And just as our physical bodies will be in continuity with our Holy Spirit-ed bodies after the resurrection from the dead, so too the good work we’ve done “in the Lord” will last after the resurrection from the dead.
Along with our deaths—our turning to dust—comes hope of new life and resurrection, whether mini-resurrections now or the great resurrection when Jesus returns.
I heard the words ‘happy’ and ‘apocalypse’ together in 2012. Just before Martha and I moved back to Winnipeg, our family visited Vancouver’s First Baptist Church to hear the church’s pipe organ, and one of our favourite preachers.
In March 2020, during the first pandemic lockdown, I found myself teaching from home (on Zoom), and feeling alone, adrift, and angry. A week or two later, I had a conversation with my seminary colleagues. It was my first conversation about the pandemic in the light of scripture and theology. That conversation renewed my hope…
I was a rookie pastor and young father at the start of summer 1997, when Siegbert caught up to me in the church stairway. Siegbert is a seasoned German Baptist minister. He put his hand on my shoulder, looked me in the eye, and said, “While you’re on vacation, see how you can be a person of reconciliation.”
Watching my grandchild, I look forward to the stage when she’ll ask “why” 10 times, and then once more. She’ll be laying essential foundations for life. Adults also ask “why.”…
Re-engaging ordination Recently, I’ve been hearing Mennonite Brethren use the word “theology” more than they used to. With few Canadian Christians reading the Bible, perhaps some use theological categories and…
Everywhere I’ve lived and travelled, Christians and congregations pray. Yet many Christians tell me they struggle to pray. That prompts me to ask: Why do Christians pray? Do we have…
Through high and low points over the past 150 years, Mennonite Brethren have been learning how to speak about their initial and ongoing conversions. This history reminds us that our…
According to Scripture, there are many ways in which Christ’s atoning work is good news for every person, whatever his or her experiences. (Our word atonement comes from the Old…
Speaking of Jesus As a teenager, I followed the encouragement of a Pentecostal classmate and took a training course in the Four Spiritual Laws (FSL). In the basement of Yarrow…
Imagine the Mennonite Brethren denomination as the adult daughter (“MB”) of two parents: “Anabaptist” and “evangelical.” The daughter sometimes recalls her parents’ marriage as one long-running conflict.
Outside the wallsElsinore MediaWorksLocal outreach is changing. Among Canadian evangelical churches, “local outreach” has often meant helping people to believe in Jesus so they can be saved. Increasingly, local outreach in many of these churches includes ministries of mercy and care for people who are marginalized.
1 & 2 Timothy, TitusAuthor: Paul M. ZehrPaul Zehr brings clarity and warmth to a new commentary in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series: 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus. In keeping with the series’ requirements, Zehr guides the reader into the text, into the whole Bible, and into life. Zehr, a Mennonite pastor, bishop, and seminary professor, shows that the pastoral epistles do not primarily teach pastoral work. Instead, they clarify the Christian community’s theology and apply it in the context of Christian ministry.