Featured Articles
Honest Patriots: Loving Countries Full of Contradictions, 1
We asked a few Canadian and US citizens to briefly share a patriotic memory, time or, experience when they felt proud of and pleased with their country.
Featured Articles
Communion is not the Same as Agreement
We remain at the table not because we have resolved every difference, but because we trust that God is not finished with any of us.
A Church Worth Keeping
As far as the denomination is concerned, these churches fly below the radar. This is not always a bad thing, especially when it comes to
The Reason for Doubt
Is doubt something to be accepted, then, as an uncomfortable part of the human condition? Or, is it a malady beyond our control that slips
A Personal Rememberance of Professor Fred Johnson
Fred gave his heart to everyone—his students in Holland and Muskegon, family, friends, voters. It’s hard to absorb the tragedy of someone who gave away
Terrence Malick: Then and Soon
Readers of Job know these questions (38: 4, 7) compose part of God’s response (such as it is) to Job’s queries about his profuse personal
Scripture Memorization: How to Hear The Voice of God
This is how God speaks—at least in my life. I don’t hear a voice thundering from the sky. It’s certainly not dramatic. It doesn’t even
Powerful Women in My Life: A Sharecropper’s Daughter, A Nanny, A Prophet/Priest, A Tribal Leader
What these women offered me was not correction from the outside but transformation from the inside. They offered invitation—an invitation to become someone I did
Latest from the Blog
Daily blog by our regular bloggers & guest contributors.
Just Asking Questions: The Limits of ChurchGPT
I find myself unsatisfied with simple spiritual answers, even if they are true. I’m more interested in learning from people who have spent long
A Purity Problem — in the lab and in the church
Purity can serve wonder, or it can serve fear. In my laboratory, purity is not the goal; discovery is. When purity becomes the goal, it
The USMNT Have Played a Beautiful Game in the World Cup—And That Is Enough
To get “up” for game after game is exhausting, and the way most professional athletes manage to do it and to be human beings immediately
Questions and Still More Questions
On her deathbed, Gertrude Stein asked, “What is the answer?” After a moment she asked, “What is the question?” Socrates, who was known for his
Life Finds a Way – The Library Storm Shelter
We hadn’t been in the shelter for very long when a youth baseball team–decked out in their uniforms and eye black–found places around the tables
Summer in the City, the World Cup, and Collective Effervescence
Collective effervescence, couldn’t we use it to describe the electric feeling of all sorts of communal experiences?
Two Synods: A Nashville Convention and a Grand Rapids Senate
The two denominations have “turned corners” in different directions. We can only hope that their divergence will not return them to their old estrangement.
Blessed Are
The behind-the-scenes question that we’re chasing after is “what can it look like to live faithfully as Jesus’ disciples here and now?
Reviews
The Case for Human Decency
Patchett again uncovers the universal layers of insecurity, certainty, deception, anger, and affection that comprise most of our lifelong relationships with those we love–or try
Why Can’t I Love My Neighbor?
A few weeks ago, my Wisconsin suburban family spent a lot of time sheltering in our basement. Repeated tornado warnings and touchdowns drove us underground
Humanity Demands its Parentheses
The author stakes her claim, over and over again, through her defiant choice in favor of joy when joy happens to be there for the
Bodies and Body Parts
Bodies and Body Parts A Review of Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy, is the latest
Life is Short
Perhaps the lesson here is not to expect lasting success from our short time on this mortal coil.
Trusting the Wings
“Take a moment to gather your courage and summon your resolve, and then rise up again. Trust the Wings.”
The Lord Keep You: A Story of Faith, Refuge, and Unexpected Family
When God blesses you, God prepares you for the journey. When God keeps you, God sustains you in that journey.
The Courage to Welcome
Welcome drops all boundaries around the sacred space of her home, while her neighbors create impenetrable barriers and include her in their condemnation of the
Poetry
Psalm, roughly the size of a lung
The hate mail appeared in the church Suggestion Box …
Compulsion
After our home burned down in the Tea Fire, I started picking up trash on the streets …
Upon Our Seeing the Grand Tetons for the First Time
Deplaning the gondola after the steep ascent into the cloud-turbaned peaks, I am stepping high …
Aeronaut
We’d become accustomed to the wonders that he worked–the wheel that drives the mill …
My Lord I Sit Beige and Bubble Wrapped
My Loud I sit beige and bubble-wrapped when all my friends forskae me for jobs …
Podcasts
“Compulsion” by Paul J. Willis
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma talks with Paul Willis about his poem “Compulsion.” Paul has published eight
“Upon Our Seeing the Grand Tetons for the First Time” by Jo Taylor
In this episode of the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Jo Taylor about her poem, “Upon Our Seeing the Grand Tetons for the First Time.” Jo
“Aeronaut” by Brian Phipps
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Brian G. Phipps about his poem “Aeronaut.” Brian is the author
“Broken Balm” by Alex Arthurs
In this week’s episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Alex Arthurs about his poem “Broken Balm.” Alex is husband
“My Lord I Sit Beige and Bubble Wrapped” by Alex Mouw
In this week’s episode of Reformed Journal Podcast, Rose Postma talks with Alex Mouw about his poem “My Lord Beige and Bubble Wrapped.” Alex is
“Sowing” by Marjorie Maddox
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, Rose Postma interviews Marjorie Maddox about her poem “Sowing.” Marjorie is Professor Emerita of English and Creative