Why does a rubber ball bounce? The key is found in polymer science. The chemical formula for the rubber molecule is (C5H8)20,000+. C5H8, a single unit of the molecule is called a monomer, the complete molecule, a long string of 20,000 or more monomers, is called a polymer. The classic illustration is to think of … Continue reading The red rubber ball theory of church growth
peace
If wishes were horses . . .
If wishes were horse, I would be in Edmonton with my wife instead of here at home looking after our three cats and trying to keep earning some money. But I supported my wife in leaving on this little one week adventure to help her elderly cousin and visit some of the people we know, … Continue reading If wishes were horses . . .
Paradise
This is Crescent Park in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Not really paradise, just a pretty nice spot to find smack dab in the downtown of a city on the arid prairies. The first home of mankind was in a true earthly paradise, the Garden of Eden. As a consequence of their sin, Adam and Eve were … Continue reading Paradise
The great and terrible God
In order to reduce Christianity to moralistic, therapeutic deism, we must reduce God to a warm fuzzy, namby-pamby therapist whose only desire is to help us find relief from the emotional and existential complexes that befuddle our lives. That is not the way that the Bible describes Him. Nehemiah twice speaks of God as being … Continue reading The great and terrible God
Life isn’t fair
These are real people that I’m going to write about, but I’m not going to use their real names. Elsie and Elizabeth were already quite elderly when we knew them; the story of their earlier life was told to us by others. They were sisters, born in pioneer days on a prairie farm and grew … Continue reading Life isn’t fair
The transformed mind
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2 The first phrase of this verse is often quoted by Mennonites; many words have been spoken over the pulpit and written … Continue reading The transformed mind
Is it hot?
My wife and I went away for the day, leaving our four-year-old daughter with Grandma. When Grandma started to make dinner, our daughter saw the electric element on the stove glowing red hot, asked “Grandma, is it hot?” and placed the palm of her hand on the element. I guess she really never understood what … Continue reading Is it hot?
A gentle admonition
[Benjamin Eby was bishop of the Mennonite churches of Waterloo County. The other Mennonite churches in Ontario, in the Markham and Niagara areas, had their own bishops. Nevertheless, Benjamin Eby was highly regarded and he was often called upon by the others for counsel. This letter gives a hint of the reason for this respect. … Continue reading A gentle admonition
Kindness does more than violence
Here is another story that was told to Ruben Saillens. An Anabaptist and his wife were sleeping peacefully in their hut at the edge of the road, when some young men returning from a party in a neighbouring village passed by. “Look. Here’s the home of the old Anabaptist. Why don’t we play a trick … Continue reading Kindness does more than violence
A different kind of heroism
Ruben Saillens, 1855-1942, was the best-known Baptist preacher of his day in France. In 1895 he visited an Anabaptist community in Switzerland and then published a couple of historical incidents that he heard from them. Here is one of them. One day, during the Thirty Years War in Europe, a group of soldiers stopped at … Continue reading A different kind of heroism
Flatlander Faith 