June 2019
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
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Born in 1959 as Ha-Jin, Lee was the fourth son of a struggling atheistic family in South Korea, a country still recovering from the Korean War. With Ha-Jin’s birth, nine people lived in their small house.
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The restorative justice movement began with Mennonite Christians in search of a better response to crimes. They started with a biblical understanding of justice and shalom, centered in the need for accountability, reconciliation, and peace.
News
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For the third year, groups in Medicine Hat, Alta., concerned for the state of the family, held an annual conference. Medicine Hat Christian Reformed Church was the 2019 host.
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A task force formed to address the issue of preventing and responding to abuse of power in the church is sending recommendations to the Christian Reformed Church’s annual leadership gathering by way of its report.
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James Douma, a former rodeo rider and member of Discovery Christian Reformed Church in Bowmanville, Ont., has been building a part-time rodeo outreach ministry, encouraged by his pastor and supported by his church.
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Joe Covaci, a member of Kitchener (Ont.) Community Christian Reformed Church, achieved a bronze medal in the 3,000-meter run at the 2019 Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi.
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Chris Schoon, currently serving as senior pastor at First Christian Reformed Church in Hamilton, Ont., has been named the new team leader for Faith Formations Ministries, effective June 1.
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Allen Bultman was a humble, hardworking, and compassionate pastor who served Christian Reformed congregations since 1959. He passed away on March 8 at the age of 89.
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World War II veteran, military policeman, minister, chaplain, pastoral counselor, and missionary Ben Ypma lived a full and joyful life. He died on March 7, a month after his hundredth birthday.
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Marinus Harberts, who had ministered for 35 years with the Navajo people in New Mexico, died on March 19.
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A hospital chaplain described as thoughtful and a man without pretense, Steven Van Heest passed away on March 10. He was 66.
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The Council of Delegates met in Grimsby, Ont., on May 2-3, 2019. It acts on behalf of synod, the annual leadership meeting of the Christian Reformed Church, between the meetings of synod. It took action on several issues.
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The Banner has received Awards of Merit for a denominational magazine in both digital and print categories, and seven higher goals awards in design, individual articles, blogs, and poetry published in 2018.
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Classis Minnkota, a regional group of Christian Reformed churches, gathered for a worship service to commemorate the Canons of Dort, a confessional document with 400 years of history.
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Synod 2019 (the annual leadership meeting of the Christian Reformed Church) convenes on June 14; more than 200 delegates and advisers will gather at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. Here’s what to expect.
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Neil Molenaar, developer and first director of what is now World Renew Disaster Response Services, died April 20, 2019. He was 86.
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Teacher Nicky DeBoer lives in Byron Center, Mich.; the band is located in Sunnyside, Wash. The high school’s principal, looking for qualified teachers dedicated to Christ-centered learning, didn’t see that as a barrier.
Columns
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A debut novel by the daughter of Palestinian immigrants ponders a woman’s worth.
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A Vietnam-era novel speaks into issues of war, race, family drama, tragedy, and the many faces of love.
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A valuable resource for parents, educators, church leaders, and anyone who wants to guide children in the ways of biblical justice.
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A timely book for an anxious age, this short yet potent read winsomely wrestles with the reality of life in a fallen world.
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As I walked into church that morning, George, our resident artist, was busy painting a scene of children at play on one of the doors in our Kid Zone. He had a whole tray full of small bottles, each with a different color of paint. Each shape, each area, each color he applied was different.
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A wide-ranging assortment of men and women—some Protestant ministers, two Catholic priests, a nun, a lawyer, and others, tell stories of Christian activists.
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Years ago, during a canoe trip on a Michigan river, I stepped into what appeared to be shallow water to pull the canoe to shore. But the water was over my head. Instantly I was disoriented, grasping for anything to provide stability.
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The deacons say that most people are paying electronically. I’ve even heard of churches that allow people to swipe a credit card in the service. Isn’t this undermining the worshipful nature of the offering?
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We had just crossed the border from Michigan into Ontario. I was driving a van filled with seven college student worship leaders, and one of the guys piped up, “It’s two hours till we're back on campus. I’d like everyone to name their favorite Bible verse and explain why it matters to you.”
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This vibrant picture book inspires the gritty and graceful girls of today with 15 biblical heroines.
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We should be grateful to God for the robust intellectual gifts of the Reformed tradition. But we cannot be blind to the very real temptation of loving the gifts more than the Giver. Have we loved our Reformed theology and confessions more than the God they point to?
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Helpful input convinced me that online dating is a viable option for anyone seeking a mate.
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Sheila Walsh, a depression sufferer, provides examples from her own life in overcoming and accepting hard things.
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We can’t see God with our eyes. But God has made amazing things we can see that show us something about our awesome God. God created towering mountains and blazing stars and all sorts of wild and wonderful animals, and God gave us incredible eyes to see it all!
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Debemos estar agradecidos a Dios por los sólidos dones intelectuales de la tradición reformada.
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Two best friends anticipate graduation and divergent paths in this YA novel for teens and adults alike.
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Steve Timmermans’ essay “Speaking with a Reformed Accent” (April 2009) proves an incentive to ponder the distinctiveness of the Reformed perspective.
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In Ruth Reichl’s latest memoir, she comes to examine who she is—with or without the trappings of success.
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Loosely based on historical events, a Lithuanian girl named Mulan disguises herself as a soldier and fights injustice in 1423.
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Joanna Gaines presents a lyrical children’s book about the joys and challenges of gardening.
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During retirement we are called to discern the varied ways our new status can become an opportunity to be of service to others—our children, grandchildren, siblings, parents, churches, and wider communities.
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When I Pray for You would make an excellent gift to parents of newborns and to children at the time of their baptism
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Why didn’t the early Reformers more seriously seek reunion with Eastern Orthodoxy after rejecting the excesses and innovations of Western Catholicism?
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Is the Christian Reformed Church so determined to increase its numbers that it’s willing to fit in, make no waves, and offend no one?
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우리는 개혁주의 전통에 주신 풍성한 지성의 은사에 대해 하나님께 감사해야 합니다.
Our Shared Ministry
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El cambio no es algo que un comité de estudio del sínodo pueda abordar.
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We live in an often confusing, ever shifting, and broken world. We see changes happening dramatically in seemingly accelerated ways. How ought the church to respond?
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Set for Aug. 1-3 in Windsor, Ont., at the St. Clair Centre for the Arts, Inspire 2019 will be a great time of worship and fellowship as well as a chance to learn about ways in which the Christian Reformed Church is offering the gospel message to people around the world.
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Jul Medenblik, president of Calvin Theological Seminary, recalls praying in January 2018 with a graduate who was returning to China to work at an unregistered seminary. This seminary had been vandalized, and the government ultimately ended worship services at the church affiliated with the seminary. It would be a tough job, and Medenblik prayed that God would be with the graduate.
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“We live in a culture that promotes a Hollywood fantasy that if you’re with your soulmate, everything will be hunky dory—you’ll live happily ever after—and there will be no issues,” said Rev. Deb Koster, producer of Family Fire. “The reality is that we’re all broken, and we’re trying to find ways to live together in fellowship, sharp edges and all.”
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It’s common for people to believe it can’t happen in their congregation. As we’ve seen in these other instances, though, it can and it does happen even among “our” churches. Here are a few key things to keep in mind if your congregation finds itself navigating similar situations.
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변화 자체는 총회연구위원회가 언급할 수 있는 것이 아닙니다.