by Heidi Dirks
Many adults will remember what they were most excited to do when they reached the age of majority. Whether voting, signing legal documents, or buying alcohol or spray paint, age matters. Age can open up opportunities or impose restrictions. These opportunities are not given based on merit, rather they are bestowed solely based on legal age. Continue reading Examining My Privilege
by Layton Friesen
An old bit of Christian wisdom that is being sorely tested in this pandemic says, you become what you make a habit of. If you want to become a compassionate person, for example, get into the habit of doing compassionate things, and as that habit takes deeper and deeper hold of you, you will become a compassionate person. To become a compassionate person, body, soul and spirit, you need to develop a long pattern of compassionate actions. Continue reading A Christian Does Christian Things
by Kimberly Muehling
Many churches struggle with what to do with their children when they are in church, and yet mourn the exodus of youth and young adults. How do we both have and keep children in church? Continue reading Following Christ With Children in the Church
By Professor Andrew Dyck
As a boy, I picked raspberries for several summers. Whenever I had filled a flat with fruit, the farmer would weigh it on a balance scale to discern two truths: the truth of how much I had picked and the truth that I had not hidden rocks or dirt clods under the berries. The pointer or tongue of the scale pointed out the truth of my berries’ mass. In Latin, the tongue on a scale is its examen. Continue reading Examine the Day
Discussion and Discernment
by Bruce Hamsher
I still remember today what recess felt like when I was in the third grade. That year the game was kickball.
More pointedly, I remember the awesome red ball we used. It was the kind of ball which was somewhat solid, yet spongy enough that when it hit that sweet spot on your foot, it seemed to soar in the air for a mile. I also vividly remember the classmate who never thought he was out. (You probably remember this guy too. Every class had one.) Continue reading Kickball and Peacemaking
by Pastor Andy Woodworth
There is a short Old Testament phrase that I have found intriguing during these past weeks of this global pandemic. It is used by people like Joshua, Gideon, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel when they simply reached the place where they perceived things had become hopeless. Tired, frustrated, and out of ideas as to how to resolve their respective crisis situations, they threw up their arms and exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord!”
This word alas is less of a word and more of a sound or cry of exasperation. I would call it the sound of despair. The sound of hopelessness. Continue reading The Path of Hope
By Ken Zacharias and Brad Brandt
Paraguay is not a strong tourist destination. It is often overshadowed by surrounding, bigger, and more noteworthy countries when describing beauty, progress and peoples. It is a landlocked country with just over seven million people and where 90 percent of the population speak Guarani as well as Spanish. Continue reading Paraguay: Old News? Not When Christ is at Work in New Ways!
By James Driedger
The apostle Paul figured he could be “all things to all people” (1 Cor. 9:22). So, who is Paul for the EM Conference today and in its mission to advance Christ’s kingdom culture? Continue reading ‘Accept One Another’
By a Missionary
Dear EMC family,
These unusual times, combined with an online course on missionary care I’ve been taking during lock-down in Eastern Europe, have meant a lot of introspection. This introspection has included thinking about what EMC has done well in the course of our 20-plus years as overseas workers. Thus, this letter: I wanted to take a moment to thank you for these things, with a few other suggestions sprinkled in. Continue reading To My EMC Family: Thank You and a Few Suggestions
By Sarah Barkman
I am a turtle. Not literally, of course, but when it comes to tough stuff my default response is to hide inside my shell. The world is a very tough place, full of hurt, grief, evil, discomfort and conflict. So, I have made a nice home for myself inside my shell. It is comfortable and safe where no one can bother me. Continue reading Let’s Talk
