Sam Gutierrez

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Articles

God and the Unknown

Dec 9, 2024 | thebanner.org | Clayton Lubbers |Leah Jolly |Dean R. Heetderks |Sam Gutierrez

I believe one of the things God calls us to do is explore and understand. By trade, I am a science teacher. As a human, I am constantly curious. It’s one of the reasons I do what I do. Telling me something simply isn’t enough; I need to understand. I think that’s true for many of us, and I think this drive to understand could be one of the attributes of being created in the image of God. Let me start at the beginning.
Calvin Theological Seminary Launches New Digital Resource

Dec 4, 2024 | thebanner.org | Leah Jolly |Dean R. Heetderks |Sam Gutierrez |Carol Bremer-Bennett

As Calvin Theological Seminary looks forward to its 150th anniversary celebration, it asked alumni and supporters, “What is important to your continued development and growth?”The response, said President Jul Medenblik, was an overwhelming desire for easier access to Reformed teaching and content that intersects with the questions and concerns all believers are facing.
Searching for Christmas

Dec 2, 2024 | thebanner.org | Sam Gutierrez

To sing with real joy, we must get clear about what we want for Christmas. The 1965 animated special A Charlie Brown Christmas, developed by Charles M. Schulz, was predicted to be a flop. The sponsor of the special, The Coca-Cola Company, was nervous. Reasons for a potential ratings disaster included bare-bones storytelling, a slow pace, no laugh track, religious references, children singing off key, a jazz soundtrack, and a main character (Charlie Brown) struggling with doubt and depression.
Thank You, Goodnight

Nov 29, 2024 | thebanner.org | Sam Gutierrez

Over the past 40 years, the band Bon Jovi (named after the lead singer Jon Bongiovi) has released 15 studio albums, sold more than 120 million records worldwide, and performed 2,700 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 34 million fans. In addition, two of their most well-known songs—“You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Living on a Prayer”—each have over 1 billion streams on Spotify.
Receiver

Oct 11, 2024 | thebanner.org | Sam Gutierrez

One could argue that the most important player on an NFL team is the Quarterback. But the position is incomplete as articulated by Gisele Bündchen (Tom Brady’s former wife) after the New England Patriots lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI: “My husband cannot throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time.” Yes, Quarterbacks are essential—but they can’t throw to themselves. They need someone who can catch the ball.
Unfrosted

Sep 27, 2024 | thebanner.org | Sam Gutierrez

Editor’s Note: The movie Unfrosted is mostly fictional. The real inventor of the Pop Tart, William “Bill” Post (yes, Post!), grew up in the Christian Reformed Church and attended the CRC as an adult for many years. . Near the end of the 1960s, Americans did the impossible—they launched astronauts into space, traveled to the moon, walked on it, and returned safely home.
Godzilla Teaches Us to Lay Down Our Lives

Aug 8, 2024 | thebanner.org | Sam Gutierrez

If you see ridged spikes breaking through the water and you hear a deafening roar that sends shivers down your spine, there can only be one logical conclusion: Godzilla is coming!Godzilla debuted in a 1954 Japanese film directed and co-written by Ishiro Honda.
Spaceman

Aug 2, 2024 | thebanner.org | Sam Gutierrez

Mention the name Adam Sandler, and most will think of iconic characters performed on Saturday Night Live (SNL)—Lunch Lady, Opera Man, Pepper Boy. If that doesn’t ring a bell, then some of his well-known movies might sound familiar—Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates. Adam Sandler, if you look at most of his work (over 60 films and 15 television shows), is famous for being a comedic actor, but over the past 20 years, he has attempted more serious roles on occasion.
Cleo Abram - *Huge if True (YouTube)

Jun 28, 2024 | thebanner.org | Sam Gutierrez

Two months before the Wright Brothers took their first flight in 1903, a newspaper article revealed the impossibility of building a “flying machine.” The reasoning in the article was simple: if it took millions of years for nature to give birds the ability to fly, then it would take equally as long for the best mathematicians and mechanics to give humanity the same ability. The article encouraged those working on the ambitious flying machine project to give up.
The Comeback King

Jun 17, 2024 | thebanner.org | Sam Gutierrez

According to Jesus, the best way to keep watch is to faithfully live day to day doing the small, ordinary things of life with love. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.” —Matthew 25:31In a small studio in Memphis, Tenn., Elvis Presley and his newly formed quartet of musicians recorded a song with a pulsing eight-bar blues progression.