During the 1980s, I worked as a civil legal aid attorney for indigent men and women. Their legal claims concerned debt relief and access to health care, food and housing. More than any other time in my life,...
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One Sunday morning some years ago, I leaned against the back of a church pew, and with tears in my eyes confided to a friend. This woman is a sincere Christian, even though she’s not a member of our...
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What great lessons this month for antiracism and breaking down racial-ethnic barriers! When the Greek-speaking Jews complained their widows were being slighted in the distribution of food, the apostles...
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One and a half billion dollars. That’s how much the places of worship are worth in Winnipeg, Man., where I live. That figure comes from what is called the “halo effect,” the value of the social,...
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It was the liturgy that first warmed my heart. I tried to be cautious, not to fall in love too quickly. How long should one wait to call a church one’s home? I still don’t know the answer to that question....
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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...
[read more]Unity has been given us by the Holy Spirit. It is a gift. We are commanded to keep the unity of the Spirit (Eph. 4:3). The vows we made in marriage did not say “until we disagree.” It is until death...
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Today after I got dressed and I looked in the mirror, I just “felt” German Baptist. I don’t expect anyone to understand that feeling, and maybe I’m putting far too much into what fellowship I’m...
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Aunt Grace made her first appearance years ago. She reappears at the sound of pompousness. Aunt Grace is the creation of a friend. I imagine her with grey permed hair and gaudy red lipstick. She entered the...
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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...
[read more]For several decades Mennonites have spent an enormous amount of energy and resources deciding the best way to organize. Has it brought us to a better end? My sense is we are more divided than ever. Is all this...
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I’d like to try to point out, as a progressive Christian, something that has been bothering me about progressive Christian political theology — a paradox, tension and inconsistency that keeps popping...
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From time to time, I walk alongside people wrestling through the question of whether they should start attending a different church group. I sympathize, because I have been there myself, and know that it can...
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According to our local phone directory, there are numerous churches with names of spiritual greats, Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; Saints Michael, Andrew, James and Stephen; and the Saints Peter, Paul...
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“Hey, pastor, what do you have to say about this graffiti? What do you think it means?” The question came from the teenage son of our German friends as we were walking around the old town of Rethymnon on a...
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When our local church gathering ended last week, Emily turned to me and said she was hungry. Maybe that’s not that strange — our church ends about 12:15, just in time for lunch, but it’s not...
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Note: This is a full-out, “chip-on-my-shoulder” rant. I tried to soften the blog post by using personal pronouns and not giving specific controversial examples, but I can’t deny that I’m annoyed and...
[read more]I appreciated “Different Assignments” (Editorial, July 18). Rachel Stella points us to an understanding of the church that transcends our denominational orientations. Anabaptists are rooted in a...
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This summer, my family acquired one of the latest revolutions in virtual reality — a headset that uses a smartphone as a display. It looks like a giant visor, and once you hold it up to your eyes and strap...
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For the past couple of years, my blog’s tagline has been: “Religion is easy; discipleship is hard.” I’m starting to think that perhaps this slogan is only half right. Discipleship certainly is hard,...
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“Change is always occurring. But when that change appears more dramatic than usual, it can feel frightening. . . . I think that the Christian church across Canada is experiencing such a time of dramatic...
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Change is always occurring. But when that change appears more dramatic than usual, it can feel frightening. I wish there was an emoticon for anxiety to accompany my thoughts on change. I think that the...
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In 1 John 5, three witnesses are named that authenticate Jesus: the baptisms of water, spirit and blood. An authentic Anabaptist witness will embrace all three. Too often, churches will emphasize only one and...
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Is it wrong to call it quits on your church? The question comes from the longing I sense in my generation for authenticity and spiritual life, and that it seems we don’t often find that in our churches. When...
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For the past several years, the current generation of 20-30 years old has often been labeled as lazy, self-centered and disinterested in local and global affairs. Ranging from simply not caring enough to...
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