Labels: Judgment or Testimony?
Labels often move from giving information to passing judgment. Jesus tells his disciples not to judge. He also demonstrates the alternative–giving testimony.
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Culture
Scandals and Signs: Matthew 2
Matthew’s Christmas story continues to show the scandals and signs surrounding Jesus’s birth. Foreigners are the first worshipers. Herod seeks to kill Jesus and in the process fulfills Old Testament prophecy. In the midst of it all is Emmanuel, God with us, Jews and Gentiles alike.
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Judgment: Glory or Grieving?
In John 12:20ff, we have a curious story about “some Greeks” who approach one of Jesus’s native Galilean disciples with a request: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” The text doesn’t tell us whether Jesus said “yes” or “no.” Instead, 23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be
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Rockets, Superheroes, and the Power of Suffering Love
Luke 24:36–53 Each year, on a Thursday, 40 days after Resurrection Sunday (Easter), portions of the Christian Church celebrate a holiday about which other parts of the church are fairly ignorant. That holiday is Ascension Day. The Biblical basis for its celebration comes primarily from the Gospel of Luke and from Acts, both attributed to
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The Inauguration
January 20, 2025 is a presidential inauguration. January 21, 2025, is a different celebration–the 500th anniversary of the inauguration of Anabaptism.
Where are you from?
Where are you from? The answer depends on your perspective. The Biblical perspective is that “The Earth is the Lord’s” and we are aliens and tenants. Because we are not the ultimate owners, God requires the native-born residents to “Love the alien as yourselves.” Ultimately, we are citizens of the Kingdom of God.
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Encountering Jesus on the Way
Death is real. So is resurrection. We can experience resurrection even before physical death.
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When the Powers Take Over – NT
When the Powers Take Over The Experience of the Church Colossians 2:6–19 In a previous article, I examined how supposedly Godly people become enmeshed in behavior that is obviously evil. I illustrated this through the story of the Golden Calf in Exodus 32, as well as the contemporary story of a Mennonite farmer turned drug
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When the Powers Take Over – OT
When the Powers Take Over Israel’s Experience Exodus 32:1-14 The dateline on an article in the Los Angeles Times reads “February 1, 2024, Las Flores, Mexico.” It starts out like this: Franz Kauenhofen was once a pious member of his Mennonite community in this tropical stretch of southern Mexico. He read the Bible, tended to
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