It’s a bit daunting to follow up Heidi De Jonge here every two weeks. Heidi plumbs her personal and pastoral experience in a deep yet direct way that—to judge from responses—many of you find her posts to be just the…

On these days surrounding the second Sunday of Advent, I wear a chain around my neck. The chain holds the wedding band that used to be worn by my first husband, Layton. He wore it from the day we were…

Two weeks ago I did a short blog here as part of our annual fundraiser (and thank you to all who chipped in!).   In it I described “The Reformed Journal” and “The Twelve” as an important place to discuss ideas…

Not only did the Puritans not celebrate Thanksgiving, they firmly banned Christmas. (Spoiler alert: the Puritans did not celebrate Easter either.) The Puritans rejected Christmas as a pagan celebration, full of bawdy revelry and tainted by Catholic association. The Puritans…

The first Advent calendar appeared in 1851, and featured a biblical-character-a-day to count Christian worshippers down to Christmas. It featured, among others, John the baptizer, since John features in the stories of Jesus’ birth and ministry beginnings. Indeed, John is…

Today, guest blogger and advice columnist Pious Petunia is back to offer a little sensible comfort and joy for those wearied by the weirdness of the season. Dear Miss Petunia: I would like to prepare during Advent for the coming…

Apparently, millions of evangelicals believe the Christian faith is greatly imperiled in America, more than it has ever, ever been. I don't share their fears, but if, this weekend, they still believe that's true, then they didn't witness the funeral…

I ran out of time this week for crafting an acceptable blogpost, so instead I thought I’d point your attention to a few things that I think are worth reading this week:   You can subscribe to a 5-part devotional…

You have probably seen the famous photo of a high school-aged Bill Clinton meeting President John F. Kennedy (I've included it, in case you haven't). In the photo, you'll see that Clinton (and the boys around him) are wearing polo…

Jesus is an apocalyptic figure. Christianity is an apocalyptic religion. Advent is an apocalyptic season. This is very hard. Apocalyptic means revealing, disclosure, unveiling. What has been hidden is brought to light. A great reversal is coming—swiftly, shockingly, out of…