Cure or Healing?
Richard A. Kauffman
Duane Beck, a retired Mennonite pastor, says that when he started his first pastorate right out of seminary, he preached repeatedly on the theme of discipleship. He discovered that the members of his congregation were committed Christians who had every intention of deepening their life of discipleship, but they didn’t or couldn’t for some reason. […]
The Long Walk to Irrelevance
Mark Schloneger
In fourth grade, I beat Vance Campbell to win my age group at the Wauseon Parks and Recreation Department’s ping-pong tournament. My age group covered fourth through seventh grade, and Vance was in seventh grade. So . . . yeah. I mean, if you wanted to say David beats Goliath, I wouldn’t object. A few […]
Living Faith
Mark Schloneger
To begin my sermon, I’m going to need four volunteers. Now, I have two requirements for these volunteers: the first is, you need to be able to catch a middle-aged body; specifically, my body; and the second is, you need to be trustworthy. My physical safety depends on you meeting both of these requirements. That’s […]
Reorientation
Richard A. Kauffman
Some of you may know the name John Dear—no, not the green tractors that used to go put-put—but John Dear [D-e-a-r], a Catholic priest and peace activist from CA. Early in his career John Dear felt obligated to support an inmate on death row, since he opposed the death penalty. He contacted an inmate in […]
Wonder Bread
Mark Schloneger
I want you to imagine that all of us who have gathered here this morning represent the entire world’s population. Now, I need fourteen people to stand up. If our attendance today is similar to previous Sundays, the people standing up represent the people who went to bed hungry last night. According to the World […]
God in Space
Mark Schloneger
Last week, Richard spoke powerfully about the need for lament. A lament is a prayer that cries out to God in the midst of pain, grief, any circumstance that seems out of control. Lament is our response when we find ourselves in a space, a place where the right response can only be a desperate […]
Lamenting the Loss of Laments
Richard A. Kauffman
Twice in my life I’ve had to face my mortality: At 15 I was in a serious car accident in which I could well have been killed. Then, at the ripe age of 50 I had open heart surgery. After this last incident I had a need to talk about my mortality, but I had […]
The Following Christ
Mark Schloneger
It has been almost twenty years since I’ve seen a little girl named Dianora. I think about her, though. In my mind, Dianora will always be a baby. Her grandmother, Alicia, cradled her in her arms when she knocked on the door of our house when we lived in Mozambique. She was looking for my […]
The Power of One
Mark Schloneger
Only a boy named David, only a little sling, only a boy named David, but he could pray and sing. Only a boy named David, only a rippling brook, only a boy named David, but five little stones he took. And one little stone went in the sling, and the sling went round and round. […]
God of Second Chances
Richard A. Kauffman
What word, phrase, image or experience comes to mind when I say the word gospel? What does that word—gospel—conjure up for you? Gospel may well be the most used word in the Christian vocabulary. But it is usually left undefined. People use it assuming others know what is meant by the word.
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