Today is Menno Simons Day!

January 31, 2012 By Kurt Willems 11 Comments

Menno Simons | WikiMedia Commons

I had no idea.  What sort of Anabaptist doesn’t know about this.  Today is Menno Simons day.  To celebrate, I share with you a quote found at the Circle of Hope church’s blog:

“True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant. It clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute, it serves those that harm it, it binds up that which is wounded; it has become all things to all people.

The regenerated do not go to war, nor engage in strife. They are children of peace who have beaten their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning forks, and know no war.

Our weapons are not weapons with which cities and countries may be destroyed, walls and gates broken down, and human blood shed in torrents like water. But they are weapons with which the spiritual kingdom of the devil is destroyed.

Christ is our fortress; [Read more...]

Filed Under: Anabaptism Tagged With: 11 Comments

It Makes Plain Sense! Or So I Was Taught…

January 31, 2012 By Kurt Willems 20 Comments

* Repost from December 2010

It makes plain sense… or so I was taught. When I was a youth and even in my undergrad program I was taught a phrase to guide solid biblical interpretation: “If the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense.” What this advocates is to take the bible at the surface level of its meaning.

So, if Paul says something that to us sounds literal or “plain” on the surface, then we ought to be able to trust that. Certainly God’s Word is not something that is supposed to trick us. Therefore, whatever makes sense to us as we read various passages can be trusted as the authentic interpretation.

I believe that this approach to the bible is flawed, which is why I often call it the “surface level approach.” It seems quite arrogant to assume that the Holy Scriptures are simplistic to understand and do not require us to do any homework. The problem is that we live with gaps in-between the text and us. For instance, there is a considerable communication gap between the original authors of the Scriptures and our 21st century culture. We all know what it is like to have a communication gap. Think about it. How many husbands get themselves in trouble for saying something that sounds like something totally different than what they actually had in mind.

Wife says: How do I look in this outfit.

Husband says: It looks ok.

Wife says: Ok… (she says with a tone). That’s about as good of an answer as calling me fat! You jerk!

This is a communication gap to the extreme! Now take this stupid analogy and imagine that there is also a language, cultural, and more than 2000 years in our communication gap; that is what we have when we approach the Bible. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Faith Journey, Fundamentalism, Interpretation 20 Comments

A Small Picture of Jubilee?

January 31, 2012 By Kurt Willems 4 Comments

I came across an article, thanks to my good friend Jason, that gives us a small picture of Jubilee.  Debts forgiven, this is a central theme in the biblical narrative, one that ultimately becomes actualized in a person: Jesus Christ.  Now, I think we do well  not to over spiritualize Jesus declaration of Jubilee in Luke 4, but to recognize that for Jesus it had a social and spiritual component.  With that said, here’s the story.

A 375-year-old French bank has decided to forgive the debts of its poorest customers, Good.is reports.

The Crédit Municipal de Paris, a Parisian institution that offers small, low-interest loans against inexpensive valuables, has announced a one-time cancelation of the debts of some 3,500 customers who owed the bank 150 euros (about $190) or less. The announcement marks the bank’s 375th anniversary.

A PR stunt? Maybe. But that isn’t stopping thousands of customers from celebrating an unexpected windfall.

We don’t know the motives of the bankers, but we can certainly say that this is a glimpse into what would be needed to liberate many poor throughout the world.

Filed Under: Social Justice Tagged With: , 4 Comments

God Uses Culture – How Egypt Influenced the Tabernacle (Ray Vander Laan)

January 31, 2012 By Kurt Willems 10 Comments

The imagery of Ramses’ war camp at the battle of Kadesh at Abu Simbel shows remarkable similarities to the design of the tabernacle. God often communicates his desire to be with his people through familiar images and customs.

This clip is an excerpt from Ray Vander Laan’s full-length Faith Lessons™ video series Vol. 10, With All Your Heart.

Filed Under: (Series) Video to Ponder Tagged With: , 10 Comments
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