We’re told terrible truths through church splits. We learn that differing beliefs can never coexist, that offenses can never be resolved, and that certain people should never again be associated with.
For All Youth of Church Splits
Tag: Christians
Everything I Love about the Anabaptist Tradition
Most people who struggle with their Anabaptist upbringing aren’t actually struggling with Anabaptism. They’re struggling with their church’s expression of Anabaptism. Here are seven more positives I love about the Anabaptist tradition that are not as clearly a part of other church traditions:
An Open Letter to My Generation of Conservative Anabaptists: Introduction
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.
Christians don’t fight over what Jesus said; they fight over what Jesus didn’t say.
What if it’s okay to get the things that weren’t clearly addressed wrong? What if God isn’t expecting us to know all the nuances that arise when we consider the elements not mentioned? And what if Christians could stop trying to hold other Christians to their understanding of those unspoken words?
People follow relationships; not compelling beliefs.
As I listen to story after story, I realize the church has a crisis of relationships—we have a crisis of connection. We don’t stay at a church because of what it believes. We stay where we develop relationships. We stay where we find community.
When we are looking for “life,” what do we mean?
What if the feelings and tensions we feel at the surface—too focused on externals, not allowed to use instruments, too robotic, not kind enough—are actually pricking at something much deeper in our souls that we don’t have the words to describe…so we use the word life?
How we think about the Bible is shaped by more than we realize.
We are all shaped by way more than we realize when it comes to how think about the Bible, about God, and about life.
When people walk away from something, it begs the question “Why?”
When I listen to those who are leaving, I hear of young people whose parents never allowed them to question what the church did; or who, when they decided to leave, were told they were a great disappointment to their parents.
3 Myths Christians Believe about God and Government – Part 3
The fact that God uses government to accomplish his purposes does not allow us an excuse for ignoring the assignment he gave his disciples. If government reform were the way to redeem the world, he would have told us. But he didn’t.
“Should Christians draw a line of fellowship?”
“Where do we draw the line of fellowship with those who say they believe in Jesus but practice and teach things different from what we believe, such as going to war, being divorced, don’t wear head-covering, and so forth?”
Why Most Churches Fail to Make Disciples
I stood there dumbfounded. I didn’t know what to say. These dear kids had been through far too much in their young life. How in the world do I connect with them?
Americanism, Immigration, and a Low View of the Gospel
While Americans celebrate two hundred and forty-two years of independence and freedom today, thousands of immigrants are being held in “immigration detention.” How should Christians respond to this?
