News
A Church Worth Keeping
3+ hour, 10+ min ago (87+ words) Which left me wondering, what am I doing here anyway? I would discover the answer to that question was "learning." I was the designated trainer/teacher during most of my time working in Red Mesa. In actuality, I was the…...
Probes, Prayers, and Promises from Walter Brueggemann
3+ week, 2+ day ago (344+ words) Marc, I think this is Walter's last book" " Tia Serendipitously and unintentionally, Walter Brueggemann's newest book, God of All Promises arrived on my birthday. It came in the usual way: a brown mailer from Traverse City, Michigan. What was unusual…...
Where's Our Belhar?
2+ mon, 1+ week ago (1633+ words) Recently, I attended a denominational meeting and listened to a discussion on unity. It was measured. It was respectful. It was recognizably Reformed. We cited confessions. We pointed to polity. We invoked synodical decisions and doctrinal distinctions. We talked about…...
John Calvin: Refugee Theologian
2+ mon, 2+ week ago (656+ words) David Timmer is Professor Emeritus of Religion at Central College. He and his wife Mary live in Pella, Iowa, where they are members of Second Reformed Church. He stays busy in retirement by pursuing research, writing, and occasional teaching gigs…...
Being the Church in the World: Lessons from Mother Emanuel
2+ mon, 3+ week ago (522+ words) For New York Times journalist Kevin Sack, one thing led to another." In 2015, he covered the mass shooting of a Black pastor and eight Black parishioners participating in a Bible study at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, SC. As Sack…...
Lukewarm in a Burning World?
3+ mon, 6+ day ago (672+ words) As the pastor of a mid-sized congregation in middle America, I serve people who are red-blooded conservatives and those who are true-blue progressives. Some believe that we must "support our President" while others march in resistance. Some think we're hurtling…...
The Hollowing Out of Church and Culture
3+ mon, 3+ week ago (232+ words) Burge has written one of the most important books in our current cultural climate to understand religious decline and polarization in the U. S. Read it for yourself. Draw your own conclusions and, especially, form your own responses. For in Burge's words,…...
Religious Trauma on the Young Calvinist Bus
4+ mon, 6+ day ago (612+ words) Why haven't you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?" It was the Young Calvinist Convention in Bozeman, Montana, and I was 17. Beer was my convention companion " until I was busted. I could have been sent home but wasn't, and…...