John was walking along the sidewalk. He wore faded, black denim jeans and an Iron Maiden t-shirt underneath his studded leather jacket. Far removed from the latest fashion trends, he was decidedly a child of the 80s as he lit the cigarette he just bummed from someone passing by.

Lord, we lament for a world that does not recognize the value of every life, whether born or preborn. We cry out to you on behalf of the lives lost each day through abortion. We grieve with those who grieve the loss of children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

This winter, World Renew and the OSJ are able to offer up to 20 scholarships towards the registration cost of The Justice Conference, happening in Los Angeles, Friday evening February 21 through February 22. If you would like to apply for a scholarship to attend this conference let us know by filling out this application by January 20.

I had to re-read the opening sentence of the news report: “ Meeting in the sanctuary of the Christian Reformed Church of North America’s headquarters, a coalition of Michigan fruit and vegetable...

In case you haven’t been keeping up with the Christian environmental blogosphere (and let’s be honest, who has the time for that except nerds like me?), let me get you up to speed. In August, the...

Early in my career as prison chaplain, a prison guard patted me on the back and said, “It’s ok for you to care about them ‘preach,’ but it’s my job to put the boots to them!” The statement, perhaps...

This can be a source of dissonance for mission trip sending churches because, in some sense, they know Ver Beek is right. Church councils may have even carefully broached the issue prior to ever reading the research—asking that uncomfortable question, “What if, instead of spending $830 per volunteer on plane tickets for 12 people we just send the $10,000 straight to the people who need relief?”

There were five things that I took away from the conference that I can do. I’ll go through them one-by-one and elaborate.

We don’t need statistics to see evidence of poverty in our community – Ingersoll is a small town after all. We all know someone who is having a tough time making ends meet or finding a job, struggling...

At the tail end of this season of Advent people seem to have more emotional space for attention to both the brokenness of the world and the hope hidden in Christ.