This piece by Chris Lenshyn was originally posted on December 18, 2014. Chris serves as the associate pastor of Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford British Columbia. The beauty of the church calendar is that we have something tangible that orients us toward a divine, participatory reality beyond and in contrast with the social fabric in which we…
This post by Melanie Zuercher was originally published on December 15, 2014. Melanie lives in Newton, Kansas. She is a member of Shalom Mennonite Church in Newton and works at Bethel College in North Newton. – – – – – – Confession: Christmas is not my favorite time of the year. Was it ever? Maybe…
This reflection on I Thessalonians 5:16-24 was written by Samuel Voth Schrag and originally published on December 17, 2014. Samuel lives in Arlington, Texas, with his wife Rachel and children Jonah and Hannah. He served as pastor of the St. Louis Mennonite Fellowship from 2007-2017. Christmas is a season of lists- Santa has a list…
Andrea Zuercher lives in Lawrence, Kansas, and attends Peace Mennonite Church. In a previous life she lived and worked in Washington, D.C., where she pursued professional choral singing as an avocation. A copy editor by professionand inclination, she now enjoys the slower pace of living in a smaller city. She spends her free time reading,…
We don’t often think of these opening verses of John’s Gospel as a nativity story, but it is, in it’s own way. It may not have the narrative flair of Matthew or Luke’s version, but it makes up for that with its theological heft. Despite their differences, the Gospel nativity stories all address a core…
Megan Ramer is pastor of Seattle Mennonite Church, a lover of travel adventures both large and small, a Friday Sabbath hiker, and a proud aunt of five of this world’s most adorable little nuggets. (This post was originally published on December 19, 2014.) – – – – – – – – – Mary, having just…
Ron Adams is pastor of Madison Mennonite Church. This piece was originally published on December 12, 2014. – – – – – Have you ever wondered what God was thinking when coming up with the plan for the incarnation? I think you have to admit the entire concept is pretty out there. God coming…
Erica Lea-Simka serves as pastor of Albuquerque Mennonite Church. This post was originally published December 11, 2014. – – – – – – I lived my entire life in Texas. Now I live in Washington, D.C. where they have these magical machines called snow plows that clear off the road so cars can drive, people…
About eleven years ago, world famous violinist Joshua Bell put on blue jeans, a t-shirt, and a baseball cap and took his Stradivarius to a D.C. Metro station. As any good busker does, he threw some seed money in the case and started playing. Over a thousand people streamed by as he played for 45…
By Jeremy Garber What we think matters – sometimes even more than we think. Recently I’ve been reading an intriguing book about my favorite philosopher, Gilles Deleuze, that mentions Renaissance theologians like Nicholas of Cusa and Pico della Mirandola. In a nutshell, these philosophers say that every being in creation is a unique revelation of…
Spacious Faith 