bible – Page 3 – Ponder Anew

Lost our Vision

July 21, 2025

Good afternoon,

” Names for our God dreams, signs and wonders, —– song ”

sent from the past are what we need…” from ” What is this Place ” verse 2

” Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
    and they will prophesy. ” Acts 2:17-18

The text from Acts is from the sermon by Peter. It comes after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This might be the first Christian message. Jesus was a prophet. He invited all people to be a different kind of community that has kindness, love and compassion. This would be part of the dreams, signs and wonders of a new community of faith. Peter quotes the prophet Joel here in the text.I had the lifelong dream about not finishing my final essay or exam , a few nights ago. It comes out of the blue, If I dId not finish the essay or take the test, I will not graduate. In the dream, I was really worried. As I woke up, I was still in fear. Everytime I have this dream, it is the same emotional fear right before I wake up. Did I really graduate ? Is my life going to be ruined ?I am sure the great psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud would break it down, and give me a possible answer. He might be able to tell me what my fear is about.And why this recurring dream is about finishing school. I have had other dreams, like not being prepared for the sermon on a Sunday, and church is about to start. My most memorable dreams seem to be around fear. No grand vision for me.

Dreams that are in the song and in Joel move towards the positive. What is good for the church and the body of Christ . We dream of things in this world getting better. The church should give us hope. But churches are closing in this generation, Here in our area, first it was Glen Allen Mennonite, then Riverdale Mennonite, and then Hawkesville Mennonite and now Bethel Mennonite. All during my time here as a pastor in Ontario. Are dreams being lost ? What shall we do ? What should our vision be now, and what is God showing to us ?

A vision of peace for Gaza and Palestine. AMEN.

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ?

MPL 2025

Re-Thinking the Bible

July 15, 2025

Good afternoon

( John Howard Yoder was a serial sexual abuser/harasser. Over the course of decades he abused a generation of young Mennonite women theologians and scholars. The Mennonite Seminary , where he taught, knew about the abusive behaviour. Yoder was invited to move on to the University of Notre Dame. The Central District Mennonite Conference brought these accusations to Yoder, and at first he entered into the process of healing, but later left it. The Conference revoked his teaching and ministerial credentials. )

Book four of my top ten is: The Politics of Jesus. John Howard Yoder . 1974

This book is a hard read, a theologically dense book. I still do not understand many of the concepts or words that he uses. But it changed my view of the Bible, and the reasons for the life and death of Jesus. Yoder works through the book of Luke and then the letters of Paul. So, I read the Politics book in the spring of 1981. I had never thought where the Bible had come from. I just took it as God’s word. Maybe it just dropped out of heaven ? Yoder explains that real people wrote it, to real people. God didn’t give any of the writers the exact words, but all the writers were inspired by the Spirit. It makes the Bible more real to me.
Yoder explains that Jesus was killed because he threatened the powers and principalities. He did not die for our individual sins, but wanted to establish a new community made up of both Jew and Gentile. A radical idea at the time, and radical even today, as we move to include the whole world into the church. at the end of the church on ” The Disciple of Christ and the Way of Jesus .”: “This is at the point of the concrete social meaning of the cross in its relation to enmity and power,

servanthood replaces dominion,

forgiveness absorbs hostility .

Thus. and only thus, are we bound by New Testament thought to ” be like Jesus. “

Each paragraph has to be read at least twice and maybe three times, at least for me. His writing has freshness to it even though it is over fifty years old. Although I was shocked by Yoder’s actions, I still think he has something to offer in following Jesus. It has been a journey for me in thinking about his sinfulness and my sinfulness.

Fred

ck and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025

Just Be Kind

July 16, 2025

Good afternoon

( ****** Error from yesterday. Just before the quote from Yoder’s book .. .”at the end of the church” should have read ” at the end of the chapter” . Sorry about that ****** )Please read Ephesians 1: 1-4

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world

to be holy and blameless in his sight.

The letter to the community in Ephesus, on the coast of the Aegean Sea, he begins with grace and peace. In these two words he addresses both parts of the community, peace for the Hebrews and grace for the Greeks. One of his ideas for these two groups is for them to get along. Later on he writes that Christ has broken down the wall of hostility between the two groups. They were different socially, religiously and ethnically. They would have had different foods. This is a big issue for the community and for the church today.

But, the second idea here in verse is whether we have free will or not. I think we act as if we do. We make choices between good and bad. There are the free choices that we make of what career we want to follow, what food we eat and what God we worship and serve. Do we want God to make all the choices, and we are like puppets ? The writer says that we were chosen, since before the creation of the world. The church leaders have always argued about this . It is in all the confessions of faith. John Calvin in the 1500’s argued strongly for pre-destination. People were killed for thinking differently. The world and all that happens was determined before heavens broke open in creation. What do you think ? A friend of mine has dementia. I cannot believe God would have ordained that from before time began . That is cruel.

In the Gospels, the writers record that Jesus says he does not know when the end of the world will happen. He ” knows neither the hour nor the day.” If this is true, then the idea that all things have been determined begins to crumble. If Jesus doesn’t know that day, then he is not all-powerful or all knowing ! Oh no. Jesus himself did not really care. He said ” Be kind to everyone. ” That is it. Grace and peace .

Lord, may the world turn around and be kind to Palestine. AMEN

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ?

MPL 2025

wilderness: Good or Bad

July 18, 2025

Good afternoon,

I have been asked to speak at St. Jacobs Mennonite Church for five minutes on August 24. It is on “wilderness” as part of their summer worship series. It is before the sermon. I can speak on anything about wilderness, but the coordinator said I may want to speak on our Camino experience. We went in September 2024, and it was a good trip. I would not describe it as a wilderness moment. I had wanted to go to the Camino Trail before I began at Poole in 2019, but Covid got in the way. I would have been deciding whether to be full-time at Poole. It would have been more intense.

I have had good and bad wilderness experiences. Jesus goes into the wilderness to be with God in prayer. His experience with the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane was tense and uncomfortable. I have done an 8 day silent retreat in Guelph, and some were peaceful, while others were very challenging to my soul/spirit. The year when both my parents died, and my best friend was difficult. Kendra Ellis’ death is another case of dark wilderness. Working with refugees in Thailand, listening to their pain and trauma was bad wilderness for us. And then there is Gaza.

Mary Oliver writes great poems about walking into the wilderness/bush/forest. It is a place of hope and love. They are celebrations of creation and diversity. Theyare calming, and everything is in good order. I could speak about that on that Sunday in August. I walk in the mornings, going along a trail or park. The Lions Trail in Floradale has nurtured my spirit for over thirty years. What to say ?

Below is a picture from on the Bruce Trail. The lookouts are amazing, and yet also scary. No railings, just straight down. What would you say ? You are part of my community of faith these days. I need your wisdom and guidance.

Please pray for me. It will also be my first time back for Sunday morning worship. I gave myself a sabbatical until September. Scary to go back.
Gaza, in prayer. Amen

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ?

prayers to god

July 20, 2025

Good morning

PRAYERS

O God of Heaven and earth,

What is the meaning of life, Lord

I thought I knew it.

Life is changing, for me,

and not for You.

More people are dying from my life

from Bethel, Floradale and Poole

relatives and friends and neighbours

it is not surprising,

but jarring to me.

It is what happens in life,

and in death.

Do we wait for death,

or continue to live vibrantly ,

under your control,

for you know are ‘ comings and goings ‘

As we age towards our death,

quietly

we rejoice

for your Presence in our life,

But,

we want just a

few more moments, hours, days, months and years.

in this life,

before we enter the hereafter

the great unknown.

You have not told us much

almost nothing,

I assume we just need faith,

What is the meaning of Life again ?AMEN.

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ?

MPL 2025

A call to peacemaking

You can bomb the world to pieces

but you cannot bomb the world to peace Anonymous

By the way, the bombing of Iran involved 125 aircraft, Tomahawk missiles launched from submarines, and half of our “bunker busting,” highly specialized, $1 billion each, munitions. Some early estimates of the cost: $30 billion. But yeah, there’s no money for child medical care, funding libraries, curing cancer.

There were evil leaders in the biblical record. This includes Pharoah, Jacob, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Herod, Caesar Augustus, and the Caesar of the book of Revelation. I know it is harsh to call other people evil, and I know we all have good and bad within us. I am going to tread on dangerous ground, and talk about the President of the United States.

Donald Trump is a narcissist. His world and all that is in it, is all about him. and only him. We all have some narcissism in us when we cannot see beyond ourselves. In the book, Fear , Bob Woodward writes that Trump told him he does not need forgiveness because he has done nothing wrong. I believe that he believes that of himself. He never acknowledges when he is caught in a lie. He just lies again. He puts people down. I do not think he has empathy for anyone. Every other person is a potential enemy for him, if they disagree with him. The press call him a transactional person. ” If you do this for him, you will get something in return “,and especially if he does something for someone else, he demands something back, and very quickly. I admit, I pray this kind of thing to God/Jesus, ” if you save this person, I will follow you more closely.”. So, I am a transactional person on occasion.

One character trait of a pure narcissist is having no empathy for anyone. Mr. Trump has shown this towards human victims of tragedy. And his followers and advisors never call him on it. So, how do you deal with a man who is only out for himself ? Every day it seems to be worse. I could not write a letter to him because he has done nothing wrong. His friends and allies say he does not mean what he just said, and they laugh it off. There seems to be no responsibility taken for anything he says and does. An argument is not possible with someone who doesn’t want to argue. He wants to tell you everything from his point of view.

We are only six months into this term, I am afraid for the United States and the world. It cannot get worse, but it will, tomorrow.

Praying for the bombs and hatred to end. AMEN

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ?

MPL 2025

Fred, make sure your ears are open.

(Hannah got home to Amman on Sunday after having flown through Qatar.) Thank you for your prayers .

I did not listen in the right frame of my soul. I missed it. Your ears have to be open, and your hearing aids turned up high for you/me to hear the right words spoken. Magdalena Falk Redekop was presenting ” Translation of Self and Other.” I thought she was delivering a lecture. I was not impressed because there was little coherence or logic. But, she was speaking her memoir, life not in a straight line. I woke up in the night and had a revelation. I had disliked her lecture but when I understood it was a memoir it was great. I was not listening to the right story. I knew Redekop’s husband Clarence. He was my first year political science prof at Trent University in 1977. He died from a sudden heart attack at 56 in 2000. Why do we use the adjective sudden when talking about a heart attack ? It is always sudden. It is redundant. Maybe I was thinking about that from beginning to the end of her lecture.

So, I missed her speaking. Then, maybe, most likely, I was thinking of my own heart attack, sudden or otherwise.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
    made by human hands.
They have mouths, but cannot speak,
    eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears, but cannot hear,
    nor is there breath in their mouths.
Those who make them will be like them,
    and so will all who trust in them. Psalm 135:15-18

The above Psalm is directed at people who worship idols of silver, gold or wood, but sometimes I am my own idol, and think only of myself. This passage and the experience I had listening to Ms. Redekop might hold me accountable next time with my ears and eyes wide open.

Lord have mercy everywhere and anywhere. Please keep me open to all things.

AMEN.

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025

It is a dangerous time

June 12, 2023

Good afternoon,

“ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. ” Matthew 24: 42-44

A narcissist and dictator in the White House.

Wildfires in Canada are out of control.

A genocide in Gaza, Ukraine, Russia, Pakistan and India and nuclear war. Artificial Intelligence is about to take control of the economy.I am not saying it is the end of our world. People have predicted wrongly many times throughout the centuries. Mennonites have been good at getting it wrong. There have always been bad things happening in the world. There have been dictators before. There have been too many genocides in our histories. But, what do we need to be watching for in these times that we are living in ? How do we stay away from conspiracies, and continue to proclaim a hope in spite of things going awry ? What is God saying to us, as the people of God ? And we should not try to predict that Christ will come when certain things happen. We do not know anything about the future. What does it mean to live faithfully in the midst of crises ?

I am worried about Saturday. Mr. Trump is having a birthday military parade in Washington. There are all these protests all over the country. The President has said he is not going to institute the Insurrection Act. This would give Trump almost unlimited military and political power. I think it is a dangerous time, and now Israel attacks Iran. And it becomes personal. Hannah was to fly from London to home in Amman, but Jordanian airspace is closed because all the bombs and drones fly over Jordan. She might have to fly through Qatar to get home. I will let you know, when I know.
Lord have mercy on the universe. AMEN.

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ?MPL 2025

My Prayer to the Lord

Sunday June 8, 2025

Good morning

Prayers

Oh God,

Lord of the Starfields, Ancient of Days, Universe Maker

Where do you reside ?

in heaven,

in my brain

or my soul,

or my Spirit or nowhere, like quantams

My prayers seem to go somewhere

but where do they land in the trees,

on the stars

in the smell of the lilacs in spring,

I am assuming that you do not stand still, like protons

in the smallest parts of your creation.

I will offer the words to you, \

in faith

in hope

and in uncertainty

Our Father,

who lives or exists in heaven or elsewhere

Holy is your name for ever and ever.

Your kingdom will arrive

hopefully today

but at least by tomorrow for sure !

Your will,

or your strategic plan is all we have.

Continue to give us our potatoes, meat and bread

and please give to everyone,

all 8 billion of us.

And forgive all my sins, obstruction, errors, terrors , transgressions and other awful stuff

and make me, cajole me, and demand of me to forgive everything of everyone else today

and lead me not to the devil, but to you, and lead me from the devil, the evil one,

even when it is myself

( a paraphrase of the Lord’s prayer ).

AMEN

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025

Diversity in the Bible !!?

June 6, 2025

Good evening,

” Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.” John 2:23-25

There are four Gospels. Four biographies of life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, and so much more. The early church ( around 375 AD ) selected these four stories as authoritative of the life of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour .They did not have concerns that these four different writers might focus on different aspects of the gospel story. Matthew and Luke tell different parts of the birth narrative, while Mark and John do not say anything at all about Bethlehem. All the gospels have slightly different resurrection stories. What does it mean for the church and its belief system that we have such a diverse set of stories ?

Matthew, Mark and Luke are similar. John is very different. When thinking about a story to guide me in my faith these next years, someone mentioned the Gospel of John because it is so different. In the text above John writes about the Passover. In the other three Gospels Jesus only goes to Jerusalem at the end of his life to celebrate Passover. In John he goes already in chapter 2. The Jesus we find in John tells no parables, but has seven sayings of ” I am “. This paints a diverse picture of Jesus. The above text says that Jesus does not trust humanity. What does that mean for us ?

In the church we are always trying to define what we believe in more narrow terms rather than having a wide expanse of belief. The gospels give us a way to include everyone. We should be committed to the church, and then discuss issues with the understanding that we are committed to each other. In the Anabaptist tradition we have been quick to leave each other behind, if we have a theological disagreement, rather than be in the right relationship with each other. We have to trust each other and the Spirit of the Gospels.

Salaam and strength for our journeys of life and faith

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025