambivalent. The apparent overreaction by some seems to have led others to be unwise in their responses. We are wise to temper our responses to others with the kind of grace the gospel demands. We do well to remember our creator, the creator of this virus, the sovereign God over all things.

“For everything was created by Him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through Him and for Him.”
Colossians 1:16

“All things were created through Him,
and apart from Him not one thing was created
that has been created.”
John 1:3

We can rest in His grace.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good.
How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!”
Psalm 34:8

Taking refuge in our good Father is a relationship of comfort that holds Him as central. To take refuge in God is to recognize Him as King and abide in confidence and contentment with His ultimate plan.

Love Others (even during a pandemic)
We have a responsibility to be prudent, prepared and kind to our neighbours. We are called to obey our government, pray for our leaders and protect our families as best we can. Let's pray together for one another and for the world as it faces some grim realities associated with this viral outbreak.

From fear proceeds panic, from ignorance proceeds ambivalence; all that remains is prudent caution. We do not wish to contribute to panic, but we must exercise wisdom as only available from our Father.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Christian love is rooted in faith and is not conspiratorial. (Isaiah 8:11-17)
Christian love is generous, not hoarding up for self but sharing with those in need. (Luke 6:30)
Christian love submits to our leaders as they strive to protect the most vulnerable of our society. (Romans 13:1-7)
Christian love is not smug and dismissive of the very real fears of those who do not have the great refuge of Christ the King. (Colossians 4:5-6)