Local / National / World

I have to be honest: probably the best video I’ve seen all week is a parody of LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem: North Korea Edition. It features Kim Jong ll performing some of his best dance moves yet. If you haven’t seen it, you should head to a computer and watch it with your friends as soon as is humanly possible. It’s priceless. Whenever the fearless leader bellows the call for his people to “Party rock” or stoically declares “Every day I’m shufflin,” I pretty much lose it. “Ain't no party like a  Pyongyang party!” Classic satire.

As a pastor, professor and author, Dr. Peter Leithart has been assigned by the Association of Reformed Institutions of Higher Education to lecture at various reformed colleges and universities. This assignment comes in recognition of the many accomplishments of Leithart, as well as his wide variety of interests and lecture topics.

2011 was a devastating year for the Liberal Party of Canada. At the helm of the Liberal party was Michael Ignatieff, a brilliant academic, political theorist and author. While his qualifications were impressive, Ignatieff failed to gain the confidence of the Canadian voters as leader of the Liberal party. Ignatieff is undoubtedly a smart man who is passionate about Canada, but this failed to translate in his public addresses and in his ever important sound bites. The federal election results showed that the Liberal party won the fewest seats ever in party history.

According to economists and urban planners the world over, the establishment of light-rail transit is one of the foremost indicators of a dynamic, livable city. Toronto has it, Vancouver has it, Ottawa has it... Hamilton doesn’t have it. Or at least not yet. So, for starters, what exactly is it? Simply put, light rail transit (LRT) is an efficient transportation system which uses trains to move people within a metropolitan area. It’s what they call a “supertram”—a combination of a sophisticated streetcar and a modified train.

On November 23, Redeemer hosted a reading by poet Richard Greene, sponsored by the Canadian Council of Poets. Greene has published many volumes of poetry, edited Graham Greene: A Life in Letters, and recently published a biography of Edith Sitwell which came out in March. In 2010 Greene won the Governor General’s Literary Award for his collection of poems Boxing the Compass, which he admitted gave him an official standing as a Canadian poet and helped to solidify his place there.

After months of civil war, Libya officially marked its liberation on October 23 following the death of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. With joyous relief, the people of Libya celebrated in the streets; the conflict was finally over, the book seemingly closed on Libya's oppression. What could be marked as the end, though, may more rightly be noted as the start of a very arduous process for Libya. Their leader ousted, their people in upset, their country in disarray – where does Libya go from here?

On Sunday, October 30, 2011, pastor, activist, author and sociologist Dr. Tony Campolo led the congregation as a guest at the Meeting House church.

For years, Campolo has urged millions to live a life of compassion. With over 35 books, he has reached readers with a  focus on social justice and a call to share God’s love. Campolo’s sermon, “Love changes everything: living with passion to change the world,” was inspiring, thought-provoking and challenging to all believers searching for Christ’s call in their lives.