Without going into details, we must recognize that, in the course of history, Mennonites have lost much of this missionary zeal. Without wanting to excuse this development too easily, we can offer some historical explanations. In some places (e.g. Berne) the original vigour of the movement was lost due to persecution. Elsewhere (as in Ukraine), … Continue reading Have we forgotten what we were supposed to say?
Author: Bob Goodnough
It all began on Mount Sinai
Summit of Mt. Sinai, photo by Mohammed Moussa, This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Western thought patterns are highly abstract, compared with Eastern. There developed in the West, and only in the West, a group of innovations that constitute the basis of Western thought. These include (in addition to the alphabet) … Continue reading It all began on Mount Sinai
Moses learns to read and write
God had a message that was essential to the well-being of all people, throughout all time. The starting point was to take a group of people and teach them a phonetic alphabet, a set of characters where each character represents a specific sound and those characters can be put together to form words. Nothing like … Continue reading Moses learns to read and write
Anglicans: the glory and the shame
The Church of England has provided us with some of our most glorious hymns. For example:John Newton – Amazing Grace and Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken;William Cowper – There is a Fountain filled with blood and Oh! For a closer walk with God;Charlotte Elliott – Just as I am and Thy will be done;Henry … Continue reading Anglicans: the glory and the shame
Requiem for the Anglican Church of Canada
When I was a teenager and member of the Anglican Church of Canada worship services began with this exhortation: Dearly beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness; and that we should not dissemble nor cloke them before the face of Almighty God our heavenly … Continue reading Requiem for the Anglican Church of Canada
Stop staring at serpents!
Image by Ian Lindsay from Pixabay There is a mystery in the account of the fiery serpents in Numbers 21:4-9. What became of those fiery serpents after Moses made a serpent of brass and set it upon a pole? They had killed many people, but after Moses lifted up the serpent of brass we hear no more of … Continue reading Stop staring at serpents!
Fight back against the darkness
In the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy . . . It’s not hard to see that we are in the times described above. The evidence is hard to miss, it’s all around us. But is that … Continue reading Fight back against the darkness
Things fall apart
Why are so many families and churches falling apart? Were there some adhesive qualities at work in previous generations helped to make relationships more cohesive? Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay The answer, I believe, is yes, but. Such qualities did exist, and still do, but not everybody was convinced of their value. Things have always been falling … Continue reading Things fall apart
Leave it there
Charles Albert Tindley (1851 - 1933) was born to a father who was a slave and a mother who was a free woman. His mother died when he was two and he was hired out to work when he was seven. He never had the opportunity to attend school, but taught himself to read in … Continue reading Leave it there
An exuberant storyteller
Joe Wheeler was frequently found at a table in the coffee shop in Saskatoon's lone Christian bookstore. He had accumulated a wealth of Bible knowledge and a wealth of experiences over his lifetime and loved to share this wealth with others. Sometimes I was one of those others. Image by Alfred Derks from Pixabay Joe died 16 months … Continue reading An exuberant storyteller
Flatlander Faith 