Featured Articles
When Rest Loses the Body
The body is part of how we meet the world. That may help explain why some kinds of rest leave us strangely tired. We stopped working, but we never stopped bracing. We sat down, but our attention kept running. The schedule was empty, but the body was still carrying something.
Featured Articles
Parting Words as a Congregation Leaves the CRC
I want to let you know that we are leaving because of our understanding of being Reformed. We are not leaving because we want to be less Reformed; we leave because we are Reformed.
Living Ably in Body, Mind, and Spirit
I grieve what I’ve lost. I miss caring for our five acres of woods, wetlands, and the trout stream that runs through them. I miss
When You Read a Good Book, It Reads You Back
There are lots of reasons to read books, and one of my favorites is the way a good one reflects light back into my own
Jason Arday, J. H. Bavinck, and the Myth of Meritocracy
Bavinck’s observation is striking because he highlights something Western Christians sometimes struggle to articulate: racial injustice cannot simply be reduced to class injustice or individual
Lessons on Life, Grief, Fear, and Truth from “The Lion King”
What have we run from in fear? We run from lies, lies that others have told us and lies that we tell ourselves. In our
What Have We Lost: Why the Church Must Do More Than Offer Prayer and Condolences After Another Life Is Taken
When a child is lost under violent, strange, disputed, or unexplained circumstances, the family does not receive the luxury of uncomplicated grief. They grieve while
Rest in a Low-Touch World
Rest in a low-touch world will require intention. Boundaries matter, but boundaries are not the whole story. A phone-free table is good, but the goal
Latest from the Blog
Daily blog by our regular bloggers & guest contributors.
Show Me the Money
The sheer torrent of political advertising hitting us here is stunning. Little of it is positive. Even less of it is fully true.
Get Over Yourselves
There may have been a significant issue at stake in all this. But who of us would be surprised were we to discover one day
Minutes of the Heavenly Reformation Day Planning Committee
Perhaps we could all use a few moments of levity in these difficult days? –Ed. INT. CAFÉ CLOUD NINE, HEAVEN – ETERNAL DAY Small groups
Father Abraham
Abraham, paragon of biblical faith, is complicated, contradictory, both faithful and deeply flawed.
Movement for Life
Our faith’s preferred metaphors tend to emphasize motionlessness as the goal state.
Money Among Friends
Plenty is quieter than abundance. It does not promise everyone will have everything they want or that hardship will disappear. Plenty asks whether what God
Reading Our Way to Neighbor-Love
When we open a book, we must grant the author and their created world the status of a neighbor. We treat them with hospitality. We
To Seize and to Receive
It starts as early as playground spats about who gets the best toy. It continues through a lifetime of temptation to covet any number of
Reviews
The Numbers Don’t Lie. We Do.
What is statistics and how can it be used by Christians to discern what is true? Jason Wilson attempts to answer this question in his
A Pastor’s Heart: A Review of Roosevelt Park Rising
Ministry has a way of stripping away your pretensions.
Love Bade Me Welcome: A Review
We are beloved and God’s love has been evident through generations…
Make Your Home in This Luminous Dark: A Book Review
[C]onsider the gift of not knowing, the gift of receiving, the gift of being beloved by God.
Out of the Ditch: Grace, Discipline, and the Work of Becoming a Better Church
…the ditch is the place to which the gospel can speak deeply, where the God we have always been dependent on comes to find us.
Can a Machine Be One of Us?
One of my favorite classes to teach is Philosophy and Science Fiction. As expected, much of what we discuss involves the philosophical implications of various
Grace and Social Ethics: A Review
“…grace makes possible a life that is not otherwise possible” which…reminds us of our nature and calls for a social ethic powerful enough to reimagine
Opening Ourselves to the Voice of the Lord: A Review of Songs from the Stillness
Making a sincere, direct address to God in most of his poems, Kuiper brings praise and gratitude, as well as genuine questions and pleas before
Poetry
Adam Talks With Sisyphus About Gardening
Sisyphus, I forgot to say that, thoughthe sun always dies before I’ve finished,and, when sweat and soil sting my brow, I’ve wishedthese weeds would be
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 …
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