Anabaptist and Quaker essays, sermons, and other writings
The Liberty Bell numbers among our best-known national icons. There is a biblical quote inscribed on the bell: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto the inhabitants thereof. Lev. XXV v. X.” Curiously, those words were cast into the bell about a generation before the Declaration of Independence, at a time […]
Philippians 4:4 – “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice!” We sing songs about this verse, we memorize it, we embroider it on pillows and hang it in picture frames. Yet like any familiar verse in scripture, we can gain a deeper appreciation for this text as […]
The following essay is part one of a series. Please look out for part two on February 17. I have observed while listening to a number of white members of the Church of the Brethren in sermons, articles, and conversations, a tendency for some to articulate a vision of evangelism […]
Wrestling Patience I am being taught patience. When my first few kidney stones came around, I struggled to muster the strength to silence the pain in my body. In all of my eight years of life, I had never known the world as such a painful place. I had never […]
The most vibrant night sky that I have ever seen was after a day-long hike into the Burmese mountains. I had no idea that so many stars could be seen to the naked eye—the sky was full and radiant with them. I finally had an understanding of why ancient peoples […]
Right from creation and soon after the fall of humanity, war and conflicts became part of human nature. In some parts of the world, Christians are witnessing unspeakable continuous attacks and killings perpetrated by terrorist groups in the name of religion. This ongoing violence is slowly worsening the mental health […]
Why join one of the Historic Peace Churches? Jesus is at the center of this question. Jesus is at the center of this passage (Romans 5:1-11). Jesus at the center of our faith. Jesus is the source of our strength. Jesus is the source of our peace. Jesus is the […]
I still remember an insight from Stanley Hauerwas’s commencement speech at Eastern Mennonite Seminary over a decade ago. He said something to the effect that learning how to be a Christian is not just like learning to speak a new language. It is speaking a new language. Christianity is its […]
Like many Mennonites, Hutterites, and Amish my grandparents kept a copy of the Martyrs Mirror on their bookshelf. It’s a massive book, over fifteen hundred pages long, so it stood out among the other books, It was first published in 1660. Now 360 years later, it is still available in […]
In normal times, Jonah comes across as being utterly ridiculous. He is grumpy. He doesn’t want to do what God wants him to do. He runs away. He almost causes a shipwreck. He complains. He gets angry. When Jonah finally relents and does what God wants him to do, he […]