-
The paths and ditches of Biblical interpretation
Path # 7 Holy Spirit and interpretive community By Robert J. Suderman, Being a Faithful Church Task Force member “It is the Holy Spirit who guides the interpretive community in faithfulness, and in faithfully understanding Scripture for our lives. This means that we must continually open our hearts and minds to the work of the…
-
Beyond politics
I’m a sucker for politics. I read the papers, stay up late on election nights and get far too emotionally involved. But at the same time, I maintain a fundamental suspicion of partisan politics. While I know and respect people in the political sphere, I will never buy a party membership, go door-to-door with pamphlets,…
-
More room for awe and wonder
“Are you excited about the new IKEA store?” asked the woman I was visiting. Sheepishly I confessed that I was and then added, “Even though there is nothing I need in my house from that store.” Her husband offered that he was looking forward to enjoying some meatballs, and we discussed the food possibilities in…
-
Who’s talking to your kids?
We are bombarded with thousands of advertising messages every day. As we approach the holidays it seems everywhere we turn we’re being targeted. Radio, TV, billboards, newspapers, magazines, pop-up ads all deliver a relentless plea to spend more and more on what are often frivolous items marketed as necessities. As adults, we hope we have…
-
‘Sir, we would like to see Jesus’
The above request came to Philip from “Greeks” who had come to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem. Whether the question came out of their curiosity about the triumphal entry or the resurrection of Lazarus (John 12:17) is unsure, but this was their request. In many ways, this request is still with us today, whether in…
-
Readers write
New Mennonite building can provide synergy Re: MCC’s big building rationale not compelling.
-
For discussion
1. What are some of your warm “waiting for Christmas” memories? What is it about Advent and Christmas family traditions that make them so special? Do you have negative memories mixed with the nostalgia? What role does gift-giving play in Christmas nostalgia? 2. Why do we go to so much effort to get families together…
-
Coming home
In my first year at Canadian Mennonite University, my first year away from home, I kept a running countdown to the Christmas holidays on the whiteboard stuck to my dorm room door. Only 12 days until I fly home, 19 days until Christmas. Each day I would update the number with red or green markers,…
-
A father’s perspective on Advent
Our childhood returns to us through our children—especially in the season of Advent.
-
What Advent means to me
Advent means memories, traditions, plans, lists, emotions and thoughts. In my youth in western Canada, growing up in a Mennonite Brethren (MB) community, Advent was a season. It was not marked by a number of Sundays, but by particular songs sung or lessons read. The first MB hymnal (in German) the Gesangbuch, lists six appropriate…
