https://network.crcna.org/ The Network en Thu, 18 Apr 2024 23:58:04 +0000 Thu, 04 Feb 2016 22:31:06 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/jesus-knew Jesus once made a remarkable visit. We read about it in the Gospel of John, Chapter 5. There was a festival in Jerusalem. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/jesus-knew Thu, 04 Feb 2016 22:31:06 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/freedom-expression We take it for granted too easily…but we live in a country that champions freedom of exchange of information. It underlies all other freedoms in society. The roads to dictatorships have mostly been paved by one or other faction holding the press captive. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/freedom-expression Fri, 22 Jan 2016 13:18:42 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/minister-uncommon-grace The year-change is special because of people. It is a season of taking note of people with whom we form communities. Some we know personally, others less so. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/minister-uncommon-grace Mon, 04 Jan 2016 15:33:23 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/seeing-goodness This is the part of the year that we are busy with many concerns. But it is also the season of reflection. Another year past. Days of opportunities that will not return. Perhaps some regrets. Perhaps some pain, sorrow even. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/seeing-goodness Tue, 29 Dec 2015 13:28:00 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/breadth-and-depth This is the Christmas season. We earthlings, even apart from our religiosity, seem to sense something special around us, a certain expectation, something we share, something good that will happen to us. We cannot even fully account for it. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/breadth-and-depth Tue, 22 Dec 2015 13:42:42 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/gabriels-message-mary Those standing in the tradition of the Reformation have always known due esteem for Mary the Mother of our Lord. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/gabriels-message-mary Thu, 10 Dec 2015 17:13:27 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/joseph-our-man Details of Joseph’s life are sparse. Luke 2 tells us that he was Mary’s husband and foster-father of Jesus. Following brief stays in Bethlehem and Egypt the little family settled in Nazareth where Joseph made a living as a carpenter. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/joseph-our-man Wed, 02 Dec 2015 13:41:33 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/thank-ful-ness-and-think-ful-ness Thankfulness: how important! So good that it has been honored with a season: we set aside a season of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving means doing. But it is also means being. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/thank-ful-ness-and-think-ful-ness Tue, 24 Nov 2015 18:51:50 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/loves-broad-concerns Love...what an incredibly important component of life. In some ways it could be said that life could not go on without it. The Bible refers to love some 500 times. The ancient Greeks were aware of the many aspects of love. They coined three words for love. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/loves-broad-concerns Thu, 19 Nov 2015 15:02:15 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/our-names One feature that we all share is the fact that we have a name. One of the first things little children remember is their name. They may be puzzled about many things as they grow up, but they will never think it strange that they have a name. We equate our name with our identity. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/our-names Mon, 02 Nov 2015 16:21:34 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/our-great-wall Here's what I heard a speaker tell his audience: "Imagine," he said, "that you were standing on the moon and you were looking at the earth…Under proper conditions you would see, just vaguely, one man-made object: the Great Wall of China. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/our-great-wall Wed, 21 Oct 2015 18:48:41 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/royal-service The literature around the Second World War is filled with interesting and poignant stories. I came across the following account of a little event that took place in Denmark: a confrontation between King Christian X and an officer of the Nazi occupational forces. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/royal-service Wed, 14 Oct 2015 14:07:01 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/ah-trouble-free-life I asked a social worker: “What is your working life mostly about?” “Trouble”, she said. Later, when I thought of that little encounter, I wished I could have pursued that short conversation. “Trouble...” Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/ah-trouble-free-life Wed, 30 Sep 2015 13:18:08 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/cain-syndrome Most news outlets will have announced last week’s tragedy in Virginia: reporter Alison Parker, 24, and camera man Adam Ward, 27, were killed by gunman V Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/cain-syndrome Tue, 01 Sep 2015 13:25:09 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/fires All through the Western states and provinces the fires are raging. The damage is incalculable. Fear, sadness and sorrow have entered so many lives. Fire fighters from all over these nations have made their way to the West to assist in curbing the flames. Fire fighters have died. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/fires Mon, 24 Aug 2015 18:58:22 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/your-faith-counts In 1939 the great thinker Albert Einstein conducted a sober ceremony at the New York World’s Fair. A large tube was being buried some thirty feet below the site of the fair. Provisions had been made that the tube be unearthed by anthropologists in the year 6939. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/your-faith-counts Mon, 10 Aug 2015 15:44:29 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/isolated-people “Sir … I have no one…” (John 5:7) A missionary told me this story:  Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/isolated-people Mon, 03 Aug 2015 18:33:35 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/painful-memories We all have memories—some happy, some not so happy.  Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/painful-memories Mon, 20 Jul 2015 20:08:44 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/family-complications The family is one very unique institution. The Bible frequently refers to family situations. Some favorable, some less so. Some are places of goodness and healing, some are the settings of painful problems. The Bible addresses them all. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/family-complications Tue, 14 Jul 2015 18:20:41 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/bad-bad-world Some weeks ago I wrote about this season of graduation events. I implied that speeches on those occasions are, on the whole, not eagerly anticipated but that they, nevertheless, are often very significant. Louis Tamminga https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/bad-bad-world Wed, 10 Jun 2015 14:05:03 +0000