James Dykstra
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EvangelismThe life and death of our campus evangelism project
When someone says, “Hey, we should do some outreach in our own community,” it’s an awkward situation since it’s so very hard to tell whether…
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HistoryOur heroes have feet of clay
You find them everywhere. They’re the people we look up to. They sing, they dance, they play hockey, they win battles and they found nations….
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HistoryChristmas Truce
There’s a lot of things you think of when Christmas comes to mind. Christmas tree, Christmas pudding, Christmas presents, Christmas lights, Christmas services, Christmas carols….
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PoliticsThe Rhinoceros Party: politics has always been absurd, but 30 years ago, even more so
Politics may seem especially absurd these days, but it didn’t start here. In Canada, the wackiness goes back at least a few decades, to the…
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HistoryUSS Meredith Victory: the “Gallant Ship”
There was nothing about USS Meredith Victory that would make it stand out from the crowd. The ship was a cargo vessel, built as part…
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History“I have a bridge to sell you” (and other deals too good to be true)
I recently received an e-mail from a Nigerian prince who wanted to share his wealth with me. He told me it was millions and millions…
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HistoryThe Pope who hated black cats
People like or dislike different kinds of animals. I’m a bird person. They fascinate me. Others are cat people. And historically, we know that some…
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Remembrance DayOperation Manna
**** You can download or listen to the podcast version (6 minutes) here. It was a bad time to be Dutch. The winter of 1944-1945 was…
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HistorySlip sliding away: a very different chapter in Dutch history
You can download or listen to the podcast version (5 minutes) here. **** Paul Simon once sang that the nearer your destination, the more you keep slip…
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Church historyThe Defenestration of Prague
You can download or listen to the podcast version (5 minutes) here. ***** Today we’re going to look at a small event that had big consequences….
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Church historyJenny Geddes: the Reformer who let fly…
Our story is about what should have been a small thing. It wasn’t such an unusual thing. You hear about it from time to time….
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HistoryThe Great Moon Hoax of 1835
You can download or listen to the podcast version (7 minutes) here. ***** Back when I was studying history as a graduate student, one of…
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HistoryThe untimely death of Emmett Louis Till: The power of graphic pictures
Pictures have a power that words simply cannot match. That became evident in the tragic death of Emmett Louis Till, a 14-year-old Chicago teen who…
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AssortedThe End was near
They’ve probably been predicting the end of time since the beginning of time. Recently, we’ve had predictions it would end in 2012, due to some…