jesus – Page 5 – Ponder Anew

Food Fight

May 13, 2025

Good morning,

“When he( Judas ) was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:31-35

Judas leaves the supper (verse 30 ). Jesus tells him to betray him quickly. Earlier, at the beginning of the supper, there is the strange and healing event about Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. This was not enough to change the mind of Judas. The whole last supper is full of intrigue. There is a power struggle among the disciples, the betrayal by Judas, and Peter getting angry with Jesus about getting his dirty feet washed. It is an uproar. I am surprised there is not a food fight. Remember next time, you take communion, that the first meal was a tough supper of food and conversation.

With all this dissension and controversy, Jesus flips the conversation, ” I am leaving for good, ” he says. You must now love one another as I have loved you. The followers of Jesus had given up everything. As fishermen, they did not have much, but they wanted the kingdom of God. This is what Jesus had promised them. Had they got the wrong message ? Had I got the wrong message, when I was baptized at 17 ? Well, I am still looking for the kingdom of God. It is not under the hundreds of rocks I have looked at ? I have not seen it in the sky. I have glimpsed it sometimes in the eyes of people, and in the colour of the tulips, but I have not seen the whole thing… yet . What about you ? How do we love each other in the midst of a crisis of belief ?

Pray for the kingdom to arrive in GAZA today. AMEN

Fred

black and white shadows
crush humanity’s freedom
am I complicit ?

MPL 2025

A New Pope

May 9, 2025

We have a new Pope, Leo XIV.

We arrived in Jordan on early Easter Sunday. Hannah brought us to an Arabic Catholic Mass at 10:00 am. Although. we could not understand the service, it was nice to be worshipping on Easter Sunday. And the singing was good. There was a police presence there with a car with shaded windows and a Jordanian flag on its hood. Normal, maybe ? We left before the communion part, but we stayed for the giving of the peace of Christ.

Then on Monday morning, I went out for a walk up the hill ( there is always a hill or steps to climb in Amman), and stopped for a coffee, a rich, strong blend of Turkish coffee. When I arrived back in their apartment. Hannah said the Pope died. He had just celebrated communion in Rome for Easter. I know he has been sick and in hospital for weeks but it was still a surprise.
I thought Pope Francis had the compassion of Christ. He stood up for the poor, the marginalized and the refugees. He was not afraid of the world’s powerful men and women. He stood up for the Palestinian people, saying the continued attacks on Gaza were wrong. Francis has the heart for the world. Since the beginning of the onslaught on Gaza, Pope Francis phoned the very small Catholic community in Gaza every evening, to love them and to show that the whole world has not forgotten them.
I hope Pope Leo XIV will be the same compassionate man as Frances was . My prayer for him is that the Spirit will guide his words and his actions throughout his tenure as Pope.

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ?

MPL 2025

Retired

May 6, 2025

Today was my first Tuesday where I did not head out to Poole Church. I did some chores around the yard, and did some errands in town. I read some books, did the crossword, and I tried to finish my jigsaw puzzle of the Kissing Bridge of West Montrose. I will not bore you everyday with my plans and schedules, but I thought maybe you might want to know.

During our Anabaptist tour, I reflected on the book of Acts. The book is a travelogue with some of the important events with the early church. The church began in Jerusalem, and then went to all over the known world including Rome. It is one of the longest books in the New Testament, and provides us with a glimpse of the early leaders like Peter, Paul and Jesus’ brother James. After chapter nine, it is mostly about Paul and his interaction with the early churches in Corinth, Philippi and Ephesus among the many cities that he visited, and wrote letters to those communities.

I do not think that Paul intended to write Scripture. He was a good Jewish believer, and so the Law was enough for him. He was a Pharisee, and so was connected to the politics of the synagogue and temple. According to Acts, he often went to a synagogue when he came to a new city. He wrote his letters for encouragement and some admonition. The churches did not always get along with each other. This is why the letters are so good, they are about real issues. And Paul did not announce these letters as Scripture. It took the church over 300 years to announce these letters as God’s word.

I offer you the trillium flower as a symbol for the church going forward, with God as the perfecter of our faith.

Praying always for Gaza. AMEN.

Sacred and unsacred stories

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April 20 Happy Easter !!! Christ is Risen !!

Good morning.

We have just completed leading an Anabaptist tour, from the Netherlands through Germany and France, finishing in Switzerland. We arrived here in Amman Jordan early this morning, just in time for Easter . Our daughter Hannah and her husband Alaa live here.

Don’t Worry by Mary Oliver

Things take the time they take. Don’t

worry.

How many roads did St. Augustine follow

before he became St. Augustine ?

The Anabaptist tradition was a small part of the Reformation in the 1500s, but it is important for our history and faith. We visited the site of the famous Dirk Willems story. We stood in the churches of Pingum and Witmarsum where Menno preached . Menno took 12 years to become Anabaptist.

The Swiss Reformed church persecuted the early adult baptizers. We heard stories about the cities of Bern and Zurich putting to death people who believed in adult baptism and non-violence. It was dangerous to be Anabaptist for hundreds of years in Switzerland.

In 2004, the Reformed Church offered repentance for the violence done to the Anabaptists. ” We acknowledge this historic sin and, from today’s point of view, consider it a betrayal of the Gospel …” Many of our guides on the tour were Reformed persons who told the stories with sadness and humility.

We all walk our roads of life, and maybe we will all become saints in the eyes of God. Keep the faith.

Shalon for all our journeys of life and faith. Remember our ancestors.

(The flag of the city of Bern)

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ?

MPL 2025

A new road…

March 31, 2025

Good morning,

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. Ephesians 1:15-19

Today, I start a different path to God. I have been at Poole since March 2017, and full-time since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. I began as an intern pastor at my home congregation in June 1982, the summer Shirley I got married. During our time in Thailand working with refugees, I preached a few sermons in the Vietnamese and Cambodian churches. My first congregation, Bethel Mennonite in Lancaster, was where I served from 1987-1991. I was at Floradale from 1991-2016, a full 25 years.

Poets and theologians have written about the paths to the eternal since forever. Jesus said the narrow way is better than the wide way. Have you ever taken the wrong road, spiritually ? When my home church encouraged me to be a pastor, they wanted me to go to Bible School after high school. I decided to go to Trent University. Was that the wrong or even sinful path ? Maybe so, but God’s grace was extended to me. When we got married, we decided to go with MCC and not to finish my schooling to be a pastor. Was that the wrong or sinful path for our journey with God ? God’s grace again was extended to me/us.

The road as a pastor, for me, has been a calling that was not always easy. Conflict has always been a challenge for me. Knowing when to intervene, and when to be silent is not easy. Often I thought the sermon could be better, but by Tuesday the next sermon needed to be started. The second guessing did not stay with me. The most satisfying part of my work has been walking alongside people when they are hurting, and when God does answer our questions about life and death. God’s grace flourishes at these times.

Thank you for pondering, listening and responding to my Ponder Anew blog.

“I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I

—I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost 1916

https://ponderanew.site/

The above link will take you to my Ponder Anew WordPress site.

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025

Immanent and Transcendent

March 29, 2025

Good afternoon/evening

Prayers of a Pilgrim

Dear God,

You are personal

like a spouse, child, friend, child, cat or a favourite flower,

Some theologians ( I think it was Moltmann )

refer to you , O God as a ‘ God of the ditch.’

You are knowable you listen to our prayers

and

I can almost call you friend or neighbour,

you are so very close and intimate.

Then,

O God,

you are the opposite,

Transcendent

Unknowable

Divine

Distant Father

Beyond the the bounds of the Universe

Omnipresent

Omniscient.

Both,

far and near,

big and small

here, and not here

in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God of all mystery,

we offer to you our lives and our worship,

even when we do not, nor ever will, fully understand. or comprehend. AMEN

Praying for peace all of over the world. AMEN

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025

What are you going to do ?

March 26, 2025

Good afternoon,

So what are you going to do ? This is the question for me everyday since I announced I would not accept another term of service as pastor here at Poole. It is not only from Poole people, but from friends and family and strangers. Some say that one ‘ should do nothing for six months ‘, while others say ‘ do what you love ‘ and some people say, ‘ it will be revealed to you in a good time ‘. These were sort of the responses I received after recovering from my heart attack in 2007. Well, we are going on a five week trip, two weeks to Europe and then on to Amman, Jordan to visit Hannah and Alaa. We return to Elmira in early May. As a good Type B personality, I am only delaying my decision. Ha ha. Thanks for the question.

The cartoon character ” Pinky ” asks his friend ” Brain ” what are we going to do today ? ” Brain ” responds by saying, ” The same thing we do every night Pinky. Try to take over the world “. Oh, I wish I had such high aspirations. My dad just tried to make it to another day. I guess I am somewhere in-between. I do not have a bucket list of things I need to do. I am not a good planner, but I do want to go to Winnipeg more in the future. I want to get back to my cross-stitch work. I want to advocate more for more justice for all people in the world. I want to get closer to God through prayer and silence. These are not new things, but are old things done in a new time of my life.

The Philosopher says in Ecclesiastes :

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

     a time to be born and a time to die,
  a time to plant and a time to uproot,
     a time to kill and a time to heal,
  a time to tear down and a time to build,
     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
     a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
   a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
   a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.   Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Pray for the peace of Gaza in the twinkling of an eye. AMEN

Fred Redekop

i am greedy

March 12, 2025

Good afternoon/morning,

( We return from the US today )

Luke 11: 37-41

” When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.

Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.“

Jesus says a lot of things that are written in the New Testament. Here he has declared that he is on his way to Jerusalem. He has met a Pharisee. a Jewish leader, along the way and has lunch. Jesus does not follow the rules of the day. He is always challenging the leadership. Would you have followed Jesus, or would you have been afraid to draw outside of the lines of faith and life ? We tend to want to conserve the tradition. Jesus invites his disciples to change their attitude.

Jesus challenges the attitudes of the Pharisees about greed. I feel it. I have more than enough things and resources. Am I greedy ? How can this be part of my 40 day Lent journey ? Where is the tipping point of when I move over to being greedy or not ? A very fine line ? And the remedy for the greedy virus in the world is to ” be generous to the poor ” . Do not ask why people are poor, but be generous. There are many reasons that people do not have enough, but we are to be generous. Am I complicit in why people are poor ? Jesus, help me in my 40 days/years of Lent.

Jesus remember me, when you come into your kingdom.

Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom. Taize song.

fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ?

MPL 2025

Vernon

March 11, 2025

Good afternoon,

I met Vernon Schroeder today. From 1987-1991, I served as pastor at Bethel Mennonite Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was a small church with many former Russia refugees, and volunteers working at the head offices of MCC in Akron, PA. It was my first pastorate where I made many mistakes, and learned many things that have helped me since then. I did my first funeral, first wedding and first child dedication at this congregation. The church closed about ten years after I left, and it is now part of a different denomination.

Vernon is 97 years old, and has a sharp mind. His wife died two years ago after a struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. Vernon had a heart attack in late 1989, and he read my recent article in the Rejoice! magazine, where I talked about my own heart attack. As we visited today he recounted the event around his heart. He had the balloon procedure that attempted to open up his arteries, and the eventual stents that the surgeon inserted into his arteries. It was the first time that I provided pastoral care in the ICU and heart unit. I felt so inadequate, as I walked into the room where Vernon was hooked up to all kinds of machines and IVs. He survived and thrived, and I survived and thrived as a pastor.Vernon had the same smile that I remembered from 34 years ago. We thanked God for the life God has given to each of us. We talked about our children, and talked about faith. We did not talk about Trump, Trudeau or Carney. There are many people that I have met that have mentored me in the right direction. Vernon is a humble, faithful and positive guy that is one of the many of these people who have been influencers in my life.

Gaza is out of the news, but continue to lift prayers to God for peace to come, and the guns can be silenced. AMEN.

.Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025

Anabaptist Tuesday

March 4, 2025

Good afternoon,( Anabaptist Tuesday )

The Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and Alsatian Mennonite Anabaptists in 1693 led by Jakob Ammann. Those who followed Ammann became known as Amish. The issue was over the ban or ex-communication. Ammann wanted to not allow people to take communion and not have meals together when they had sinned, while the main group wanted to allow the excommunicated members to have meals together but not communion. When people refer to the Amish today, they normally refer to the Old Order Amish, though there are other subgroups of Amish. There are differences today with buggies, beards, bonnets, buttons, phones, and skid steers. They break apart over issues of obedience and not thology… from the Wikipedia files

The breaking up of various groups of Amish and Mennonites is part of our Christian tradition. We have always thought that we were right, on the issues that we could not agree on. In Floradale, at the north end of town, we had seven different Mennonite congregations represented , and two other houses where the people left to go to other denominations. We were civil to one another, but we couldn’t celebrate the Lord’s supper together.

This history of separating comes from our beginnings. Some believed in ‘ sola scriptura ‘ only Scripture. The group interpreted the literal meaning of the various passages from the Bible. While others saw the Spirit behind the text. This was more important than the actual letter of the Law or Bible. You can see where the different groups could, and did, run into problems. Since most of these people, both men and women, were strong leaders, they tended not to give into the other’s point of view. Therefore, today we have hundreds of different Mennonite groups. Mostly we all believe in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, but is it our obedience to other rules, not biblical , that brings us into disagreement.
Mennonite World Conference has tried to bring the various groups together, but there are still issues that they cannot even bring up for discussion . They have seven core beliefs that they agree upon, but it does not solve all the issues of faith and life. In his life, death and resurrection Jesus tried to bring everything and everybody into the right relationship with each other. We must continue to try to repair the damage among Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites as we live into the Kingdom of God. AMEN
Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ?

MPL 2025