Vision

I read this on someone else’s xanga today:

“Life is not just a series of events… It is the road we are taking to reach a destination.”

Each year, our church has a time when anyone can share what events or thoughts from the past year had the most impact on their lives and looking forward to the year ahead to look through the foggy mists of Future and seek God’s direction and wisdom for the year, sometimes mentioning specific areas that we want to grow in. It’s good to pause every so often on the journey of life and reflect.

So with that I’m off to do a little meditating and thinking…

Long ago, my dad read a short biography of Menno Simons during our traditional evening readings.  It’s been years, so I thought I would go and read it again and rediscover the man who’s name is imprinted on the Anabaptist denomination that I’ve chosen to be a part of.

Some highlights from his life that surprised or impressed me:

•  Menno, like Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic priest for 12 years. He was actually influenced a fair bit by the writings of Martin Luther who was his contemporary in Germany (Menno was a village priest in the country of Holland).
• Once Menno discovered the truth of what the Bible taught, he waited a full five years before abandoning his duties as priest. He still performed mass, infant baptisms, last rites, and all the other Roman Catholic Church initiated traditions during this time.
• He was influential in dissuading people from joining the cult-like, sword-wielding Munsterite rebellion, showing from the teachings of Jesus that violence and war is not for the New Testament Christian.
• Unlike Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin and other well-known Reformers, Menno lived on the run and was never very well-to-do as he fled the persecution that followed just behind him.
• Though he was pursued so fiercely, Menno was never caught, and died a natural death. On the other hand, Ulrich Zwingli who was never persecuted ending up dying a violent death on the battle field of Kappel, Switzerland, fighting the Roman Catholics who he was trying to win to Christ?

I’m somewhat ambivalent about naming a local church or denomination after a man, nevertheless I appreciate the contribution Menno Simons made to the Christian Church.

I was struck by the clarity of IGO’s Brief Statement of Mennonite Doctrine. As Christians living in this world of swirling ideas and competing worldviews it is not always easy to define quickly what we believe based on our understanding of the Bible and God’s will for human beings. Yes, we can say, “I believe the Bible”. But a people from the LDS or from the Jehovah’s Witnesses can say the same thing and yet be living by a code that is world’s apart from our own.

I’ve really enjoyed reading the blog entries from the first group of young people to go through this ground-breaking form of Bible school and missions work. There is the usual youthful foolishness, however at the same time they seem to have gained a view of the world that is perhaps more balanced than someone who only sees the wealth and luxury of American living.

Melvin Lehman the director of Faith Builders Educational Programs has written an excellent article concerning today’s conservative young Christians; especially those with Anabaptist-like beliefs. It is very insightful and accurately portrays my generation. I highly recommend it.

You can download the PDF at:

http://www.fbep.org/downloads/The%20New%20Conservatives_MBL.pdf

I’ve been reading through an interesting collection of brief anecdotes by Dorcas Smucker about her and her husband Paul’s experiences raising a family of six children, on a grass seed farm in Oregon.  She does an amazing job of creating “snapshots” of the dynamic tapestry of life.  I have found it to be a particularly interesting read, because while I have never met her or her family, I know many people who grew up in the same area as Mennonites.  Yesterday, I mentioned I was reading Ordinary Days and there were smiles, and nods of recognition while one couple mentioned “We were at Paul and Dorcas’ wedding”.  The intricacies of the family and social ties among the crowd of Mennonites from “the Valley” is quite something to observe.  During the process of introducing and welcoming some visiting “Oregonians” yesterday at church, our pastor was attempting to explain the way so-and-so was related to so-and-so, causing someone (from a non-Mennonite background) to quip, “Can I be adopted?” 

Well, getting back to the book, it’s the kind of reading that makes a great gift for the reader that has read all the usual genres and is looking for something unique, joyous, and full of the everyday happenings of life.  I encourage you to get a copy by clicking on the link below. Dorcas also has a blog and writes a column, “Letter from Harrisburg”, for the Eugene, Oregon, Register-Guard. 

I just finished reading the very intriguing narrative detailing the SMBI Costa Rica Tour over on Hans Mast’s blog, one of my regular reads.  Sharon Mennonite Bible Institute has to be one of the most unusual Mennonite Bible Schools out there.   I highly respect the work they have accomplished with young people, as well as the witness they are through their music and outreach ministries.  I encourage you to check it out.  (Oh, and you gotta love the photography) 

I spent the last two weekends in Oregon. Two separate trips; two very different yet similar experiences.

Weekend #1 consisted of an 8 hour road trip to the town of John Day, in Eastern Oregon. I visited a shooting range, the wonderful people of John Day Mennonite Church, and a newly built mansion built to look somewhat like an old castle (see photos below this post).

The second weekend, I went down to Western Oregon with my family, for the Bible Conference at Hopewell Mennonite Church. The theme was Unity in the Brotherhood. A visiting speaker, Raymond Harnish, from Keystone Mennonite Fellowship over in PA, gave most of the messages. What he had to say was excellent. The devotionals by some of the local young men and leadership were also very good. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss any of it. I’d go into more detail, but I think blogs are limited in their ability to convey the spirit of an event except for those who participated in the event, if you know what I mean. If you were there, I don’t need to tell you what it was like I’ll leave it at that for now.

Here are some photos from Eastern Oregon:

About 6-8 months ago, I first discovered the unparalleled discussion board known as Menno Discuss. With 964 registered users and 107,790 postings (as of Jan. 17, 2007), it is truly a living breathing rendezvous for Mennonite/Anabaptist folks to discuss just about anything under the sun. In browsing the various threads, I noticed that there is a definite majority of people who are in the 15-30 age category. This isn’t really surprising as it corresponds to any online activities across the Mennonite/Anabaptist population. Very interesting and all-too-time-consuming.

Here are some interesting quotes and signatures from the site’s users that challenged me:

1. He who wants to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come in conflict with it.
2. “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”– Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
3. “Christians don’t tell lies they just go to church and sing them” A.W. Tozer
4. The difference between constructive & destructive criticism, between true complement & flattery,can be found in one question– who benefits?
6. “We must adjust ourselves to the Bible, never the Bible to ourselves.”

BTW, did I mention I haven’t posted once yet?
Update:  Yes, I quit lurking, took the plunge and joined the odd discussion (mostly technical) 

Interesting post by Byron Smucker. I read his blog on occasion.

One day I’m walking on campus after a class and I happen upon a crowd of people surrounding a man with a red shirt, upon which is printed something like “No homos will go to heaven.”

Not too long after that I was walking on campus and I came upon two elderly men from The Gideon’s International handing out New Testaments, quietly and with dignity.

This topic happened to be on my mind because it tends to be a hot topic of discussion at work. This one middle aged guy goes as far as to say, they (homosexuals) are so twisted that God should kill them all. Somewhere there is a balance. I think the gentlemen handing out Bibles had a better solution. IMHO you can’t help people if you are beating them over the head with “go God’s way or you’ll fry”. There’s a balance, though finding it is a challenge.

I was deeply saddened along with everyone else who has heard of the recent rash of school shootings, especially the one where no one would have dreamed of such an event taking place—a rural, one-room, Amish schoolhouse. (Google news results available HERE. Wikipedia article available HERE.)

As the world hears the news story developing, the questions are sure to fly. What was the motivation? Why would someone without a criminal record, a husband, a father, one who had suffered the loss of a child personally, bring himself to commit such a crime? What happened 20 yrs ago that this man was not able to be healed of emotionally, mentally, and spiritually? A grudge? Something perpetrated against him which he was not able to deal with and find resolution? He would have been 12 years old, barely an adolescent. Why did he choose an Amish school to vent his 20 yrs of unresolved hurt? Only God knows the answers, though the next few months will be filled with seeking out a reason, some logical conclusion for the criminologists and investigation teams to explain WHY.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the deceased, Naomi Rose Ebersole (7), Marian Fisher (13), Lina Miller (7), Mary Liz Miller (8), and Anna Mae Stoltzfus, (12), as well as the families of the others who were wounded during the ordeal.