Good day everyone, Sam and Beth here from Scribbler News. This week we’ve taken over the interview portion of the Church Awake blog to give you a closer look into the mind of its author.
Let’s start at the beginning: who are you, where are you from, and what are your passions in life? My name is David Hanson. I am a husband of an amazing and smart wife and the father of a beautiful, almost 2-year old toddler girl. For the past four years, I was a pastor/missionary serving with Village Mission – that was until July of 2021. I grew up in Alberta, but I currently live in Nova Scotia, where I work as an office admin/salesperson for a local company. I have a few passions in life. First, I am passionate about learning and teaching God’s word to others. This is what led me to be a pastor, and ironically what led to me stepping down from formal pastoral ministry. Second, I am passionate about my family, which has led to me learning what has been happening in my country. Things are happening in Canada that will affect my daughter, and my wife and I want to prepare her to face them as we raise her to know God. Since this Spring, I have become passionate about speaking out about moral and political issues in our land – being convinced that this is what the Bible instructs us to do. The description for your blog, called Church Awake, says that your desire is “for the church of North America to become aware and begin to think biblically of what is happening around them in society.” What woke you up to this issue in the church and made you want to start writing about it? This was a process. From an early age, I was encouraged to think biblically. My father wanted us to understand not only what we believe but why we believe it. So part of the credit goes to my parents’ influence. As a pastor, I saw the lack of involvement in engaging in political and moral issues. Some people in the church I served desired to get involved in different issues like abortion and human trafficking, but we didn’t take any action. Though I would preach on general moral issues, I refrained from becoming too specific. The reason is that I was taught by my seminary and the organization I was with to “not be political.” When I went to Binscarth last year in September, I had that same philosophy - especially when it came to the issue of the virus and government restrictions. The first month and a half, we gathered as a church until the government restrictions made it impossible to do so. The board decided to adhere to the mandates and go online. I was uneasy with this but continued to go along with their decision. The fact of the matter is, I didn’t have the biblical fortitude and boldness to confront this issue. I hadn’t been prepared to deal with this matter and hadn’t taken the time to wrestle with what the Bible taught. Selfishly, I also believed that I was still able to preach, so I didn’t want to rock the boat. As time went on, I saw the firsthand result of virtual church. There was no real connection and fellowship. In fact, my wife called zoom church a mirage. And each Sunday, she was left in tears at the end of the “service.” If I was a wise man, I should have clued in then. But we continued. Partly because I still hadn’t wrestled with Romans 13. Things changed for me when James Coates was arrested. And this was especially sped up when Deena Hinshaw was given an extended time to “gather the evidence” for the court case. I remember at that point being assured that the restrictions were not done for medical reasons but for political ones. When this happened, I was moved to learn what the Bible taught concerning how the church was to respond in this season. My wife sent me messages by James Coates, Jacob Reaume and Aaron Rock, and I would listen to them as I drove back and forth from Yorkton to Binscarth to get groceries. My understanding of Romans 13 and our role as a church to engage on moral and political issues began to reform and strengthen. I was convinced not simply through these men but also through studying the Bible that we could not stay closed and that we must confront current issues in our nation. I was also reading the book of Jeremiah at this time during our family worship time and was convicted by the passage about the false teachers who said “Peace, peace” when there was no peace. I feared I had become one of those teachers, and it was time to repent and embrace what the Bible taught. My new stance was met with displeasure with the board. There were multiple meetings between myself, the board, and the organization. With each meeting, I dug more into the Bible, listened more to sermons by faithful pastors, learned more about what the church is called to do, and grew more convinced that this was the right thing to do. This was when I began to write my blog. There’s more to say about what happened but let’s just say that my stance led to my resignation as their pastor. Covid 19 and government overreach are the two biggest topics of discussion today. However, you’ve discussed issues such as human trafficking, abortion, and Christians in politics. Are there any other issues you believe the church should be addressing? The church ought to address ALL moral issues in the nation. It’s been said that “as goes the pulpit, so goes the nation.” God has entrusted and deposited the truth to the church (1 Timothy 3:15; Jude 4) and has commanded us to go out and teach it to others (Matthew 28:18-20). It’s our responsibility to be the voice of truth in our nation, calling others to repentance so that they may do what is right and be blessed. If we aren’t going out and teaching others to observe what God has instructed, our nation will continue to plummet spiritually, and we will continue to be a nation under judgement. All political issues are moral issues. When a politician makes a law, they are essentially determining what is right and what is not. They are making moral judgements and enforcing that a nation abides by those judgements. There’s a huge problem with this – we are not the ones who have been given the authority to define and determine what is good and evil. That solely belongs to God. And He has already given us the instructions containing what is wise, good and right. One thing that the church needs to address first is the church’s role in the nation. There’s an erroneous belief based on a wrong view of separation of church and state that we are to keep separate from what is happening in our country. This has gotten us into the situation we are in today. Second, we need to know what it means to live righteously and be a blessing to our nation. Having said all that, I believe that there are some specific and pertinent issues we should be addressing today. The church needs to address issues on sexuality, censorship, and Marxism. You’ve been interviewing a lot of different believers. What would you say are some important things you’ve learned from this? These interviews have been one of my highlights of the week. I learn so much from them – even practical things like how to ask good questions (which is an art). Now, of course, there are specific things I have learned from each interview. One of the recent ones informed me of the concerns and ineffectiveness of the V from a scientific peer-reviewed view. That interview, in my mind, turned out to be a great resource article. Each interview provides something new, but some overarching things tie them together. First, a community of believers are waking up to what is happening in Canada. They are being motivated by their faith to stand firm and speak out against the immoral and unjust policies and laws being made. It is interesting to observe that this community is not united by denominational ties but their belief in the supreme sovereign authority of Jesus over the church and world. They understand that Jesus is king. Second, this community consists of all sorts of people – nurses, computer software designers, authors, pastors, bloggers, and even politicians. We are all attempting to be a voice wherever God has placed us. And this voice is getting louder. Finally, I’ve observed that nearly everyone I have interviewed is concerned for the spiritual wellbeing of their nation and desires to see Jesus glorified. They are using their knowledge and gifts to help others. For them, it seems to not be about making a name for themselves. We’re so grateful that you’ve allowed us to interview you, and we look forward to working with you more in the future. In closing: is there anything else you would like to say? Thank you for this opportunity. It was a pleasure to share a bit, and I look forward to working with you more in the future as well. One thing I’d like to say is that though we are experiencing some dark and discouraging times here in Canada, God is using this for our good. I believe he is waking us up and showing the church the result of not standing for His Word and engaging our nation by teaching others to observe it. Hopefully, more will wake up and begin to push back against the immoral and unjust policies and laws being made by proclaiming what God demands and calling people to repentance. And as we do that, let’s remember that we serve the One who can change hearts and save souls! As Christians, we are on the winning side of history.
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