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Gratitude as resistance

There was a stretch of years in my 20’s when I struggled with whether or not one could be authentically grateful in a world with so much injustice. The more aware I became, the more tainted were the ‘blessings’ I enjoyed. Gratitude, it seemed, involved temporarily closing one’s eyes to the bad stuff and giving thanks that, despite it all, me and the people I most love have got it pretty good. It didn’t help that our national holiday of Thanksgiving could also be told as a story of disaster and loss for American Indians.

But I no longer think this way.

Specifically...

"Voices Raised, Lives Changed"

This coming Sunday, we will be welcoming nearly 40 members of the Illuminati choir who will be sharing special music with us during the service. The choir is the sacred ensemble associated with the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus. Approximately once a month, Illuminati shares music at various religious institutions and events around the greater Columbus area in the hopes of building bridges between the LGBTQ and religious communities.

Illuminati has a special place in my heart...

Hospitality as mission

Yesterday our church building was open from early morning until evening, filled with poll workers volunteering their time to help with the elections, and neighbors taking a break in their day to vote. I did not have to technically leave work in order to vote. One more advantage of living close to church.

At a couple points in the day I walked outside the office area to watch the flow of people and strike up a few conversations. I spoke briefly with a woman outside handing out voting guides. She was the mother of Council member Shannon Hardin, who had been here briefly before...

Living stones

The last two weeks we have pondered the New Jerusalem at the end of Revelation, and now my thoughts are turning toward present day Jerusalem. In a week and a half – on Monday, Nov 9, I’ll be flying out to Tel Aviv with a group of 15 other Mennonite pastors from the Midwest. We’ll be on a two week learning tour which will begin in Bethlehem, proceed to Galilee, and end up in Jerusalem. I’m not sure if the organizers planned it this way, but someone has already observed that this itinerary traces the trajectory of Jesus’ life.

We’ll be doing some visiting of biblical sites and the...

Picturing the world of Revelation

A book I have found quite helpful for this Revelation series is Apocalypse and Allegiance: Worship, Politics, and Devotion in the Book of Revelation. It’s written by J. Nelson Kraybill who is the former President of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, where I attended, and is the current President of Mennonite World Conference. It’s written in a way that is accessible to the non-academic and would be a great resource for anyone – or any small group – wanting to dive deeper into...

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