My Facebook (and real life) friend Joel Mathis recently alerted me to a troublesome article by Bryan Fischer in the online publication The Moral Liberal. (The views expressed in this publication are neither moral, nor liberal. Discuss.) This article is entitled “The Feminization of the Medal of Honor.” Fischer has noticed that we aren’t giving…
I hate war. But I do not hate soldiers. I believe engaging in armed combat goes against the teachings of Jesus. But I respect the fact that war veterans have made incredible sacrifices for causes they believed to be noble. I am generally in favor of cutting military spending. But I think we should increase…
Particularly if you love Madeline L’Engle’s fantasy novels, you should treat yourself to When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. It has time travel, mystery, even a little teen romance. The main character, Miranda, loves L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, and references to the classic book are sprinkled throughout the novel. I fell in love…
Do you want to hear something funny? On Wednesday morning I made a list of things that I needed to do. You know, things I had been meaning to do for weeks, or even months, and just hadn’t gotten around to. Like putting away all of the clothes that are draped over the chest next…
On All Saints Day yesterday, I was particularly thinking of my father-in-law, Dennis Ellett. He died at the terribly young age of 61 on April 28, 2007. His heart just stopped. He never finished building the partially-constructed airplane in his garage. He never carried out his plans to smuggle Bibles into China. He never met…
“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture and, if possible, speak a few reasonable words.” – Goethe I can’t think of a better way to start the week than by taking Goethe’s advice to heart. I’m thoroughly enchanted with autumn this year, so…
Sight Reading for the Musically Impaired: This course will teach you how to figure out whether a hymn is suitable for piano, guitar, or a capella singing. In addition, you will learn how to determine if a hymn goes above and/or below the normal human vocal range, and whether or not the rhythms of the…
Cottonwood, maple, elm, cedar, chinquapin, honeylocust, willow, bur oak, red oak. Not to mention duckweed, sumac, and poison ivy. And then there was the wolf spider, the garter snake, the bullfrog. Last Saturday morning I was delighted to walk through the woods with someone who introduced me to all of these parts of God’s creation.…
(Full disclosure: I have an undergrad degree in creative writing and a master’s in English lit.) I love poetry. I love reading it. I love writing it. But I don’t write it much any more. Back in the spring I went on a mini-spurt of poetry writing and the first two poems I wrote were…
Just to let you know, I post my sermons on the Peace Mennonite Church blog at http://www.peacepreacher.wordpress.com. They are on the “Sermons” page. I just finished up a series on Micah, which was a lot of fun. I enjoy the challenge of preaching from the Old Testament. And I really appreciated being able to spend…
Spacious Faith 