by Joshua Harris
…ascribe to him, we might consider the way in which the sixty-four squares com prising a chess board is related to the rules of chess. How might we reply, for exam ple, if someone were to suggest that we follow all the rules of chess, but without a board? The answer, of course, would have to be something along the lines of “whatever your proposed game is, it’s not chess.” When we understand why it’s impossible to play chess without a chess board, we…
Crazy Busy? Overwhelmed? Six Good Reads to Help You Rethink Your Calendar
by Leah Zuidema
…nce: Saying No to the Culture of Now (by Walter Brueggemann). I’ve heard good things about each of them. If you have additional titles to recommend, please share in the com ments. Happy reading!…
What do you want?: A review of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
by Dawn Berkelaar
…t why we humans do the things we do; to ask whether or not the reasons are com pelling; to ask questions that might help us rethink and adjust our actions where necessary. Scattered throughout his book, Burgis includes a description of fifteen tactics that can help readers to identify thin, mimetic desires and to develop thick desires. I have already mentioned creating a hierarchy of values. Another is to “find sources of wisdom that withstand mim…
When War is the World: A Review of Missionaries
by Myles Werntz
…spreadsheets more than wisdom—are the real villains here, villains which encompass and alter the agencies of the four main characters. Their varied stories com prise the first two-thirds of the book, as they engage war professionally from different vantage points and sides of the business of war. None of the figures are themselves the most important members in their organizations, but mid-level personnel with some ability to choose, to heal, or to…
Compensation as Cultivation
by Donald Roth
…supported, and how might that be accomplished? How might you push for pro-flourishing com pensation policies even at the middle management or employee level? We welcome your com ments below. See, for instance, this article in For bes, and this one in Inc. Magazine ↩…
Retelling the Story of the Church: Jehu Hanciles and the Importance of Migration
by Myles Werntz
…logous to the Chalcedonian for mula. Has the informal for m of Christianity, practice d in Syria and in the Orthodox East, become the “imperial” for m now? Or does it retain the designation of “from the ground up,” despite its confessional adoption? From Hanciles’ perspective, it is important that we not look only to the “imperial” version of the story of Christianity to understand how migration has shaped it, but to the informal ways the faith has un…
Displaying the Hope of the Gospel in Jesus
by Eric Watkins
…s in the church. What do you see as the largest challenge for the Reformed com munity in the com ing decade? It might be tempting to think, especially in the current political climate in which we live, that the greatest challenge before the church is that of militant secularism or possibly even Islamic extremism. While these challenges are great, history has reiterated the point that persecution is often a refining crucible for the church. There is…
What’s in a Word: Calling or Vocation?
by Syd Hielema
…o the ways others experience my identity and the identity of the Christian com munity. For exam ple, how is my manner shaped by graciousness, peace, or love, or how is it shaped by self-righteousness, fear, or judgmentalism? All the New Testament epistles are filled with calls to embody Christ-like posture, a call epitomized by Paul in Galatians 5: “but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentlene…
Listening through Disagreement: A Review of “Civil Dialogue on Abortion”
by Stephen Shaffer
…ans and non-Christians as well as pro-choice and pro-life advocates have become polarized in our culture with their own words, online com munities, and patent arguments. For our society to move for ward, we need to find the language for civil dialogue without sacrificing religious conviction. While they do bracket religious reasoning, Mulder and Manninen provide a model of how to talk together when we do not share the same basic convictions about th…
Waiting Through the Night
by Erin Zoutendam
…ons are valid!) But, this phrase needs little explanation or adaptation—it com es down to us through the centuries with resonant clarity. The honesty of this sentence is a com fort to me. In seasons of anxiety, stress, grief, and loneliness, it can be a relief just to admit “The night is not yet over.” No need for for ced smiles, no need to pretend. This phrase recognizes the grimness of present reality and even brings that grimness to the for eground…
Technology and the Mind, Body and Soul
by Kayt Frisch
…e chapter toward its conclusion by discussing the implications of internet com munication for Christian com munity, particularly as it applies to the cyber church. The chapter finishes with a set of application points and questions for reflection, encouraging the reader to consider the implications of the chapter’s ideas in the context of his or her own life. Both The Shallows and The Next Story do an excellent job of motivating the reader to consid…
Engaging All People of God
by Tom De Vries
…s in the church. What do you see as the largest challenge for the Reformed com munity in the com ing decade? How we do church is changing. In previous decades, the church served as a social outlet where people met their friends and shared com munity. Congregants went over to one another’s houses for Bible study, they lingered after Sunday school classes, they took extra time to talk and drink their coffee after service. This is just not the case anym…
Animosity and Anonymous Critique
by Kathryn Post
…ak’s early demise. Yolo is a new app that allows users to anonymously send com ments, questions , and pictures in response to other users’ Snapchat stories. USA Today reported the app has been download ed over 5 million times since its release in early May, and according to BBC, Yolo was the most-download ed iPhone app in both the US and UK just one week following its release. Naturally, folks are concerned about Yolo’s potential for bulling and abuse…
by Caleb Schut
…read by a woman from the congregation about an interaction she had on her com mute in Chicago. The content of the songs—their questions , answers, images and language—has been birthed by this com munity of people working out their salvation with fear and trembling. Mystery is one of the themes the album leans into. Davin Youngs, the Director of Music at Grace and the album’s producer, recently said about our approach to music: “We believe that music…
“Movies Are Prayers” Book Review
by Josh Matthews
…tation and contemplation, and joy. Each chapter in his book offers several exam ples of each kind of movie-prayer. For exam ple, prayers of anger are featured in diverse movies from across the decades: “Fight Club” (1999), “The Maltese Falcon” (1941), “Taxi Driver” (1976), and “King Kong” (1933). Other movies are prayers of joy, which can be uttered from anywhere in the world: “Pather Panchali” (India), “Amélie” (France), “My Neighbor Totoro” (Japan…
Encountering the Land of Israel
by Marta Vander Top
…crowded, and there’s not much here besides the religious sites. But if you com e here only to encounter the Divine you will become insane. It is always a mixture between the human and the spiritual in this city, and that’s what makes it so special.” We turned the corner and waited in line to entire the church. I looked over to my left and noticed a group of people sitting against the wall. A man was smoking a cigarette, another was reading a book,…
A Distinctive World and Life Perspective
by Steven Timmermans
…n the church. 1. What do you see as the largest challenge for the Reformed com munity in the com ing decade? A significant challenge in the com ing decade is to continue to claim with confidence and boldness the Lordship of Christ in all things. As society has become more and more closed to Christian voices, we may become more reclusive, more willing to put up walls between Sunday and the rest of the week, and more accommodating to the culture around…
by Dave Mulder
…ing.” While increasing knowledge is certainly a part of what it means to become educated, a biblical view of teaching and learning is so much more than just enlightening the mind. Parker Palmer says, “We teach who we are.”5 For Christian teachers, our identity in Christ means that we will approach our craft from a different set of ground rules. Every instructional decision, every interaction with a student, everything that shapes the atmosphere of…
by Joya Schreurs
…ignored the points I made but praised a male student for raising the same com ments. It’s there every time my boss chooses to com ment not on my skill or work ethic but some aspect of my appearance. It’s there when men I love and respect dismiss the toxic com ments of male theologians (who convinced me in childhood that I would go to hell for using my spiritual gifts), in favor of holding onto the parts of their theology they enjoy. The message endu…
How Do I Know What to Do With my Life?
by Mark Verbruggen
…istians, we are quick to give correct theological answers to any number of questions . We can speak about grace and faith, identity and Kingdom calling, and so for th. However, when it com es to the real world of career and choices, we can easily for get it all. Younger people often feel obliged to chase for the trophies, awards, GPA, and scholarships by which they think they and their futures are defined and determined. Sadly, for many of them, they…
by
…a post in a highly interactive for um.Even though feedback seems like a big com ment, it’s actually a piece of content others can com ment on and vote up or down. It has its own taxonomy, feedback types, which you define. Currently these are Idea, Praise, Problem, and Question. We want people to post their ideas and questions for authors to write articles about; we want them to mention any problems they run into while using the site; and if they want…
Gathering Around the Table
by Marcy Rudins
…for today, we see that Jesus, who at this point has risen from the grave, com es to meet with the disciples and “…proved to them in many ways he was actually alive…Once he was eating with them…” A part of Christ’s being alive was manifested in being gathered around a table. It was the breaking of the bread. Listening to stories. Eating food might keep us alive—yet, to be alive is to be gathered with those whom you call Beloved. The beauty of this…
The Ins and Outs of Marriage: A Review of “Mutual by Design”
by Erin Olson
…out the “nuts and bolts” of relationships discussing topics like finances, com munication, and for giveness. The third section answers some tough questions about subjects that have historically been difficult for the church and Christian com munity. The book is published by the Center for Biblical Equality; therefore, the authors of each of the chapters are all operating from an egalitarian (as opposed to com plementarian) view of marriage. These two…
by Tara Boer
…of darkness, but rather expose them…But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light” (Ephesians 5:11-13, NIV). Satan hides in the darkness, and his work is perpetuated by sins hidden under church protection or ignorance. Let’s pray for the day when the church is known for being an exceptionally safe, holy place that brings life and light in every way possible. May we be a place where people g…
by Caleb Schut
…uld trust in Jesus rather than in my own ability to sustain my faith was a free dom that I had never experienced. It was a free dom that would carry me through my fears and doubts. My internal contradictions had led me out of my depth to a place where my own spiritual habits and self-assurance could no longer suffice. In the throes of my panic, my years of Christian education at Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, all of the answers I had…
