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Higher Ed
This week I will conclude 18 months of bi-vocational employment, working as a cashier in a local supermarket. It has been, so to speak,...
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Enough
Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, advocated “enough” as a biblical standard of living. The formative revelation for...
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Making Music
A single musician can play by ear. A jazz combo excels in improvisation. By contrast, an orchestra needs written musical scores. To...
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Deep Values
Habecker Mennonite Church is located amid the farmland of Lancaster County (Pa.). Yet this rural church teems with bicultural life and...
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Wetlands
Wetlands are places where the land is saturated by water. Ponds, marshes, swamps, bogs, river deltas, and flood-prone areas are all...
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DNA
Every living organism is shaped by its DNA. This molecule of intertwined strands, knit into nearly every cell, carries genetic...
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Vision
God delights in stirring our imaginations with glimpses of the future. As we pay attention, these insights can coalesce into a vision of...
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Money, Sex, and Power
In this Lenten season, consider three recurring areas of temptation. Richard Foster has named them in a book of the same title: money,...
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Mysteries
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “All Christian theology has its origin in the wonder of wonders, that God became human. . . Seized and...
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Refugee
The United Nations estimates that there are now 232 million international migrants. These displaced multitudes are driven by deprivation,...
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Jesus, the Life-changer
To follow Jesus, we abandon any attempt to make something of ourselves. On our own, we cannot be good or virtuous. Instead, we trust...
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Letting Go
Life is full of transitions. At times prompted by opportunity, sometimes by distress, transitions are challenging. They can be managed...
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Little Things
In a recent reprise of the Joseph story (Gen. 39:20-21), Nelson Mandela developed the traits and skills of magnanimous leadership in...
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Silence
In the poetic cadences of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, the Teacher declares there is a time for silence. Most of us are practiced in speaking, but...
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Intangibles
Most churches in America are small. Yet big churches attract the most people and money. What assets, then, does a small church pastor...