https://network.crcna.org/ The Network en Thu, 18 Apr 2024 12:50:39 +0000 Wed, 04 Jan 2023 05:00:00 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/returns Just what is this period, this interregnum, between Christmas and Epiphany? Is there a focus biblically? Lectionaries often opt for the slaughter of the innocents and the flight to Egypt. It’s technically too early for the Magi or the baptism of Jesus. Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/returns Wed, 04 Jan 2023 05:00:00 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-practices/days-noah This past Saturday my colleague Deb Rienstra had an excellent reflection on a different way to observe Advent from the wastelands of life all around us.  In a somewhat similar vein—that is non-Ch Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-practices/days-noah Wed, 14 Dec 2022 17:26:54 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/jwwm-jesus-would-wear-mask Then the devil led Jesus to the entrance of the Jerusalem Farmers Market. Jesus observed that most people were prudently wearing face coverings and masks to protect from a severe virus that had made many in the Holy City sick in recent weeks. And the devil said unto him,“If you are Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/jwwm-jesus-would-wear-mask Wed, 05 Aug 2020 12:54:45 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/conspiracies-and-calvinism Let’s stipulate up front: the two topics I will address here are not apples to apples. Apples to oranges perhaps. Or perhaps like what was pictured on the cover of the book Freakonomics: a Granny Smith apple with a slice cut out of it revealing an orange inside.  Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/conspiracies-and-calvinism Tue, 26 May 2020 16:27:34 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/worship/general-worship/quieter-easter What many Christians are going to miss most about Easter Sunday are precisely the things the actual Gospels mostly also are missing. Things like fanfare and the blast of brass instruments. Things like flower-washed landscapes and high-pitched drama. Things like blinding white param Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/worship/general-worship/quieter-easter Thu, 09 Apr 2020 10:25:24 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/seriously-youre-greatest Perhaps it went largely unnoticed a couple weeks ago as Americans were gearing up for a holiday weekend. Still, something rather remarkable happened. Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/seriously-youre-greatest Wed, 05 Jun 2019 17:57:22 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/losing-religion If you have been involved in most any aspect of ministry in the church, then sooner or later you confront some tough realities. Probably pastors experience this more often—and perhaps more intensely—than do others in church leadership but sooner or later we all learn some hard truths. Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/losing-religion Wed, 20 Feb 2019 16:00:34 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/show-dont-tell It is sermon grading season for me as the semester ends so unsurprisingly when I started to ponder a topic for today’s blog, all things homiletical came to mind.   Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/show-dont-tell Wed, 09 May 2018 16:30:02 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/just-cant-call-it-even Sheldon Cooper is one of the world’s more brilliant scientists. As portrayed by Jim Parsons on the hit TV show The Big Bang Theory, Dr. Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/just-cant-call-it-even Wed, 31 Jan 2018 18:54:09 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/preaching-public Chewed up, spit up, barfed out. Not a few preachers would tell you this is how it feels sometimes after preaching a sermon (and most particularly after enduring various comments at the church door afterwards). Not every week. I hope not. But now and then. Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/preaching-public Wed, 22 Nov 2017 15:56:57 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/church-strategy-mission/church-renewal/coaches-corner/prayerful-team For me it did not seem an unusual thing to do. In fact, it seemed normal, natural. I was not trying to curry any favor with anyone, was not looking for any commendation. But early on in a new pastorate that included a team ministry, I prayed one Sunday morning for a few of my minis Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/church-strategy-mission/church-renewal/coaches-corner/prayerful-team Tue, 03 Oct 2017 15:01:23 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/grateful-heart By the time this post is published, I will be on a week-long seminar with seventeen pastors. I am teaming up with colleagues Neal Plantinga and Charlotte Witvliet to ponder the role of gratitude in the Christian life and, in particular, in the preaching ministry of the church. In t Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/grateful-heart Wed, 26 Jul 2017 15:40:26 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/must-seminaries-change Last week I spent two days interacting with ten pastors who served as peer group leaders for me last year as part of a Lilly Endowment grant program my Center is overseeing.  The grant is part of Lilly’s current “Initiative to Strengthen Preaching.” This week I will spend Monday evening Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/must-seminaries-change Thu, 17 Mar 2016 10:05:40 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/justice-inclusion/biblical-justice/creation-matters/think-globally-push-back-locally Back in the late 1990s shortly after I published a little book called Remember Creation, I was in Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/justice-inclusion/biblical-justice/creation-matters/think-globally-push-back-locally Thu, 18 Feb 2016 11:00:34 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/candidacy/system The Synods of the Reformed Church in America and the Christian Reformed Church in North America are now history. At the CRC Synod, as usual, a raft of new candidates for the ministry was approved. This year there were 44 names on the list. Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/candidacy/system Thu, 25 Jun 2015 14:16:58 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/proclaiming-humility This week I will listen to around 21 student sermons preached in our Seminary’s Chapel. Borrowing a phrase from the Academy of Preachers, I have come to call this annual exercise our Calvin Seminary “Preach-a-Palooza” event. Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/proclaiming-humility Thu, 04 Jun 2015 14:47:15 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/more-those-r-rated-texts Maybe it’s bad form on a running blog like The Twelve to tee up off a prior day’s posting by a colleague, but Rebecca Koerselman’s post yesterday on “Kiddos and the Bible” was too much fun to rea Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/more-those-r-rated-texts Wed, 18 Mar 2015 14:09:28 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/pastors-quandary March is Oral Comp season here at Calvin Seminary where I teach. Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/pastors-quandary Thu, 05 Mar 2015 13:24:57 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/gracious-residue This blog post will appear on a Tuesday but I am writing it on a Monday morning and so am in a post-Sunday reflective mood when it comes to preaching. Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/gracious-residue Tue, 16 Sep 2014 15:07:17 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/only-something-nice Last week one day I was reviewing some of the audio sermons available in the archive of my Center for Excellence in Preaching website. Scott Hoezee https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/pastors/preaching/only-something-nice Tue, 22 Jul 2014 13:16:50 +0000