My wife and I used to be part of a small congregation in a little village north of Saskatoon. The biggest event of the year for this congregation was the Vacation Bible School that took place in our village and in a much larger nearby town (a suburb of Saskatoon). This program had been going … Continue reading In Memory of Jay Bullock
Church of God in Christ Mennonite
Hitherto hath the LORD helped us
Those words from 1 Samuel 7:12 came to me as we were listening to the young people singing from the church conference. A word of explanation is needed here, the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite holds a general conference about every seven to ten years. The 2022 conference is underway now at Tupelo, Mississippi … Continue reading Hitherto hath the LORD helped us
The importance of French
One of our ministers visited in Côte d’Ivoire and was invited to preach the sermon in a Sunday worship service. He spoke in English, the missionary translated to French and a local brother translated to the local language. Someone might ask, “Why didn’t the missionary learn the local language?” The answer to that is another … Continue reading The importance of French
Seeing French as a Bridge
Some languages are walls, some are artefacts, a few are bridges. A language used only by one tribe or ethnic group is useful for communication within that group, but it is also a wall that prevents communication with, and assimilation by, another group. Some languages are no longer in daily use but are studied as … Continue reading Seeing French as a Bridge
The foolishness of preaching
Singing and prayer have always been important ingredients of worship in the Anabaptist - Mennonite faith, but the focal point of a worship service is that which the apostle Paul called the foolishness of preaching. It appears to be foolishness because there are not many powerful orators amongst us, not many who make a great … Continue reading The foolishness of preaching
To know and to do the will of God
There are striking similarities in the stories of the three men mentioned in Monday’s post. Their study of the Martyrs’ Mirror and the writings of Menno Simons and Dietrich Philips led them to see that the Mennonite church to which they belonged was adrift from the anchor of the old faith. Each one found that … Continue reading To know and to do the will of God
A little history, and a little mystery
Levi Young was a young man on fire for the Lord. He couldn’t have been more than 21 when he was ordained a minister in the Evangelical Mennonite Association. This was a small group with a few congregations in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. Levi Young served as an itinerant evangelist, but soon began to feel that … Continue reading A little history, and a little mystery
Self-chosen humility
Peter Toews was the Elder, or bishop, of the portion of the Kleine Gemeinde Mennonites who emigrated from Ukraine to Manitoba in the 1870’s. (Kleine Gemeinde means little church, a means of distinguishing themselves from the large Mennonite church among whom they lived.) Another portion of the Kleine Gemeinde, led by Elder Abram Friesen, settled … Continue reading Self-chosen humility
Mennonites: ethnic group, culture or faith?
In the first few centuries of the Christian era the faith spread far and wide through Asia, Europe and Africa. Then came the time when the Emperor Constantine professed to espouse the Christian faith. For a time persecution ceased. But the church that made peace with the Imperial power became corrupted by peace and power. … Continue reading Mennonites: ethnic group, culture or faith?
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye … Continue reading Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
Flatlander Faith 