MWR : Articles : Aug. 11, 2008

Last updated November 24.

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Articles : Aug. 11, 2008

Is church really not about us?

Jesus used hyperbole — “if your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out” — so it’s surely fine for pastors today. A word that was preached at the national Mennonite Brethren convention in Hillsboro, Kan., last month carried an important message in the wrapping of overstatement.

Peace in action, not just theory

WINNIPEG, Man. — For Neill von Gunten, pacifism is not passive. The co-director of Mennonite Church Canada’s Native Ministry knows from personal experience that standing for peace demands action.
East Coast church plants sprout, grow

Scott Calkins hadn’t planned to be a church planter. But when he and his wife moved to Elkton, Md., they found no Mennonite churches within easy traveling distance.
CMU prof’s book argues for restorative discipline

WINNIPEG, Man. — When Jeff graduated from high school, he decided to go for a joyride in his car on the schoolyard, causing thousands of dollars in damage to the freshly laid sod.
Amish not immune to high fuel prices

FREDERICKSBURG, Ohio — As sawdust mixed with sweat on his brow, mill owner Isaac Stutzman laughed at the thought of outsiders assuming his horse-and-buggy Amish community is immune to skyrocketing fuel prices.

A 75-mile walk in migrants’ shoes

TUCSON, Ariz. — The stretch of desert between Sasabe, Mexico, and Tucson is one of several areas in the Southwest called a migrant trail because so many use it to cross the border.

Live responsibly

If only it were that easy — the one-two-three of following James’ recipe for godly behavior, living responsibly. As the Adult Bible Study Teacher writer David M. Morrow summarizes: Stop fussing, stop fighting, stop grabbing. Just receive God’s gifts. There is such plenty that no one needs to fight over them. Do this and become people of “godly behavior.”

The competition starts early

In just three generations — my parents, me and my kids — schools in North America have undergone seismic shifts, from one-room schools to standard assessments of learning to “active school shooter” drills.

We track with ‘The Shack’

“I’m not too big on religion,” Jesus tells Mack in The Shack, an unconventional novel that has enraptured Christians of all stripes in the last 12 months, “and not very fond of politics or economics, either.”

Political space for activism

Critics of the modern nation-state of Israel can expect to field certain antagonistic questions if they speak or write publicly about Israel’s human rights abuses.