Probably because I teach English at a Christian university, I get wrangled into conversations about what defines Christian literature. Does the content need to be explicitly Christian? Can a work be Christian...
[read more]
In 1890, American Mennonite women had few opportunities to serve the church in a formal capacity. Pastoral ministry was reserved for men, and Mennonite mission work was still in its infancy. David Goerz...
[read more]
In a recent NPR story, “How Outrage is Hijacking Our Culture and Minds,” Shankar Vedantam reported on research by New York University psychologist Jay Van Bavel that examines the relationship between...
[read more]
When I became a seminary dean in 2010, polls were showing that membership and participation in traditional Christian denominations was falling. As the decade proceeded, the unraveling gathered speed. In an...
[read more]
Taha Mqat, his wife and seven children have watched their home be destroyed or damaged by Israeli bombs three times. The family lives in Gaza, a strip of land that is 139 square miles — about the size of...
[read more]
Media and public opinion have made us aware of the environmental racism in Flint, Mich. Under the management of the state, the drinking water source was changed to a cheaper supply. More than 100,000...
[read more]
For more than a century, Scottdale was known for the printed word. The southwestern Pennsylvania city was the location of the (Old) Mennonite Church’s Mennonite Publishing House, which produced books,...
[read more]
I’ve heard creation care is a liberal agenda that puts its concerns ahead of national well-being. This got me wondering: Was Paul labeled an eco-freak when he heard creation groaning (Rom. 8:22)? We often...
[read more]
My friend Robin loves mystery stories, as do I. But when she starts one, she always reads the ending first so she won’t worry about things ending badly. Me, I like the suspense! Our text for Nov. 3 reminds...
[read more]
What is the core of the gospel and the mission that flows from it? Western churches agonize over this question. Most of us believe the gospel centers on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus (1...
[read more]
“I don’t want to call God an idiot or anything,” I told Ivan, “but if I had created the world, I would have done things differently.” Someone I love made a choice that hurt me, and that is why I said...
[read more]
Years ago I was introduced to Laura van Dernoot Lipsky’s book Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others. It addresses all of us “who are exposed to the suffering,...
[read more]
The essays in Finding Father are both tender and troubled. Some are loving, elegiac tributes to men who nurtured their daughters. Others seem almost confused: “How do I love a man I don’t really...
[read more]
Our last two faith stories in October take place some 800 years after our visit with Elijah on Oct. 13. We are back in northern Israel, although now Roman domination replaces an Israelite king. Both this story...
[read more]
The Dome of the Rock in Old Jerusalem enshrines faith stories, including the almost-sacrifice of Isaac. By Jewish and Muslim tradition, the bedrock protruding inside this seventh-century structure is the top...
[read more]
October is Pastor Appreciation Month. While one month is not enough to show appreciation to pastors, it’s an opportunity to focus on the work, ministry and difficulty of being a pastor. I was called to a...
[read more]
Every year, when Nov. 11 (Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the World War I armistice) rolls around, Canadians reflect on the many who gave their lives during that war and the dwindling number of World War...
[read more]
“Watch your step! Behave yourself! Remember the rules I told you!” September’s lessons focused on God’s faithfulness to Israel. October’s theme includes human responses to God’s faithfulness. Our...
[read more]
Aaron Janzen believed passionately in missions. A member of the Mennonite Brethren from Mountain Lake, Minn., he wrote of the value of leaving “homeland, kin and kindred, ease, comfort, physical and...
[read more]
Mennonite daughters through the years have lived very different lives depending on where their ancestors came from. Regardless of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, whether urban or rural, rich or poor, old or...
[read more]
When Halita Gambo’s baby, Janada, was born with a low birth weight, she turned to a Mennonite Central Committee-supported organization in northeastern Nigeria for assistance. Women and Youth Empowerment for...
[read more]
Earlier this year, the family-friendly streaming service Vidangel and Christian filmmaker Dallas Jenkins made Hollywood history after raising more than $10 million dollars in a crowdfunding campaign to fund...
[read more]
Amid the tsunamis of cruelty drowning the planet, the day of endless kindness began as Joan and I watched Maine waves roll in for the last time. We unwrapped the breakfast sandwiches we had bought at the...
[read more]
In the summer of 2014, Liz Jansen set out on a solo cross-country motorcycle trip, hoping to trace her ancestors’ migration across Canada nearly a century earlier. But a serious accident cut her journey...
[read more]
Imagine your family has been excitedly preparing for a two-week camping trip. You have a new tent and lots of supplies and food. The first few days are great fun — hiking, watching birds, swimming and eating...
[read more]