My father had his first heart attack at 37 years old. Let that sentence sink in for a second. No part of this shocking statement has been lost on me, certainly not when I recently turned 38. I have spent…
Clay Carlson Trinity Christian College
I assure you that anyone who gives you a drink of water because you belong to me will certainly receive a reward. Mark 9:41 The facts of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, are well known. Most important, it was…
First Reformed presents looks at current social issues through the lens of religion and specifically the eyes of a pastor from a failing Reformed church. To its credit, it attempts to give a well-rounded view of these issues. Pastor Ernst…
Robert Hubbard Northwestern College
As a child of the 80s born to evangelical parents with a tall stack of Christian music on vinyl, I grew up with an odd mix of music. Music from an earlier era of secular styles was called “oldies.” Oldies…
In late October, a gunman opened fire on a Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing 11 people in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in United States history. Earlier the same week, a white supremacist killed two black customers at a grocery store…
for the Sons of Korah (Psalm 84) Swallows swoop across the courtyard well above the notice of those alonefacing stone robed in black They flit & fly & loop back disappearing into gaps in the wall well above the reach…
“Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” Luke 9:54 In the passage above, Jesus has just sent his disciples ahead of him to the towns and communities he plans to visit…
Benedict Joseph Labre was an unemployed transient who begged around Europe for 13 years, eating refuse that other people didn’t want and clothing himself in rags. He was infested with vermin; he smelled bad. Yet fewer than a hundred years…
by Clayton Carlson “Of course you are smart, your dad is a scientist.” My kids, who tend to do pretty well in school, have heard a comment like that more than once. There are different ways to interpret what they…
Clay Carlson Trinity Christian College
My family lived in Southern Ohio when I was between the ages of five and ten, and after trying the local Presbyterian Church for a while we joined the Methodists because of a vibrant, vital pastor and congregation. Those were…
