As we walk through the world, even along the dangerous paths we have chosen for ourselves, God worries about where we put our feet. — Tony Earley Each year my church has a smoked chicken dinner and bake sale...
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How radical should radical hospitality get? If you are open to having foster children in your home, is one enough, or should you have two or four or maybe eight? At what point do you set a boundary? A foster...
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It is exciting to witness how Anabaptist churches of the Global South are pursuing their goals. Tanzanian Mennonites may be the most ambitious of all. The Tanzanian Mennonite Church — in Swahili, Kanisa la...
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It’s hard to keep focused on God’s preferred future when marginalized communities are attacked and deprived of justice. People use different coping mechanisms to deal with it. Some let anger, resentment...
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Ten baby chicks arrived at our house along with a flock of childhood memories. I grew up where banties roamed the barnyard, and spring included clucky mothers with newly hatched chicks. As I put our chicks in...
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I live in a section of duplexes in northwestern Philadelphia. Tucked back from the street, I have the option of less interaction, compared to others who have front doors that open directly onto the sidewalk. I...
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Perhaps we should start with enemies. Who is our fiercest enemy? A neighbor? Relative? Boss? Past or current president? Another nation? We really can’t understand the story of Jonah unless we reckon with the...
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J. Denny Weaver’s latest book is popular theology written in response to a question asked by a child: Why did God kill his own son? The target audience for God Without Violence is those troubled by a...
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Kind deeds are frequently spontaneous life-giving events that bring joy to recipient and giver. Beyond that, generosity’s impact often reaches far beyond the recipient and the donor to include those who...
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Among recent immigrants at the church where I worship in Indiana, it is women who come to faith first. Women then invite husbands and relatives, providing energy for outreach. Throughout church history, women...
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This year is Canada’s 150th anniversary. The government will host celebrations to mark the country’s heritage, cultural diversity, citizenship, social contract, respect for pluralism, official languages...
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Last month, the live-action remake of the 1995 anime film Ghost in the Shell hit theaters. Set in a future when many humans are augmented with cybernetic enhancements, the story follows Major Mira Killian,...
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It’s worth reading the Book of Jonah in one sitting. It won’t take more than five minutes. Getting the details freshly in mind as well as the entire scope of the story can make an old, familiar tale come...
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“America’s deportation machine: The great expulsion.” “Undocumented mom of 3 U.S. citizen kids deported.” “Study: 5,100 kids in foster care after parents deported.” These may sound like recent...
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The older generation always thinks the younger generation is going to pot. I hear this statement regularly in the church, repeated by the older generation who dedicated their lives to the church. I also hear...
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The president had squeaked by in the general election. A key plank in his platform had been opposition to foreign military intervention. But in a matter of months after his inauguration, he reversed...
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During the early 1980s, while a senior at Bethel College, I participated in a monthlong interterm travel course to Washington, D.C., focused on peace issues and Mennonite social justice engagement. Faculty...
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In the 1640s, a few English nonconformists and Puritans who had migrated to the New World began to share the gospel with Native Americans around them. In 1646, Pastor John Eliot began to lead his Indian...
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Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it. . . . Yet. — Anne Shirley My daughter received a Fitbit for Christmas. For those unfamiliar with this technological accessory: it looks like a wristwatch, and it...
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When I was young, I had no idea normal people doubted God. So when I doubted, I was ashamed. Normal people believed. They flourished as Christians and at church. I wasn’t normal. I was bad. Roger Martin’s...
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A Feb. 15 Harris poll for the American Psychological Association found Americans haven’t experienced this much stress in many years. According to the poll, 66 percent of participants are stressed about the...
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“We can’t put up the sign because it’s political.” When seeing the sign, “No matter what country you’re from, we are glad you’re our neighbor,” what do we see? Does including Spanish and Arabic...
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“Nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus,” the speaker said. “Nothing at all. Not anything we do — or anything we don’t do.” I pushed the rewind button and played the recording...
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The cemeteries where members of my extended families are buried are truly places of repose, surrounded by the fertile fields of Lancaster County, Pa. When I visit their graves, I sense that they are at rest,...
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Many who preach regularly are finding it a tough navigation in the pulpit in the United States. Our highly politicized environment means it’s difficult to find ways to speak that are both relevant and...
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