Community Builder

Daniel Zylstra

Church: 
Athens CRC in Athens, ON
About Me: 

Now into my second pastorate, but in my 42nd year of life, I have been doing the pastoral ministry thing for just over 7 and a half years now. I've been married for almost 20 years and have three beautiful children who (disobediently) keep growing like weeds. I love God and love His church.

When I first felt the call to head in to pastoral ministry, I initially thought that youth ministry would be the thing: "Then I can start with fresh, young minds and hearts who either don't have a lot of church baggage, or who are more than willing to shed it to try new things." I thought.

But then God said to me, "Dan, you know I love people of all ages, right?"

So I said to myself, "Okay, I'll go in to church planting then. That way I can reach and disciple people of all ages and backgrounds, and we still will hopefully either have people who don't have much church baggage, or who are more than willing to shed it."

And God said to me, "Dan, you know I love people in established churches too, right?"

So I said, "Okay, okay, just not the CRC, okay God?"

And, wouldn't you know it, He said, "Dan, you DO know that I love the CRC too, right?"

And so, what else could I do but fall in love with young and old, of all nationalities and backgrounds, from all kinds of churches (yes, I love those in church plants too) and even CRC's?

Now I've been in love in this way for 8 or nine years and counting... God is good.

Interests: 

I'm interested in a wide variety of things:

Reading fiction (esp. sci-fi) and watching films, reading theology, serving the church, reading comics and graphic novels, listening to Canadian indie music, the occasional website work, computer games, and more. I like doing rennovations (if you ever come our way, you should see some!). And I love playing with and reading to our kids, and spending time with my wife.

I've also discovered, though, that if anything were (God forbid) to happen to my family suddenly, and I were left alone, I'd be very tempted to become a monk and take vows of silence and poverty.

May 13, 2014
Blog
192 views
9 shares
0 rating
1 comment

Celebrating Disorganization

For what seemed to be a brief while (to me) there was a bit of a trend in the Church to abhor "planning" as a way of "stifling the Spirit." But has this short little trend been replaced with too much "order", "planning", and "professionalism"?

By Daniel Zylstra
Faith NurtureWorship
January 21, 2014
Blog
654 views
6 shares
0 rating
5 comments

Mom and Pop vs. Big Box Church

Many church members see the church as a service organization — one that should be “serving” them. But is that really what the church is to be? I would say no.

By Daniel Zylstra
Pastors
December 5, 2013
Blog
231 views
0 shares
0 rating
7 comments

Advice or Imperative: How Can We Know?

As I was preparing for a sermon series in the New Year regarding reconciliation, I got to thinking about Greek imperatives. Maybe some of you experts out there can help me. Can you tell us anything about the relative strength of an imperative in Greek?

By Daniel Zylstra
Pastors

More

  • I hear what you're saying, Andrew. My problem is that I think that both sides of this discussion often engage in shoddy theology. I read through Dr. Cooper's paper, and while I agree with the...

    posted on: Turning the CRC Into an Lgbtq+ Ally

  • Okay. Fair enough. I still feel that you have been employing language that is inflammatory. Aside from the issue of committed, monogamous same sex relationships which is what the website says is...

    posted on: Turning the CRC Into an Lgbtq+ Ally

  • That is unfortunate indeed. 
    posted on: Turning the CRC Into an Lgbtq+ Ally

  • If that is true (and I believe you), then that is unfortunate indeed. I think it is true, sadly, that we will not be able to "convince" one another one way or another solely based on scripture. 2...

    posted on: Turning the CRC Into an Lgbtq+ Ally

  • Good questions, Doug.

    For Leviticus 18:22, I would deal with it by looking at the context. Verse 21 says "Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech for you must not...

    posted on: Turning the CRC Into an Lgbtq+ Ally

  • One last thing, for now, I guess. Just a question:

    Where does the Bible talk about committed, monogamous same sex relationships?

    --Genesis 19 (Sodom & Gomorrah) is about rape and...

    posted on: Turning the CRC Into an Lgbtq+ Ally

  • With all due respect, Keith, I don't think that this quote is as devastating as it sounds at first. The reality of the matter is that it is absolutely true that using the scriptures to try to "...

    posted on: Turning the CRC Into an Lgbtq+ Ally

  • I wasn't there at this meeting, nor am I a supporter of A1B. I find it interesting and disturbing, however, that the language used in this post seems inflammatory and inaccurate, at least from...

    posted on: Turning the CRC Into an Lgbtq+ Ally

  • I think Chuck Adams' suggestion is a good one. We still have an Elder come to the front of the church after the blessing and during or after the doxology, and shake hands with the pastor. Then...

    posted on: Pastor Connections on Sunday

  • Thanks so much for your encouragement and comments, Len. I would certainly agree that it would be good to focus more on baptism and what it means in our theological understanding. It is a...

    posted on: Liturgical Forms Committee and the Problem With Public Profession of Faith