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Hump-Day Hymns: Lord, I Want to Be a Christian
Lord, I want to be a Christian In my heart, in my heart. Lord, I want to be a Christian In my heart. In my heart, in my heart, Lord, I want to be a Christian In my heart. Lord, I want to be more loving In my heart, in my heart. Lord, I want…
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The Idea of Brokenness is Great…
I like the idea of brokenness. I like thinking and talking about the fact that the church is a place for broken people, where broken people can be accepted and loved. I like Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” and all that. I say that I like the idea of brokenness, because the…
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Striving With God
It has been some time since we have received any amount of actual rainfall, and when added to the unseasonably hot temperatures, this creates a situation in which plants struggle to survive and farmers lose significant portions of their crops. The health department has been recommending that people stay inside air conditioning and not exert…
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Hump-Day Hymns: Be Still, My Soul
I have previously stated that there are three main directions of hymns: us speaking to God, God speaking to us, and us speaking to each other about God. This hymn falls into a completely different category: us speaking to ourselves about God. The nature of this hymn makes it perfect for one to carry this…
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Denominational Unity?
I have neglected writing the last week or so, as I have been working at this year’s meeting of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, my denomination’s highest assembly. I have previously written a bit about my role this year. This year’s meeting had a great deal of tension both surrounding it,…
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Hump-Day Hymns: Blest Be the Tie That Binds
Today was my first day after I have returned from our annual meeting of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, the highest assembly in our denomination. At this meeting, there was much talk of unity and division, of agreement and disagreement. We spoke of why we are united, or why unity is…
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How the Teacher Becomes the Student
The highest assembly of my denomination, the General Synod, meets annually in June. There are delegates which are elders and ministers, and there are corresponding delegates which can speak but not vote. Corresponding delegates are often people with particular expertise or particular experiences that make them valuable additions to General Synod and the denomination values…
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Hump-Day Hymns: The Doxology
I am not completely sure if The Doxology qualifies as a “hymn,” but at the risk of drifting away from hymns, this will be the point of discussion for this week’s Hump-Day Hymns. Typically relegated to the category of “Service Music” in hymnals, there is something profound that this very simple song speaks to us.…
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My Only Comfort
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death? A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.…
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I’m Guest Blogging Today!
The Rev. Angie Mabry-Nauta is a name that I had heard while in seminary and learning my way around the Reformed Church in America. Many of the people with whom I had connected with well were friends with her. It was a pleasure, then, when at last year’s General Synod (our denomination’s highest assembly) I…
Matthew van Maastricht
Shepherd of Souls | Spiritual Director | Psychotherapist
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Matthew van Maastricht 