I love adventures. In 2016, I went to Panama City as a guest at the annual ICOMB summit. After several days of meetings in a hotel, we stepped into an …
James Toews
James Toews
James Toews is senior pastor at Neighbourhood Church, Nanaimo, B.C.
Title: The Upside-Down Kingdom, 40th anniversary edition Author: Donald Kraybill The 40th anniversary edition is not just a reprint Kraybill explains in the preface. Keeping the core intact, he updated …
Title: Two Views on Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church By Preston Sprinkle (Editor), Stanley N. Gundry (Editor), William Loader (Contributor), Megan K. DeFranza (Contributor), Wesley Hill (Contributor), Stephen R. …
Shrink: Faithful Ministry in a Church-Growth Culture author: Tim Suttle I should love this book. I’ve been the pastor of a small church for the past 28 years and I’m …
The mustard seed “You probably don’t know me but my Daddy started this church.” I looked up at the young woman standing in the door of my office and against …
“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” As August: Osage County was coming to an end, I envisioned the inscription Dante placed over the gate to hell as this movie’s …
A Guide to Governing Charities Author: Ted Hull “Charities are not entirely unlike owning a dog.” With a little editorial help Hull’s thesis statement could have avoided the double negative, …
Last words are interesting things. I vividly remember my mother’s stern admonition, after a fight with my siblings, that my hurtful words could prove to be their last memory of …
Gathering 2012 in the scope of history Come gather ’round people Wherever you roam… For the times they are a-changin’. It was 1963 when Bob Dylan first sang that song. …
Those words burned into my heart during Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) B.C.’s Palestine-Israel learning tour, Mar. 17–28, 2012. They had exploded at us from the lips of Ardie Geldman, a …
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How a girl changed my worldview
by James ToewsIt’s a girl?!” I blurted out. Three pairs of eyes peered over their masks and fixed themselves on me. Those were not the right words for the moment.
Defending ConstantineAuthor: Peter J. LeithartJesus inaugurated Christianity; Constantine inaugurated Christendom. This is a story that needs telling again.
The trip was one I had dreamed about for nearly a decade, ever since my cousins Walter and Anne Willms had begun working with the Mennonites in the village of …
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Getting back into the boat
by James ToewsEven if it is at Jesus’ command, there are few places as miserable as being in a crowded boat during a storm. That is where the disciples would soon find …
“Button.” It was the only word I understood as I leaned over the battered young man. He was asking for help and his broken body left him helpless – helpless …