In all sincerity
The bride’s grandparents led the wedding procession. The two grandmothers walked down the center aisle; a grandson pushed the grandfather’s wheelchair. The attendants were next, followed by the groom and...
[read more]Andres: Rules to live by
I recently started watching NCIS, a television drama now in its 16th season. In the series, a team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigate crimes involving the U.S. Navy and...
[read more]You know, “love one another” really is enough
The 4th century theologian Jerome tells a story about the Apostle John. John was old and frail, unable to walk, so his disciples would carry him into the gathering of believers on the Lord’s Day. Every week...
[read more]From a focus on anger to a focus on love
Anyone who knows me or sees me, knows me as that activist human who is very political. In the fall I finished an internship at the Indiana Democratic Party that I had since the beginning of June. I have loved...
[read more]One year in: A Sanctuary reflection
Oct. 2 was the one year anniversary of Edith in Sanctuary in our Columbus Mennonite Church building. The press continues to tell her story sympathetically, like THIS article in The Guardian, and THIS one in...
[read more]The waste of love
I wake up with a dark hole of emptiness eating through my chest, and it takes me a second to realize why. My little girl is gone. The child that I loved from the minute I set eyes on her is gone. I still...
[read more]Are truth and unity mutually exclusive?
I love the paradoxes of God: “God is love,” the Bible states, but it also says, “God is holy.” God is portrayed as both the vulnerable lamb and the wrathful lion. He is king and servant, Alpha and...
[read more]Yoder-Short: To be great or humble?
“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...
[read more]Bible: With love, our divisions fall away
These texts from Paul provide an excellent coda to our conversations about ethics, justice and the Christian life. Although Romans is rightly considered Paul’s most important theological writing, he most of...
[read more]Testimony: I welcomed my enemy
I come from a people called the Banyamulenge. We are cattle herders and live in the high mountains of eastern Congo overlooking Lake Tanganyika. Over the years, my people have been forced from one area to...
[read more]How to pray for the people you love
To introduce our summer preaching series on Philippians, I called my sermon How to Pray for the People You Love, because that’s what the apostle Paul does in the opening verses of his letter. Some years...
[read more]King: Much more to love
As national flames flare over babies torn from immigrant parents, how public figures are treated in restaurants, naming a new Supreme Court justice, tariffs, taxes, environmental regulations and more, a...
[read more]Loving our neighbors without fear
I saw two movies recently. The second was First Reformed. The pastor of a small Christian Reformed church somewhere in New York struggles with a tension between hope and darkness in his own life and runs into...
[read more]Love for lawbreakers: Reading Romans 13 with Romans 5
I had taken a vacation from the news for a couple weeks, but I couldn’t help but notice all the discussion in my Facebook feed about immigrants being separated from their children. Everybody seems to have...
[read more]Immigration injustices aren’t new
I clearly remember that cold winter morning in January 2007. I arrived at the airport at 3:30 a.m. to report for my job, as a supervisor for a major airline in Brownsville, Texas. I walked to the ticket...
[read more]Andres: Love weighs what’s best
Infinity Wars, the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, brings together multiple threads woven through many of the previous 19 films. It’s fun to watch the Avengers finally meet up with...
[read more]Beyond our fears
Anxiety affects nearly one-third of the U.S. population, making it the most common mental-health disorder. Youth particularly feel its crushing weight. Record numbers of college students are seeking treatment...
[read more]Book review: ‘Soul Tending’
Do you remember a time when every Sunday started with three hours of church followed by a long meal, often roast beef and root vegetables that roasted in the oven while we sat in the pews? Perhaps the meal was...
[read more]‘Remember that you are dust’
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Growing up in a Mennonite church, I knew nothing about Lent. But when I was in seminary, I worked as an assistant minister in a United Methodist church....
[read more]5 tips for holding convictions with humility
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...
[read more]Jesus on the wisdom of children
A child knows at a very deep level that he is dependent for his very survival on his parents. And the parents know that their generous love for their child is the key to their child’s survival and...
[read more]Have progressives made Trump God?
We live in times of heightened emotion. Enmeshed in digital media and captured by our “always-on” culture, it’s hard to unplug. The bare-knuckle fights of politicos and pundits come straight to our...
[read more]A positive reading of the New Testament
There are some standard assumptions that Christians tend to have about the Bible — the Old Testament is old, outdated, primitive, problematic, violent and judgmental. And the New Testament is new, fresh,...
[read more]Book review: ‘God’s Country’
Does God love the rural church? Does God love the rural communities that the rural church is rooted in? Do we love the rural church and its communities? Not the church as it once was or someday might be. Not...
[read more]Why practice spiritual disciplines?
While discipline often has a negative connotation of punishment and rules, discipline can and should be associated with growth — especially when discussing spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines...
[read more]About Me
