December 2013

Contents of the December 2013 issue

Sweet Surrender: How Cultural Mandates Shape Christian Marriage
Author: Dennis Hiebert.
Sweet Surrender is a comprehensive and insightful study of the institution of marriage in the context of an ever-changing Western world. It clearly defines what is biblical imperative and what is simply common cultural practice regarding marriage.

The Wittenbergs
Author: Sarah Klassen
Mia Wittenberg begins her final year in her Winnipeg high school with youthful enthusiasm and hope for the future, but as she observes her family and friends’ struggles with priorities, morals, addictions, and failing hopes, her enthusiasm wanes.

Problems of Christian Leadership
Author: John Stott
John Stott, for many, hardly needs introduction. A globally respected pastor, teacher, author and evangelical statesman, Stott made profound contributions to the cause of global mission through his influence in the formation of the Lausanne Covenant (1974).

A week after torrential, cold rain battered the Gaza Strip, people in the al Nafaq Street area of eastern Gaza City are still struggling to clean mud and debris out of homes and businesses.

With half of Syria’s population of 22.4 million now food insecure and one-third Syrians in need of urgent assistance, the World Food Program of the United Nations is making an urgent appeal for help.

MB Mission Eastern Canada moved into Kitchener’s new hub of Anabaptist activity. Mennonite Central Committee Ontario’s new, environmentally sustainable building at 50 Kent houses not only MCC and their thrift store, but also local partner organizations

A young Chilliwack, B.C., church that launched a second campus just two years ago is expanding again, this time to take over more of the building it already owns.

Bill Schroeder is one of this generation’s giants in Mennonite historical research. Though he was not a professional historian, his books are frequently cited in professional and lay books, articles, research papers, etc.

As son of the founding pastor, Moisés Mente has been involved in Igreja Evangélica Irmãos Menonitas da Amadora (Amadora Evangelical MB Church) since it began, but he’s still learning. “Bible school has offered me the basic tools to perform effective ministry, always grounded in Scripture,” says the young pastor.

It’s Hard Not to Stare
Author: Tim Huff
When you meet someone with a disability, what do you see? Do you see a wheelchair? A white cane? A person who can’t speak or play well? Tim Huff helps readers understand their own responses…

Matthieu Nantel had composed three verses to a worship song, but a chorus wasn’t coming together. Fellow church music team member Mélodie Després had written a chorus, but didn’t have any verses. Over the next year, the two musicians married their lyrics, ther talents – and each other.

All Hanan Talabeh can do for her family in Syria is wait. Wait at home in Ottawa while the Canadian government processes her family’s refugee application. Wait, and hope that her sister-in-law and her three children are approved faster than the 18 months applicants are told to expect.

What does it mean for the church to be missional within a post-Christian context? How can the church become a concrete and visible manifestation of the kingdom of God in the world? And what kinds of practices can empower us to do this?