Jason Lief

Recently, I invited students to consider what it means to say God speaks through paper and ink. That somehow this book, with different authors and genres is God's word to us. Scripture points us to God's action in Jesus Christ,…

This past week the U.S. Justice Department instituted new rules pertaining to the detention of children and families at the southern border. The ruling changes the Flores settlement of 1997 that said children and families are to be held in…

Last weekend my family attended the Hinterland Music Festival. It takes place in St. Charles, Iowa—a small town just off I-35 about 20 minutes south of Des Moines. Three days of music, craft beer, and pretentious-ness. All in all, a…

Sitting at St. Paul Catholic Church in Marty, South Dakota, we (fifty young people and their youth leaders) listened as Sr. Miriam spoke about her time living among the Yankton Sioux. "Yankton" and "Sioux" aren't the names they prefer; they…

For two weeks at the end of May six students and I walked the path of St. Francis from Assisi to Rome. Our guide, Alessandro, was honest: "We don't know exactly which route Francis took, so in the spirit of…

For the next two and a half weeks I’m taking six students on a Franciscan pilgrimage. We’ll be immersed in all things St. Francis, spending multiple days in Assisi, followed by a long walk to Rome where Francis petitioned the…

Yesterday, the Washington Post had a story revealing the young man who opened fire at a synagogue in California is a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian church. This denomination and mine (the Christian Reformed Church) are part of the Calvinist tradition.…

Prior to 1965, there were no limits on immigration from Western countries. There were plenty of quotas placed on other groups, primarily for racist reasons, but not for neighbors to the South or North. In 1965 that changed. The 1986…