Welcome to a brand-new column. Sorry, we’re not going to dish out juicy “tell-alls” here.
Features
Life-giving Death
Hospice care helps people say “good” goodbyesI knock on Mary’s door with no more than a name on a chart. My hospice badge prompts her husband to let me inside.
Lavish Frugality
The secret to an abundant life“I wish he’d get rid of all that junk!” my mom often said of my dad when I was growing up.
Our Need for Beauty
How it connects us to God and each otherBeauty has increasingly become a stranger to many of us.
Have you ever listened to a broadcast of a NASA launch?
Which Disability is the most prevalent in North America: Down syndrome or spina bifida? Autism or cystic fibrosis? None of the above.
In a community as widespread and diverse as the Christian Reformed Church in North America, reading a survey about its members can be a l
Be Perfect?
Does God really expect perfection from Us?Are you a perfectionist? Is your boss one? Perhaps you have a perfectionist parent or sibling?
How (Not) to Talk About God
What one church learned by practicing “Pub Theology”Every once in a while, it’s good to ask yourself, “When was the last time I had a real conversation with someone who doesn&rs
I’m about to say something just a bit shocking. It’s highly controversial.
Opening the closet door to look for wrapping paper, I saw it hanging in solitude.
Aceh’s Redemption
Five years after the deadly tsunami, we can see how grace has touched a century of tears.When I heard the name Aceh, the main locale in Indonesia hit by the 2004 tsunami, it was not new to me.
“Someday soon, my little man, our Lord Jesus is coming again. I hope you never forget it as long as you live.”
Daughter Ruth was always last to leave the Sunday family dinners.
I can still hear my grandpa’s refrain about “Ninth Street,” our home church in Holland, Mich.: “Don’t chang
Gratitude in Tough Times
Encouraging each other through storyAs we celebrate Thanksgiving this year, times are tough.
A Silent Dwelling
When a disrupted adoption left them in unspeakable pain, God brought comfort without words.I am not a psychologist. I have neither a degree in therapy nor in grief counseling.
No one knows for sure how many Christians remain in Iraq.
W.A. Visser ’t Hooft once wrote the following thought-provoking words about John Calvin:
One of the sweet promises of Scripture is God’s guidance.
Was the Reformation Necessary?
An Ecumenical Discussion with Contemporary Catholic TheologiansAs part of our commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, The Banner asked Ronald J.
Swelling with pride, a mother was all too glad to tell me recently how well her daughter is faring in her graduate studies at a prestigio
Living Room Compassion
Ministering to parents whose children have left the churchMy son doesn’t go to church anymore because he thinks God is a myth.”
Oil, Planks, Tax Collectors, and Tolerance
What it truly means to love our neighborOil
“Fill the earth and subdue it”
(Gen. 1:28).