I don't have a rhythm yet for when I'll be on or for how long, but I hope to expand my connections with people this way as a supplement to getting together in person, by phone, email, blog, snail mail, skype, and other ways. Hope to "talk" with you soon!

We won't be using all of the worship materials and stories related to this Many Peoples Sunday, but I was struck by something shared by Derek Cook. He writes:

"In one local store I frequent, there is one aisle in the store labeled and devoted to 'ethnic food'. This is a wonderful aisle full of spices, rice, curries and exotic sounding canned fruits from many parts of the world. Yet, every food in fact carries an ethnicity. Who decides what is 'ethnic' and what is not, and what makes rice any more 'ethnic' than sausage?

"In the other store I frequent, there is no 'ethnic' aisle. All the multiple types and flavours of food are all mixed up together on the shelves side by side. None is more 'ethnic' than other, for we all bear an ethnicity of equal value.

"So how do we come to understand the diversity inherent in the global church? Are we in fact all worshipping equally together side by side? Or are we stuck in our ethnic aisles? And who decides which worship practice or church belongs in which aisle? Do we occasionally wander down the ethnic aisle to sample the interesting items there and then return to the safety of what is familiar? Or do we open oureslves to the exciting possibility of living and worshipping equally with the humlity of being just one of the many, many patterns that make up our diverse community and global church?"  Thanks Derek!

That first question did not actually come from the Mennonite Church Canada "Being a Faithful Church" material. In fact, all of the questions on last Sunday's Feedback Sheet were our own re-working of the material that we had received, based on our discussions at council and with pastors and deacons with Arny Froese as an additional resource.

For me, this first question was an important starting point. After all, if we don't read the Bible, how much impact can it have on our faith and life as a church and as individuals? Besides, to interpret Scripture, we need to read it.

So how did we do? Here's the question again: Apart from Sunday Worship, how often do you read the Bible? Out of 114 completed responses:
Daily: 65
Weekly: 19
Monthly: 0
Other: 9
No Response: 11

When he introduced the Feedback Time, Arny said that this wasn't a test--and he's right, we're not assigning marks in any way, but on another level, I find this question is a kind of test, a kind of challenge. How often do I read the Bible? Most days. And not enough.

For those who want to get on to the discussion of sexuality, I can recommend Sexuality: God's Gift,  first published in 1999, then re-worked and released in 2010 by Herald Press.

The book covers many different aspects of sexuality including intimacy, singleness, marriage, same-sex orientation, cross-gender friendships, aging, arts, celibacy, and much more. As a collection of articles by different authors, the book is somewhat uneven, but remarkably consistent in its biblical/theological approach and overall extremely helpful. I don't see it in our church library, but I'll check with our librarians on this, since I think it's an excellent resource. In the meantime, it's available at the Columbia Bible College library and through House of James.

Here's a preview of my seminar:

Three Views of the Atonement and Why They Matter:
a case study in reading and understanding Scripture
In some circles, the meaning of Jesus’ death on the cross has been the subject of much debate. Why does this matter? And what might that debate have to say about the way we read and understand Scripture when it comes to other matters?

This seminar is based on one of my sermons that was also published in Vision. It was recently reprinted in The Community Well which is a newsletter of First Mennonite Church of Winnipeg. I'm not sure that I have anything new to add, but I look forward to the interaction.

I know there'll be eggs at our Easter breakfast on Sunday, and someone gave me two chocolate Easter eggs this morning that I quite enjoyed. But I see Easter eggs more as fun things than as  profound Christian symbols. The Bible actually says nothing about Easter eggs, and I find an egg a rather weak symbol of Jesus' resurrection and the new life we have in him. Jesus wasn't hatched--he was raised from the dead!

So what's the significance of Jesus' resurrection for our lives today? Well, that's my no-egg sermon for this Sunday. I hope to see you there!

I've had a bit of a preview of the artwork, since some of it came early and was being stored in my office, and I look forward to seeing it all together in the Stations of the Cross (which are being set up this very moment!). On Easter Sunday, there will also be a Resurrection Station in the foyer, so I'm looking forward to that too!

We still need to add the FB link to our web page (Chris and Roberta, can you figure that one out?)—plus I’m still wanting to find an easier way of having sermons on line, and update the website so it’s more user friendly, etc., etc. I have a long communications/technology wish list! Not because I’m a great techie or want to be like other churches, but because I want us to communicate in ways that connect with people, and make it easy for people to connect with us, both within and beyond the church.

True confessions, in my personal life, I’m still not on FB—holding off at least until I finish my book manuscript, since I don’t need one more thing to distract myself with!--but once I’m done, I do plan to join the 721 million active Facebook users. In the meantime, one of my sisters is serving as my Family Facebook Liaison and keeps me up to date!

How about you? Are you a Facebook fan, a reluctant player, or ?? How much time do you spend on Facebook, and do you find it time well spent?
 

A member tells me that shortly after she became a Christian, she was in a very low place, dealing with a drug addiction, struggling in her life, but wherever she went, she would tack the words of John 3:16 above her bed. No matter how bad things were, no matter how convinced she was that God could not love her, John 3:16 told her that God loved her "in this way" to give his one and only Son. Jesus had come, and that was the proof of God's love.

Another member says that when he was in Singapore and wanting to buy a camera, he came across a nice looking camera store that was called John 3:16. When he went inside and talked with the proprietor, he found that he was part of a Mennonite church!

When I looked on line, it was easy to find John 3:16 Photo Supplies in Singapore. It's now run by Samuel Gan, son of the man who started the business. He "believes that God is his silent business partner, without whom the shop will not be what it is today. John 3:16 Photo Supplies‘ business philosophy is based on HIS concept: Honesty, Integrity and Sincerity." If you're interested, here's more:

http://www.john316photo.com/John_3%3A16_Photo_Supplies/Our_Story.html

This one verse of Scripture has been called the "gospel in a nutshell"--but since someone once said to me, anything that can be put in a nutshell* belongs there!, I can't quite bring myself to use that expression for John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." That's good news--great news!--but it also doesn't say everything. There is more breadth and depth in the story of Jesus, in the rest of Scripture, and in the life we are called to live each day.

* check out for example this review in pictures from Time: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1870689,00.html

(1) There is really no such thing as a "naked Anabaptist"--we are all clothed in some way, hyphenated in some way even if we don't use the hyphen. What Stuart Murray sets out in The Naked Anabaptist is really one version from the Anabaptist Network in Britain and Ireland. Being Anabaptist might look somewhat different in Canada and USA that share some of the "post-modern" and other characteristics of his context, but are also different in some ways. Being Anabaptist will look different yet again around the world where the context may not at all be described as post-modern. Anabaptism is always contextualized--at least I hope so!

(2) In one part of his presentation, Stuart Murray also talked about the "weaknesses" of Anabaptism, like the tendency to be too quiet, or to be isolated. I wondered then, whether the tendency to hyphenate Anabaptism might be a way of addressing these. In our own context, for example, being "evangelical" helps to moderate the tendency to be too quiet, and connects us with a different church tradition which works against the tendency to be isolated.

What do you think? Are you an Anabaptist? A hyphenated Anabaptist? and why?

Now that I'm back, here are some of the things that I'm looking forward to:

- hearing Stuart Murray on Friday at the MCBC leadership day which is hosted at Emmanuel

- being part of a visioning morning for pastors on Saturday morning at Level Ground and back at Emmnauel for the MCBC annual meeting that afternoon

- the MCBC 75th celebration on Saturday evening also at Emmanuel

- introducing Seminary President Sara Wenger Shenk on Sunday morning for the adult Sunday school and also for her preaching on Sunday morning

- Seminary supper meeting on Sunday evening

What a wealth of events to come back to!

That let out the usual suspects like coffee, tea, chocolate, since I often go several weeks without them anyway. Same thing with even my first choice snack food of lightly salted plain potato chips. Instead, I wanted to choose something that I do almost daily, and something that wouldn't unduly inconvenience anyone else (so no giving up on washing dishes!).

Finally it came to me, I decided to give up email after 6pm. It's something I'll notice since I've been doing it pretty much every day. It's a way of taming technology that has a tendency to spiral out of control, and it should make for more peaceful evenings at home too. In that way, it's both a small sacrifice and a sign of resurrection too.

Are you giving up something for Lent? Why or why not?

I started by asking:

and then told a story about how the church is not just something we attend--the church is who we are, so we might better ask:

We are the church, the body of Christ, wherever we are--whether we're at the church building, at home, work, school, or wherever we may be. That's solid biblical teaching, good theology, and yet I wonder if there is also a shadow side? Have we pushed this so far that we have devalued attending church?

In fact, church as something that we attend is a great privilege--not everyone around the world has that freedom. It is a spiritual practice that can help awaken, nurture, and strengthen our faith. It is a gathering for mutual support, prayer, and encouragement. Yes, we are the church as we scatter in many different places throughout the week--the Spirit binds us together even when we are apart--but we are also the church gathered as we meet together for worship.