blip : Beyond Lost Intellectual Ponderings :

Below is an excerpt from my sermon this past Sunday. I used four Psalms to think through some of the stories I heard while visiting Salem-Zion Mennonite Church in Freeman, South Dakota.
Sometime in 1918, Joseph and Michael Hofer were arrested for refusing to serve in the military. Because they did not cooperate with the draft, [...]

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If you’re interested, I wrote up a short reflection about my time with a Mennonite church in Lancaster, PA. Here’s an excerpt:
A crowd assembles along the sidewalk in front of East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church on a Monday evening. Pastor Ron Adams blesses the food, and hungry people file through the entryway and into the fellowship hall. [...]

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I recently preached a sermon on Mennonites and Jews. I reflected on my experience of worshiping with First Mennonite in San Francisco. They rent space from a Jewish synagogue, which has led to an interesting relationship. Here’s an excerpt from the sermon:
Mennonite church in San Francisco rents space for worship from a Jewish Synagogue, Israel [...]

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I joined the Mennonite church 7 years ago. I wanted to be a part of a church that acknowledged Christ’s way of peace as fundamental to the gospel. The peace of Jesus is always at the center of our worship at Chapel Hill Mennonite. But, as far as I can tell, the larger denominational bodies [...]

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I wrote a reflection on my week-long visit with the people of Mt. Zion Mennonite Church in Boonsboro, Maryland. Here’s an excerpt:
From the window of the nursery I can see the cemetery that stretches across the hill alongside the church — a field planted with rectangular stones to mark the graves of the faithful: Stauffer, [...]

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I haven’t been preaching much this summer. The church has given me a wonderful break, which I have spent traveling around visiting other Mennonite congregations in the U.S.

But last Sunday I was back at church in Chapel Hill and got to preach. Much of my sermon was a reflection on a Mennonite church I visited [...]

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About a month ago I had the opportunity to spend a week with an Hispanic Mennonite congregation in Dallas, Texas. I wrote up a short piece about my experience. Here’s an excerpt:
The Bible study before the Sunday morning worship service of Iglesia Menonita Luz del Evangelio turns into a passionate sermon.

A discussion of the story of [...]

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“Somos el Pueblo de Dios”—that’s how pastor Juan Limones talks about his Mennonite church in Dallas, Texas. I was able to join his congregation for a little over a week. I used my experience with him and his congregation to shape my sermon this past Sunday. Here’s the beginning of my sermon:
Part of what I [...]

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(The piece below is a revised version of my article that appeared in The Mennonite; I sent the editor my revisions a few days too late)

I believe in the Holy Spirit

“Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind” (Acts 2:2Acts 2:2English: Contemporary English Version (1999) – CEV2 Suddenly there was a [...]

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For the next four months I’ll be visiting different Mennonite congregations through the USA. These trips are part of a grant I received from the Louisville Institute: Gifts of Unity. While on the road I’ll be writing for the Mennonite Weekly Review. My first column describes what I’m trying to do. Here’s an excerpt:

God is [...]

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