Shaped by our essential book
The name Arab Christians use for the Bible translates literally as “The Holy Book,” and they often shorten it to “The Book.” Article 4 of the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective states: “The Bible is the essential book of the church.” What does it mean if we see the Bible as the book…
The world in colour
If the Bible is a story, it is also something more: It’s a book that dares to make an authoritative claim on life. Between the poems and proverbs and parables, a portrait is taking shape of who God is and what exactly God desires. The Bible suggests that to learn to walk with God and…
Readers write: October 28, 2019 issue
Point:Counterpoint—Differing views on AMBS hiring Re: “Boshart next AMBS president despite expressed concerns,” Sept. 30, page 27. Thanks to Canadian Mennonite for covering the opposition to the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) announcement about its new president. As the only news source which mentioned this, you showed yourself to be interested in more than just…
Speak Jesus
In the mid-1960s, Peter Berger and Thomas Luckman coined the phrase “the social construction of reality.” The phrase emphasizes that the world of power and meaning is created through the careful management and manipulation of social symbols. This is done intentionally in a community in order to arrange power and value in certain ways, aimed…
Bethel Bible Institute
Can you help identify these three men at Bethel Bible Institute (BBI)? Is John Poettcker in the centre? The formation of Bethel in Abbotsford, B.C., was proposed in 1937 at the ministers conference of the Conference of United Mennonite Churches of B.C. with the hope it would be “the guardian of traditional Mennonite faith.” Its…
Rhythms of reconciliation
My two-year-old has developed a habit of throwing his bowl across the kitchen when he’s finished his food. Sometimes it clears the dining area and we find it in the playroom with a messy trail of porridge! Every time I tell him not to do it, he says, “I sorry, Mommy. I won’t.” Despite the…
Walking in the church
Who is a Canadian Mennonite? I stood in line for supper at the start of a church convention this summer, and looked at my turquoise toenails, a splurge in the airport during a two-hour delay, and wondered if that had been a big mistake. I was at the Evangelical Mennonite Church (EMC) convention taking place…
Credible Christians
“People are no longer interested in religion or church, but they are still interested in Jesus.” This is a statement many Christians, including myself on occasion, proclaim confidently. However, blanket statements like these are misleading. The assumption that everyone is interested in Jesus is obviously false. Think about it. Some people who regularly attend church…
Walking a different path
When we first started telling people we were going to hike the Masar Ibrahim Trail in the West Bank, Palestine, they were incredulous. “You’re going where? You’re doing what?” Over a three-week period, starting in Rummana at the northern Israeli/Palestine border and ending in Beit Mirsim southwest of Hebron, the 330-kilometre trail would take us…
