Department: Author: Sonya VanderVeen FeddemaIn the months prior to the release of 2020s Foresight, the global community was alerted to the existence of a novel coronavirus, later named COVID-19, an irony not lost on authors Tom Sine and Dwight J. Friesen, who were writing a book to help Christian l
Department: Author: Darrell L. DelaneyWhen Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman died of cancer at the age of 43 in August 2020, his death hit the Black community especially hard. It’s an understatement to say that Black Panther merely inspired Black people. But it might be difficult for those who ar
Department: Author: Trevor DenningLet’s be honest: bad guys are way cooler and more interesting than good guys. Luke Skywalker is blandly wholesome. But Darth Vader? Cool. The Joker? Interesting. And now you can add Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) to the bad guy list. Have you forgotten him? Johnny
Department: Author: Sonya VanderVeen FeddemaAt the dawn of World War II, life in Poland is becoming more dangerous for Jews. Eleven-year-old Esther and her family have already experienced hardship since Papa fled to Cuba three years ago to earn sufficient funds to bring his family to freedom. Now P
Department: Author: Kristyn DeNooyerThe question of “How did we get here?” seems to be reverberating in white Christian circles in recent months. “So polarized, so divided—and why is there still so much tension around race?”In his new book, White Too Long, Robert P. Jones argues that the practice o
Department: Author: Micah Van DijkThe human voice holds incredible power. It has the power to soothe a crying child. It has the power to insult and tear down another, causing incredible pain. And it has the power to connect millions of people feeling lonely and isolated. One of the most successful
Department: Author: Paul DelgerListening to Jillian Edwards’ voice instantly provides a balm to the soul. All seven songs in her “Meadow” EP offer rest, solitude, and comfort. “I want to provide healing, and that for me comes in beauty,” Edwards said in a release. “So that’s the heart of these song
Department: Author: Josh ParksMy soul has been aching for moments of quiet. Not just silence, but quiet: a break in the constant barrage of noisy thoughts from within and without. Playing music offers this kind of quiet sometimes, as does reading poetry or taking a walk on a cool, sunny day.But one
Department: Author: Jenny deGrootJanine Urbaniak Reid was certain about a few things. She loved her husband and three children. She wanted to provide a healthy and safe home for her family. She was committed to being a good mother, maybe even a perfect mother. “I believed in God. I just didn’t alwa
Department: Author: Sonya VanderVeen Feddema“In the city of Bogotá, in the barrio of La Nueva Gloria, there live two Josés.” So begins author Angela Burke Kunkle’s narrative about the amazing mission of José Alberto Gutiérrez, a poor, uneducated garbage collector whose mother taught him to read as
Department: Author: Patrick HaywoodHow far would you go to survive? To maintain a better social standing in life? These are some of the hardest questions we can ask ourselves. It is difficult to completely understand these inquiries hypothetically. However, the Netflix original film The Platform, w
Department: Author: Trevor DenningMany of us are guilty of refreshing our social media feeds over and over again in hopes of a bigger rush, like pulling the lever on a slot machine. Ironically, even the minds that designed it to be addictive aren’t immune. Tim Kendall, former president of Pinterest
Department: Author: Micah Van Dijk“Well this winter’s been long. It’s gone on and on. And my family is still reeling from my brother being gone. But my love for you is an old folk songTo rest my head upon.” —“Highway Mountain Line”Loss. It is impossible to go through life without experiencing it.
Department: Author: David G. SwartzentruberGreyhound, written by and starring Tom Hanks, tells the seemingly simple—and based-on-a-true—story of Allied convoy HX-25, containing 37 ships, that must pass through a treacherous three-day stretch of the Atlantic Ocean. Nicknamed the “Black Pit,” this pa
Department: Author: Sonya VanderVeen FeddemaEleven-year-old Maximiliano Cordoba—Max to his family and friends—lives with Papa and Buelo, his grandfather, “somewhere in the Americas.” His homeland, Santa Maria, borders a nation characterized by oppression and political unrest, whose citizens often f
Department: Author: Sonya VanderVeen FeddemaTwelve-year-old Santiago’s mother died when he was young, and since then the boy has been “passed from one ungrateful relative to another.” His abusive abuela—grandmother—terrorized him and left scars on his body to prove it. After Santiago spends time wi
Department: Author: Lorilee CrakerAnne with an E, Season 3People tend to have a love/hate relationship with Anne with an E, the edgy Canadian reboot of the beloved 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables. Many will not accept the wildly off-book changes, while others, myself included, have come to view the
Department: Author: Robert J. KeeleyFeelings are Good is the fourth album from Lonely Robot, the solo project from musician John Mitchell. After a trilogy of albums with astronaut themes, Mitchell sets that aside to directly explore his emotions to create an album that is melodically rich and lyric
Department: Author: Cynthia BeachBlend The Twilight Zone with Dante’s Inferno plus the hero’s journey and you will get the vibe of Shawn Smucker’s latest, These Nameless Things. In this spell-binding page-turner of a metaphysical fantasy, protagonist Dan has escaped from the mountain now framed in
Department: Author: Andrew ZwartThe first thing you should know about Zadie Smith’s slim collection of essays, Intimations, is that it concerns the first months of the pandemic, from the moments just before the threat of COVID-19 got serious up to the killing of George Floyd. Of course, we’ve all r