|  | |
Previous | Next
 |
Letters to the editor
Mennonite Brethren Herald welcomes your letters on issues relevant to the Mennonite Brethren Church, especially in response to material published in the Herald. Please keep your letters courteous, brief and about one subject only. We will edit letters for length and clarity. We will not publish letters sent anonymously, although we may withhold names from publication at the request of the letter writer and at our discretion. Publication is also subject to space limitations. Because the Letters column is a free forum for discussion, it should be understood that letters represent the position of the letter writer, not necessarily the position of the Herald or the Mennonite Brethren Church. Send letters to:
Letters, MB Herald
3-169 Riverton Ave.
Winnipeg, Man. R2L 2E5
|
or by e-mail to mbherald@mbconf.ca. (Please ensure that your postal address is included in your e-mail correspondence.) |
Article needed
Thank you for having the courage to publish articles like “Welcoming and yet not affirming” by Harold Jantz in the (Nov. 5, 1999). It is so important in this day for churches to stand up for God’s Word while still extending Christ’s love and forgiveness to all people. If we compromise with the world in some misplaced attempt to gain acceptance or be “modern”, we deny the redemptive power of the cross. I know this from my own experience of coming out of homosexuality.
Sandra Alexander,
Toronto, Ont.
Workers need shepherding
People and Events (April 28) reported “Pastors in the US average 55 hours of work per week, tending to work evenings and weekends more than do other professionals . . . Almost half of the pastors . . . said that they are working too hard.”
I have a hard time believing that anyone who works 55 hours a week, an average of 7 1/2 hours a day, could think they are working too hard, or working harder than other professionals. Do nurses, teachers and doctors not work hard enough with extracurricular or night shift duties? What about business managers, farmers, sales reps, truckers, missionaries?
If the “shepherds” are whining about working too hard for the sheep, who is going to take care of the sheep who truly are working too hard to take care of their lambs? My husband, like most men in our town, works in the oil and gas industry. He averages 80 hours a week. For the last 41¼2 months, he has worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, 8 hours from home in a bush camp, no scheduled days off and no overtime. Who is taking care of these men if the pastors are burned out on 55 hours a week? Who is taking care of the mothers who have the entire responsibility of the children, the business and the home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for months on end?
If you love your job, do it well, and do it willingly. Everyone makes choices. Everyone makes sacrifices.
Rosalind A. Smith,
Charlie Lake, B.C.
Easy way out
Re the article on Amy Grant (March 17), and the letters that followed. Having been an avid music fan for many years and a supporter of Christian artists, I have followed Amy’s life challenges for some time. Many of her fans quote John 8:1-11 as if these verses were doctrine. Does it not bother anyone that these verses were not part of the earliest manuscripts? I don’t think Jesus softened His stand at all; read the Sermon on the Mount. (“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”)
My wife and I have been married for 17 years – most of them happy. But there was some hard work along the way. Staying together is probably the greatest challenge a Christian family has today. Amy took the easy way out. No, I’m not very proud of her.
Name withheld
God isn’t finished speaking
Ron Friesen’s letter (April 28th) misrepresented my letter (Mar. 17). I wrote, “I am tired of Bible-believing Christians like Bob Koivisto saying that God only speaks through the Bible.”
I did not say that I was tired of Bob Koivisto. If it sounded that way, I am sorry.
It is in God’s unchanging nature to reveal Himself (Romans 1:20). God’s speaking is so basic to life that Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). “Comes” implies an ongoing pouring forth of words. This obviously includes the unique, infallible (and finished) written Word, but even more basic, God’s Word is simply what God says, however He decides to say it. On the first page of Genesis God spoke, and on the last page of Revelation God is still speaking, with no indication that He is signing off forever. If God only speaks through the Bible, then let’s do away with sermons, because God can’t speak through anything a preacher adds to the text. And maybe we should drop stories of missionaries being called by God to enter specific mission fields, since there aren’t verses mentioning specific African tribes in the Bible. Are we really willing to say that God can only speak by quoting Scripture?
As children of the Enlightenment we need to remember that truth is not primarily cerebral, an abstract plaything we can bat around at arm’s length through entertaining debate. Truth is more solid than that. It is eternal reality embodied fully in the One who said, “My sheep listen to My voice” (John 10:27).
Brad Huebert,
Winkler, Man.
Satan needs to be fought
I respond to Walter Wiebe’s letter (April 28). A church removing the protection of the Holy Spirit from someone and handing them over to Satan seems weird. I agree with Wiebe in this.
But I strongly disagree with the second part of his letter. A prayer was prayed over Allison, and the church addressed the “powers of darkness”. Wiebe believes this is disturbing and says, “Since when do we pray to the `powers of darkness’?” My message is this: Many Christians today are ignoring whom we are really fighting against. Why are we ignoring the spiritual warfare that takes place every day around us (Ephesians 6:12)? Yes, we must address the “powers of darkness”, bind them and cast them out in Jesus’ name. In my own prayer life I am learning to pray specifically against Satan. When I’m praying for a lost friend, I pray that Satan will be bound from them. When I’m praying for a saved family member I tell Satan that he has no right to infect their lives, for they are children of God. When I pray for myself, I pray against the demons of depression, frustration, lust and anger. Yes, I address the powers of darkness, but I address them with authority in Jesus’ name. How can we be effective warriors if we refuse to believe whom we really are fighting? When Jesus was on earth and was confronted with a demon-possessed man He did not ever pray, “Father, there is a demon in this man. Could You take it out of him?” He spoke directly to the demons even asked their names and commanded them out.
Andrew Fast,
Winnipeg Man.
Thanks for the Herald
I want to express my thanks to all of you who work hard to put the Herald together so regularly. From my childhood on, our family has received the Herald, and I have often been encouraged by it. I encourage you in your dedication to producing important and relevant messages that are consistent with the truth in God’s Word. May you continue to pursue this work in a manner of excellence.
Rachel Martens,
Saskatoon, Sask.
Something missing
I commend Conference leadership on both the content and the eye-catching, user-friendly presentation of the Ministry Reports in the April 28 Herald. In reading the reports, I looked in vain for either the resourcing or studying of corporate worship in the work of one of the boards. MB churches have an unusually strong musical heritage, have entered fully and sometimes unthinkingly into the transformation of worship practice (particularly with respect to music) and continue to expend great effort on doing corporate worship. In a denomination that is noted for self-examination in matters of doctrine and ethics, it is ironic that no effort has been made to understand, guide or explore worship theology and practice.
In a time when Conference ministries are redefining themselves primarily according to serving and resourcing churches, it seems that a great opportunity is being missed. In a time when “worship wars” are some of the most common conflicts in the church, is a responsibility being ignored? “Healthy Growing Churches” equipped to think about and do worship will be more effective in “Reaching Their Worlds”. I strongly urge our Conference leadership to offer creative, strategic and ongoing leadership in this most fundamental area. I believe churches will welcome and support it.
Mark Bartel,
Winnipeg, Man.
Previous | Next Last modified June 17, 2000.
© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
Masthead and usage information.
|
