Top 5: Podcasts for the Road
by Jackson Nickolay
…ow at one insight or another. That said, the conversations and the sort of com passionate curiosity which Taylor and Lamb cultivate creates a space where potentially faith-shaking questions can be asked non-anxiously and with grace. If you want to give this podcast a try, I strongly suggest listening to the ir first episode to start things off. In it the y describe the ir ethos and the ir name and set up the direction the podcast will be heading. Best …
The Question of What We Do With Our Past
by Myles Werntz
…her’s life, while hazardous to a casual reader, is what makes this book so com pelling: it unfolds as our memories of our lives actually unfold, in fits and starts, partial recollections which are com pletely intelligible to the teller but an inviting mystery to the hearer. Grandfather’s meeting of his first wife in the aftermath of World War 2 is followed by his work some decades later in the aerospace industry, interrupted by descriptions of last…
by Sonya Jongsma Knauss
…xed as I read and listened to my girls practicing the ir piano pieces, which the y do longer than the y need to, without being asked, because the y like it. Imagine that! I think the y get it, despite the uneven exam ple I’ve been able to offer . I hope the y hold onto the things the y love that renew the ir spirits, and learn the balance and benefit that slowing down—at least in some things—can bring….
5 Myths and Misconceptions About the War on Drugs
by Donald Roth
…enforcement efforts have had a vastly disproportionate effect on minority com munities, particularly African Americans. With the current crisis of confidence in policing radiating out from minority com munities in recent years, this significant factor cannot be overlooked. Myth 3: Legalizing drugs will lead to a huge increase in the ir use. This is a com monly-cited fear by those opposed to any relaxing of drug laws, and , just as frequently, the lack…
Remembrance, Communion, and Hope Review
by Stephen Shaffer
…ull effect of this engagement is that reading the book begins to accomplish its overall goal. The love of, care for, and pass ionate reception of Scripture as the Word of God is demonstrated on almost every page. As you read it, you grow in you r hunger for the Supper and for Jesus Christ who offer s himself the re. Why com e to the Table? To remember the death of Christ for us, yes. To be transformed through union with Christ, yes. To anticipate the c…
See the Blood of the Covenant
by Shari Oosting
…live. The y beheld God; the n, the y ate and drank. A tiny glimpse of kingdom com e, com memorated and celebrated with a shared meal. Generations later, followers of Jesus ate breakfast on the beach with the resurrected Jesus; I can only imagine the ir awe and wonder. The y had seen Jesus crucified. The y had seen his shed blood. In the ir wonder and covenantal faithfulness, the y com mitted to follow Jesus. “See the blood of the covenant.” See and wonder. C…
Reflections From the Day Before Today
by Neal DeRoo
…ragic events in Ottawa yesterday. And I pray, too, that I will remember to offer sympathy and prayers for people affected by other events, ‘big’ and ‘small,’ ‘newsworthy’ and not, today and yet to com e. Indeed, I pray that I will learn to see people as full-orbed people, and not merely as the ‘next’ in a long line of things I will encounter in my life. Let this shooting be an occasion to be with people in the ir grief and the ir joy…and the fullness…
by Josh Bowar
…ry but agrees to head out. And he is soon glad the y did because the nets become so filled with fish that the y start to break. Soon everyone is amazed, and Simon becomes ashamed of resisting Jesus at first. Jesus responds by telling the men the y will fish for people. The end of the pass age makes you think that the re wasn’t much resistance at this point, as it says “the y pulled the ir boats up on shore, left everything and followed Him”. So what’s th…
by Justin Vander Werff
…atively meaningless com parisons, let’s remember that one sinful human measured against other sinful humans is still just a sinful human. We don’t need to, and can’t, look for our confidence and self-assurance by boasting in our relative worth com pared to other fellow humans. Our confidence com es in Christ, and through His merit we experience our heavenly Father’s amazing, overflowing, ongoing love and sustenance. As the Holy Spirit teaches through…
For I Was Sick and You Looked After Me
by Christina Eggink-Postma
…you r support really can make an impact. Treat the m with the same care and com passion that we are so good at lavishing on those with physical illnesses. Because at the end of the day, agencies, clinics, and legislators can only go so far in improving health. As a com munity, we can do better. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (September 4, 2014). The NSDUH Report: Substan…
A Song to Shape our Loves
by Matt Postma
…s about walking, following, and taking the long way. But the blessing does com e: a blessing which is worth describing for another 168 verses. In this description of perseverance, com mitment, patience, learning, walking, following…all attributes describe a beautiful love. This is a love for God’s Law because, through it all, the Law provides the means to be close to God and bask in God’s love. This Psalm talks about the Law—not as some rigid docume…
by Dave Mulder
…nk. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. School can be a dark place for students, and even for teachers. Be light in the darkness! Remember: you matter. You make a difference. You are fulfilling you r calling! Be Jesus’s hands and feet, and serve where you are called!2 The basis of this encouragement com es from Romans 12. ↩ This letter was first shared as a blessing to the …
Created to Glorify: a review of Chapters 6-7 of Neo-Calvinism
by Jessica Joustra
…l – restore by his grace? One that is swept up in the glory of God, that encompasses all that God has made. “God will make his dwelling place with humankind, Immanuel, God with us.”8 We could the n rightly ask: what was humanity created to be, and thus, to what will humanity be restored? Here again, Brock and Sutanto underscore the way neo-Calvinism’s distinctive emphases as both “self-consciously holistic” and “organic, not mechanical” are present…
Mishandling Christmas and Handel’s Messiah
by Rylan Brue
…race. I am aware that as a member of that group I am in the worst possible com pany: com munists, fascists and totalitarians of all sorts, militarists and tyrants, exploiters, vandals, gluttons, ignoramuses, murderers, thieves, and liars.”2 Whether you ’re willing to grant Mirandola his anthropological point, it’s probably fair to say that the shapes we take—chosen or not—are not always all that impressive. Which brings me, logically, to Handel’s Me…
A Diversity of Easter Traditions
by Chandra Crane
…ss: 2015. ↩ Rah, Prophetic Lament, 2015. ↩ See Jemar Tisby, The Color of Com promise: The Truth About the American Church’s Com plicity in Racism, Zondervan: 2019. ↩ Donna Barber, Bread for the Resistance: 40 Devotions for Justice People, InterVarsity Press: 2019. ↩ Richard Twiss, One Church Many Tribes: Following Jesus the Way God Made You , Chosen Books: 2000. ↩ Sandra Van Opstal, The Next Worship: Glorifying God in a Diverse World, InterVarsi…
by April Fiet
…e that I deserve to be loved. “We can never prove our worth through our accomplishments or inspire people to treat us with care and love because we’ve produced enough results.” Here’s the problem: it doesn’t work. We can never prove our worth through our accomplishments or inspire people to treat us with care and love because we’ve produced enough results. In my book The Sacred Pulse: Holy Rhythms for Overwhelmed Souls, I realized this: “Even ver…
Mere Is Always a Dangerous Word: A Review of “Mere Sexuality” Part One
by Steven Rodriguez
…book review, I will explore the problems with isolating biological gender com plementarity and offer a suggestion for a different way forward. John Henry Newman, The Works of Cardinal Newman: Historical Sketches (London, UK: Longmans, Green, and Co.), 1914, 1:409. ↩ Jerome, Against Jovinianus, I.1. ↩ Martin Luther, Luthers’s Works (St. Louis, MO: Concordia, 1968), 21:93. ↩ C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves (London: Fontana Books, 1963), 8. ↩ The chu…
Thriving Against the Technological Tide (Part 1): A Review Conversation of The Life We’re Looking For
by Justin Ariel Bailey, Matthew Beimers
…ace where our needs are anticipated and met, but this is also a home where com mitment to others is not required. I keep com ing back to a question from Crouch that has haunted me since I first read it: “what kind of place do we require to thrive as persons?”4 More than that, how do we build such places? Where does Crouch suggest we begin? JAB: One of the things I enjoy most about Crouch’s writing are the se elegant distinctions he makes. He proposes…
by Amy DeGroot Bowling
…doubt. The Psalmists honestly cry out to God; the y lament. In lament, the y offer the ir “com plaint” to God with raw emotion, yet always in the context of trust in God. You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? The Psalmist speaks from a place of both trust and pain. God, you are my stronghold (trust). Why have you rejected me (pain)? When I was you nger, I found laments in the Psalms d…
Seek Justice, Encourage the Oppressed
by Abby Foreman
…s, orphans, aliens and the poor.1 Many of us can easily be convicted to be com passionate in the se ways; to give food, money, clothing and even our time. We know that we are doing what God calls us to. But is this all that God is calling us to in our response to the poor and vulnerable? In the Old Testament God gives various com mands about how to live in com munity with one another. The se are not com mands to be acted upon haphazardly when we are con…
Beginning with Imagination: A Review of Reimagining Apologetics
by Jessica Joustra
…. In his affirmation of an apologetic that begins with imagination, Bailey offer s a com pelling witness for our time and shows his central conviction: “the good news of Jesus Christ can be com municated in the logic of authenticity without com promising its integrity” (26) for, “God may be more present in the quest for authenticity than we think” (8). In his quest to both ground and describe a reimagined apologetic, Bailey draws on a multitude of phi…
The Meaning of the Trinity
by J. Todd Billings
…both the history of fourth century trinitarian controversies and also the com peting movements in those debates. While the se chapters offer basic key issues and figures, Anatolios also gives a helpful typology for making sense of the issues at stake amidst a com plex set of alliances and disputes. The se disputes include the ologies which argued for the unity of the Trinity on the basis of a unity of will, set against those who grounded unity in a un…
by Todd Zuidema
…e space. Sit down and be silent. Read. Remember you r Maker. Along with the pass age from Deuteronomy, the 1 Peter pass age reminds us that leadership is an act of service, not merely an exercise of power. The re is authority given to those who lead, but that authority is to be used as an instrument to bless, not oppress. For those who shepherd, the pattern of leadership is that of the Good Shepherd, with a balance of humility and authority. We are en…
by Daniel Vos
…e that he was not a trained economist and could not speak in detail to the com plexities of modern economies.2 I must offer the same disclaimer here. Yet the big picture is clear: In Psalm 119, God’s law gives life. In Deuteronomy 24, God’s law requires that we do the same. Our life-giving activities involve protecting the dignity and wellbeing of our neighbors. Faithfulness to this law is played out in the everyday details of our lives. Dig Deeper…
The Mars Rover, the Power of the Particular, and Love
by Aleisa Dornbierer-Schat
…endear him to us further, inviting our identification and , ultimately, our com passion. Like a child at play, he shoots a laser, he digs. If he were human, perhaps he would be cold. Eventually, he coughs, and we feel moved to care for him like we might a child in illness. Now that our affections are fully engaged, we experience, at the end of the poem, the deep and unexpected pleasure of recognition. In this otherworldly landscape, and in the movem…
