FILM REVIEWS The Tree of Life (PG-13) is mesmerizing, unlike any other film showing at the cineplex. Terrence Mallick uses impressionistic images and a nonlinear
As we got to know our neighbors, we decided to invite them over for a weekly Bible study. One evening Michael joined us. I can’t remember which Scripture we were studying, but I do remember the topic that dominated our discussion that week: hell …
Mishawaka, Wawasee, Shipshewana, Topeka, Dowagiac, Pokagon … the very place names in the region where I live bear witness to native peoples who were dispossessed of their land almost two centuries ago by my forebears …
In my marriage, we’d hit that inevitable slump that seems to hit all marriages around the seventh or eighth year. Amid the difficulties, when God speaks, it comes as water in the desert, and God’s message came to me from the parable of the sower in Luke 8 …
Bridge-building and reconciliation formed the theme of Mennonite Church USA’s national convention in Pittsburgh July 4-9. But the thing about bridges is, they don’t move. It is those who wish to cross to the other side who do the moving …
Zora Neale Hurston is one of my favorite writers. Hurston, whom many encounter in high school when assigned her novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” studied, talked to and wrote about the people she loved—regular black people …
Mennonite Church USA is my spiritual home. I love this church that has nurtured, challenged and frustrated me and invited me to grow as a Christian …
Perhaps the greatest sin in media today, according to many, is to be boring. If something doesn’t grab people’s attention quickly, they move on to the next image or, maybe, set of words …
