The Latest
In this short but deeply moving book, Jennifer Siran takes the reader through the multi-faceted aspects of having a child born with congenital heart defects. Siran is encouraging and practical as she visits many topics that are affected by this unplanned medical journey.
♪Have you ever heard a so-called “truth” once too often? Here’s one I heard recently: “being on mission is not just about going overseas as a missionary; it’s also staying home to serve God wherever you are.” Who could argue? But suddenly I had heard this one too many times. Instead of a timely truth I now saw a donkey my generation loved to flog.
♪Have you ever heard of Horatius Bonar? He was a pastor in the early 1800s who wrote 600 hymns and poems. I tried to find a relatable comparison in my life. I figure that in 13 years of marriage, I’ve probably written close to 600 grocery lists.
♪In my travels around the conference through the years, I have been part of many conversations that coalesce around certain themes. One question in particular is why we administers our own missions program, when we can and do partner with more than 20 other mission agencies.
♪I have been involved in church life for nearly 70 years, half of those years as a pastor. I love the church except for one thing: churches and pastors don’t seem to know how to disagree agreeably. Too often when a church and their pastor cannot agree on how well he is doing, separation results. But must it be this way?
♪The NHL playoffs are finally upon us, and for many of us Canadian hockey fans this is the most wonderful time of the year. Teams are now finally prepared to push all their chips and truly do whatever it takes to get sixteen wins and hoist Lord Stanley’s glorious cup.
♪At one point the title to Collin Hansen’s 2008 book Young, Restless, Reformed would have described me quite well. I was young (in my early 20s), restless (in many ways) and Reformed (drinking regularly from the well of the three Johns: Piper, Edwards and Calvin).
I love to dabble in different creative projects. Whether it’s carpentry or gardening or cooking or painting—it all brings me great fulfillment.
♪In December 2024, Canada’s (or the Canadian government’s) Standing Committee on Finance issued a report with 462 recommendations. Item 430 recommends Canada “amend the Income Tax Act to provide a definition of a charity which would remove the privileged status of ‘advancement of religion’ as a charitable purpose.”
NEW!
The Messenger is now available on most streaming services!
EMC News
Winnipeg, Man.—A new weekly radio program and podcast produced by the Mennonite Heritage Archives (MHA) in Winnipeg is bringing history to life through storytelling. A team of four people creates each 15-minute episode using information gleaned from archival diaries, documents, and photographs, and interviews.
Winsome Conviction: Disagreeing Without Dividing the Church, was held March 14-15 at Steinbach Bible College (SBC) and featured Rick Langer, professor at Biola University. Langer began by asking, “Is winsome conviction worth pursuing and why is it so crucial? Why was it important for 120 church leaders from the EMC, MB, EMMC, MB and other conferences to attend this conference?”
Cameron McKenzie opened the meeting with the thought that anything we repeat over and over again—like the Easter message—risks losing impact. But, he said, resurrection isn’t a single event—it is the heartbeat of the gospel, and whatever we find ourselves doing, we’re cultivators of resurrection communities.
