I stayed in the room the next night. My family was right—he was fantastic. Besides his obvious talent, what made him fantastic was his humility.

Pluribus is the most morally interesting show since Breaking Bad and its sequel Better Call Saul. What these shows have in common is Vince Gilligan,

I tend to think you’re all in West Michigan, Canada, and Northwest Iowa, but the computer tells a different story: China, Australia, South Africa, Germany,

My mom died never knowing the rise of Donald Trump in American politics. On June 16, 2015, about 20 months after her death, Trump rode

The other day, I came across this photo I’d snapped of Muhammad Ali signing an autograph on January 17, 1988. We were in a strip

The Second Amendment is a sacred cow. It was written in a different time with primitive firearms and no standing army. The writers of the

It occurred to me (not for the first time, but this was a fresh reminder) that I grew up in a world made for me.

We lived outside Cincinnati, Ohio when I was a kid and my great-grandfather, Howard Sumner Munroe (he always claimed his initials “H. S.” stood for

Much of the data on our readers can be filed under “Everything you think you know is wrong.” I tend to think the same faithful

By the time May 3 rolled around, 500+ had signed up to attend the event live and 3000 had registered for the livestream. There were

As someone who grew up on Johnny Carson and then David Letterman, not to mention being an early viewer of Saturday Night Live, I know

A year after the publication of my book, I am aware of things I wish I’d said better. I don’t feel bad about that; I

I didn’t like Chuck when I met him. That’s to be expected; kids don’t like their parents’ suitors. But there were other reasons why I

The Reformed Journal has become a place for people with mixed feelings.

I’m not going to get what I want. Actually, I haven’t been getting what I want this whole election cycle. Climate change is an existential

We lived in Southern Ohio when I was a kid and I have a vivid memory of sitting down the third base line at Crosley

I get worn out by political arguing, and am especially wary of attempts to appropriate patriotism and religion for political purposes. Not surprisingly, these tricks

In January. Steve Mathonnet-VanderWell posted a blog in this space called Joe Biden’s Age, arguing that Biden’s age helped make him trustworthy. The months since

The attempted assassination of Donald Trump has elicited predicable responses from the right and left. I saw a post on Facebook that Saturday night claiming

On Thursday, the day Donald Trump became the first former President of the United States to be convicted of a felony, I visited the Columbine

The other day I saw a new stamp in the post office and couldn’t stop myself from buying a sheet. (I know; the post office

We’ve suffered so many mass shootings, they don’t shock us. We’ve become inoculated. We should sit in lament and then rise up in protest, but

I shouldn’t have been surprised—but I still was—when I started hearing people claiming the National Football League is “rigged.” We are less than a week

“This is the body of Christ, broken for you. Forgive the referees.” An elder said this to me as I took communion on the last

What’s saving your life right now? That’s a question Barbara Brown Taylor explores in her memoir Leaving Church, and a question whose power has stuck

I preached the Thanksgiving service at my church yesterday on a few verses from II Corinthians 9, where Paul speaks about generosity. I quoted Karl

I’m very pleased today to announce a new venture, Reformed Journal Books, and to reveal the cover of our first book: Telling Stories in the

I have a deep love for Avalon, Barry Levinson’s autobiographical movie from 1990. According to Wikipedia (which means it must be true), Avalon cost $20

I was mindlessly scrolling through Facebook the other day when a meme stopped me. The photo was of an old, overweight guy pushing a cart

Belief, Belonging, and the Guy in Pew 18’s Trouble Moving Further Up and Further In The pews in our historic sanctuary are numbered, a vestige

There are so many depressing stories of evangelicals getting things wrong lately, I thought it might be nice to hear a story about a time

I was having my teeth cleaned the other day and noticed the hygienist was quietly singing along with the radio in the dentist’s office. The

The 2022 CRC Synod was painful for many people, but it boosted readership on the Reformed Journal. I spent some time as the calendar turned

I failed here. This is a picture I took in late October of a house we lived in from 2009-2010 in Dordrecht, the Netherlands. (The

I’ve always been intrigued by those amazing “But wait, there’s more” television commercials. So intrigued, in fact, that I created a “But wait, there’s more”

My father died on August 13. Although he’d been declining for the past several months, and although he had reached the grand old age of

Today’s entry is not an opinion piece but a hodge-podge of things I want to make sure our readers are aware of. One might even

Among the many gifts holidays bring is memory, because holidays allow us to connect memories with dates. I have many memories, but I know the

Seventy-eight years ago today, Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy to begin the misnamed invasion of Europe. I call it misnamed because the

News from the future . . . Sometime in the fall of 2033, what was once an innocent choice became fraught with polarizing possibilities. Protestants

The day after the Oscars, a Facebook friend of my wife’s posted, “Sure glad Will Smith isn’t white.” A jumble of thoughts went through my

I saw a meme on Facebook the other day in reference to the invasion of Ukraine that said, “This is what you get when you

Eugene Peterson once wrote to his congregation, “It makes little difference to me whether there are few or many in this place. . . .

A year ago, we asked you to financially support the Reformed Journal because we had big plans. We said we were going to expand what

My attention span for someone else’s vacation is about 17 seconds, long enough to ask, “Where did you go?” and “Did you have a good

Sixty years ago, Newton Minow, head of the Federal Communications Commission, memorably declared that television was a “vast wasteland.” (And that was before Jerry Springer,

I was on an airplane that left Detroit about 8:45am on September 11, 2001. The first jet hit the World Trade Center at 8:46am. We’d

My wife and I were walking out of the grocery store; the man wearing a T-shirt adorned with “Sorry I Can’t Hear You Over the

My theory about Ted Lasso is simple: The Obama presidency gave us Walter White and Don Draper. The Trump presidency has given us Ted Lasso.

There’s a moment toward the end of Mackenzie Crook’s brilliant tender comedy-drama Detectorists when the character Lance explains the attraction of metal detecting by saying,

A. J. Muste’s Reformed roots ran deep. Abraham Johannes Muste (1885-1967) was born in the Netherlands, raised in Grand Rapids, and educated at two Reformed

I’m much more of a Jeopardy fan (may we have a moment of silence on The Twelve for the late, great Alex Trebek, please?) than

A friend asked what we’re looking for in the new Reformed Journal and I said “great writing.” There are a lot of other things I

I was working on a piece about Nebuchadnezzar on Wednesday afternoon when the world shifted. My wife called, and I watched the goons running amok

The Electoral College vote will be taken today and Joe Biden will officially be named President-elect. Eighty-one million voters will breathe a sigh of relief,

Sometimes the mostly RCA and CRC world of The Twelve can seem small. But the numbers of our humble blog tell a different story. The

A friend asked on Facebook: “Anyone else thrilled to cancel Thanksgiving, thanks to COVID? It’s the most physically exhausting, emotionally draining, politically fractious, whiplash-scheduled holiday,

Why should Christians vote for Joe Biden? The overwhelming answer is because he’s not Donald Trump. There is a lot of truth in those “Any

Monday’s lovely post by Chuck DeGroat, about how we use words and encouragement to call on our better angels got me thinking about the history

Dear Friends, For most of the past decade our daughter has shared a small house in Washington, D.C. Hotels are expensive there and I am

Back in the day, we hoped to start conversations on The Twelve. I’m trying to revive that lost tradition today with a bunch of questions

In 2009-10 we lived in the Netherlands. The Dutch do lots of things better than we do, including bike paths, reclaiming land from the sea,

Donald Trump in front of a church with a Bible in his hand Monday night got me thinking about George Washington. Perhaps you’ve heard the

Our recent unprecedented misuse of the word “unprecedented” finally got to me. I am both a word geek and history freak, and although our stay-at-home

In the moments I’m not self-righteously clucking “tsk, tsk,” at the toilet-paper-hoarding masses, I’m doing mental math estimating how long our supply might last. We’re

Perhaps you’ve heard the story about the woman who received a text message that said, “I am here for you.” Immediately, she wrote back saying

The last time I got into a fight fight, a physical fight with hitting and punching, was almost fifty years ago. I was in junior

A few years ago I happened to be walking out of a jet bridge alongside the actor Michael Keaton. He was alone, caught for a

The stories of the wittiest are probably false. Oscar Wilde allegedly said, “Either this wallpaper goes or I do,” but those present reported nothing and

One day when my daughter was about three, I came home, sat on the couch, opened the afternoon newspaper, and buried myself inside its pages.

Memory is such a trickster. I came across a lost document while helping my dad and stepmom clean out their condo recently, notes from Monday,

Makoto Fujimura operates on a different plane than I do. His art is exhibited worldwide, best-selling author David Brooks refers to him as “my friend”

Quentin Tarantino’s film Once Upon a Time . . . In Hollywood debuted toward the end of summer. It is star-packed with Leonardo DeCaprio, Brad

Yuck factor warning: what follows will address bodily functions. Our bodies, and the functions of our bodies, are often sources of shame and embarrassment. Ever

In the fall of 1977, Linda Ronstadt came to Michigan State University. In those innocent days, concert tickets were sold at the box office. I

Alone, all aloneNobody, but nobodyCan make it out here alone.– Maya Angelou Hey you, out there in the coldGetting lonely, getting oldCan you feel me?–

When the Buildings and Grounds Superintendent signed up to read a poem, I knew we were onto something. We have a daily community gathering after

To say the late I. John Hesselink was into books is akin to saying Mozart was into music. According to John’s widow Etta, there were

My son took a trip the other day to the Keweenaw Peninsula, atop Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, atop Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. A peninsula on a peninsula

It’s late February, which means the citizens of Michigan have descended into a seasonally-induced depression. Parents are depressed because school has been cancelled every other

I heard Matt Bloom of the University of Notre Dame speak recently about research he is doing on well-being and thriving in ministry. Bloom has

Resolved is a curious word, etymologically related to solvent, and, of course, solution, as in resolution. The original meaning had to do with loosening, and that meaning is still easy to

As a result of Western Theological Seminary’s massive building project, I am one of many people now happily ensconced in a new office with new

I might be mistaken, but I believe I am the only member of The Twelve who regularly asks people for money. I’ve learned asking isn’t

There’s a billboard out by the highway featuring a picture of John Wayne in all his western glory with the caption “Don’t Much Like Quitters,

Did you know Sylvester Stallone wanted to use the Queen song, “Another One Bites the Dust” as the theme for Rocky III? Queen wouldn’t give

Last June, I presented a seminar on Frederick Buechner at a writing conference. One of the attendees happened to be the head of a publishing

Please indulge me and accept yet another, “What I did on my summer vacation” post. Since today is Labor Day, it’s the end of summer

In Sarah Arthur’s new book A Light So Lovely: The Spiritual Legacy of Madeleine L’Engle, she tells of a frequent interaction L’Engle’s daughter Josephine had

Cogito ergo sum, Descartes famously said, but sometimes I think recordor ergo sum might be more accurate. “I remember, therefore I am.” I have a

By Jeff Munroe dfYann Martel, author of Life of Pi, was troubled about a decade ago by the admission of then Canadian Prime Minister Stephen

By Jeff Munroe “Why write a poem at a time like this?” a poet friend asks, and if you are like me, you intuitively feel

by Jeff Munroe We want a motive, because we want the senseless shooting in Las Vegas last week to make sense. We want there to

by Jeff Munroe Brian Doyle had me at The whole weasel question. (As opposed to “You had me at hello.”) I was undone by the

by Jeff Munroe I could handle the questions repeated endlessly like we were in Groundhog Day: Who are you? Where do you live now? When

by Jeff Munroe You are 14, which, depending on whom you listen to, equates to either 84 or 98 in people years. We’ve been noticing

by Jeff Munroe When I was 15, I sent Olivia Newton John a love letter. I thought of that embarrassing letter the other day when

by Jeff Munroe A few years ago, when a group of Perspectives leaders were discussing the history of the journal, someone decided the best way

by Jeff Munroe One Christmas season during my childhood, we were dining in a crowded restaurant when I saw a man stand up from his

by Jeff Munroe Today, we welcome (back) Jeff Munroe who blogged regularly at The Twelve for several years. Jeff is the Vice President of Operations

Jennifer Holberg is away today, stuck in an airport or snowbank somewhere.  We welcome back Twelve Hall-of-Famer, Jeff Munroe. Jeff is the Vice President of

I am of the considered opinion that no one cares how busy other people are.  I don’t. I sit in meetings and someone says, “I’m

It is one of those days when I’m a thousand miles from home attempting to navigate through the latest winter storm, wondering where I’ll lay

Instead of using your time on this MLK Day to read the musings of a middle-aged white guy, I suggest you honor the legacy of

  It is 2015, the year Marty McFly traveled to in Back to the Future II, and media outlets everywhere are asking the same question,

Just when you thought nothing significant could come out of Hollywood, North Korea and their always fun supreme leader Kim Jong-un have made the movies

“Nobody gave me anything.” I have heard variations of this statement recently, as race has been a topic of national conversation. The statement, intended to

                Then he said Amen and sat down.  I have never in my life wished so badly for pulpit

I’m not on Twitter, but thankfully Larry King is.  Did you see his wee-hours-of-the-morning Twitter fest the other day?  For any of you that wonder

At different points in the D-Day movie The Longest Day, both a German officer and an American officer say, “It sure is hard to tell

photo credit: Freddy Rosas Jeff Munroe is away today. His daughter Amanda, Social Justice Curriculum and Pedagogy Coordinator at Georgetown University’s Center for Social Justice

The Ray Rice video got me thinking about a mental image of judgment I once had. I thought that after I died I would go

As the calendar turns to September and the ice bucket challenge seems like so last month, I’m left reflecting on this unparalleled fundraising phenomenon. What

The internet has been abuzz since the death of Robin Williams with the news that a few “Christians” have announced he is now in hell.

I told you in this space last time that I grew up in Flint, Michigan. What I didn’t tell you is that I often reflect

I’ve been reading Gordon Young’s Teardown, his memoir about growing up in, escaping from, and returning to Flint, Michigan.  Flint is Detroit without the charm

How did you sleep last Friday night?  Did you have a trembling dog whimpering close to you while bang after bang after bang sounded outside

I had the distinct pleasure of taking 86-year-old Dr. I. John Hesselink (known to quaking Calvin scholars around the world as First John Hesselink) to

I posted the first-ever entry on The 12, and, as such, have come today to send our readers a message on behalf of the sixteen

The dinner conversation veered onto the topic of Frederick Buechner, and I steeled myself for the inevitable comment, which came with the predictability of a

It’s ancient history now, but once upon a time there used to be these things called “newspapers,” and big cities not only had one but

Knowing that Shin Soo-Choo is playing the outfield in Cincinnati makes it easier for me gather the strength to face the world each day. Soo-Choo

There is far less traffic on The 12 about this year’s RCA General Synod than last year’s, most probably because peace and unity reigned this

Two Thursdays, two meals. The first: a far-too-normal day that didn’t have time for lunch in it.  I’m about to confess some things and this

The Big Boy is now an Indian restaurant in my little town. I went back to that town where I spent most of my childhood

In the rhythm of The 12, my two week schedule connects with the May holidays of Mother’s Day and Memorial Day.  That’s fitting, since this

On Saturday, Jason Lief reflected in this space on college graduation and the twin impulses to hit the road or stay where you are.  Today,

In the two-week rhythm of The 12, I last posted on the day of the Boston Marathon / bombings.  And by the standards of our

One of the joys of being one-twelfth of The 12 is the chance to interact with what the other eleven are thinking and writing about. 

Over a year ago my son bought about 300 old record albums for $50 on Craigslist.  Being the parent in the equation, I asked the

I couldn’t resist buying this album when I saw it for sale in a used bookstore in Cadillac, Michigan last week. The fact it cost

I heard a remarkable story the other day from Dan Aleshire, the President of the Association of Theological Schools.  Aleshire recently interviewed three pastors from

Being good is complicated. I’ve just read two British novels, written over 150 years apart, that make that point. It fascinates me that of all

If you read Jennifer Holberg’s entry last week you know that Jennifer and I were privileged to spend Saturday, January 26th at the Buechner Institute

Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in a few weeks, and if that doesn’t make your sagging spirits billow with hope, then you must

This year I resolve to be a better wordsmith by thinking outside the box and giving 110%. Now that Father Time has flipped the pages

I’m too old for Kanye and Lady Gaga and too young for Johnny Mathis and Perry Como.  My idea of good music comes from James

To prepare to write about the looming fiscal cliff I read long essays in The Atlantic, The New Yorker and Time.  After doing that, I

How did belief in climate change become political?   Have you noticed that generally people who vote Democratic believe in climate change and people who vote

One of awful things about Alzheimer’s disease is that you grieve the loss of a loved one while that loved one is still alive. It’s

Why is it important that Jesus wasn’t married? Allow a personal disclosure first.  I don’t think Jesus was married.  But in the past month or

All is right with the world: the NFL has brought back their regular referees.  A week ago the hallowed halls of the institution I serve

“Dad was born in Mexico.” It’s been a few weeks, but that line, from Mitt Romney’s speech at last month’s Republican Convention, made me sit

There is a dispute whether it was Peter McGuire of the Brotherhood of Carpenters or Matthew Maguire of the International Association of Machinists who thought

With the recent announcement of Rep. Paul Ryan as the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, the major party slates are set and the choice before us has

“When you’re through learning, you’re through,” the old adage goes, and here’s what I’ve learned in the two weeks since last I blogged here. I

In the aftermath of last Friday’s horrific events in Aurora, Colorado, I have heard several people describe the shooter as “pure evil” or “insane.”  No

One of the first times I met Cliff Anderson he was sitting in a chair in the corner of my college dorm room eating a

“Follow the money.” If you are of a certain vintage, you recall “Deep Throat” saying those memorable words to Bob Woodward in a dark DC

There’s always a block-long line at Georgetown Cupcake, where the TLC reality show DC Cupcakes is filmed. Given that the nature of television is to

Along about 1970, when I was in junior high, A new friend invited me to hang out at his house. Another invitation followed, to go

Anyone but me notice the death of the religious right last week?  Apparently, the religious right had started feeling poorly after Mitt Romney took Ohio

I believe the Christian Reformed Church in North America and the Reformed Church in America should merge.  Please tell me why they shouldn’t.  I mean

The other day James Bratt posted a careful, scholarly review of Calvinism and Politics on this site.  Here’s more, neither careful nor scholarly. . .

One Good Friday I heard an NPR caller say something to the effect that she could never accept Christianity because it was based on a

“If the Messiah had come,” the rabbi asked, “would the world be the way that it is?”  How would you answer the rabbi’s question?  He

As hard as it may be for anyone who knows me to believe, somehow, when I was in my high school production of The Music

It’s been over a week since the Obama administration blinked and came up with a way out of their self-inflicted fight with the Roman Catholic

Maggie Smith, imperious as the Dowager Countess of Grantham, peered at the hapless vicar across from her and pronounced, “You cannot imagine that we would

Like some has-been athlete who managed to turn a few games into a broadcasting career, I’ve become an “expert” on Europe because I spent a

I recently finished reading Eugene Peterson’s memoir The Pastor.  It took me several months to get up the gumption to tackle the book.  I wasn’t

Since the etymology of the title “Boxing Day” is unknown, might I suggest the name was coined to describe the violent behavior of the masses

We light the third advent candle – the curiously pink candle – for the shepherds and the quality of joy. Friends from Europe were visiting

We light the first purple candle in the Advent wreath for the prophets, the ones who spoke with hope about the coming Messiah. The small

I was supposed to answer the question “Why do I write?” on a page you can find by clicking on “The 12” button atop this

I spent a day with the legendary basketball coach John Wooden once. He was 93-years-old at the time. Yes, I know that I am shamelessly