Essays For King Jesus Anabaptist Perspectives

"As we all know, there are various opinions on how we should relate to the government and the various restrictions that have been put in place. As none of us have any experience with dealing with a pandemic before, we find ourselves in a lot of uncharted territory and with a myriad of thoughts and opinions. 
How do we find our way through these trying times and learn what God wants us to learn? What are the dangers we need to understand and avoid for our spiritual good and survival?"
Essay originally published 02/2021. Audio narration just released.

“So you’re a Mennonite! Do you have a garden?”......“Why do the women wear bonnets?”......“If I decide to join your church, could I keep drinking beer?”  
Conversations like these resulted from letting those around me see a picture of one particular way that Jesus-centered discipleship can look. Displaying ourselves with all our cultural distinctiveness on the internet is purely optional, however, this is an option that I and the others on the Anabaptist Perspectives’ team have chosen. 
Jaran Miller shares his personal thoughts and experiences from his work on the Anabaptist Perspectives team as he dialogues with people who send messages via email and social media comments.  

“Several years ago, I hit rock bottom. At least in one area of life, and it happened to be one that affected not just me, but my entire family. This area, quite simply, was how to manage a home. I was pregnant with our 3rd baby, half sick from a toxin exposure, …"  
In "Directing God’s Resources as a Homemaker,” Robin Wolfer urges women to see the management of whatever space God has entrusted to them as a divine trust, and gives encouragement for the difficulties that come with this. 
“Being a steward is very simple, yet it often takes years, if not a life time to perfect. Its principles are simple, yet life offers us many ways to apply them. We are in charge of transferring what God has given us to the people He intends it to benefit.” 

Forgiving doesn’t mean downplaying wrong. True forgiveness is a powerful response to wrong that calls sin what it is, and often involves confronting the wrongdoer. Forgiveness derives from trust in God’s overwhelming competence and care, but it does not ignore the very real harms and wrongs of sin. Forgiveness differs from forbearance precisely in this respect. Forbearance, or bearing with another person, does not necessarily mean we are claiming they have wronged us; forgiveness does. Both forgiveness and forbearance involve releasing resentment and both flow from the life of Christ. 

It began for many of us like a rather normal year. There was the usual anticipation of spring and summer. Suddenly it seemed our world had become a quandary of unknowns, and a frantic search for facts and reason. We had witnessed flu seasons before and many of us had already had our turn with what seemed like ordinary winter flu, with some even experiencing it in overdrive. But we had recovered and we assumed time would now carry us into the spring and summer normality's of life.
Essay originally published 02/2021. Audio narration just released.

Many Mennonites fought in the Civil War. However, this development roused others to renew the teaching of non-resistance and led to the Mennonite publishing movement. In “Losing and Recovering Non-resistance in the Civil War Era,” Chester Weaver describes prosperity that lead to a “spiritual sluggishness” leading up to the war. Fortunately, men of God realized the trajectory and articulated a recovered vision of non-resistance.