Featured Articles
Lay Down Your Nets: On LGBTQ+ Inclusion and a Radical Gospel, the Only Kind Worth Believing
There’s just not much evidence that people form their ideas about LGBTQ+ people, about sexuality, gender, and gender expression, and about family and leadership and righteousness, on the basis of theological study and Biblical exegesis. Yes, many of us eventually decide to do a little research. But we are not starting from zero when we do. Our ideas come first from our families and communities and through what we read and see in books, movies, and television. They come from the comments we hear in our early life about people who are different from us. They come from the approval or sanction our actions win us in childhood and from the clothes we are dressed in from the moment of our birth.
Featured Articles
White Privilege and White Liberals: The Anesthesia of Comfort, Status, and Moderation
I don’t want to reach the end of my life having been admired for being measured, careful, and safe. I want to have lived truthfully enough that those on the margins knew they were not abandoned. Even if my honesty costs me invitations, strains relationships, and makes respectable people uncomfortable. Maybe especially then
Nursery Rhyme Racism: From “Roosevelt Park Rising”
Church is many different things, but at its core deep inside me, it still is a place where people dignify each other by respecting their
Meeting People Where They Are: What Eugene Callender’s Harlem Ministry Can Teach the Church Today
Callender was the first Black student to attend Westminster Theological Seminary and, in 1951, the first African American ordained by the Christian Reformed Church. From
The Fire of God (Part Two): The Sanctification of Jeremiah
Jeremiah’s examination of the depths of his heart invites us to respond with a similar self-examination. When I accept the invitation, when I slow down
The Fire of God: A World Dazzling and Bedazzling (Part One)
God was not immutable and self-contained: like fire, God, burned, flared forth, illuminated, and energized everything in the world. In the words of an ancient
Confessions of a Former Pro-Lifer: I Missed the Mark
Here is the prophetic truth that must be spoken: A cause that abandons compassion for punishment and control while demonizing others will lose its soul.
Honest Patriots: Loving Countries Full of Contradictions, 2
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
Latest from the Blog
Daily blog by our regular bloggers & guest contributors.
In Search of a Cure for the Slur
I find the contemporary usage of “lame” to be lazy and hurtful.
Some Pastoral Implications
Properly understood, the historic Reformed understanding of election should lead us to exercise the judgment of charity toward everyone.
Sunday Dinners: A Play in Three Acts
Sauce brimming with short ribs, meatballs the size of tennis balls, and sausage — all homemade.
A Summer of the Yips
Last month, I forgot how to hit a forehand. Mind you, I’ve been playing tennis for probably 30 years now. I know how to hit
The Tender Tilt of August
My Ferris wheel metaphor also means I tend to get a little melancholy when we begin the descent, when the humid days of August wind
Karen-ing for a Good Cause
Common interactions with a Karen in the wild usually begin with, “Uhm, excuse me?” and end with “Can I speak to your manager?”
The People on the Other Side of the Fence
Should I explain to him that these “bombs” in his yard could not have come from a 15 pound dog?
A Letter to My Daughters for Going Back to School
I wish I could tell you that the world will always recognize your worth. But you both already know that it won’t.
Reviews
When Bread Is Resistance
How long, Lord? How long before you set everything right?
The Long Shadow of Adam: A Review of Defending Sin: A response to the challenge of evolution and the natural sciences
A few years ago, I read Loren Haarsma’s When Did Sin Begin. The book explored possibilities for understanding some key theological claims of orthodox Christian
Room for Gay Bellwethers in God’s Flock
He begins to pray, apologizing to his Maker for how he has been made.
Loosening the Grip on Power
Perhaps Nolan is suggesting that the way forward looks more like loosening our grip on power, acknowledging our mistakes, and seeking to be faithful to
A Clear Vision
He was willing to dare to dream of things that never were and say “why not.”
One Small Question That Will Change the Way You Read—and Write.
It also reads like a classroom, and I mean that in the best sense.
The Hidden Abundance of Creation: A review of Microlands: The Future of Life on Earth (and Why It’s Smaller Than You Think)
Most people have heard of Charles Darwin’s voyage on the HMS Beagle. Some may know of Alfred Russel Wallace’s travels through the Malay Archipelago or
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
Poetry
Absolution
Church bells rung candles ligted welcome offered we stand to sing …
Lord of Light and Dark
who maketh stars to leap in the gaped black mouth of heaven …
Choosing Stones
The last thing the Gittite saw was a laughable pebble flung by a gnat of a boy …
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 …
Podcasts
“Absolution” by Jillian Burden
In this week’s episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, Rose Postma interviews Jillian Burden about her poem “Absolution.” Jillian is a Canadian-American poet based in
“Lord of Light and Dark” by Haley Hodges
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Haley Hodges about her poem “Lord of Light and Dark.” Haley
“Choosing Stones” by Cody Adams
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Cody Adams about his poem “Choosing Stones.” Cody is an English Teacher
“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