Years ago, during a canoe trip on a Michigan river, I stepped into what appeared to be shallow water to pull the canoe to shore. But the water was over my head. Instantly I was disoriented, grasping for anything to provide stability.

There is a reason that the most beautiful thing, the visual aesthetic referenced so often in Scripture to evoke loveliness beyond the ordinary or even the physical, is the bride arrayed. For what could be more glorious than someone beloved?

The deacons say that most people are paying electronically. I’ve even heard of churches that allow people to swipe a credit card in the service. Isn’t this undermining the worshipful nature of the offering?

We had just crossed the border from Michigan into Ontario. I was driving a van filled with seven college student worship leaders, and one of the guys piped up, “It’s two hours till we're back on campus. I’d like everyone to name their favorite Bible verse and explain why it matters to you.”

우리는 개혁주의 전통에 주신 풍성한 지성의 은사에 대해 하나님께 감사해야 합니다.

We can’t see God with our eyes. But God has made amazing things we can see that show us something about our awesome God. God created towering mountains and blazing stars and all sorts of wild and wonderful animals, and God gave us incredible eyes to see it all!

During retirement we are called to discern the varied ways our new status can become an opportunity to be of service to others—our children, grandchildren, siblings, parents, churches, and wider communities.

Within our churches, there is a general pushback against charging Christians with dismantling racism. The fear of white supremacy is considered to be overblown, and talking about racism is equated with progressive theology outside of the bounds of Christian orthodoxy. 

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.

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.”

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. 

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.