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
Features
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).The New Calvinism
Calvinism’s on the rise—but other faith traditions are getting all the credit.I wonder how many readers were surprised by Time magazine’s recent cover story “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now”
Emily, a former student of mine, had endured a semester’s worth of ridicule and abuse from her grad school professors and fellow st
Augustine’s Great Comeback
How this fifth-century African bishop helps us think theologically about today’s worldEven as a resurgence of atheism fascinates the mass media, a new theological engagement with public life is taking shape.
Merciful Living
Christianity killed paganism with kindness. Imagine what could happen today.A speaker once asked his audience to raise their hands high above their heads. Everyone complied.
This year’s Multiethnic Conference participants met with the theme “Embracing the Discomfort of Diversity,” and attende
A former student wrote to me recently:
Q. What do you believe concerning the ‘holy catholic church’?
That Dreaded “E-Word”
Why are we so afraid to talk about the environment?Last week I unintentionally drove past Edmonton’s dump.
How do you picture God when you pray to him?
I remember being asked that question many years ago in a small group.
In these pages you will find the annual presentation of candidates for ministry in the Christian Reformed Church.
Reflection for Independence Day
Promoting peace rather than victoryLast July 4 weekend I came across the following church announcement:
If I had to choose only two concepts from John Calvin’s vast theology to teach my spiritual heirs, I’d choose piety and relig
As I lie awake each night in Iraq, I ache with homesickness for the abundant water, the evergreen trees, the peaceable mountains, the lus
Bright Hope for Tomorrow
Eavesdropping on today’s young church leadersRecently The Banner asked Rev. Ken Baker and Rev.
“He who knows his own sin is greater than the angels,” said seventh-century Isaac of Nineveh. John Calvin would agree.
After glancing at my calendar and doing a double-take at my ever-growing pregnant belly, I realize that I will miss out on Mother’s
Light for a Dark Path
People who live with mental illness are all around us. Yet they often suffer alone.John Nash is one of the most gifted mathematicians of our lifetime. As a student at Princeton he wowed everyone with his genius.
A Second Blessing
Into Christ, with water, by the Holy Spirit—just how many baptisms are there in a believer’s life?I was a member of a Second Blessing church before I joined the Christian Reformed Church.
I live in the South—a simple place with smiling folks who Hodding Carter described as “polite right up to the point they get
Some Christians are “Big God” people; others believe God’s a bit smaller and a little less powerful.
What an impertinent question! Why would you even ask such a thing? The church is the body of Jesus Christ.