Why didn’t the early Reformers more seriously seek reunion with Eastern Orthodoxy after rejecting the excesses and innovations of Western Catholicism?

Steve Timmermans’ essay “Speaking with a Reformed Accent” (April 2009) proves an incentive to ponder the distinctiveness of the Reformed perspective.

We should be grateful to God for the robust intellectual gifts of the Reformed tradition. But we cannot be blind to the very real temptation of loving the gifts more than the Giver. Have we loved our Reformed theology and confessions more than the God they point to?

Sometimes serving Jesus invites us into a holy madness that makes little sense to the world.

Helpful input convinced me that online dating is a viable option for anyone seeking a mate.

Is the Christian Reformed Church so determined to increase its numbers that it’s willing to fit in, make no waves, and offend no one? 

척추는 단단 하면서도 유연합니다. 우리 몸의 중심을 잡으면서도 몸이 움직일 수 있게 해 줍니다. 척추와 같은 태도는 경계의 필요는 인정하면서도 단정적인 태도는 피합니다. 

Who among us doesn’t feel weak from time to time and in need of something to lean on? So, sure, faith in God is a wonderful support to lean on when we are weak. Except when it’s not.

I suggest asking your congregation some hard questions about how closed or open it is to reaching out to new immigrants.

A backbone is both firm yet flexible, giving both structure and movement to the body. A backbone posture recognizes the need for boundaries but avoids setting them in stone.

I’m learning to discern the difference between healthy accountability in using my gifts and vainglorious martyrdom.

It can be very helpful for everyone in a newly blended family if both the marriage partners and their respective children understand that the roles of spouse and parent should not be assumed to automatically go together. 

She sat across from me, a look of disbelief on her face. As she spoke, her eyes grew larger, her voice stronger. “These things would never, ever happen in my country,” she said. “But if they did, there would be a big problem for that person and for that person’s family.”

Although I cannot yet see the fruition, beneath the surface seeds are already germinating, preparing to poke their heads out of the soil when the time is right, bursting forth into new plants. Within weeks, buds and leaves will appear on the same trees that now look so dim. Rain will fall, the puddles becoming homes for small frogs. By the middle of June, flowers will abound.

Our church has a lot of programs for children and teens but nothing for those of us who are retirement age. I feel as if I don’t count. Shouldn’t the church have things for us too?

Thank you so much for making Joanne De Jonge’s kids’ pages available for printing (“Just for Kids: A Baker’s Dozen,” free PDF download available at thebanner.org). I have been meaning to request permission to copy some of the children’s pages from The Banner to share with the girls in our GEMS Club. The ones you made available are some of my favorites.

Nobody imagined what would happen as the result of Ruth gleaning in Boaz’s field.

Avoiding social hierarchies does not mean we should eliminate social differences or diversity, but merely the inequality between those differences.

What I found very helpful in teaching our young people was to replace the weekly catechism class with monthly Sunday retreats for high school juniors and seniors. 

What if we were able to find that delight in life again? How could we return to finding joy in the simple things that astonish little children?  

Was Jesus’ death on the cross a form of divine child abuse?

It is dawn. A lone figure is bending over a charcoal fire on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. He looks up, scanning the horizon. When he catches sight of a boat heading for shore, he recognizes it as his disciples’ boat.