I confess that I feel a lack in my life in being able to fulfill Jesus' command to make disciples of all nations. It seems to me that I am not alone in this, the people who sit beside me on the church benches Sunday after Sunday don't seem to be doing a whole lot … Continue reading Making disciples
Holy Spirit
There is a famine
Image by nancygebhardt from Pixabay Rural and small town churches across Canada are rapidly disappearing. Fifty years ago, the town where I grew up had five churches. Only two remain, and they are the churches where one is least likely to ever hear Bible-based preaching. Smaller towns nearby have no churches at all. This is more than a … Continue reading There is a famine
The quiet in the land
According to the Scriptures, Christians should lead quiet and peaceable lives. Is that the same as being “the quiet in the land?” That slogan has taken deep root among many who call themselves Mennonite. The words come from Psalm 35:20: “For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet … Continue reading The quiet in the land
Pietism
Oxford gives these definitions for pietism: 1 a a pious sentiment. b an exaggerated or affected piety. 2 (esp. as Pietism) a movement for the revival of piety in the Lutheran Church in the 17th c. Perhaps the best dictionary definition of what a pietist is is this one that I translated from le Petit … Continue reading Pietism
The kingdom of God
The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom with spiritual citizens and a spiritual king. When a person repents of living in the ways of the world and is born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, that person becomes part of the kingdom of God. Such a person, though still living in this … Continue reading The kingdom of God
Are You Perfect?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructed his disciples: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:46). Instructions like this are found all through the Old and New Testaments. In Genesis 17:1, God said to Abraham: “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be … Continue reading Are You Perfect?
Without me ye can do nothing
The words of Jesus are blunt; unless we submit our lives, our being, to His control, we are not capable of being a Christian. We can pretend, we may think we are doing a great job on our own, but sooner or later something will happen and whatever is really in our heart will show … Continue reading Without me ye can do nothing
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
Witnesses of the Light
As the apostle John begins telling the gospel story, he identifies Jesus as the Light of the World. Then he says “There was a man named John,” referring to another John, John the Baptist, and says of him, “He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.” Two thousand years … Continue reading Witnesses of the Light
Suicide is a spirit
One night, somewhere in Canada, a young indigenous woman found herself battling thoughts of suicide. She was a Christian, she knew that was not what she wanted to do, yet the thought kept coming to her that it would be so easy to escape from her troubles. All she needed to do was walk out … Continue reading Suicide is a spirit
Flatlander Faith 