A Community of Faith, A Center of Learning, A Life of Ministry
On Saturday, May 18, 2013, we celebrated the graduation of 77 students from Calvin Seminary. Ten countries were represented on that day: Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Liberia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, South Korea, and the United States. Today I want to share with you a portion of my commencement address. “In your seminary education, you have been challenged … [Read more...]
Did you know that you are a theologian? Whenever you think or hear or read or say anything about God, you are doing theology. When I started Calvin Seminary as a student, I was asked to read a short book by Helmut Thielicke entitled A Little Exercise for Young Theologians. This classic was written in 1959 and was translated into English in 1962. This little book … [Read more...]
A few months ago, I read four books in five days. I relished this seasonal opportunity (over Christmas) to do a lot of reading and reflecting. As I promised in my initial Medenblog, I will share some of the gleanings from these readings. Spiritual Theology: The Theology of Yesterday for Spiritual Help Today by Diogenes Allen. Dr. Allen died just a few months … [Read more...]
Many articles and books make the judgment that the church is “not working” or is “out of touch”. I have the privilege of visiting a number of churches and I want to share a story about seeing a church (actually two churches) at work. Maranatha CRC is located in Cambridge, Ontario. This church was organized in 1958 and experienced growth initially due to … [Read more...]
I write this Medenblog as the United States sits on a fiscal cliff. (On January 1, the United States avoided this particular cliff, but there will probably be another one in the near future.) There is enough “blame” to go around at the fiscal cliff, but is there enough “wisdom” to see beyond and beneath the cliff? Michael Lewis is the best-selling author of … [Read more...]
Broken. Newtown, Connecticut is broken. Families are broken. Sandy Hook Elementary School is broken. We are broken. In this Advent Season, the plans of many for a simple celebration of Christmas have been drastically altered. This past Sunday, I sat in a church where songs were sung and prayers were prayed and words were spoken in an attempt to frame tragedy … [Read more...]
Compromise. What is your immediate reaction to this word? Does your heart rejoice or sink at the thought of needing to compromise? Compromise seems similar to being “luke-warm” and we wonder if it would be better to be hot or cold. At the Edge of the Precipice: Henry Clay and the Compromise that Saved the Union by Robert V. Remini is a book that challenges … [Read more...]
