Spirituality with Clothes On
Author: Gareth Brandt
We all approach life from a particular point of view, shaped by our upbringing, social standing, personality, etc. In Spirituality with Clothes On: Examining What Makes Us Who We Are, Gareth Brandt considers how this apply to our spirituality.The 2015 Global Youth Summit (GYS) radically shaped my Anabaptist Mennonite faith. Not because I necessarily learned specific theological understandings, nor even saw God in a new way; no, my faith was transformed because my perspective of the church shifted.
A photo of a dead child washed up on shore. Crowds of refugees walking towards safety in Europe. Overcrowded boats filled with frightened families.
James and Paul: The Politics of Identity at the Turn of the Ages
Author: V. George Shillington
The work of a thoughtful, experienced teacher, James and Paul leads readers through the pages of the New Testament towards a deeper understanding of the interpersonal relationships and self-understanding of the early community of Christ….A group of kids wiggle their way through the doors of Floating Gardens Ltd. and spill into the entry. They take off their shoes and slip into rubber ones designated safe for the greenhouse.
It’s been a year since Qasim* left his home in Sinjar, Iraq. He was fleeing an advance by the Islamic State Group – the same one that left tens of thousands of Yazidis like him stranded in the mountains. Qasim, his parents and three brothers, along with their wives and children, spent two days in a camp before moving on because it was too crowded.
Contents of the August issue 2015
Members of Chilliwack’s Main Street Church know what it means to give. At press time, not only have they pledged or given $630,000 toward a million-dollar expansion to the church building in downtown Chilliwack, they also contributed “over the top” to provide playground equipment for two elementary schools in their neighbourhood.
Juliette, the eldest daughter of Olipa Tembo and her husband Dickson Nkata, came home from school early one day. She was crying. The child, who would have been about eight at the time, had walked the four kilometres to the local school, only to have the teacher promptly send her home again. The family had not yet paid her school fees — mandatory in the public school system in Zambia.
What does a transformative, earth-honouring Christianity look like at ground level, lived out in daily action? Reforms of personal habits – such as recycling and eating locally and shopping responsibly – are important steps.