Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

I have good news for you: God is moving in amazing ways, in Ottawa and all over the world. Despite what we so often hear, the Church is growing.

Evangelicalism has consistently grown proportionately to Canadian society, hovering around the 10 percent mark according to a 2015 study by researcher Reginald Bibby. A 2016 Angus Reid study also shows new immigrants are swelling the ranks of Catholic and Evangelical churches.

Another 2016 study found the greatest indicators of whether a church is growing is if the leadership upholds traditionally orthodox theology, the authority of scripture, and the importance of daily prayer.

Canadian churches are innovating new ways to demonstrate God’s love, influence culture, and alleviate suffering. Christ’s Church is truly a marvel. As a journalist I see countless examples of this. I write a regular column in Faith Today profiling inspiring ideas from churches across Canada. Closer to home, Spur Ottawa barely scratches the surface of what God is doing in the Capital. There are so many encouraging things happening in Canada we would need fulltime staff to begin covering it.

Sadly, all too often, Christian media captures us with headlines like, “Christianity nearly extinct in the Middle East” or “Canadian Christians being silenced”

But that begs the question: Why are so many Christians (and Canadians) worried about the state of our culture and nation? The answer is partly found in another question: Why don’t we know about all the great things going on?

I think a lot of it has to do with how we communicate. Fear is more contagious than joy. Worse still, fear sells.

We see this in headlines every day. Journalists know sensationalism gets far more clicks than positivity. We should expect that in secular settings, but it becomes problematic when that negativity pervades the Church.

Sadly, all too often, Christian media captures us with headlines like, “Christianity nearly extinct in the Middle East” or “Canadian Christians being silenced”. Newsletters from many ministries often send the same message.

“If our mission is to share [the] good news, we have to be good news people.”

Let me be clear; these stories are important. They are tragic, sometimes shocking. We need to pay attention to them and we need to prayerfully act on them.

However, these stories also reveal another tragedy going largely unnoticed in the Body. If these stories are the overwhelming majority of what we share, we may be missing our primary purpose here on Earth.

In his book, “The Mission of God’s People”, renowned missionlogist Christopher J. H. Wright sums it up this way: “If our mission is to share [the] good news, we have to be good news people.”

That doesn’t mean we should not share challenging stories, but it does mean we need to look for the broader narrative of God at work.

It is true that Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble,” but that wasn’t the end of the story. He started that sentence by saying, “I told you these things so that in Me you will have peace,” and He ended it with, “but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

We are the people of the Good News. Our message is “glad tidings of great joy…for all people”.

Our Jesus came so that we could have life abundantly. He said, “My peace I leave you,” and prayed that our “joy would be complete”.

First Thessalonians 5:11 tells us to “encourage one another and build each other up”.

The word “evangelism” literally comes from the Greek word for “good news”. We are the people of the Good News. Our message is “glad tidings of great joy…for all people”. Let’s not lose sight of that!

Several years ago, I was writing a very challenging article about a tragic situation in the Church. As I wrestled with the story I remembered something I was told in a class on preaching: “Preach the gospel in every sermon.”

Even in the midst of tragedy and adversity we can still see the hope of the gospel shining through, somewhere.

That one sentence has grown to define my writing. Even in the midst of tragedy and adversity we can still see the hope of the gospel shining through, somewhere. Perhaps it’s in the boldness of Christians to preach Christ, despite persecution. Perhaps it is the growing openness we hear of among Muslims who are disillusioned by ISIS’s tyranny. Perhaps it is that abortion is once again a topic of public debate.

At Spur Ottawa, our vision is to share the stories of how God is moving in our region. We hope these stories will “spur [the Church] on to love and good works,” but also to impart encouragement and confidence…because God is at work. Sometimes we just need to turn off the news and look for the signs of His presence.

So, I have good news for you: God is moving in amazing ways in Ottawa and all over the world. He is at work all around us. He is in a good mood today and He wants to show you another layer of His love.