Acting ‘a little strange’
“When you learn to follow Jesus, you will act a little strange.” This memorable line comes from a song by Mennonite singer/songwriter Bryan Moyer Suderman. Besides being an earworm, this simple song encourages children, youth and adults to consider what their lives will look like as they’re learning to walk in the way of Jesus.…
Rooted and Grounded speakers call for changed worldviews
As the floodwaters of Hurricane Florence crested in South Carolina in late September, three keynote speakers at this year’s Rooted and Grounded conference on land and Christian discipleship at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) told participants that shifts in the dominant western belief systems and priorities would be needed for people to live in right…
The kingdom does not depend on us
Recently I spent a weekend at a discipleship retreat with a team of seven others from my church. It was great fun! As we learned and prayed, our inspiration for making disciples grew. We dreamed and planned for how we might develop leaders in our congregation. Truthfully, while it was energizing, it also felt more…
I dare you to coach
After years of my gym membership not bearing fruit, I switched to a gym where a fitness coach leads each workout. It’s been a little over a year now, and I’m in better shape than I’ve been in 20 years. I had no idea how important a good coach is. The coach starts each session…
Ordinary discipleship
How comfortable are you with change? Change seems to be the most consistent “unchanging” reality of our lives. We are always experiencing change. Thankfully many, or even most, of the changes we experience are small or gradual, like the steady change in my hair colour to ever-more grey! However, from time to time life events…
Award-winning Herald Press book gets an update
In Donald B. Kraybill’s The Upside-Down Kingdom, Jesus is slightly irreverent. He critiques the rich, scorches nationalism, redefines Old Testament law, and undercuts the authority of religious leaders. Kraybill points out that Jesus is into sharing, not hoarding. Service, not status. Community, not competition. Basins, not swords. Loyalty to God, not nation. Kraybill, a prolific…
No more of that old ‘soft-sell’ gospel
“All you gotta do is . . . .” How often have we in the church uttered these words? We petition new committee prospects with this blasé plea. We invite people to faith in Christ saying, “All you gotta do is ask Jesus into your heart.” These are the words of the “soft-sell.” They are…
Gelassenheit and power
I got into an interesting discussion with a friend from my church recently. In adult ed., we were talking about liberation theology and its view of sin. (You can read about liberation theology and sin here.) Basically, I was affirming the feminist, womanist, and liberation view that sin does not only mean pride or the…
On sin
It’s become clear to me from a lot of the conversations occurring within Canadian Mennonite, especially in the letters to the editor, that as Mennonites, we’re not of one mind when it comes to sin. Now sin, generally, isn’t a terribly popular topic of conversation, even among church-going types. It tends to remind us of…
Everyday Epics
More stories of the past at Kumomoto. Stories that complex-ify. Japan not as a cohesive, evil, military power all seeking destruction of neighbouring nations, but as a land of people in various societies with each their own different story of life and love and suffering, dominance and loss. There was a civil war as recent…
