The stories reinforced the importance of engaging doubt and encouraging questions with the confidence that the gospel of Christ will not break under the weight of even our most difficult questions.
Sara Sybesma TolsmaMay 17, 2024
Readers will come away with a better understanding of how cells work and why sometimes the cells in our bodies fail...Most importantly, I think readers will come away with a new level of awe at the wonder of God’s good creation and a deeper reason to worship the author of these wonder-filled, smallest units of life we call cells.
This was a story I needed to hear. It reminded me that the world is a lonely place filled with lonely people but healing can be found in community. The kindness of others, even strangers, is cleansing and when we open our lives to others with transparency and honesty, we may just find the cure to what ails us whether we recognize what ails us or not.
Sara Sybesma TolsmaJanuary 12, 2022
This novel is a masterpiece. Its themes stick with you and it is the best thing I’ve read in a very long time. Pick it up, share it with a friend, read it with your book club, then talk together about its provocative themes over a glass of wine or a cup of coffee. It is a novel worthy of extended time.
Sara Sybesma TolsmaSeptember 23, 2021
From the point of view of this biologist who is a Christian, science is a gift from God—the Creator of all things, including scientific questions and research that makes us uncomfortable. I am not afraid of asking hard questions or living in the tension of not understanding how a scientific discovery fits with my Christian faith. The gospel is strong enough for our questions and lack of understanding.
Sara Sybesma TolsmaAugust 9, 2021
On a hot, humid summer afternoon, my sons, then 4 and 7, came rushing, breathless, to ask me to watch the praying mantis they caught in our weedy flower garden eat the cricket they just put in its cage. It was one of those days. The past week had been exceptionally busy. The lawn and garden desperately needed attention. The laundry, accumulated over the past week or more, needed to be done. I had work to catch up on, and…
Sara Sybesma TolsmaSeptember 1, 2018
In the dramatic opening scene of Disney’s Finding Nemo, parents Coral and Marlin anxiously wait for their offspring to hatch. Their mood is light and hopeful, but the music signals an ominous shift. As a barracuda approaches the reef, Coral rushes to protect their eggs. Marlin is knocked unconscious as he tries to protect Coral. When he wakes, Coral is gone, and Marlin finds a single egg remaining from their large clutch. The egg hatches, and Marlin names his only…
Sara Sybesma Tolsma, Elizabeth Heeg and Laura FurlongAugust 31, 2017
A 2015 Pew Research poll indicates that 59 percent of Americans believe that science and faith are “often in conflict.” Sadly, an even larger percentage (73 percent) of nonreligious Americans believes that science and faith are “often in conflict.” These data suggest that Christians are not doing a very good job of helping people understand the proper relationship between science and faith within or outside our faith communities. In this issue of Perspectives, you will hear from scientists and theologians…
Sara Sybesma TolsmaApril 30, 2016