Zionism revisited

In Genesis 17 God tells Abraham, “You shall be the father of a multitude of nations”. I read that many times but that phrase "multitude of nations" really caught my attention recently. Two weeks ago the “Karen speaking” Burmese immigrants had a good bye party for one of their patriarchs who was moving to North Carolina to live with their daughter. The person bringing the mediation was a Burmese woman who came to US in the 90’s as a refugee,. She worked hard since then, even achieving the success of getting her PhD. Quoting this scripture she emphasized repeatedly that we are recipients of this promise to Abraham being one of the many nations who are blessed as children of God.

Instinctively we think that the promise to Abraham was to become “a great nation”, absorbing the political bias of our culture that this great nation must mean the Jewish people, the nation of Israel. Listening to our sister in Christ from Asia claim that she too is the recipient of this promise and a member of this multitude of nations highlighted for me once again how wrong our instincts are compared with what is written or rather what God would have us understand from what is written.

You can find the post in the archive I wrote in December of 2008, where I was grieving the attraction of “pop” theologies which divided the church into multitudes of factions in every generation following independent minded enterprising leaders creating peer group churches among young people. Central to this splintering has been an attraction to the fulfillment of Abraham’s promise that he was the father of “a great nation”, and the land of Israel was the fulfillment of this promise. God is active in fulfilling his promise and what was happening in the Middle East is the true indication that Jesus is coming very soon.

In my growing up serious Biblical scholars in our church quietly questioned this understanding. Certainly, they believed Christ was coming again, he would judge the world, and those who gave their lives to him as children of God would forever live with him in glory. To jump from this understanding to a complicated, violent clash of nations providing the necessary foundation for Jesus entry into this world to rule this world for 1000 years was just too far removed from character of Jesus for them to accept. But the tide of public opinion was too strong for our church leadership to take issue. To keep “the body” together our moderator of conference simply said he was a panmillianiallist, meaning everything will pan out all right. Most ministers simply avoided this issue.

Certainly I am not a biblical scholar so I had no opinion but I was troubled with the nationalistic spirit which came along with this dispensational premillianial view of prophesy. I was excited when I learned of the group called “Jews against Zionism” in the video I posted in that story. I learned there is this small group of orthodox Jews themselves who believe that they should not be engaged in the political struggle, taking and protecting a piece of land. They are a people of exile, a spiritual people, living among all nations as a people of compassion, service, and healing, and not a materialistic people fighting over a piece of land. They pray and protest actively for the speedy dismantlement of the state which has caused so much suffering.

Several months later in 2009 I traveled with a politically minded pastor to Israel and we visited with Arab Christians at the Bethlehem Bible School. Each person we visited my companion asked the same question, “But did not God give this land to the Jews?” Our American volunteer taxi driver from Texas responded. It’s really not that simple, describing the history of the area and theological understanding of Paul that the true Jew is one who accepts Jesus as the Messiah. The president of the collage explained that their history as Christians went back to the time of the disciples and the early church. They had at times been persecuted but most of the time lived in peace under the Romans, the Byzantines, Muslims under Mohammed, the “Christian Crusaders”, The Ottoman Turks, The Europeans, and today under the Israelis. He asked the pastor I traveled with; “Why do the American Christians so strongly support Israel in all their violence when 80 percent claim to be atheist? Does today's Israel represent the righteous nation of the Old Testament that God should bless?  Is Israel God's chosen with no moral requirements?  Our Arab taxi driver, who was the only one employed of his extended family, showed us his home that was scheduled to be taken and demolished to make room for additional illegal Jewish settlements. He answered this pastor’s question saying, He had no problem with the Jews, they have lived with the Jews for thousands of years with very few problems, but he did not understand why they would need to tear down his home.

Coming home I began to think we have a serious problem as an evangelical church. What does it mean to be a Jew? If it is biological then Arabs of Palestine have far more of Abraham’s DNA then any Jew from Europe. In fact many Russian and Eastern European Jews claim they converted to Judaism around the 8th century. My American Jewish friends think it is silly even to ask this question claiming we are all “free range chickens”. This past year it was posted that 1000 Christians converted to Judaism in order to claim land in the West Bank. It seems strange to me that I might qualify for some land in West Bank displacing people of generations if I converted to Judaism. Regarding the land as an everlasting promise, certainly the Early Church said the circumcision was not required of new believers even though that too was an everlasting requirement.

My traveling companion continued to say he “believes the Bible”. He could not let his feelings of pity or compassion get in the way of what God wanted to do in this world. God did all kinds of nasty things in the Old Testament bringing judgment on people. Since he is not God he cannot question what God is doing even today. Since God promised the Jews this land as an everlasting covenant certainly he will deliver even if a million Arab people need to be displaced.

I could not believe this horrific conviction where humanity is viewed as insignificant as ants meant to be stamped out. We had just visited some of the most beautiful persons on this earth expressing their desire to provide food for the hungry, dignity to the displaced, hope for those who experienced so much loss, and joy in the eternal despite circumstances. Why should our “good news” be such bad news for them. I knew something was really wrong here.

So I started to read some books. I first read Alex Awad’s book entitled Memories of his mother. He was born in Jerusalem east side. His father was killed attempting to get some food for his family of 6 children during the war of 48. His mother was a nurse who raised the family even sending him and his brother to Bible School here in the states. Both he and his brother returned to their people in Bethlehem starting first a Boys school which grew into a collage level Bible school. I loved this book as testimony of God’s grace, forgiveness in the midst or severe suffering. Today he is one of the teachers at the Bethlehem Bible School. I loved this book so much I ordered 3 additional copies.

Then my traveling companion gave me another book to read. He said he wanted to give me a book which would tell the other side of the story. It was entitled “Let my people go” by Tom Hess. I don’t believe he could have given me a worst book to read. I checked his website to see if Tom Hess was Christian because I could not know from the book as Jesus was not mentioned. The book was an attempt to scare Jewish people into a Jewish revival. The book was all about generating fear by describing the collapse of US. Escape while you can, sell your assets and bring them to Israel. He pleads “come to Israel” in the book comparing the 1 million who came from Russian to the 80,000 who came from US and asks why are American Jews so apathetic. The whole time I was reading this book I kept wondering if the apostle Paul would have written anything like this. Clearly not.

I then read Gary Burge’s book entitled “Whose Land whose promise?”. Gary is a teacher at Wheaton Collage which is known as an orthodox fundamentalistic type collage. Surprising Gary has spent 20 years studying the Middle East and has changed his views completely from that of his childhood. His book emphasizes the patriarchal covenants, the message of the prophets, the teaching of Jesus, and compares this message with real life situations as he has experienced them during his tenure in Israel. This book is a really hard book for a political partisan to read. Gary has a second book entitled “Jesus and the Land”. I gave this book to my traveling companion because it was totally theological with “no feelings”. It essentially demonstrates how the Land was central to God’s presence, protection, and provision to the Jewish people of the Old Testament. Jesus came as the fulfillment of prophesy but refused all temptations to occupy the land. Saying the time is coming when we won’t worship God in Jerusalem or Samaria but in spirit and in truth. Jesus said destroy this temple and he will raise it in three days teaching he himself is now God’s presence, protection and provision. In Paul’s letters the church becomes God’s presence, protection and provision. Gary treats the scripture with the highest respect. I was pleased my friend could not say Gary doesn’t believe the Bible, even stating he was glad to read where they were coming from.

Stephen Sizer wrote Zion’s Christian Soldiers published by Inter Varsity Press. Stephen Sizer’s book takes issue with the myths we have concocted to support Christian Zionism in a much more direct way. His argument is primarily from scripture exposing the hoops people need to jump through to claim the modern day Israel is a fulfillment of scripture.

Nelson Kraybill from the Mennonite Peace tradition wrote “Apocalypse and Allegiance”. He takes the book of Revelations with all its images and compares the images that John describes to the sculptures of the Roman empire. Many times we read the book of Revelations and it’s hard to understand. Kraybill’s book is really helpful as it reviews the history of the time. It is clear the audience knew that John’s use of Babylon was referring to Rome and the Beast is Caesar and worship of the beast is compared to the worship of the Lamb and the Lamb will live eternally. This worship of the Beast continues today in many countries and is especially relevant in the life of our Karen refugees as well as here in our own country. Even so come Lord Jesus.

So it is high time for the whole of the evangelical world to join with the Catholic church, Aramaic Church, the Orthodox Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the evangelicals of the Arab world, the Asian world, the African world and name Christian Zionism as "heresy". Heresy is a really strong word but that is what all of these groups believe, that zionism is an unbiblical nationalistic teaching contradicting everything Jesus said or represented. We want to say with the “Jews against Zionism” that we are a pilgrim people of compassion among all nations bringing hope, joy and peace to all we meet.

Ye means ya’ll

Ye means ya’ll

Reading Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove book entitled New Monasticism he said, “Ye is not thou and ya’all is not you. I grew up memorizing the King James Version of the Bible. I was glad to replace all those ye’s with you, never thinking of the significance of exchanging a plural ye with a singular you.

After all the teaching of how God wanted to create a people of God in the Old Testament, Jonathan asks how did the Church reduce it’s teaching to: what God really wanted was for us to become a good person who would have a relationship with him individually by confessing our sin and trusting in him for eternal life. If every “you” is indeed singular this understanding would be fine, but if we replace all the you’s with ya’ll we get a very different idea. Ya’ll are the light of the world means the church is really important. This would mean that Jesus is calling us as a community to be a people of God. Is it really true that apart from identification with his people I cannot have a relationship with God and without the church there is no chance of being holy? Jonathan would say this is true.

When our first “Karen” family wanted to become a member of our church, together we read this promise to this family.

As we now receive you into the fellowship of the church:

We make this covenant with you.
We renew our covenant with God:
To bear each other's burdens,
To assist in times of need,
To share our gifts and possessions,
To forgive as Christ has forgiven us,
To support each other in joy and sorrow,
And in all things to work for the common good,
Thus making known Christ's presence to the glory of God.
As we unite with each other now,
May we all be joined with Christ our Lord.

Last November this family of 5 came to us knowing no English at all. Everything was a struggle from learning how to work a stove and thermostat to figuring out how the school and medical systems worked. He came to me Sunday after Sunday showing me bills with his hands literally shaking. One Sunday he completely unnerved me by motioning with his finger like he would decapitate himself. The stress he lived with became my stress as well. Fortunately a job opened up at the Hatchery, we found a nice 4 bedroom home on Nevin street where several families could live together sharing the rent, the children are in school and doing really well, the severely anemic baby is as healthy as a lark, and parents are happy and relaxed in their living arrangements.

As we read this promise to this family I asked myself, is this what it means to be church to one another?

Actually this is what I always believed not knowing the extent to which this conviction would be tested in my life. How many times in my life I have been exposed to serious needs in another forced to remember the words of John….But if anyone has material goods and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person.

I was visiting in a Sunday school class in Virginia one Sunday and we were discussing Jesus questions of Peter, Do you love me? Of course Peter said he did and Jesus responded to him to “Feed his sheep”. I asked the question, Why does Jesus always speak in poetry? Why didn’t he say teach my people, but he says feed my sheep? A young man in class responded to me that maybe it isn’t poetry. Maybe he actually meant feed…. it may cost us something.

Could the sharing of our resources actually be the heart and strength of Christian community? My Dad always said you never really learn about something until you invest your money in it. That is certainly true. Certainly our mistakes are painful and our success is sweet when we pour something really special to us into someone or something else.

Usually what we invest in is what we really love and appreciate. However, in the church community when one sees a great need it is not necessarily someone you really respect or care for. I have often thought it might be the opposite. In this sense we are called to love someone in a way that costs us a great deal even though we personally really don’t like the people we help. This is a hard one because ordinarily we try to avoid situations we don’t like. However, when our church community is a given and not a choice we certainly need to accept and love whatever is thrown our way in terms of problems. Lord have mercy.

Could the offering actually be a type of communion? We celebrate communion remembering Jesus Christ who gave his life for all humanity. In the offering we give to the Lord within the community of faith. Our money is an expression of something very valuable we worked for so it is part of us. When we give our offerings we actually give something of ourselves to another. It is true that we give as unto God expecting nothing in return. At the same time I believe relationships are sacred and fruit of Christian community. Is it wrong to expect relationships in return?

Relationships are sacred and forever. It was almost 2 years ago I started to take 5 guys to church from a house on Lime Street. We did numerous things together like hiking, staining the deck, mulching, building a bike shed for their bikes, even replacing a roof at some townhouses, before we found them their first job at Greenleaf greenhouses. They spoke very little English. On the way home from church Koe Ne Too asked me. You love me? Not sure I understood correctly, I asked him if he can say that again. He asked again, You love me? I was totally uncomfortable with this question. I responded that I care a lot for him. He seemed satisfied . I still hear that question when I see him.

John Ebersol an Amish builder built a barn for me in 98. We have continued to connect a number of times. One time he called and asked me when I was coming “to sit with him”. I really like that phrase. When we sit with each other we become engaged in each others lives naturally. Our offerings become like communion. Resources are shared and everyone is cared for. It certainly is an act of faith. We are tempted to say many times, Lord have mercy, this burden is too much. But God has been good. We are of all people most blessed and I believe God feels loved as we love each other. We most certainly are a “ya’all. Maybe the kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven has more to do with who we are sitting with then what we understand.

Alcohol trama

He wrote last evening inviting Rhoda and I to dinner in January. Really it’s far more then dinner. Celebration would be a better word. He’s been 5 years sober, working a responsible job, and planning a wedding in June. It’s hard to believe this day has arrived.

He came to church with his parents at one time. I did not know the battles he fought. He was painting odd jobs. I simply knew him as a successful athlete who wrestled in state finals back in High School. I really don’t remember when or how he let me know of his secret troubles and I really don’t remember if he came to me for help, but somewhere along the way I learned that there were some fines to be paid.

I don’t know why I feel I need to fix every problem that comes up. But here was a guy who sat with me in church. When a young persons sits with you in church instinctively I think you feel like his problems are my problems. I remember thinking as we drove from one Justice of Peace office to another clearing the ten charges which had accumulated; I wondered if this is what Jesus felt like when he took on himself the sins of another. I wondered how far should one carry this mandate of real love we feel in the church when we walk in the other’s shoes. How skeptical should our discipline be or how naïve is our trust when we care for another. But there was no one else for him to turn to and the hole was so deep life seemed impossible. I wanted to see him succeed and build from level ground.

We rented a room at a Transitional Living Center in Lancaster, got groceries, set up a budget and I believed we were on our way. How little I know of the power of addiction in ones life. After several months of faithful church attendance all on sudden he disappeared and I found him in the County prison. Seeing him in handcuffs in front of the judge was probably harder on me then him. He seemed to understand the legalities of this world almost as routine. When he served his time of 6 weeks we checked into Water Street Rescue mission to start once again. He did not believe he needed the year long program they administer. He thought he was strong enough to start fresh once more. He wanted to get a job and get on with life. Again this commitment lasted a couple of months. I found him next time at the York Prison where he was committed for 6 months.

We talked about the history of his substance abuse. It started innocently enough; looking for highs using alcohol, gradually experimenting with drugs. Working as a supervisor at Dart container he first refused the harder drugs but later experimented and he was hooked. Driving to Reading for his fixes he claimed you could buy a house with the money he spent. Each time in prison he would go through cold turkey and be clean. I wondered how could you be attracted to this “demon” that cost you so much. He looked at me and said, “Jonathan, it numbs the pain”.

When he was discharged Water Street would not accept him any longer. Crispus Attucks was the end of the road. As I dropped him off I asked if I could pick him up on Sunday. He told me he cost me too much, he appreciated what I done, but he needed some space. So your on your own, I asked? “I’m on my own”. He said smiling. We shook hands and I watched him walk into the building. He looked so alone. It made me cry. I felt alone also. But I needed to watch him walk away.

I learned later he was arrested again, this time sentenced to a facility upstate and I lost contact with him. 5 years later, this past year I found him again on facebook. We “friended” each other. He came to church and gave testimony. Now he invites us to dinner. Indeed this is a celebration. Relationships are sacred and forever.

Alcohol and drug use has always traumatized me. Growing up my parents hosted former inmates coming out of prison in the “summer house” attached to the main house. My dad would give them work on the farm until they could establish themselves independently. I remember one morning seeing my mother literally shaken to tears. It was hard for her to talk. She took me over to the summer house to show me the beer cans scattered on the floor. Bill had borrowed a bicycle to ride to Millersville. I was sleeping but somehow Bill came home drunk. Apparently he was talking really loud, using threatening language. My Dad told him to go to bed. In the morning Bill was sober and asked my Dad if he could stay. I’m sure my Dad knew he could not say yes if he wanted to keep his wife.

It’s tough to argue from Holy Scripture for a conviction opposing alcohol use when Jesus himself provided the best wine at a wedding he attended. Paul was opposed to coming to the communion table drunk, but he encouraged Timothy take a little wine for his stomach’s sake, and leaders were not to be consumers of “much wine”. Maybe Solomon’s admonition that ”Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is raging and whoever is deceived thereby is not wise”, is the strongest negative instruction.

It wasn’t till I graduated from High School that I was exposed to alcohol consumption. My dad thought it would be fun for me to take a trip with farmers to a bus trip to Watertown NY to see how farmers used their Harvester Silos. That evening they planned a clam bake. I watched the guys at our table consume pitcher after pitcher of beer and then the protests when the faucet was turned off after several persons actually vomited. Clearly I had never been in a situation where there is strong peer pressure to indulge. This experience and others strengthened my resolve to live alcohol free. When I married, Rhoda had a dark bottle she used for home decor which probably wasn’t a wine bottle but I did not want anything that even suggested it could be. Rhoda and I operate a photography business where I have photographed close to thousand weddings. Alcohol is used as an expression of romantic celebration at many weddings. My greatest worry in business was that my children may believe that alcohol could become attractive, necessary for social identification. I believe I embarrassed my children when I would turned the TV off during super bowl commercials promoting alcohol.

I wasn’t willing to accept that alcohol may be a problem among the people I cared for in our “Karen” population who come to church. Living in denial, the people I cared so much for could do no wrong. Gradually I realized we have a serious problem and life became an emotional roller coaster hopelessness followed by experiences of some success. A father, who had left wife and children to drink with friends on weekends, repents once on the threat of his wife’s divorce, lives happily for over a year, relapses for several months, and repents again and continues to live happily at this point. After cleaning up many garbage bags of cans at an apartment vacated by 4 young men seeking jobs in North Carolina, they begged to return. I tried to negotiate a no drinking clause in my conditions if we bring them back. I thought it may have been working until Rhoda and I returned from a weekend visiting children on a Monday this spring. I got a call from a potential employer needed 4 workers; jobs we needed desperately. I called every phone number I knew trying to get an answer. In desperation I decided I would run into the house where most of the young guys lived. I arrived just in time to meet one guy was leaving for his job. He left me in the house where I saw evidence of last night’s beer binge. What I saw destroyed me. Trash bags of cans, beer spilled on the floor and sofas, and all four were sleeping off their drunken spree upstairs. I think I screamed shaking everyone awake telling them I have jobs today. They shook themselves awake, washing their faces, and we went to apply for the jobs. Today they tell the story of my rant claiming I kicked the cans which I don’t remember, but I suspect it could have happened. I was so angry. But we got the jobs which most are still working.

With this experience we had a renewed commitment to live alcohol free. I think it lasted 6 months. I asked one person they look to as a leader to explain this dependency on alcohol. He said he is a smart person but he does stupid things. I wondered if they drink for happiness when there is so much sadness. He agreed, it is self medication.

I cannot begin to identify with the sadness they do live with. One, a child soldier of 15, bound by the enemy and whipped for 2 weeks, escaped in the jungle, lived in the refugee camps for years, lives here with a wife and daughter in the Thailand camps. Everyone has their own story of tragedy. Is the healing we promise through Christ and his healing body called the church sufficient to fill the vacuum and heal the injury these guys live with? I trust it is.

They lived in such a poor house. In August we found a new house for them. Hardwood floors instead of carpet for them which can be cleaned. The toilet works properly and heating system is more efficient with a washing machine downstairs. The young man who others look to as the leader saw a no smoking sign on wall of an office and turned to me and asked if they could have a sign like that for their house. “You would like one I asked? I would love too”. So I made the poster you saw at the beginning of this post showing pictures celebrating all the good that can be lived for.

Today I am celebrating the victory of the struggle 5 years ago. Maybe I’ll have another dinner invite in 5 years. I’m believing so.

The Gleaners

What do we learn from the poor?

I work as hard as I can to avoid being poor. I suspect we all do even as we worry about being poor. Some feel poor even though they are quite wealthy. Some who appear wealthy are actually poor. Then again our poverty or wealth is a state of mind. Sometimes I feel wealthy but my wife who is my faithful financial controller reminds me of our many obligations and I feel poor again.

It’s easy to avoid the poor depending where you live. If I drive the bypass and simply go about my business I feel like everyone is quite wealthy. One can live for years and never meet anyone who is poor. As our congregation has become deeply involved with immigrants from Burma we have spent so many hours filling out job applications and feeling rejected, going to public assistance offices, going to public health clinics, we begin to see almost everyone as poor. The anxiousness of the poor becomes our anxiousness as well. When one cares for another their hearts beat in rhythm with each other.

Success is so sweet. After weeks of bad news a phone call came out of the blue about a job starting the next day for one young man, his first job ever. He would be starting his first day at the Tyson Hatchery above Mount Joy. I picked him up at 4:30 to start his job at 5:00. I could not wait to hear how his first day went. In another situation I had dreaded conversations with an employer for over a year where there was always something not quite right. Then I started to hear statements of appreciation even bonus pay. One cannot believe how wonderful it sounds for me to hear good reports of a job well done from employers.

Failure is such deep sorrow. So many seasonal jobs, so many laid off as work slows up, and then there are times when the employer says we can’t use this person. It’s really hard to shake this disappointment. What does it mean to identify with the poor?

One day in Sunday School we talked about what it means to be church to each other. Because finances is always such an over the top concern of my own I thought they might mention sharing of material needs like clothing, food, etc. but surprisingly that did not come up. One young man who knows a bit of English mentioned the experience of being “polite” with one another. Being polite is a word I never use. I was a bit taken back by his use of this word. I believe we may have used the word mutual respect. Could that be the mark of the kingdom?

One can be poor and not have a mindset of being poor. Generosity is the expression of one who lives with abundance. One young man got his first pay check for $575. As I helped him set up his bank account and I wanted to help him think about the costs it takes to live; rent, food, etc, and saving, so I wondered how much he wanted deposit and how much he wanted take as cash. He wanted to send $400 to Thailand for his family in the camps. I was able to talk him down to sharing just $300.

This practice of sharing generously is more the norm then the exception. Shoes and clothing which are given to one person show up worn by others living across town. A bike given to one household ends up somewhere else. One person unemployed thinks that another person deserves an available job before himself because he hasn’t had the chance to work yet. Could this be a mark of the kingdom.

It is really good for those of us who have lived here a long time to witness this spirit of generosity. It makes it really easy to make one’s own financial decisions of what is important and what is not when brothers and sisters in your church survive on food stamps and public assistance. Buying a new car suddenly becomes an investment grossly out of place.

I often wondered why Jesus seemed to care about the poor. God put himself in the home of a carpenter. The family had so few resources they only gave two pigeons for their sacrifice. Then they became hunted dislocated persons finding security in the refugee camps of Egypt before returning to Nazareth. Some Bible teachers claim the kings from the East gave him gold so Jesus was wealthy and Joseph was a wealthy builder worthy of being the father of a King. This idea destroys the whole image of who Jesus is. Jesus came identifying with the poor….the wealthy already have their reward. I think that is actually what he said.

Born again

Writing a blog is kind of a silly exercise. Does anyone actually read what one writes? Or more importantly does anyone care? Probably few people actually know the person writing or why the person is writing what they write so why should anyone place much importance on what is written. If no one really is impacted by blog writing, does the writing have value for the writer himself? Maybe it is like speaking to an empty auditorium where one can sort out what one wants to say in the sound of ones own words. I believe this was the value of what I wrote in the year 2008. But it's now the end of 2011.....Life is so different for us now. I believe I need to write another chapter.

I live in a very small world. Essentially, I moved but one time 4 miles from the cooking of my mom, working with my Dad, to the cooking of my wife in house we built together when we married. The center of my world has always been the congregation I was carried to as an infant in1952, just as my father in 1924 and my grandfather in 1898 had been carried.

As you can imagine, this rural Mennonite congregation has been impacted by the moves of many “spirits” over this past century. There were spirits of nationalism generated by the waging WW1, WW2, Korean War, Vietnam War, the Cold War, and our current wars. There were the spirits of isolationism vs. the spirits of acculturation or assimilation which contributed little “wars” of their own in our church. There were stresses in the financial world as the congregation moved from many small diversified farms to specialization becoming something like factory farms. There were stresses in the church community in farming which for a hundred years relied on a cash crop of tobacco to balance the books despite the criticisms of the broader Mennonite Church. As the farmers brought the radios into the cow barns they listened to theologies of what God expected of them which was quite different from what they heard from their church papers. Since the congregation was traditionally opposed to higher education they seemed a bit suspect of people who chose to go on in school. The net result of all these “spirits” was almost all of the young people raised in the Church left leaving a congregation of older people. It’s tough to buck the tide of social momentum.

But these were my people. Teaching Sunday school,leading music, I did almost everything that I was asked to do. I contributed as I could because “these were my people”. They deserved to be loved, but I must admit I was a bit lonely. I wanted to model and teach the importance of owning your own people to my children.

An unbelievable turn of events in our church came in the late 90’s as our children were in High School. Primarily because of the attraction of the charismatic personalities of our pastor’s children we were able to start a coffeehouse at the church and many young people came. As they grew older these young people began to take more responsibility in the church. I felt totally excited that a congregation could be born anew which could bridge generations, worship and cultural differences, even theologies out of a common love and allegiance to Jesus and covenant love for each other.

As a congregation we always held a strong conviction in support of the mission of God and this too was a conviction of young people coming to our church fellowship. Fund raisers were held regularly as 14 persons took mission trips with an independent youth mission group to many places of the globe. All of us were excited about this opportunity our young people had to be exposed to the world outside our borders. When individuals came back with testimonies of seeing hurting people in orphanages and told of their youthful motherlike heart feeling a strong compulsion to adopt these children even though they could not, we all knew this was a really good thing. So it is really hard to be critical of any effort to bring Christ’s hope and healing to the world.

Even though I supported these trips highly and I was never on any these trips, I need to be really humble about my analysis. I also talked at length with other people who had experience with the same organization who returned from mission trips and used their experience as a huge blessing to their congregation. So I know my analysis is the exceptional and not the norm. But I wonder sometimes if these mission trips did not contribute toward our demise as a congregation. So much of what I describe in this next paragraph are characteristics we often want to encourage. How could these important practices be a problem?

Theologically,the teaching was very “worship centered” and “spirit” led. In worshipful mediation one was taught to hear from God, walk in obedience and speak the truth which God spoke. Passionate expressions of love for God was the expected norm. Denominational pride and traditional cultural expressions of any church were great hindrances to an intimate relationship with Jesus. One’s spiritual life was one’s prime reality where God intended one to live. Everyone was encouraged to wage spiritual battle at all times against the principalities and the powers of evil. Reading the scripture was authoritative. God said it, we believe it, and that settles it would be a strong motto fully accepted by everyone. Prayers are prayed in faith believing and God will answer.

Taking Christ to the nations is the mandate of everyone,waging war against the spirits of oppression which one could identify freely as ambassadors of Christ. Moral purity is primarily expressed as sexual purity. Pure sexual accountability to each other was commonly discussed as naturally as one would talk about the weather. Spiritual leadership defining one’s walk in obedience under the anointing of the one God placed above you is absolute. The prophetic visions that an anointed one hears from God are taken very seriously.

Clearly all these teachings are important. They are all convictions we support if we love each other and are committed to walk with and listen to each other as a body. But a wedge was driven into the congregation. A meeting was planned to highlight our differences among us as a congregation. Those of us who grew up in the congregation begged for unity but it was not to be. Someone saw a sword in Ohio which was a prophesy that our congregation should divide so it must be so. It was like we loved Jesus so much we cannot love the extended church. The morning of the great tsunami wave in Indonesia,ignoring the overseer of our district of churches, it was announced to the congregation that our church was leaving the denomination. The last sermon preached included the true story of a “prophetess” who befriended the wife of the pastor and loved her,dividing the marriage covenant between husband and wife, paralyzing the ministry of the pastor, crippling him as a person.

A plumber in our congregation said afterward the story just screamed of our experience as our covenant as a body was broken and ministry of church was paralyzed. One cannot describe the despair we felt. For several years we worshipped together as in shock. One time a tenant called and told me her husband no longer wanted her to be his wife. She lived for him, cared for him, even bore a child for him but he left, leaving her wondering what she did wrong, was she worth anything, who would want to walk with her, how was she going raise her children now, or even who was going to pay the bills? I knew her feelings exactly. These were all my questions.

In 2008 I started to write this blog. Maybe it was OK….maybe it wasn’t….one never knows these things but I think it was somewhat defensive on my part. After feeling totally alone, isolated, and despondent, I wanted to shout, Look there is tremendous value in the teachings, the modeling, the humility, the servant ministry, the inclusion in a spiritual body of a global church, the forgiveness, the seriousness with which one takes following Jesus exemplified by the Mennonite Church. Almost every story I wrote in 2008 was my attempt give dignity and respect to what was rejected by the people I loved as brothers and sisters.

I wanted to uphold and honor the faith of the traditional people like the Amish, respect for old order groups in the Mennonite Church, the ordinariness of being a simple people, the grace, thoughtfulness, and faithfulness to God and each other of the older people in our own congregation as they meet together Sunday after Sunday,the blessings of a generational bridge between young and old….the young giving energy to the old and the old giving grace to the young, and theologically I wanted to demonstrate a theology where Jesus became flesh, meaning that when Jesus became wholly man and wholly divine there was very little difference between what is spiritual and what is earthly. In other words Jesus said you show love to me when you do such an earthly thing as giving a cup of water in my name, you sit with the rejected, or when you sell what you have and give to the poor. I wanted to teach that the closer we get to God the closer the natural world and the spiritual world come together: a theology of being real, body soul and spirit.

Why was Jesus so critical of those who prayed publicly….he said please go into a closet, or those who fasted….he said please be normal and don’t tell me about it, or those who gave great contributions….he said, I more impressed with what you kept, or those who evangelize,….he said you make them twice the devil that you are, or the judgments of the righteous…..he said if you are without sin you may throw the stone. Obviously this is a challenge for us all. Certainly Jesus was not opposed to public expressions of spirituality. I suspect Jesus was primarily concerned about those who make spirituality a performance; a practice of spiritual intimidation. I wondered if this overt divisive spirituality we experienced in our congregation was not exactly what Jesus was talking about when he criticized the religious authorities in his day.

At the same time we were driving the wedge between those passionate and those still bound by tradition in their spirituality, a tradesman in the congregation was driving along a country road and he noticed a women using a bucket to draw water from a stream. He stopped his truck and walked down to the woman to find out if she had a problem. He learned her water pump was broken and she was getting water. He asked to see the problem. Making a long story short, our tradesman called a friend and together they reworked the water and furnace supporting this needy woman. It’s significant our tradesman who rarely sings a song or speaks a word in church made a comment about our church difficulties; I don’t believe the extrovert ever understands the introvert.

I wonder why Jesus gave the story of letting the weeds grow up with the wheat and letting the Lord of the Harvest separate it all at harvest time right before he prayed his most passionate prayer that we might all be one. We have grown up with so much teaching that Jesus is coming for his pure and spotless bride without blemish. This is true but as we have defined our churches throughout our history attempting to create that pure and spotless bride, I wonder if we have not sinned the most grievous sin; dividing the Body of Christ. Our churches have become congregations of peer groups of similar culture, lifestyle and politics. Mission trips are largely tourist experiences with no long term relationships created. Pastors desire to be independent from outside accountability other then their own church boards. We have become consumers of religion as it pleases us much like we would shop for car. If it costs us too much or if we need a little more performance, it is not difficult to trade.

These were my angry thoughts of 2008. But there is no life in casting stones. I got tired of writing and quit. I needed redemption too. I wanted to run away but running away was far from faithful. But God was merciful. He dropped the poorest of the poor on our doorstep. They have accepted us and loved us. Our Banquet table is beginning to fill. It’s like a mission trip which does not end….however in this case we are the mission field and they are the missionaries because they are the displaced people of Burma. Everyone with their own story of relatives killed, tortured, fleeing and hiding in the jungle, living for years in the refugee camps of Thailand, They have come to us and together we experience the kingdom of God among us. So I really needed to write another chapter to this blog.

We have many spots and many blemishes. We are extremely vulnerable as a people, the anxiousness of the job market, health care, transportation, and learning the language are constant enormous challenges. If there was a problem the Corinthian church had we probably have it too. We are of two classes of people; the poor and the voluntarily poor as we live for each other. We speak two languages;I heard our 84 year old song leader say, “It’s funny, when they sing I almost feel like I can understand it!” Maybe he can, just like Pentecost. We feel like family. We belong because we are. We have children again. Can anyone adequate describe the joy and energy children bring to a community especially older people who have prayed so long for children? Three mothers brought newborns to our congregation this year and three couples were married. Every wedding and every child is important. But for us these events symbolically are enormously important….an expression of Faith, Hope, and Love. But the greatest is Love. I feel like I’ve been born again.