‘Contraditions’
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‘Contraditions’

On Palm Sunday in sunny Florida, a state full of palm trees, I walked out of church. It was the first time I walked out of a sermon. No, I wasn’t preaching, although maybe at that moment I was. The text in this Presbyterian church was Luke 19:41-44, Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem. There was no…

The happy father no one talks about
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The happy father no one talks about

Bruce Marchiano changed the way I saw God. The year he starred in The Gospel According to Matthew was the year I nearly died. I was 13 years old and blue with hypothermia. Nurses said I was a miracle. I’d been starving myself for four years, and was 60 pounds. I starved because I was…

The love of God according to ancient grocery lists
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The love of God according to ancient grocery lists

It has been said that no person ever rises above their view of God. Whom we worship and what we worship is irrevocably tied to who we become. Worship predicts identity. Within the uncertain, unsteady forecasts of our daily lives, a new vision of God can grant us a new vision of hope. We must…

Is your Bible study biased?
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Is your Bible study biased?

This is a rigorous, concise and entertaining book for anyone interested in the history and function of Scripture, and how the current approach to study and interpretation of the Bible can be improved. Hahn and Wilker pull you into history to show how apparently old theological and political disputes are relevant to Biblical studies today….

Superheroes and Binoculars
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Superheroes and Binoculars

For one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are we not (all) merely human? (I Cor. 3:4) A couple of Sundays ago I asked the children assembled at the front of the church to name their favorite superheroes. There was quite a buzz of responses. Among the candidates were Spiderman,…

Saints and Superheroes
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Saints and Superheroes

The great cynic, Ambrose Bierce, defined saint this way: “SAINT, n. A dead sinner revised and edited.” If he meant that a saint was a dead sinner whose faults, evil deeds and misdemeanours have been simply papered over perhaps he was rightly cynical. I read his definition a little more positively; there is no one…

Dual nature of the light
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Dual nature of the light

As we learn more about God’s creation, our commonsense understanding of things sometimes becomes limiting. Quantum physics, for example, is full of descriptions of the subatomic world that seem, on their surface, bizarre. Light can be described as either waves or particles. Good experiments produce evidence that supports both realities. And yet our commonsense view…

Sex and money
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Sex and money

I have purposely not written a column expressing my opinion on the 2022 Christian Reformed Synod’s Human Sexuality Report, and specifically not about the report’s recommendations concerning same sex relations. My reason is that, from the outset, I judged the entire process to be disingenuous. Handcuffing the committee members with a mandate that forced it…

Highway in the Wilderness
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Highway in the Wilderness

I remember seeing a sign on a sharp curve in Orangeville, Michigan. It said, “Prepare to meet thy God.” It felt ominous. I cringe seeing similar signs along highways. These are “look out” rather than “look to” messages. John the Baptist gave his warning to the self-righteous holy people who say “our way or the…

Joseph, first-time dad
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Joseph, first-time dad

“The angels explained things to Joseph after he’d talked to Mary, not before. Be patient when you don’t understand.”  – Bob Goff, Live in Grace, Walk in Love (389)  He’s usually in the background. If the kids in your church are putting on a nativity play, it’s one of the minor roles. He might lead…

A fantastic comedy
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A fantastic comedy

Many years ago, when teaching in a small Christian elementary school, I had my first encounter with a parent adamant about removing a novel from the language arts curriculum. The novel was A Wrinkle in Time by Christian author Madeleine L’Engle. It won the 1963 Newberry Medal for best children’s book of that year and…

Stop. Look. Listen.
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Stop. Look. Listen.

When I told students in Lithuania, “I can pass for Lithuanian, but I feel more like a foreigner here than in Zambia, because I cannot speak the language,” they laughed. They let me know it was easy to tell I was not Lithuanian. I walked fast, upright and looked at people. Lithuanians walk slowly, looking…