Kimberly Dawn Rempel
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Core Truths with Which All Christians Agree: an Essay on C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity

1/12/2021

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-by Kimberly Dawn Rempel
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 In his book, Mere Christianity, CS Lewis endeavored to point out the core truths of the Christian faith that it may assist readers in their consideration of God as truth and that the common ground here presented would also cultivate peace between believers whose peripheral doctrines differ on some points.

How Lewis Addressed the Search for Meaning

   In a time swirling with competing philosophies of truth, many searching for meaning outside of religion, Lewis addressed such often debated topics as “the Meaning of the Universe”, answered common objections to Christian doctrine, and also explored “Rival Concepts of God”, each time aiding the reader in understanding how Christianity excels, even compared to the new philosophies of the time.
 As he did this, Lewis accomplished two critical things: first, he addressed core beliefs of the global church, not denomination-specific beliefs and not the institution of church, both of which are societal sore spots in his day. Thus he enabled these truths to transcend arguments between the groups and invited even readers who were resistant to the church to consider his message. Secondly, Lewis demonstrated Christianity to be a well anchored, time-tested truth, whether measured through reason or experience, and the reader was, from this anchored place, thrown a life-raft in the middle of a choppy sea of diverging views. 


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​When Church Hurts: How to Honor God In the Midst of Church Division

1/2/2021

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Sometimes being part of a church hurts.

Whether the hurt is caused by the people in the church or leadership itself, pain is inevitable within the church. Really, pain is inevitable in every relationship and every organization, because sin pervades the human experience. Christians are humans too, and not immune to sin. We have a Forgiver, and One who trains us out of sinful thoughts and behaviors, but we are sinners who, as long as we breathe air, will continue to be trained and shaped and made new one piece at a time. We still sin, which means we inevitably, cause hurt and experience pain when others cause hurt to us.


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A Positive Perspective Amidst Protests and Covid Chaos

11/21/2020

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Steinbach, a little city of 20,000 is usually a tranquil place in Manitoba’s Bible belt.

Usually.

We citizens of Steinbach are proud of our town’s reputation as the cleanest city in North America.[1] We’re known as being the most generous people in Canada.[2] This spring, while the world groaned under the pressures of a pandemic, Steinbach was pleasantly insulated, experiencing super-low numbers of Covid cases. Local headlines read “Zero New Cases” and “One New Case, over 200 Recovered”, lending us a sense of safety and peace even while the world around us was aflame with infection.[3]

Then autumn came, and our reckoning with it.

​Locally, Covid began spreading like wildfire until, in November, Steinbach was given another number that set them apart from the nation. We now had “one of the highest infection rates in the country.” [4]

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Parenting Teens: Wisdom From Philippians

10/22/2020

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As a parent to two teenagers, I find myself in that familiar place of desperately needing God's wisdom to get this even halfway right. 

I'm also in that familiar place of realizing that there isn't always a 'right' way to do things, and anyway, even if one could parent perfectly, there is still the whole free will thing.  I mean, God was THE perfect parent, and look at us. Parenting well doesn't necessarily mean they turn out the way you want.

(But we've still got to try, right?) 

So, as I seek wisdom on this parenting journey, panting after it like a desert-starved animal, it doesn't surprise me that I find some instruction in the book of Philippians - a book that has nothing to do with parenting, and which was not even written by a parent.

(God can use a whole lot of things for a whole lot of things, am I right?)

Two things caught my attention in chapter two:

1) there's a big theme throughout the Bible about how we and our children can get and keep wisdom. (Oh, how I hope they'll make wisdom their best friend as they grow up!). It's evident in something Paul says and something he does. And it's something we can do and say too.

2) the fruitfulness of our parenting efforts won't be fully known until "the day of Christ's return", which means if I'm lamenting the lack of results already, or even just worrying about what result will come in the next five years, I'm reacting waaaay too soon, and need to let the seed grow. 

Come on in. Let's dig into the word together and I'll show you what I mean.


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What God Really Thinks of Us and Why It Matters (A book review of The Divine Romance by Gene Edwards)

10/16/2020

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     In his book, The  Divine Romance Gene Edwards compels readers to consider God’s love; specifically he offers an intimate behind-the-scenes glimpse of it such that the reader can scarce keep from experiencing in real time God’s personal love for her. As Edwards tells the story of creation and onward until the resurrection of Christ, he pulls back layers implied in scripture but seldom pondered (the unseen realm who witnesses in wonder, for example). As the mystery of God’s love is revealed, the reader discovers this Love that made her to be His glorious counterpart, is itself her joyful purpose.   

     This message of love and purpose is critical in any time, but especially our postmodern era in which truth is obscured and its existence debated, in which love is a confusing term and so poorly demonstrated and experienced as to become nearly meaningless. When the meaning and purpose of human life are so absent in a national and personal sense, it is critical that we connect not only with a singularly unifying, dependable truth, but also discover that truth to be the one true God who is Love - whose deep and intimate Love gives us rich meaning and glorious purpose. It is a grounding in God’s love that gives us strength and empowers us and makes us complete, (Eph 3:17-19 NLT) and precisely the task which Edwards, in his book, sets out to accomplish. Here he endeavors to connect readers to God’s love and aid them toward living empowered and complete in Christ. (Eph 3:19)


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What Alice Forgot, a Smart Readers Book Club Review

7/15/2020

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It came to me the way most books come to most of us. 

By recommendation of a close friend. 

"You'll love it." she said. 

She was right.... mostly.  

Right off, the premise got me interested. 

A woman knocks herself out and awakes to discover she's completely lost her memories of the last ten years? Whoa.
Yeah... What would it be like to lose the last ten years? .
How different IS my life now from ten years ago? Pretty different. Unrecognizable, really. 
What would my 10-years-ago self think of my 10-years-later self? Hmm! 


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FAQ: How Can I Start Freelance Editing?

6/23/2020

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I've been asked a number of times by aspiring editors, "How can I start freelance editing?" 

If you've ever wondered as well, here's what I tell them.  

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How to Not Die When People Dump on Your Writing

5/5/2020

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Writing is scary. 

Letting someone read what you've written is even scarier. 

When you take that bold new step and put your writing in someone else's hands, two things usually happen.

First, a nauseous wave of panic lurches your stomach, and you hope you didn't suddenly contract a stomach disease
(or is that just me?) .


Next, you desperately hope the person reading your words is supernaturally kind and gentle, and says good things about what you've written. Even if it's all lies. Because you're tender, like a seedling, and you know it.

Hard words, at this point, will crush you.

Maybe even make you die.


Fortunately, both hopes are usually satisfied. The nausea passes, and the person you've dared to share your writing with is someone kind who likes you and delights in cheering you on. 
     
​But what happens when the person you've dared to share with doesn't cheer you on? 

What if their feedback is harsh, critical, and discouraging? 

What if they take a big steaming dump on your writing? 

Allow me to breathe some life into just such a heart-wrenching experience.  




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How to Powerfully Encourage Others (No Bible Verses or Pom-Poms Required)

4/9/2020

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Some of the most encouraging moments in my life have been completely absent of advice.
The most discouraging moments however, have been rife with advice and platitudes. It’s happened often, when I’ve shared something heavy or sad or stressful that’s been weighing me so low I felt like my arms are dragging on the floor behind me, and the friend, upon hearing my misery, reached into their sack of sayings and dug out whatever they thought would fix me.

For example, in response to my confessing a rising sense of panic in a fearful situation, a friend might say,

“Yeah, everyone’s having a tough time right now.”
or

“I know what you mean. The other day I was washing the car when…..” 

Or, what is infinitely worse,

“Well, Jesus said ‘do not fear’ so there’s no need to feel fear.”

None of these demonstrate excellent listening; they do, however invalidate the person’s feelings and demonstrate that the ‘listener’ has more important things to say than the speaker. Gee, thanks.

I get it. I’ve accidentally discouraged my friends, too.


We mean well.


We really do.


We want to help. Encourage. Inspire and uplift those we care about.


But we don’t know how, so we guess. We grab at what we think should be encouraging, fling it at the problem, and hope it helps.

The thing is, discouraged people aren’t broken, and encouragement isn’t about fixing problems anyway.
Actually, encouragement is not about accomplishing or DOING anything. 
​

Encouragement is about meeting someone where they are, and BEING with them in it.
And it’s much more difficult than it sounds.

 

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Why Isolation Doesn’t Equal Productivity (Cut Your Creativity some Slack)

4/6/2020

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When the COVID-19 virus sent us all into isolation, one of my first thoughts was, "Yay! I have all this extra time, I'm so gonna get stuff done!"

I imagined immense productivity and quickly made lists. Spring clean my house. Write two books. Craft a series of articles. Launch two products. Do my taxes. Organize every drawer and closet.  Because ... you know... I "should". 

Hearing myself say “I should” could have been my first clue that I was putting undue pressure on myself. But it took me until week two to realize just how unrealistic my productivity expectations were.
 
Every day, news reports counted the increase of the virus spread. More closures. More restrictions on activity. More deaths. More people hit hard at the beginning of what will become a nationwide, worldwide economic crisis. Then there’s the worry for your own health and finances, and the loneliness from being cut off from the world we once knew. From hugging. From working. From being among humans.

Tough as we are, we can’t help but be emotionally impacted by a worldwide pandemic. We just can’t. We’ll feel sorrow, grief, shock, anxiety, fear, worry, stress. The thing is, emotions require more energy and head space than we think. The emotions sure caught me by surprise.
 
More than that, all this stress can all sap our motivation, weaken our focus, and cripple creativity.
And guess what.
That's O-K-A-Y.
It's okay to not be super-crazy-productive right now.
It's okay to not DO all the things.


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