Hopewit

The Church I used to attend Have you ever asked—possibly even prayed—“what must I do to do the works God requires?” According to John’s gospel narrative, Jesus has just been teaching the crowd, a crowd containing seekers, agitators, adversaries and friends: a motley crew. I’m not sure how such a crowd can ask a question, but John seems to condense the predominant sentiments in “the crowd” with two questions, actually. The first is, “What do we have to do to please God?” and a second, “What miracles are you going to do to prove that you speak for God?   John 6:28-35 New International Version (NIV) 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to.” 30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I...

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1, KJV I reviewed Sam Harris' book at http://readwit.blogspot.ca/2014/10/the-end-of-faith-sam-harris.html. I would encourage reading the review and the commentary by Hugh Savage that follows.(Cut and paste the URL.) Do I have faith ? Do I know what people mean when they say they’ve lost faith ? Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.” The interpretation of this verse seems to have been a struggle among translators and theologians forever. For a long list of a variety of understandings, click HERE . Hebrews 11:1 sounds like Paul’s attempt to define faith as if he were writing a dictionary entry: Faith (n.) \f ā th\ the substance of things hoped for; evidence of things not seen. In other words, If you are hoping that there will be peace on earth, for instance, and although there isn’t ...

The Mennonite Preacher Anslo and his Wife - Rembrandt Salt and Light (Matthew 5: 13-16) You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven. Salt is not steak; salt and pepper are not egg. Steak without salt is bland, bleak. Egg without salt and pepper is, well, just egg. Nobody says, though, when eating a steak, I’m enjoying barbecued salt . Nobody says, I had salt and pepper for breakfast . And you are light , that wonderful quirk of the laws of physics that allows you to act both as a wave and as a particle, making possible the...

Can I use that word here?? It was a weekend with many occasions calling for the word, Anabaptist , a shibboleth of sorts signaling a body of faith and understanding that need no longer be enunciated. Values that are assumed. A standard on which the thought and conversation at the Mennonite Church Canada Assembly leaned heavily. We were Anabaptists, and we all knew what that means. Well, what does it mean? Semantically, it’s a 16 th Century designation tacked on to a growing sect of radical reformers, a group that came to be distinguished as those who discard their infant baptism and “re-baptize” (or ana-baptize) each other as adults capable of making the thoughtful choice to follow Christ. We still baptize our members as adults, but there’s more to the cloud that is Anabaptism than that: we don’t bear arms (most of us), we preach salvation as an individual matter and we believe that service to our neighbours and those in need is central to the Christian walk. We abho...

If you were telling the following story as a Hollywood movie, whom would you get to write the screenplay? Whom would you choose to play Jesus, the pharisee, the “woman in that town who lived a sinful life?” Luke 7: 36-39; 44-48 36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” 44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your hous...

Weighed in the balance, and found wanting. “I’m not homophobic! I love everyone, but that doesn’t change the fact that homosexual activity is clearly sinful according to the Bible and I’m not about to condone persistent, sinful activity. And now you’re suggesting I should endorse it . . . in the church!”       I’m sure this argument is familiar to all Christians who have lived through the stresses in their congregation as a result of the same-sex “debate,” for lack of a better word. It’s a valid argument if one lives by the premise that “the book” is the only legitimate moral authority for all time and that God himself is its author.       It may be true that an individual can be both loving in the best sense of the Biblical record, and intolerant of same-sex unions in the church. At the same time its impossible, then, to escape the judgment that—generous and loving as an individual might be—the religion he/she clings to...

The word great is lodged in my head this morning. Perhaps it was put there by the reruns of quotations of Muhammed Ali including, “I am the greatest.” Maybe it was reinforced by the words of a commentator regarding the 90 th birthday of Her Majesty, Elizabeth II, “She’s the greatest monarch the world has ever seen.” Perhaps it was the outpouring of accolades for the late Gordie Howe who, for some, was the greatest hockey player ever to have played the game.       It’s been a week for the word great .       Don’t get me wrong; all three of them lived lives (one still living a life) from which the people who knew (and know) them drew courage and hope, and each served as a role model to which others directed their children. Ali was reported also to have said, “Service to others is the rent we pay for our place on this earth.” Gordie Howe was loved for his humility and his generosity to his fans and Elizabeth must be admired...