Jesus was looking for a few good disciples. In Luke 14, crowds grew larger as Jesus passed villages and towns on his way to Jerusalem. He knew that the Holy City of God was not going to welcome him...
In the new James Gunn Superman movie, the title character claims both to be a punk rock fan and to be motivated by kindness and empathy. At one point, Clark Kent/Superman (David Corenswet) says that...
We, as Christians talk much about love. It is a distinguishing mark of the Christian faith. Or at least it is supposed to be. Sadly, we too often speak the word love without associating it with its...
“Do you have someone of EVERY generation in your group?” My colleague asked this of our school social worker, who was sharing about a pottery class that she’d been taking for about a year. She began...
I visited my mother’s home in the Philippines, a province called Aklan, during the famous Ati Atihan Festival. In a sense, it is a celebration of darkness. The Indigenous peoples in the Philippines...
The summer shadows were long as I drove down a quiet road one morning. Flipping on the radio, I heard a woman speaking and was immediately drawn in by her words. She described how, long ago, her...
The Christian Reformed Church in North America started their “Mission in Japan” in 1950. The Tokyo Egota (or Ekota) mission station was one of the earliest mission stations established by the CRCNA in...
“Mr. Kevin, as the Director of Resonate Global Mission, please continue to support our work here in our villages.” I heard this refrain over and over again as I sat with about eight Kenyan...
Like many of you, I have been reading tributes to and stories of Pope Francis. Stories such as how every night at 7pm he would call a tiny Roman Catholic church in Gaza to check on them. His last call...
“But a Samaritan came, and when he saw him…he bandaged his wounds.” (Luke 10: 33f.) “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink….?” (Matt. 25: 37) Years ago when I was...
At a recent worship service in my home congregation, we moved through the ordinary rhythms of common worship: singing songs of praise and gratitude for God’s work among and for us, confessing our...
“I feel sad,” I admitted to my friend Wynette as she rode with me while driving around Tulsa, noticing how things had changed. I was grieving. I was in town to attend services for my former roommate...
