At my ordination interview, I didn’t give the best answer when the committee asked me about my practices of self-care. “One day each week I take a sabbath rest,” I said brightly. And then for good...
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We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul — Heb. 6:19 Once, I received an email at my church account that claimed to be from a TV network. According to the email, they were seeking Mennonite...
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Once I interviewed a Pentecostal pastor for a seminary project. He was famous locally for his prison ministry and outreach — as well as for his six-shooter-wearing swagger. In the course of the interview, he...
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A long time ago in the big city, I was a graduate student studying the New Testament. My wife and I had another student and his wife over for supper, and we were talking shop: Bible and theology, church and...
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Joy strikes out of the blue nothingness. You can’t expect it or manufacture it or capture it. For Christians, the completeness of our joy comes from Jesus. After he taught on his abiding in us and our...
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Earth Day is a great time for Christians to show our love for God’s green earth. Of course, the challenge of loving the earth is knowing which part of the earth to love. There’s so much of it, after all...
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As the 2016 US election rattles into its final stretch, rural people and communities have gotten an ill-deserved bad rap. Commentators along the urban coastlines, seeking to understand rural voting patterns,...
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It turns out you can eat corn smut. Who knew? The ancient peoples of Mexico, that’s who. They call it xuitlacoche, and they covet smut as a mushroom-y filling for quesadillas. I first discovered that you can...
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Even the sparrow finds a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young, At your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and my God. — Psalm 84:3 A pair of orioles is raising their brood in...
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The great desert monk Antony was once asked, “What good work shall I do?” Antony responded, “Whatever you find you are drawn to in following God’s will, do it and let your heart be at peace.” (The...
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While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. — Luke 24:51 This past Thursday (and Sunday), we celebrated the Ascension of the Lord. If you’re Amish, it’s a great...
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I’m convinced that the meaningful life is a life rooted in place. Paul told the church in Colossae to be “rooted” in Christ (Col. 2:6-7). Sometimes, we take this as being rooted in Christ rather than the...
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Tired, confused, afraid and powerless before evil. That’s the disciples on the mount of Jesus’ Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-43a). Have you been there? I have. Once, after making a momentous decision, I sat...
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