This Week in the Reformed Journal: Van Deelen, Boss, Wolterstorff, and More
Last week I announced that I believed our email system was functioning properly. Oops! For some reason, Thursday’s blog post didn’t get picked up and included in our daily email. Here it is, with apologies to all of you who were wondering what happened. Thanks for your patience as we continue to work out the bugs.
Every Onion — blog.reformedjournal.com There’s legit, regal, and righteous mud on the zucchini I buy. I am going to stir-fry it for Carol this week. Sweet carrots from the Hmong family for my salad.
We ran a blog post by Christy Berghoef on Monday that got quite a bit of traction. It was even shared by the popular author Brian McLaren. On the one hand, I was disappointed (but not surprised) by the expressions of hatred the Berghoef’s faced as Christy's husband Brian ran for Congress. Those of us in West Michigan like to think that American political nastiness is in far-flung places, not in our idyllic community. Christy’s piece shows that’s not so. On the other hand, I was moved by the self-care exercises she’s been engaged in, as she wrote about her experiences gardening. There is something healing in the elemental act of sticking our hands into the earth.
Weapons into Tools — blog.reformedjournal.com I’m just coming off the most challenging few years of my life, and I continue to grow and be stretched...
Our featured essay this week, by Daniel Meeter, focused on baptism. There was a time when factions in the church killed each other over baptism. Now we live and let live, even though baptismal practices and understandings vary widely. Why can't we learn from that? And why do the Reformed Churches administer baptism as they do? Daniel’s article helpfully examines this sacrament.
The Baptism of the Spirit — reformedjournal.com The church has been entrenched for centuries in disputes about baptism, and our confidence in our own baptisms can weaken in the trenches. In this essay I want to suggest one way out of the baptismal trenches. I will point to the trail of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts.
There’s a new podcast episode featuring a conversation between Deb Van Duinen and the author Gayle Boss. Deb Van Duinen does everything with grace and style, including podcast interviews, and Gayle Boss is an interesting writer. This is worth your time.
Gayle Boss — anchor.fm In this episode, Deborah Van Duinen, book review editor at the Reformed Journal, talks with Gayle Boss, author of All Creation Waits (2016) and Wild Hope (2020). Gayle shares the stories behind the Advent and Lent devotionals rooted in her deep love for God's creatures, as well as how we can become better caretakers of Creation. More information on Gayle's work can be found at gayleboss.com.
Jennifer Maier shared two poems with us, one that I found very lovely and the other a bit unsettling. She’s a voice from the Pacific Northwest, a native of Oak Harbor, Washington, and a professor at Seattle Pacific University. There is much to contemplate here.
Prayer on Waking — reformedjournal.com For this icy, rain assaulting the bedroom window, let me be truly thankful.
The Small Hours — reformedjournal.com In the small hours, you drift along on your raft of felled palms, weightless between black fathoms above and below.
Finally, we have a review of the book Call for Justice, which contains a series of letters between Kurt Ver Beek and Nicholas Wolterstorff. I am going on record saying we should pounce on any chance to read Nicholas Wolterstorff's mail. After reading Peter TeWinkle's review, I have added the book to my "must read" list. You may read the review here.
Happy Reading,
Jeff Munroe
Editor