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Dec 9, 2024 | 
pressgazette.co.uk | Heidi Kingstone |Big Questions
When I began writing my book Genocide: Personal Stories, Big Questions in 2020, people’s eyes glazed over when I discussed the atrocities committed in the 20th and 21st centuries. One person said they weren’t interested because they weren’t Jewish, and another noted that it only occurred in the past. , and while we haven’t been much good at preventing genocide, we need to keep trying, and central to that is the role of journalism.
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
thebanner.org | Loren Haarsma |Big Questions
I am an elderly Christian who occasionally finds himself in discussions about burial plans. When I share that my remains will be donated for medical research, some people react negatively. Please comment. Thank you for donating your remains. Donated bodies are essential to medical training and research. Medical students gain first-hand knowledge of the human body by studying remains. Like organ donors, you are helping to save lives with your donation.
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Nov 5, 2024 | 
thebanner.org | Karen Wilk |Big Questions
Can we really see God at work? It’s a common question these days, especially in missional circles, and I suspect that you, like many others, want to see God at work—even long to—but the possibility often seems quite elusive. Can we really see God at work? I believe we can, because I believe the Spirit is present and active in every moment everywhere, inviting us to see—but not necessarily where and how we expect.
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Aug 5, 2024 | 
thebanner.org | Karen Wilk |Big Questions
How can I get to know my neighbors when we live miles apart in a rural area? I have frequently been asked this question in our “Joining God in the Neighborhood” workshops and learning communities. The rural context has unique challenges (as do other types of neighborhoods), yet God is at work wherever the Spirit has placed us or sent us (Jer. 29:4-7; Luke 10:7). But if we aren’t bumping into neighbors on the sidewalk or in our front yards, how are we meeting and getting to know them?
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Apr 29, 2024 | 
thebanner.org | Karen Wilk |Big Questions
We recently moved into a neighborhood where not many seem to know about our Reformed faith. How quickly should we bring this into conversations? Or do we leave it out unless asked? When we move into a new neighborhood, we are starting out as strangers, so the first step is to become acquaintances.
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Mar 26, 2024 | 
podtail.com | Big Questions
This is Big Questions of Jewish Belief, the podcast where we face up to the challenges of religious faith. We all have questions about our faith. Questions about the truth of the Torah, the morality of its laws and what it teaches about having a relationship with God. So each week during this miniseries I’ll be inviting rigorous thinkers to challenge me with their questions on Belief.
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Feb 19, 2024 | 
thebanner.org | Shiao Chong |Big Questions
Synod 1973 established the Christian Reformed Church’s official position on homosexuality. A distinction between homosexuality as an orientation and homosexualism as explicit and overt homosexual practice is central to this position. The summary statement on the CRC’s website explains:“Homosexuality is a condition in which a person is sexually oriented toward persons of the same sex, and for which the person may bear only a minimal responsibility.
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Feb 5, 2024 | 
thebanner.org | Loren Haarsma |Big Questions
What should we say to someone who worries that science disproves Christianity? I’m a scientist and a Christian. I’ve occasionally been asked by Christians (with a little fear in their eyes), “Have you ever learned something in science that made you doubt your faith?”Many people share this concern. Studies show that people leaving the church often list science as a reason they doubt. But I have never found science to push me away from God.
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Jan 8, 2024 | 
thebanner.org | Karen Wilk |Big Questions
What does “going to church” have to do with being missional? I have put the phrase “going to church” in quotation marks because on the one hand, we all know that we don’t go to church—we are the church! “Being the church” is a way of life we embody 24/7 that bears witness to God’s loving reign (sometimes very well, and other times not so much). On the other hand, what we mean when we say we’re “going to church” is important.
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Jan 5, 2024 | 
thebanner.org | Shiao Chong |Big Questions
Should Christians support Israel no matter what it does to the Palestinians? Only God deserves our unconditional support. Nothing in creation, whether a person or a nation, can command our allegiance or loyalty no matter what they do. Even God did not support Old Testament Israel when it disobeyed God’s laws and acted unjustly. God even exiled Israel. Some Christians with a specific end-times theology might view this differently, but Reformed theology does not support that perspective.
