Essay

Cancer doesn’t care who or what you are. Speak all your evidence, demand all your rights and entitlements, share your unfulfilled dreams. And be prepared for silence. Cancer isn’t listening.

I was standing on a crowded Washington DC metro one morning, nauseated from all of this bouncing wild like a tennis ball inside of me. I glanced at the faces around me—a mixture of beautiful colors and cultures from around the world and no doubt carrying unseen burdens. Each believed a variety of things about God, and each had been brought to this moment down a long path I knew nothing about. I realized that likely not one of these…

What might a distinctly Reformed approach to contemporary praise and worship entail that engages with the core emphases of CPW and the charisms of the broad umbrella of Reformed traditions?

Much usage and circulation over the centuries has worn down and obscured the relief of these linguistic coins, their image and superscription. The date of mint and object of commemoration is now difficult to discern. We speak with them. But rarely do they speak to us. Should we have ears to hear, they could tell a rich story of Christian experience and reflection.

I am now just over halfway through my employment contract, and I am excited to report that, in addition to vast amounts of Dutch vocabulary and grammar, I am learning many important truths. One of them is what it means to be Dutch. Turns out, I am not as Dutch as I imagined.

When football teams brag that God gave them the win, when musical artists sing about drinking and sex and then win an award and point to the heavens and thank Jesus, when people put silver fish on their cars amid bumper stickers about God and guns . . . I’m sick of all of it. Sick of tee-shirts with bloody images of Jesus on his cross and yards signs declaring Jesus is Lord of our county. Even Christian music, all…

In an age of increased anxiety and depression, where mental health struggles seem to be an almost universal experience, Christ uniquely offers the world neither distraction nor temporary remedies, but everlasting good news.