Crushed Roses in Ukraine

Soldiers' lives crushed by the horrors of war

crushed roses after funeral procession for Ukrainian soldier

The sun shone hot on the faces of the mourners gathered along the highway that ran through our village. The line stretched from the entrance of the village to the home of Sergei, a soldier. He had left the village to serve his country. And he served faithfully until four days ago when a landmine claimed his life.

The military sent his body from Kharkiv to the military hospital in Kiev. And like this village often does in times of need or distress, they asked my dad to use our family’s vehicle and go pick up the body. Read it all

The Circle of Brotherhood

Roy Longenecker on fellowship and responsibility outside of the local church

For most of us COVID 19 has been a real eye-opener and has caused us to consider very carefully our relationship with our local brotherhood.

Shalom, the congregation that my wife and I are a part of, did not meet together for 7 weeks. When we began to meet again, it gave us a new appreciation for each other. This experience has caused me to consider more carefully what “brotherhood” is all about.

We as Anabaptists have tended to hold a very narrow view of brotherhood to the exclusion of anyone who does not believe and practice as we do. But the question that has come to my mind is: Who should we encompass in our circle of brotherhood? I am coming to the conviction that our circle of brotherhood is not limited to just our local church but rather has multiple rings of fellowship with decreasing responsibility and accountability as we get further from the “bull’s eye” representing our local church. The complete target represents the entire world wide “Church of Jesus Christ”. While there is decreasing responsibility and accountability as we get further from our local church; we dare not ignore what responsibility and accountability we do have with fellow believers outside of our local brotherhood, because God intends for us to draw strength from each other. When we ignore or discredit other believers, we give Satan the opportunity to divide the people of God. Satan’s primary offensive tactic is to divide, in any way that he can. We play into his hand when we ignore fellow believers outside of our local church.

It is not my intent in this article to define the extent of our responsibility to our brothers and sisters within our local brotherhood. That is much too large a subject. But rather I would like to focus on those rings of fellowship and responsibility outside of our local churches.Read it all

Covid-19 and Vaccines in Light of Hearing and Being Taught by Christ

Jonathan Kropf follows up on his earlier article: "We Are Facing More Than a Virus"

Am I watching and praying? Am I being sober? How would you respond to these questions if they were directed to you? I have been challenged to take the scriptures that give these commands to heart.

Recently we studied Ephesians 4:17-32 in a Bible study. I find that before hearing and being taught by Christ, there are at least seven conditions that we find ourselves in.

  1. Thoughts are vain
  2. Understanding is darkened
  3. One is separated from God
  4. General problem with ignorance
  5. Blind (hard) heart
  6. Conscience is not sensitive
  7. Given to seek after what is prohibited

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Dear Christian: Do Not Forget the Watchers!

A wake-up call thanks to a nonchristian's questions about God, His people, and Covid vaccines
What I’m curious about is
how is it known that
God doesn’t want people
to have the vaccine?

The question dropped unexpectedly into one of my digital communication platforms. The nonchristian’s private inquiry to me last week came after reading what other Christians were asserting on the public Web.

How would you answer the question? I’ll give you my answer shortly, but first something else that’s related.

What do Christians project in the public square?

  • Whether in the grocery store or on social media, what do nonchristians hear from Christians?
  • What do non-citizens of the kingdom of Heaven observe in the actions, attitudes, and general demeanor of Heaven’s citizens?

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Above all, love God!