At The Intersection Of Time & Eternity: Easter Season

Last updated on: March 28, 2016 at 7:29 am By Michelle Van Loon

It’s the day after Resurrection Sunday. Is it just a day to head to Walgreens and buy some discounted Easter candy? (Jelly beans taste even better when they’re 60% off.) The Christian calendar proclaims the resurrection in a far different manner. The centerpiece of the message proclaimed by Jesus’ first followers was simple: Jesus had risen from the dead. Temporal time and eternity met in the person of the risen Messiah at the empty tomb. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.... Read more

Rabbi: Passover Is For Christians, Too

Last updated on: March 23, 2016 at 6:26 pm By Michelle Van Loon

One of the youngest head rabbis in Reform Judaism, Moffic leads Congregation Solel in Highland Park, Illinois. Of the three main branches of Judaism in the US—Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform—his takes the most progressive approach to a Torah-honoring lifestyle. Reform Jews are most open to social justice issues, interfaith families, and learning from Christianity, he said. “It is a Judaism at home in America.” As Moffic became involved in interfaith education and dialogue, he discovered the profound desire among Christians... Read more

Is There A Regret God Can’t Redeem?

Last updated on: March 21, 2016 at 8:08 am By Michelle Van Loon

I’ve spent a lot of time pondering the topic of regret. I’ve written a book about regret. I’ve written lots of blog posts on the subject. I speak on the topic. My message is always the same: God can redeem and repurpose every one of our regrets. As a result, here’s a question no one has ever asked me: Is there a regret God can’t redeem? Scripture tells us there is one man who allowed sin, then regret to come... Read more

At The Intersection Of Time & Eternity: Holy Week

Last updated on: March 16, 2016 at 10:14 am By Michelle Van Loon

The Church year has a sweeping rhythm to its seasons: Advent moves into Christmastide, then Lent. But in the days leading to Good Friday the rhythm slows; it’s the sound of a ticking clock in an empty room. Every tick, eternity in 60 seconds. This week, the calendar invites followers of Jesus to trace his footsteps into Jerusalem to the tick of the clock. Each day of Holy Week brings us into this journey in the here and now. It... Read more

Welcome To Post-Adulthood?

Last updated on: March 7, 2016 at 7:07 am By Michelle Van Loon

This recent Washington Post article highlights an idea foreign to the majority of us living in Western culture. Dr. Bill Thomas contends, “…there is a ‘third’ phase of life beyond adulthood that can be as rich as either of the phases that came before.” This idea has implications for the church – if only we have ears to hear. For those interested in nurturing spiritual growth and development throughout every phase of life, and some of those who work with aging populations,... Read more

Unpacking Once More

Last updated on: February 28, 2016 at 7:40 pm By Michelle Van Loon

Some of you have followed the account of our recent (mis)adventure of our most recent move via Facebook and Twitter. After more than 3-1/2 years in a quirky 1970’s townhome in a northwest suburb of Chicago, our landlord told us toward the end of January that we’d need to find a new place to live as the place was going to be sold. It wasn’t exactly a surprise, as there have probably been close to 40 showings of the property... Read more

Unintended Consequences Of The Jesus Movement: Seeking The Seeker

Last updated on: February 17, 2016 at 5:44 pm By Michelle Van Loon

Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and told his followers to do the same. The call to mission has always been at the heart of the church’s identity. When the first crop of new believers came to faith during the Jesus Movement of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, many of them discovered that the churches they began attending didn’t have a category for them. Many socially-conservative church members were scandalized by the hippie dress and the sex-drugs-rock-`n-roll... Read more

Review: What Every Christian Needs To Know About The Jewishness Of Jesus

Last updated on: February 11, 2016 at 5:25 pm By Michelle Van Loon

What was first-century Judaism like? How did first-century Judaism help people approach God and draw holiness into their lives? When Jesus, a Jew, thought of God and Scripture and prayer, what kinds of things was he thinking about? By looking at the life of Jesus as a Jewish life, this book seeks to uncover the Jewish roots of Christianity. I want to hear Jesus the way his contemporaries—Jews in first-century Israel and Galilee—would have heard him. I want to understand... Read more

At The Intersection Of Time And Eternity: Lent

Last updated on: February 6, 2016 at 10:10 am By Michelle Van Loon

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. (Matthew 9:15, Mark 2:19-20, Luke 5:34-35) Lent was a word once commonly used to describe the lengthening days as winter moved toward spring in the northern hemisphere. Today, it tells a very specific story about the forty days leading up to Easter on the Christian liturgical calendar. Lent begins this year... Read more

We Don’t Age Out Of Our Sexuality

Last updated on: February 4, 2016 at 12:21 pm By Michelle Van Loon

This post is part of a weekly Her.meneutics series called The Sex We Don’t Talk About, designed to feature female perspectives on aspects of sex and sexuality that can go overlooked in the church. During the season 6 premiere of Downton Abbey, head housekeeper Mrs. Hughes confides to her friend Mrs. Patmore, the house’s cook, that she is concerned about intimacy in her impending marriage. “Look at me,” she says. “I’m a woman in late middle age.” Hughes wonders if it would... Read more