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Jason Lief

Essay

Reading A Man Called Ove in the Land of Steve King

https://youtu.be/IMZuic0dG1w I just finished Frederick Backman's book A Man Called Ove, the story of an old curmudgeon named Ove who unsuccessfully tries to kill himself. Ove is a stubborn Swede whose life revolves around routine, work, and the belief that the type of car a…
Jason Lief
March 17, 2017
Essay

A Life in Books

Last Monday a friend and I pulled up to a duplex in Pella, Iowa to load some books into the back of my van. The books were a part of the library of Dr. John Hulst, former president of Dordt College. I remember the first…
Jason Lief
March 3, 2017
Essay

The Smell of Smoke

The other day I had a moment. Maybe it was the light, maybe it was the smell of melting snow, whatever it was it brought me back to my grandma's house. The moment came and went quickly, but it was enough to remind me of…
Jason Lief
February 17, 2017
Essay

Spiritual Maturity: The Art of Not Giving a F@#k

I have to admit— I'm totally fine with putting 2016 out of its misery. Not only did we lose Prince and George Michael, I also changed jobs. Honestly, it was the hardest decision I've ever made. I don't regret it, but like any decision it has…
Jason Lief
January 6, 2017
Essay

Silence

I recently finished reading Shusaku Endo's Silence in preparation for the film adaptation by Martin Scorsese that will be released on Christmas day. It's a haunting story of Jesuit priests in Japan during the height of 17th century persecution. Two priests are on a mission to find…
Jason Lief
December 23, 2016
Essay

All In

For the past five years or so Perspectives has been living on the edge of non-existence. Every year at our board meeting someone would ask the question: Should we just be done? We’re not the only magazine to ask the question. The last few years…
Jason Lief
December 2, 2016
Biblical StudiesEssayTheology

Beware of the Extraordinary

"What does Jesus say about all that? He says 'Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them'. The call to be extraordinary is the great, inevitable danger of discipleship. Therefore, beware of this extraordinariness, of the way discipleship becomes…
Jason Lief
November 18, 2016