On Halloween lots of lively kids pretend to be dead. Many dress up like skeletons, ghosts, or goblins. Others get more graphic and wear a mask of a murder victim oozing fake blood, or they find some other hideous way to look dead. When they’re done trick-or-treating, they may sit down with some friends to […]

This spring a front page article in The Washington Times highlighted the growing problem Americans have with money management. A coalition of more than 80 financial and consumer groups is lobbying states and the federal government to add personal finance to required high school classes and standardized tests. Our nation’s economic boom has given even […]

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NKJV) The Reformers discovered that the Bible alone is the inerrant and infallible written Word of God, […]

There is no one, least of all the Christian, who does not share the concern of recent years regarding the environment—the pollution of the air, streams and lakes. When the children of God sit down with the Bible and quietly contemplate creation as it came forth from the hand of the Creator, they see it […]

This has been an interesting summer. It started with a 5,200-mile family vacation through the wild west (from the Badlands of South Dakota to glacier National Park in Montana) to an attempted theft of our car in Atlanta to my 30th high school reunion in New Jersey. I’ve experienced the good, the bad and the […]

“What is it that attracts Westerners to Islam?” This question was raised by one of the students at Westminster Theological Seminary in California, during the two-week interim class on “Current Issues in Missions” and “Missions to Muslims” which was taught by my husband. Later the seminarian explained to us what lay behind his question. It […]

In his book “Earth in the Balance,” Vice President Al Gore positions himself as something of a scientific expert. But recently on “Meet the Press,” Gore showed that he has an enormous hole in his moral ozone layer. Responding to a question from host Tim Russert as to whether Gore believes that human life begins […]

Many Christian homes are battlegrounds rather than sanctuaries of grace. Many Christian marriages are hollow. Many parents are panic-stricken about raising children in our postmodern culture and many are heartbroken over choices their children have made. Despite all the formulas and checklists, many Christian families are crumbling and people are trying to find the silver […]

Bob was chairman of the evangelism committee at 1st Reformed Presbyterian Church. He had taken the position with great enthusiasm, wanting to serve his Lord and help his church honor the Great Commission. He had held the position for 7 years, but his tenure had been marked by struggles: members of the church without evangelism […]

What is the question? As a seminary professor, I often have the task of evaluating student papers. In doing so, I have come to recognize that a good paper ordinarily has a clear statement of the question it addresses. Thus, one of the basic questions I raise in the course of my evaluation is—to what […]