September 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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How does a church emerge decades after a mission field is closed? Is it possible that the seeds of good news were planted during the decade when the mission was active—only to lie dormant and sprout much later?
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How could you sleep at night knowing the other schools in your area are more open and welcoming to all the king’s children than your school is, even if those other schools don’t acknowledge each child’s royal status?
News
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First Presbyterian Church and First Christian Reformed Church of Chatham, Ont., collaborate each summer for a community work project, right in their own backyard.
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Since 1988 Camp Dunamis, a ministry of several Southern California Christian Reformed churches, has been bringing children together to celebrate differences and grow in Christ.
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One hundred nineteen participants from across Canada considered the theme From Emptiness to Fullness as they discerned together the next steps for ministry in their local and national contexts.
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Church of the Servant, a Christian Reformed congregation in Grand Rapids, Mich., has found its long-running Basic English Service has shaped the church as a whole.
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On July 9, a network of faith leaders released a statement, signed by more than 100 people, calling for three specific actions by the United States in relations with Iran. Christian Reformed Church director of ministries Colin Watson was one of the signatories.
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In a statement released July 19, 2019, the Christian Reformed Church encouraged its members to express “the great value of refugee resettlement programs to their elected officials.”
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Gary Bekker, who served as director of Christian Reformed World Missions from 2001 to 2017 and recently left the directorship of Raise Up Global Ministries, will retire this month.
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Pastors, church members and parishioners of neighboring churches gathered over two evenings in the Grand Rapids, Mich., neighborhood of Oakdale Park CRC to pray for safety and peace in the city.
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Fred VanDyk, a pastor in the Christian Reformed Church who worked at various times in the United States, Canada and Nigeria, died May 7. He was 85.
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John Koopmans, a genuine, grateful and generous man who ministered as a pastor and chaplain in many different settings, died May 11.
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Bud Ipema leaves a 60-year legacy of urban ministry and the promotion of racial reconciliation and social justice. He died on April 14.
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For the 720 registrants at Inspire 2019, energy and uncertainty were in the air, anticipating inevitable change for the Christian Reformed Church. “Incarnational mission” was one of the themes explored.
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Peoria Christian Reformed Church in Pella, Iowa, marked 125 years of ministry June 2, 2019.
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Leighton (Iowa) CRC commemorated its 125th anniversary Oct. 21, 2018. The small congregation is still meeting and ministering in its community.
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Rev. Sheila Holmes recently added ‘Crisis Intervention Chaplain’ to the community work she’s passionate about. Operation CeaseFire of Paterson, N.J., has recognized her for her lifelong work to end gun violence.
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Members of Prosper Christian Reformed Church in Falmouth, Mich., are welcoming community members to a whole summer of anniversary celebrations.
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The youth organization known for its SERVE mission trips started out as the American Federation of Reformed Young Men's Societies in 1919.
Columns
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What if the ministry of reconciliation is all about listening in such a way that the story of the broken relationship is allowed to rise to the surface, and is seen again, but perhaps in a new light?
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A sweet new sitcom follows a fish-out-of-water city couple as they move to Nebraska to farm.
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As a Christian at a public university, I am asked this question most often. People naturally assume they’re pretty good. The psychologically healthy have a humble recognition of the good in themselves.
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When we got the news that our adoption was annulled and I had been labeled a five-year hazard, I believed the entire year had been a waste, and I was the one who had wasted it. I believed this knowing what I know as a Christian in my head.
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My evangelistic challenges don’t end with casual friends and strangers. I’m better at sharing the reasons for my hope with people close to me. Still, some of the people I care most about care hardly at all about Jesus. They’re good people. They often love their neighbors in ways I fail to. They just don’t engage with Jesus or his church.
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Each individual has a unique genetic makeup, social history, and personality, and each teen will navigate this identity crisis in his or her own way.
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A stirring rock opera explores the lives of those from whom Jesus cast out demons.
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It is not God’s wrath or judgment that leads to repentance, but rather God’s kindness. How many people have ever changed for the better through experiencing other people’s judgment?
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A thoughtful and inspiring picture book gently teaches us how to love our neighbor
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Juzgar sentenciosamente es condenar las faltas de otras personas mientras minimizamos las nuestras, creando un sentido de superioridad moral.
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Mental health has been on the minds of The Banner staff and its readers.
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Did you know trees can teach us something about our faith? The Bible often uses examples from creation to teach us about our faith.
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It takes a delicate balance to identify what helps children to worship and what disrupts worship.
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There’s nothing very remarkable about Sigsbee Street. It runs for just seven blocks through the near southeast side of Grand Rapids, Mich. Sigsbee School, an elementary school in the Grand Rapids Public School system, is its most notable feature.
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A hopeful yet urgent call to live out a “courageous Christianity” that works against, not with, the evils of racism.
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“Righteousness” is another word for “justice,” which can be understood to mean something like “treating each person, thing, or situation rightly or correctly.”
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As a Reformed Christian, I believe God cares deeply about how we steward the Earth as faithful people of God.
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정죄는 자신의 잘못은 가볍게 여기면서 타인의 잘못은 비판하여 도덕적 우월감을 조성하는 것입니다.
Our Shared Ministry
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One man’s story of discovering the hope of salvation through Back to God Ministries International’s outreach team in Russia.
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“(It) forced me to reevaluate my life and realize that this was not the life that I wanted to live.”
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Across the nations, guides draw us toward the mountain of God. Sometimes those guides lead us from their youth, with humble hearts fiercely dedicated to living justice and loving mercy.
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“The Holy Spirit is so active that it can offer people what you as a preacher would never in a million years think would come out of that sermon.”
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“Everywhere in Kenya and Uganda, (climate change) is known and accepted as fact. They don’t have time to argue about whether climate change is real or not because they are already living in the effects of it.”
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Broad as well as focused learning is required as young people prepare for their lives and callings.
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Se requiere un aprendizaje amplio y también enfocado durante el tiempo en que los jóvenes se preparan para sus vidas y sus llamados.
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젊은이들이 그들의 인생과 소명을 준비하는 데에 광범위하면서도 집중적인 교육이 필요합니다.
