tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.comments2023-03-30T20:07:20.375-04:00If Not Empire, What? A Survey of the BibleAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886742015394327859noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-31087402087540309392018-04-29T16:53:31.970-04:002018-04-29T16:53:31.970-04:00Wow! I really appreciate this. As someone who st...Wow! I really appreciate this. As someone who struggles with the concept of resurrection, this makes a lot more sense to me. Thanks!!Rick Stammhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04229141025443387640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-51295849410648715262017-12-24T18:55:57.179-05:002017-12-24T18:55:57.179-05:00Thank you for your comment, Rick, and for holding ...Thank you for your comment, Rick, and for holding before us the image of specific, positive actions that are within our grasp and capacity to perform. Berry Friesennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-71987740632656306542017-12-22T09:44:15.433-05:002017-12-22T09:44:15.433-05:00"Hope" may be one of the most powerful w..."Hope" may be one of the most powerful words in our language. You have captured that spirit very well. Particularly needed in these times - but maybe it has been the thread through the human experience of all time. Thank you for all of the contributions you have made to this corner of the world! You are making a difference. At least in my life.Rick Stammhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04229141025443387640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-85814586605609487542017-11-13T14:05:12.190-05:002017-11-13T14:05:12.190-05:00What more? Always a question, a challenge! I wou...What more? Always a question, a challenge! I would just affirm that every shred and scrap of truth which we share with others, whether sitting at a table eating, in conversation at work or in the store, is more. Like the JFK quote which you shared here (I wish I had put it in the blog--well I still can, these things can be revised!)--put that in a letter to the editor. It will touch the conscience of all but those who wished Kennedy dead. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12886742015394327859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-86435058434482748052017-11-13T12:15:40.894-05:002017-11-13T12:15:40.894-05:00John thanks for the thought-provoking blogs. I am ...John thanks for the thought-provoking blogs. I am always disturbed when people with guns are seen as more courageous than than peaceful resistors. You may have used the JFK quote that "war will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today." And yes we are conscripted through No Child Left Behind and 'service' registration to be eligible for scholarships and loans. Proudly for me, my sons chose to send letters of protest each year.<br />Symbolism is good but what more can we do?<br />psbradypsbradyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08185300772106093477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-8738560548890633182017-11-10T12:25:34.688-05:002017-11-10T12:25:34.688-05:00May God sustain you and Sharon during this time wh...May God sustain you and Sharon during this time which we shall share with you, which Christ shared with us and for us. And I do look forward to the timeless celebration and contemplation of The Lamb with you, who have so faithfully, profoundly and prophetically written, lived and spoken against all the enemies of God and of our selves that oppress, degrade, distract and divide us. "The last enemy to be conquered will be death."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07015713608914846309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-39330973138478850462017-11-02T20:28:45.261-04:002017-11-02T20:28:45.261-04:00Berry -- Thank you for the mark you have made in t...Berry -- Thank you for the mark you have made in this world. Our family holds you, Sharon and your children in our hearts. May God's love and peace embrace you. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08365665784512666293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-35701439634098934722017-10-30T18:47:58.290-04:002017-10-30T18:47:58.290-04:00You are finishing well, Berry. I will miss you and...You are finishing well, Berry. I will miss you and your thought-provoking, prophetic ideas and reflections. May the Lord contine to equip you for the challenging road ahead and surround you and Sharon with His peace.Carol Sandtnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-332269639808677302017-10-30T16:39:32.424-04:002017-10-30T16:39:32.424-04:00Berry -- I have cherished our friendship even thou...Berry -- I have cherished our friendship even though I now recognize how seldom it was that we met personally from your MCC days to working on food and hunger issues in Pennsylvania. I'll miss your blog and may God, family and church give you much favor and hope. Levi levi millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00744787958872447294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-64836969175350623802017-10-30T16:23:38.975-04:002017-10-30T16:23:38.975-04:00"In My Father's house are many rooms. Wer..."In My Father's house are many rooms. Were it not so, Iwould have told you." "Today, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise."Max Southallhttp://anabaptist.exoss.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-88587078099981948492017-10-30T15:34:39.401-04:002017-10-30T15:34:39.401-04:00Berry, Thanks for your reflections. May you know ...Berry, Thanks for your reflections. May you know the Lord's Presence and Peace as you continue your journey. DonDon Nofzigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01317197549618327555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-72483968310677266532017-10-30T09:08:47.542-04:002017-10-30T09:08:47.542-04:00Love you, Berry.Love you, Berry.John Fairfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15326124539526580420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-26248669737567320102017-10-28T07:38:25.630-04:002017-10-28T07:38:25.630-04:00One ethical way to avoid contributing to the natio...One ethical way to avoid contributing to the nation's wars without end is to renounce materialism, reducing income to a level where support for evil is minimal. Sometimes that happens to the faithful, even unintentionally.Fran Macadamhttp://anabaptist.exoss.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-18692317256693414172017-10-25T21:07:16.913-04:002017-10-25T21:07:16.913-04:00Thanks, Berry, for another very helpful blog. A c...Thanks, Berry, for another very helpful blog. A couple of grievances we should remember that Iran has against the West -- most important, we overthrew the government of Iran in the 1950's, also, seldom mentioned, we, the West, assassinated several nuclear scientists a decade or so ago, and while I really don't believe it was our intention, we should nevertheless remember that we mistakenly shot down a civilian Iranian passenger plane a couple of decades ago. Keep writing!!Mel Lehmanhttp://commonhumanity.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-88736042803644668582017-10-20T10:25:22.828-04:002017-10-20T10:25:22.828-04:00" ...then that murderous environment will tak..." ...then that murderous environment will take up residence in the soul of individuals, willy nilly."<br /><br />Absent or rejecting the influence of God, spiritual oppression and even possession can take place.<br /><br />Look at this latest domestic atrocity which mirrors collective actions against those abroad (or even what occurred in Waco): it is all of a piece from the same cloth. Moreover, the cognitive shock is that a millionaire gambler, landlord and very clearly not a troubled or underclass deviant carried this out, someone wholly immersed in successful materialism that crowded out conscience - the very things that have become the warp and woof of all the society.Fran Macadamhttp://anabaptist.exoss.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-3622617158252955622017-10-02T11:28:08.041-04:002017-10-02T11:28:08.041-04:00Paul the apostle comes to mind as an example of on...Paul the apostle comes to mind as an example of one who gave substantial attention to the cultural elite. He "won" two or three audiences with Roman governors (and converted one of them). He eagerly sought an audience with the emperor. In none of these encounters did Paul wield top-down power, but he addressed all as under the Lordship of Christ and probably (as I see it) saw potential strategic gain in the encounters via increased social legitimacy for the gospel of Messiah Jesus. We could say Paul's approach bore bitter fruit in the Constantinian era, but I for one would not say the Constantinian result was inevitable. Would you?Berry Friesennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-47022810677744637272017-10-02T10:06:39.534-04:002017-10-02T10:06:39.534-04:00Those who make the mistake of embracing top-down c...Those who make the mistake of embracing top-down change - power over - make the error that Christ refused when offered the kingdoms of the world, if only he would bow down in the fallen system of hierarchy. That it was offered by The Accuser is indicative of its basis on proffering the false belief that a sought after good end supposedly justifies a current bad means. The truth is, at any particular point, the bad means is the experienced end.<br /><br />Since elites only emerge with a consensus that gives them power, it's difficult to sustain a Great Man theory of history. Are Donald Trump or Vlad Putin the cause of our troubles, or symptoms of it? <br /><br />Like the first instance above, deception plays a heavy role. The radical ploy for changing the direction of a society is to seize the points where the narrative is taught, both formative and sustaining. That is, to occupy key positions that control education, media and mass communications, and to monopolize and censor. The problem is, the liars become infected with their own delusions and no good end is ever achieved, as bad means can only be consistent with a bad end.<br /><br />Truth does exist, with its only advantage in a cacaphony of lies that outnumber, being that deception remains deception and doesn't create any reality except an incoherent dysfunction.<br /><br />M. Southhttp://anabaptist.exoss.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-5385612996508343372017-09-30T11:23:50.682-04:002017-09-30T11:23:50.682-04:00Well said, Mathew. And I imagine you counsel follo...Well said, Mathew. And I imagine you counsel followers of Jesus to expect experiences of both the "ordinary" and the "odd" on their journeys through life. Berry Friesennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-75546434586991623522017-09-29T16:03:31.019-04:002017-09-29T16:03:31.019-04:00I agree that there is no magic assurance that a co...I agree that there is no magic assurance that a community will be good. That's why I said "the church at its best is far from the church at its worst." I have no comment on your personal experience with the Mennonite Church. However, every church claims to seek to be guided by a voice/reality/truth beyond itself, which would be Jesus. However again, history shows that this claim has not produced unity. But I would say, however once more and nevertheless, the enduring impact of the message of Jesus for good warrants a hearing by serious people, and that message has been carried, willy nilly, by communities which claim to follow him. I guess churches are a little like families, some better than others, but we keep on having them. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12886742015394327859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-14260860251574030552017-09-29T13:31:58.424-04:002017-09-29T13:31:58.424-04:00I question the whole premise of trying to be "...I question the whole premise of trying to be "quirky," "distinctive" or "radical," whenever those terms are defined in relation to the world or to other churches. That mires us in cycles of reactivity. Scripture calls us to "look to Jesus" and let him conform us to himself. However different or "noncomformed" that makes us from the world or from other churches is secondary to the degree of our conformity to Christ. Focusing on the former is a recipe for pride and identity wars of ever-multiplying distinctions; the latter, the basis of humility (because of how far we fall short) and solidarity with everyone as fellow broken and beloved people. The truly "ordinary radical" realizes how radically ordinary he or she is, as both sinner and saint. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07015713608914846309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-64831306395242756822017-09-29T11:18:01.798-04:002017-09-29T11:18:01.798-04:00In today's world of liquid modernity, your com...In today's world of liquid modernity, your commitment to a community doesn't mean that community will hold enduring values. For instance, a decade ago, based on its own stated faith commitments, after being committed Christians for decades, we joined the Mennonite Church. Fast forward to now, and that community itself abandoned its own former commitments for the ones offered by a changing culture, and engaged in a purge of those who still held to their original commitments. So allegiance to a community, per se, offers no permanent allegiance to other than what a majority decides needs to change. Change for change's sake implies there are no permanent values or truth to be found. Our view of community was one in which we act for the good of others, according to God's will, clearly not identical with changing social fads that reject Christian belief, including guidance by the Holy Spirit in understanding scripture. The retaliation that follows violating new community norms is highly destructive, mirroring transformation into cult behavior by its leadership, violating the freedom that was supposed to be in Christ. To join the Mennonite community was the worst decision we ever made, although it was done for the right reasons, even as stated above.M. Southhttp://anabaptist.exoss.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-23517730049106177392017-09-18T11:01:45.082-04:002017-09-18T11:01:45.082-04:00There's no fixing America. America aspired to ...There's no fixing America. America aspired to be the summation of the world, and it's succeeded in that as close as it's possible to achieve such a ghastly task. Thus, worldliness, exceptionally.<br /><br />We can't fix anyone, not even ourselves. Each of us descended from Adam and Eve can re-enter a loving relationship with God, made possible through Christ, and be transformed in a direction away from worldliness. We can share His transforming possibilities with others, but we ourselves cannot change them, let alone America.<br /><br />I am sure that the intimations of anabaptist theology that today's Mennonites pretended to exude are true, yet the actual experience of their community that was to live together more in God's Kingdom, has been the most abject failure we have ever experienced. As Trump was the longshot last, worst hope for American course correction, so did it turn out were the Mennonites for a course correction in spirituality. Our American experience seems to be thoroughly leavened with routine malign deceptions, from your house, to the White House.<br /><br />Perhaps, in an allusion to James Garner's soliloquy in The Americanization of Emily, this is the inevitable consequence from the Americanization of Mennonites, well described in the essay above, as they bought into their own variant delusion of this conceit.<br /><br />Bitter worldly fruit, indeed.M. Southhttp://anabaptist.exoss.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-63919732997996828032017-09-16T11:06:06.571-04:002017-09-16T11:06:06.571-04:00Parallels between white supremacy and American sup...Parallels between white supremacy and American supremacy take on another level of importance when one considers that whiteness and the US arose together, neither one being able to exist as they do without the other. It may not be what you're trying to talk about but in this case I think that more historical context (we gave up much of our ethnic culture to create the lie of whiteness as we formed this country etc.) would be very valuable.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-72470513413229788012017-09-16T07:18:47.987-04:002017-09-16T07:18:47.987-04:00I agree with your point. It is an important one an...I agree with your point. It is an important one and I thank you for making it. Countries, like people, are more than one thing. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12886742015394327859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2990991178749505824.post-25869477350277740922017-09-16T07:12:50.324-04:002017-09-16T07:12:50.324-04:00Against Ariel Dorfman, I insist that the United St...Against Ariel Dorfman, I insist that the United States were indeed exceptional and are now (again) exceptional - the only country in the world which has something like a First Amendment. If the United States fail to uphold this exception, the whole West (and above all, my country - Germany) will follow them; and freedom of expression will soon be unthinkable.<br />I don't condone imperialism or supremacy as a kind of behaviour. But I accept that there are states whose constitution is superior to other countries.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com