Anabaptism is about having a relationship with Jesus: a relationship that has a beginning but no end. We cannot simply grow into this relationship, not knowing just how or when it began. We may have had warm, fuzzy feelings about Jesus when we were little children, but we lacked the maturity then to make a … Continue reading Anabaptism is not a warm fuzzy experience
Christianity
Anabaptism is not a lifestyle
The bishop got up to preach one Sunday morning and proclaimed to us that when a person wore plain clothes, that was proof that he or she was born again. An unconverted person could not get himself to wear such clothes. By “plain clothes” he meant the form of clothes that was mandated in his … Continue reading Anabaptism is not a lifestyle
What has happened to tolerance?
George Orwell’s dystopian vision, expounded in his novel Nineteen Eighty-four, appears to be slowly and inexorably taking shape around us. The thought leaders of our society have constituted themselves into an unofficial Ministry of Truth, changing the meaning of words and inventing new words. The result — and make no mistake about it, this is … Continue reading What has happened to tolerance?
It is no secret
I confess that I avoid books that promise to reveal a “secret” about Christian life. I’m afraid of them — afraid of being deceived — because I don’t read anything in the Bible that speaks of a “secret” to Christian life that is only revealed to an inner circle with special enlightenment. In New Testament … Continue reading It is no secret
The saint of the neighbourhood
[This is an excerpt from When I Was Thirteen, copyright the estate of Christina Young Plumb. It is the diary of a thirteen year old girl in south-western Ontario at the end of the nineteenth century.] April 12, 1897 - This is Good Friday, so we had no school today, and Monday will be a … Continue reading The saint of the neighbourhood
Problematic behaviours in children and adolescents – Our family’s experience
I listened with bemused interest as my daughter described racing the Moose Jaw city bus to the end of the block. There was a bus stop in front of the second house on our block and she would wait there on the sidewalk with her trike until the bus left the stop and then pump … Continue reading Problematic behaviours in children and adolescents – Our family’s experience
Jesus was not a white man
Jesus was born in the Middle East, among people who were mostly dark-haired, dark-eyed, and of a swarthy complexion. If He had appeared different from others around Him, we would expect to find some note of that in the Bible. For instance, Esau is described as having red hair, Moses’ wife was called an Ethiopian … Continue reading Jesus was not a white man
La Nobla Leyçon – X
There is a brief rehearsal in this lesson, Of three laws which God gave to the world; The first law directeth men who have judgement and reason, To know God, and to pray to his Creator. For he that hath judgement, may well think with himself, That he formed not himself, nor anything else: Then … Continue reading La Nobla Leyçon – X
La Nobla Leyçon – IX
But herein is clearly manifest the malice of those men, That they which will curse, lie, and swear, He that will frequently put his money to usury, kill, and whore, And avenge himself on those which hurt him; This they say is a good man, and to be accounted faithful. But let him take heed … Continue reading La Nobla Leyçon – IX
La Nobla Leyçon – VIII
But at the feast of Pentecost he remembered them, And sent them the Holy Ghost, which is the Comforter, And taught the disciples by divine doctrine, And they understood the language and the Holy Scripture, And then they remembered what he had said. They spoke without fear of the doctrine of Christ, They preached both … Continue reading La Nobla Leyçon – VIII
