This week, I connected again with my friend Keeshon Washington and discussed why we need to have conversations about racism, why we should talk with friends of color about their experiences, what racism even means, and how parents who adopt children of color should parent their kids.
In this episode we discuss race, Anabaptist churches, inner-city missions, and whether or not one should change their lifestyle in order to better connect with other cultures.
The main thing people tell me is that I put to words what they feel. I’m grateful people are finding voice for their unspoken questions about church and faith. But I’ve noticed an increase of people leaving the values of their conservative Anabaptist tradition. Here’s the introduction of a letter to my generation where I wrestle through the current shifting in values.
The generation before us laid the groundwork for rethinking the way we do church—the way we do life, really. Because of our parents, many of us are free to question the status quo. We are free to revisit the methodology of church, romance, family, discipleship, and with that revisiting, comes radical possibilities. Some good, some not good.
Most people who have commented on this series so far have strong opinions one way or the other. There is a wide vacuum of people who are silent. People who don’t want to cause conflict. People who, like me, have had a good experience in their Mennonite upbringing, but also see areas of weakness that need radical change. Only, they’re at a loss for how to change it because either they’re written off as a rebel, or their questions and comments are hijacked by people with an agenda for the opposite of the Mennonite tradition.
Allow me, if for a moment, to wrestle aloud with the questions of someone who identifies with his friends who are leaving, but is concerned with whether we’re finding anything better.
Plainspoken is a project focused on giving “plain people” (Amish, Hutterite, Mennonite) their own voice. Many novels have been written about “plain people”—Amish love tales, to be specific. But few of them actually depict the reality of life for those who come from “plain” backgrounds. Luci’s book is a personal memoir of her life as a Mennonite. So, upon her request, following is my review of Anything But Simple.
Has the emergent church movement impacted Anabaptist young people? Does it matter if it has?
In recent years, I have noticed an increasing amount of people who struggle with faith, God, confusion in their walk with Him, or disillusionment with the church. Is this the result of the emergent church?
While I don’t like naming specific people in criticism, I was recently asked about my take on the emergent church movement and how I thought it is impacting Anabaptist youth and decided to write about my concerns with Rob Bell and Brian McLaren’s teaching.
Author Asher Witmer knows what it’s like to want freedom from sexual sin only to continually fail. We’re often told we need more personal discipline, that we need to think godly things instead of fleshly things.
What if I told you that discipline won’t solve your problem with lust?
Our male sexuality is given by God for advancing beauty and goodness. But somewhere along the line it becomes something that causes devastation and guilt. The good news is we don’t have to live with guilt. In Live Free, Asher Witmer shows us how we can find freedom from sexual sin, live with nothing to hide, and be able to fight for others.
