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As We See It

As We See It

How Karl Barth Almost Ruined a Perfectly Good Sunrise

I am in the Black Hills of South Dakota, alone and in the dark, waiting for the sunrise. In the twilight before the bright ball of the sun peeks over the horizon, scattered cloud formations already announce its arrival, and I realize how clouds ought to get more credit for their part in this morning spectacle. Deep, warm colors gradually cool and brighten as the sun climbs and appears over a distant hill. But even as the sun arrives, the…
December 30, 2017
As We See It

The Dust and the Glory

“I learned a lot of things in medical school, but mortality wasn’t one of them.” So begins the bestselling 2014 book by surgeon and Harvard Medical School professor, Atul Gawande. I suspect that many today could reframe this sentence in light of how they have been formed in Christian discipleship. “I have come to know and love much about the gospel in my years in the church community. But learning to die, or to be with the dying, isn’t one…
October 31, 2017
As We See It

Wrestling with Gender Identity in the Christian Community

The mutability of gender and identity causes consternation for many Americans. Christians in the United States have also wrestled with understanding correct gender roles. For historians, perceptions of gender as a key formation of identity is not a new issue. Often, the act of encountering a new people group revealed the socially constructed ideas of gender. Early European accounts of natives in what is now the United States demonstrated many of the ideals of gender held by upper class white…
August 31, 2017
As We See It

The Psalm Sparrow

“Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of Hosts.” –Psalm 84, Book of Common Prayer I don’t know how you can be a parish pastor and not say daily prayer. I don’t mean that critically. I mean like I don’t know how to throw a curve ball, or keep my mouth shut at a meeting. I did without daily prayer for the first…
Daniel Meeter
June 30, 2017
As We See It

Good Days for Minds and Hearts

When I was in graduate school, one of my professors had the habit of referring to that present time (the mid to late 70s) as “these late, bad times,” and many of us took up the chorus, seasoning our conversations with references to “these late, bad times.” We thought his assessment to be hyperbolic – he was old, and we were young, still preparing ourselves for the opportunities of work, career, vocation. Now that I am gradually approaching old age…
James VandenBosch
April 29, 2017
As We See It

The Speed of Love

Lately I’ve noticed that even the way I waste time is less refreshing than it was before the internet and social media. I used to find myself staring out the window or doodling on paper. I still do these kinds of things, but much more often my allotment of bad time use is spent hitting a link from a relevant news story and finding myself, 20 minutes later, taking a quiz to find out which member of the Village People…
April 29, 2017
As We See It

‘Reformed’: It’s a Flavor of Jazz

Being theologically Reformed is tremendously important to me. I’m a convert, and it’s always the converts that you have to watch! Those of us who come to the Reformed tradition from elsewhere are often the ones who are most passionate about it, and who want to say, “Wow! You have a real gift here! Treasure it!” When I first became a Christian, I had no idea the Reformed tradition existed. When I discovered it, I realized I had come home…
February 28, 2017
As We See It

Does ‘Reformed’ Matter? It Could

Anthropologist Paul Hiebert wrote an article in 1979 titled “Sets and Structures: A Study in Church Patterns.” Catchy title, isn’t it? Fortunately, his essay is far more interesting and informative than its name. Hiebert explains two ways of forming and understanding group belonging, specifically as it pertains to being a Christian. That is, two ways that a group – in this case the church – structures itself to determine who belongs to it. He uses the phrases bounded sets and…
February 28, 2017
As We See ItSexuality

Response to Matthew Tuininga on Sexuality and Scripture

Let me begin by warmly thanking Matthew Tuininga, who has become my good friend, for the generous spirit of his response to the talk I gave on same-sex marriage at Neland Avenue Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan, on October 13 last year. Would that all discussions of this intensely controversial topic breathed such a spirit of respect and friendship! It will help the reader understand my response to Tuininga if I briefly summarize what I said in my talk:…
February 28, 2017