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...
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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]God’s word to Solomon after the dedication of Israel’s temple offered a remedy for a wayward nation. A time of judgment will come, God says, and then “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble...
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“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (John 4:18a). “…you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8). In my experience as pastor I’ve often been...
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When teaching classes on Mennonite polity, I say “Gelassenheit is all we have.” In our hyper-individualized world, it’s both risky and countercultural. This gelassenheit — or yieldedness, as it’s...
[read more]Why am I not thrilled about a Mennonite Heritage Week (“Heritage Week Causes Division in Canada”) to be celebrated every year in Canada (or anywhere)? Perhaps there are too many things about us that I...
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“At that time the Canaanites were in the land.” With that casual aside, the biblical account of Abraham and Sarah arriving in Canaan states that the territory already was populated. “To your offspring I...
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“More to the right!” “No, go left!” “From where I stand it looks like you just need to center it.” We are on a youth-group service trip. The shouting isn’t about politics. It is about locating...
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If I were to try to convince someone to become a Christian, shame is not a quality I would advertise. I would probably talk about the wonderful sense of being set free from guilt, the comforting presence of a...
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I was at a lunch recently where Matt. 20:20-28 was read devotionally before the meal. It’s the passage where the mother of James and John seeks to stake out some territory for her sons in the kingdom of God...
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God is immense. He spread the universe with one wave of his hand; billions of galaxies spanning light years, completely unseen and unreachable by man. This same God created the intricacies of our bodies that...
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Entreat God. God delights in the humble, and he wants to help us grow in humility. Our first step must be to pray for humility. Discern others’ background. Often others’ beliefs are shaped by their...
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Having people over. Getting together. Fellowshipping around the table. Regardless of the phrase you use, hospitality is a difficult thing. It involves time, effort and vulnerability. The statistical data and...
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This post is a sermon (audio version here) given April 9, 2017 at Washington City Church of the Brethren. Our gospel reading this morning is about Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, just days before...
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Lord Jesus, please hear the heart of your handmaiden. I read this morning in Leviticus 10 of the death of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu. As is the case every single time I read it, my heart aches for Aaron...
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I have heard a lot of discussion about the parable of the good Samaritan among Christians debating the crisis and President Donald Trump’s ban. What surprises me as I listen to these conversations is that...
[read more]The 2016 election results have renewed interest in laws to protect religious freedom. Among them are the First Amendment Defense Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Their ostensible purpose is to...
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In Philippians 2:1-13, Paul exhorts the Christians of Philippi to be of one mind and one love. “Be uniform,” we might paraphrase. This kind of language would appeal to Christians in this place because many...
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We have done a disservice to our children in terms of relational health. We have, in a myriad of ways, taught them not how to handle conflict or to reconcile relationships, but to avoid conflict and deny its...
[read more]We Anabaptists often say “Jesus is the center of our faith” when describing our distinctive beliefs. In addition to explaining how Jesus is our example for daily living, we use this statement to describe...
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When he said goodbye to the Ephesian elders at Miletus (Acts 20:35), Paul’s last words were, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” He quoted Jesus. Questions about how to give dominate...
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Humility is a theme of all three of these stories in the Gospel of Luke. We might expect such a theme from the story of people bringing the little children to Jesus and Jesus’ saying, “Whoever does not...
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Two days after open heart surgery in January, I peed on my socks. You perhaps would do the same if a surgeon so recently had split open your chest, stopped your heart, and grafted in three bypass arteries...
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Kyle Hinckley made a stir in the video-game world by successfully completing the hardest mode of Fallout 4 with zero kills. In this popular series of video games set in a post-apocalyptic United States, gamers...
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Like a lot of Christians, I’ve often found Jesus’ reluctance to talk about himself strange and even unsettling. This is a particular theme in the Gospel of Mark — Jesus seeming to go out of his way to...
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