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Institute of Christian Studies Relinquishes ‘Denominationally-Related’ Status With the Christian Reformed Church
02/19/2025

In an open letter posted to its website Feb. 18, the Institute of Christian Studies, a graduate school in Toronto, Ont., announced a decision of its board of directors Jan. 15 “to discontinue ICS’s status as a Denominationally-Related Educational Institution of the Christian Reformed Church in North

The World Belongs to God
02/19/2025

“The world belongs to God, and the world is everything—including our professions and our callings,” said Mwikali Wambua, a Resonate Global Mission missionary.Resonate is the Christian Reformed Church’s mission agency. As Resonate missionaries, church planters, and campus ministers work to spread the

The New Testament in Color: A Multiethnic Bible Commentary
02/18/2025

In his introduction to The New Testament in Color: A Multiethnic Bible Commentary, editor Esau McCaulley explains the circumstances that led to the creation of this significant resource for the Christian church: “I was sitting in a coffee shop, books taking up too much space on the tiny table in fro

The Danger of Political Idolatry
02/17/2025

We live in an increasingly secular culture. What I mean by that is that we live in a culture that no longer believes in or assumes the existence of God. Instead, plagued by a combination of faith and doubt, we lurch back and forth between receptivity to God and a tortured agnosticism.Historians and

Waves
02/17/2025

I am sure that when God designed the usefulness of waves, he said “Neat!” or, as we read in the Bible, “It was good!” Waves are neat because they are all over creation.In creation there are four main types of waves: the waves people experience in water, the sound waves people hear, the seismic waves

Talking Growth
02/17/2025

What can we learn from Christian Reformed churches that reported growth through evangelism? Resonate Global Mission interviewed the churches with the most evangelistic growth and found recurring words: Image: From “Church Growth Through Evangel

Not Pop-Pop
02/14/2025

Young Brian is excited to go to the library with his mother. He zooms and zigs and zags past book shelves, a crawling baby, and a knitting grandmother till he reaches his favorite reading chair. As he flips through the pages of a book, he looks up and sees an elderly man whom he thinks is his grandf

Nova: Lost Tombs of Notre Dame
02/14/2025

In 2019, the world watched in stunned horror as the famous 800-year-old cathedral Notre Dame in Paris burned. The moment the iconic spire collapsed into a fire-licked and ember-filled void is seared into our collective memory. Thankfully, firefighters could extinguish the fire and preserve much of t

What To Read for Black History Month
02/14/2025

Good DirtBy Charmaine WilkersonPerfect for book clubs, this wise and enthralling novel from the author of Black Cake weaves between the present—a young woman mysteriously jilted at the altar—and her ancestors’ past as enslaved people paving the way for her with their courage and ingenuity. I didn’t

Disability Advocates Support Belonging, Participation in Their Churches
02/14/2025

The number of church and regional disability advocates is growing in the Christian Reformed Church, with more people stepping into these roles to support belonging and participation in their congregations and communities. As of 2024, there are 384 church disability advocates, representing about 40%

A Messy Hallelujah
02/14/2025

As I Was Saying is a forum for a variety of perspectives to foster faith-related conversations among our readers with the goal of mutual learning, even in disagreement. Apart from articles written by editorial staff, these perspectives do not necessarily reflect the views of The Banner.“My grace is

Global Voices, Shared Faith
02/12/2025

Calvin Theological Seminary is blessed with a diverse community of over 300 students from more than 30 countries. This diversity enriches our community by bringing together a wide range of cultural backgrounds, experiences, and passions. Three current students—David Seunghwan Roh, Debbie Jin, and Ju

Task Force Appointed to Tackle Synod Funding, Governance Costs
02/11/2025

With ministry share giving down about $1 million compared to this time last year, the Council of Delegates of the Christian Reformed Church in North America is considering “ways to reduce governance costs, fund synod, and use time wisely.” At its February meeting the Council gave that task to member

Council of Delegates Updates Nomination Process, Receives Synodical Reports, More
02/11/2025

At its Feb. 5-7 meeting convened by video conference, the Council of Delegates of the Christian Reformed Church received reports on medically assisted suicide and the theological implications of “virtual church,” reviewed the denomination’s financial health and established a cost-cutting task force,

Storytime for Grownups
02/11/2025

The thought of tackling a classic novel can be intimidating. We get flashbacks to those English classes where we were forced to read dense, complicated tomes with turns of phrase that haven’t been commonplace in the past 200 years. And then, we were supposed to identify the themes and explain what w

Ownership: The Evangelical Legacy of Slavery in Edwards, Wesley, and Whitefield
02/11/2025

In recent years, evangelical Christianity has been on trial for its alleged complicity with slavery and racism. A puzzling question remains: Why didn’t Christian leaders question the institution of slavery for almost 1,800 years? This timely book calls three historical figures to the witness stand a

Celebrating the Nicene Creed
02/10/2025

Of all the special anniversaries and observances you are planning to commemorate this year, I’m guessing that not many of us have this one marked on our calendars: “Celebrate 1,700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed.”But I invite you to spend a few moments doing just that.An Ancient and Unifying Stan

Sermon Discussion: A Better Way
02/10/2025

All of us have discussed sermons—at Grandma’s house, in church meetings, or in conversation with family or friends. Our discussions might be positive or negative. A few years ago, when I started attending Brookside Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., with my new bride, I joined a sermo

A Healing Touch
02/07/2025

In the small town of Stoney Ridge, Penn., Dr. Ruth Stoltzfus—known as Dok to her community—views her patients’ illnesses and injuries through the lens of their whole being: body, emotions, and soul. Committed to seeing her Amish and non-Amish patients at her office, she also continues to make house

Lockerbie: The Search for Truth
02/07/2025

Note: This review was written before the 2025 plane crashes in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.It’s December 21, 1988, and the skies over Lockerbie, Scotland, are dark. A boy wheels his sister’s bike to the neighbor’s to be fixed. Christmas lights twinkle. The event that will change everything hasn