Theology

It’s that most wonderful time of year! The time to tune your car radio to play 24/7 Christmas songs and get a head start on the holiday cheer! Maybe you’re groaning, but I love that for the final six weeks of the year we get to deck the halls and jingle the bells! 

Syd Hielema joins us for this episode about fostering pastoral care and hospitality for the LGBTQ+ community within the Christian Reformed Church. In this episode we hear from participants of the "Hospitality to LGBTQ" cohort. Syd discusses the challenges of fear, the importance of a covenantal approach, and how intentional community learning can shape posture over position.

I sang in the junior church choir, I wore a white shirt and black slacks as the official uniform at Unity Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church. If my mother did not secure a ride from a church deacon or member, we rode the Chicago Transit Authority buses to bring us to one of the many houses of worship that served as refuges from Chicago styled racism suffered during the week. 

1. Do not be afraid.
2. Love one another.
3. Stand firm.

Each one is short and to the point. Lay these three on top of each other, and a powerfully rich framework for seeking justice takes shape. 

Discount? Why, yes please! A friend asked if I was interested in attending the Courageous Conversations Conference, with her to be a part of a group rate. Courageous Conversations is “an annual gathering that unites Black voices from both conservative and progressive spaces and believes in the power of diverse thought to foster growth and understanding.” Get a discount? To attend a conference I already planned on attending? Yes, Ma’am! The conference, organized by Jude 3, had already been on my radar since I saw some of their content on social media.

The Bible is bookended with trees. In Genesis, the tree of life stands in for the Garden of Eden. In Revelation, the tree represents the restored New Jerusalem, a tree whose leaves “are for the healing of nations.”

The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

We (Paul and Barnabas) tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus.

It is very easy to be hard on the Jonah of the Bible. It seems so obvious to us what he ought to do. However, I believe that each of us has a Nineveh we brush aside as quickly as Jonah does. When God calls Jonah eastward, Jonah goes as far as humanly possible westward. Of all things he goes on a boat. Israelites were not seafaring people. Jonah probably did not know how to swim and in Israelite culture the sea was used to describe chaos, danger and evil, where monsters dwell. Jonah also paid the fare for the ship. Commentators believe that during this time money was rare.

In this episode we discuss the 'elephants' of church renewal. Rev. Dr. Elaine May discusses her work in church renewal and leadership development within the Christian Reformed Church in North America. She highlights the importance of shifting from ownership to stewardship, aligning church ministry with God's mission, and the challenges and blessings of navigating change and discernment in congregational contexts.

What images and associations come to mind when you ponder the phrase, “Survival of the fittest?”

All my life I have assumed that the phrase meant the strongest ones become stronger and more numerous while the weakest ones diminish and eventually die out. I picture ads for fitness clubs showcased by hyper-muscled super-humans. I’ve also assumed that this summary of Darwinianism undermined biblical notions of justice; thus, my calling as a Christian was to defend and support those weaker ones. Survival of the fittest? NO! That’s not the “Jesus way.