Essay

Sometimes the mostly RCA and CRC world of The Twelve can seem small. But the numbers of our humble blog tell a different story. The Twelve had over 61,000 views last month and one of our posts was linked by…

“We live in a country in epistemological crisis,” David Brooks laments in his most recent op-ed in the New York Times. Brooks acknowledges that this is not just an American problem but has become a global crisis. “All around the…

Panamanian golden frog I’ve recently learned that wildlife conservationists will sometimes remove desperately endangered creatures from their habitats in order to save their species. It’s called “arking”—as in: we are putting this species on an ark. The conservationists hope to…

Why support the Reformed Journal? Because we need voices that advocate for a reformed, or reformational, perspective. There’s a form of Evangelicalism that is biblically and theologically robust and ecclesiologically necessary. Evangelicals point us back to the gospel; they tell…

Got it this morning. Had no idea mature human beings could or would hunt hogs from helicopters, but this Texas outfit thought I might just take a shot.Ten years ago, we stayed at a gorgeous South Dakota hunting lodge, way…

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Often at our dinner table, my little family goes around the table and shares our day’s “highs and lows.” My…

This week is one of my favorite of the whole year. I adore everything about Thanksgiving. Always have. And here’s the thing: I spend pretty much every Thanksgiving alone. Don’t get me wrong: I had a wonderful time with my…

Someday I’m going to compile a list of “Christian words” which need a 200 year time out -- mothballed until they can be brought out again, fresh and new. Words that aren’t necessarily untrue, just exhausted, exploited, stretched almost beyond…

Over the past several months I’ve been doing a slow, unhurried read through the book of Jeremiah. It strikes me as the right book for this moment, a kind of literature for exiles in a dark time of national trauma.…