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Thoughts and Prayers
One day, praying for a dying friend I knew neither prayed nor believed, it occurred to me not only to pray on his behalf, but,

A Call, a “Random” Library Book, a New Creation
I continued to pray, wondering where God was calling me. I’d done transitional ministry training with the Presbyterian Church (USA) but didn’t sense being steered

Ramshackle Life
Before I left, I changed the dressing on Bill’s arm. The raw tenderness of Bill’s new fistula moved me. How could its strangeness have come

A Letter to Christian Reformed and Reformed Communities
In a time when public discourse continues to reveal deep wounds around race and dignity, the Church must not be silent. We are witnessing what

Religious Trauma on the Young Calvinist Bus
Yes, I knew I had broken the rules, and I admitted I’d made bad choices. But that was not the end of it. I was

On the Streets of Minneapolis
What I’ve learned from Minnesotans is that we take neighborism seriously. There is no illusion of safety here – we have realized we can’t buy

The Bombing of Darmstadt, the Human Heart, and Hope Rising from the Ashes
The Bertsch house stands shoulder to shoulder with many others, all well-maintained and landscaped. Passersby would hardly pay it much attention. But should they pause

How to Build Creation-Care Bridges With Conservative Christians
In conversing with resistant conservative Christians, it probably won’t work to start with details about polar icecaps, the fate of some endangered salamander, or a

Resolute: Nadia, Protests, and Sovereignty Reconsidered
When sovereignty is used in church, it is typically code for a God who is distant, enigmatic, and unaccountable.

Play: From Usefulness to Belovedness
To bear God’s image is not a description of capacity. It is a description of relationship. Human beings are made to reflect God’s character, to

How Reading Matthew—And a Professor’s Smirk—Changed My Life
I spent a full semester during my doctoral program in a supervised study of the book of Matthew, and I can confirm from my experience

1948: The Christmas I Grew Into a Man
That conversation transformed my muddle into stark clarity. Belief was the key, and I was a believer. The next day, I sought out Dov Wartofsky