December 2017
Download a full pdf of this issue below or find links to every feature, news, column, review, and Our Shared Ministry article included in this edition. Not the date you wanted? Find issues back to January 2016 here or use the search function at the top to find articles going back to 2005. To find something even older, The Banner archives are maintained at Calvin College's Hekman Library.
Features
News
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Twilight is the quiet beauty between sunset and dusk.
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In September of last year, prison chaplain Susan Cleveland donated a kidney to Buddi Subba, a former refugee from Nepal and a recently naturalized U.S. citizen, at a hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich.
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College and university students affiliated with Jubilee Fellowship Christian Reformed Church in St. Catharines, Ont., have come to expect an early Christmas present
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The Council of Delegates of the Christian Reformed Church held its first meeting October 11-13, 2017, in Grand Rapids, Mich.
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Prayer is the bedrock of all Indigenous ceremonial life,
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Last month, participating in a project spearheaded by Dignity for All: The Campaign for a Poverty-Free Canada
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Jesus broke bread and said to his disciples, “Do this in remembrance of me,
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Two or three times each year, Christian Reformed churches send representatives to their classis, a regional grouping of churches.
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A New Testament scholar, professor, and accomplished author, Simon “Sam” Kistemaker was noted for his kindness, modesty, and gentleness of spirit.
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Bible scholar, writer, editor, pastor, and theological librarian Harry Boonstra was a wise, gentle, caring man with a playful side and a dry sense of humor.
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Two Christian Reformed Church congregations in the Niagara, Ont., region walked or rolled along their cities’ Santa Claus parade routes this season
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The city of Toronto, Ont., is well known for hosting the famed Toronto International Film Festival.
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Congregations and communities of believers from all over the Christian Reformed church commemorated the 500th anniversary of the Reformation
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As churches all over the world wait expectantly for Christ’s birth and his second coming
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The pressure to have it all together or to appear happy can be both overwhelming and downright disheartening for many people at Christmas time.
Columns
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Byron Pitts, a journalist with more than 30 years of experience, was deeply influenced by his Christian grandmother and mother, who taught him “you’re the one” and “let go and let God.”
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Welcome to Beartown. It’s a friendly town where people with deep roots welcome those who have come from somewhere else, the kind of place where some who have left choose to return.
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One thing we have learned over the years—too often the hard way...
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I’ve always known that you can’t get cleaned up for church, so to speak;
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Is it right to use funds gained through gambling for things of God’s kingdom?
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Bless your heart, preach it!
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Looking for some Christian publications to add to your reading list beyond well-known staples such as Christianity Today, Sojourners, and, of course, The Banner? Here are some to consider:
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Maudie is based on the real life story of Maud Lewis, a Nova Scotian folk artist.
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How do you spend your day? Are you worried about “what ifs”? Do you compare yourself with others and always come up short?
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I appreciate your dedication to bringing the Word every Sunday.
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There had been no symptoms.
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In our senior retirement community there is a weekly vesper service.
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Over the last year my wife has become withdrawn. She does not appear to want to be with me...
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Are you or is someone you love in pain from the loss of a pregnancy?
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I believe it was missionary theologian Lesslie Newbigin who said that the incarnation—God coming in the flesh in Jesus—was God’s great missionary act.
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Saintly Pic: A pastor begins a program with refugees at the church he’s supposed to be closing up in All Saints, on disc mid-month.
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Since I retired, I've found myself reminiscing more.
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In many parts of the world, the winter months can be very cold.
Our Shared Ministry
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Yoshiichiro Tokuhara can recall the first time he heard about Jesus.
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Bookie and Lakesha Gates felt a sense of brokenness and mistrust in their marriage that Lakesha described as “horrendous pain.”
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Forging a mutually satisfying and long-term “fit” between congregation and pastor is a matter of considerable art, science, and prayer for both pastors and churches alike.
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“A cord of three strands is not easily broken”
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Our youngest two children were 11 and 15 when we adopted them