February 2, 2025

One More Thing…

The Seven Principles of Christian Nonconformity

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12.2, CSB)

“Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

To follow Christ daily in life requires 1) a sense of journey; 2) a sense of being together; and 3) allowing Jesus to lead the community.

We might want to think that here in the Glen, not much ever changes. I suppose that depends on your timescale. Soon, Lord willing, the sharp and icy gales of winter will give way to change – and we will feel the soft warm breezes of spring bringing the hard ground back to bloom. We can look back 275 years ago to when Blooming Glen Mennonite Church was new, and we would immediately notice that the week-to-week practices of congregational life were very different than what we experience today.

Bob Dylan was right 61 years ago when he penned the words, “The times, they are a-changin’.” The journey of discipleship takes us on a route that is full of change – whether we see it or not.

But in the midst of changing times, there is one constant – one north star – that guides us on the journey. His name is Jesus. Without Jesus, there is no community. Without community there is no discipleship. Without discipleship there is no recognition of God’s gracious faithfulness.

So, in the journey of faith, we saddle up, not in search of Jesus, but to be led by Jesus who is always faithfully present. Today’s political parties, economic theories, and social strategies are all incomplete and insufficient, and they all ultimately fail to provide ultimate answers. There are no golden ages of our own making. Only Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And his plea to his followers: Love God with everything you’ve got. Love your neighbor as yourself. And when we ask, as we always will, “who’s my neighbor?" we will likely be confronted with the hard truth that our neighbor is the widow, the orphan, the poor, and newcomer.

So, let’s go, church (and follow Jesus together to love God and our neighbor),

Pastor Jeff

jeff@bgmc.net

P.S. Listening to one another happens at the A&N Diner Monday, February 3 (7:30am-8:45am), and at the Broad Street Grind, Friday, February 7 (3:30pm-4:45pm). Come join us, there’s always room for more.

January 26, 2025

One More Thing…

The Seven Principles of Christian Nonconformity

“Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is – what is good and pleasing and mature.” – Romans 12.2 (CEB)

“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so…” (lyrics to the song, written by Anna Bartlett Warner, 1860)

The post-modern world would ask us to believe that there is no authoritative narrative, no singular truth that holds us together. The only “truth” in post-modernity is the truth you choose to conjure up in your heart. Christian Nonconformity invites us to a different reality. The library of letters, essays, poems, aphorisms, contracts, and lyrics that we call the Bible ask us to imagine a more beautiful story. A story that while it takes a long time and is yet to be fully and totally complete, evil has been, is, and will be overcome by good. A story of God’s personal search for and utterly faithful connection with each of us. The promise and possibility of hope and redemption that restores that which we’ve wrecked. The amazing transformation that grows out of self-sacrificing love.

As Anabaptist Christians – part of a 500-year-old, radical, evangelical, nonconformist movement – we have been and continue to be a people of the Bible. It is the Bible that informs our journey. As much as we would like to imagine that the Divine is in some way a latent presence within us, or that the natural world is full of divinity, the nonconforming truth is that the scriptures tells us that a mysterious, ineffable, loving character whom we call, “God” has created everything, redeemed everything we have broken, and sustains our souls as we wait with patience, endurance, and tolerance, for a new era to come forth.

That is not to say that the Bible hasn’t been misquoted, misconstrued, and misinterpreted over the generations. Which is why Anabaptist Nonconformists both respected Biblical preaching and teaching, and demanded that the people of God read, discuss, and embrace the scriptures together. No one Anabaptist preacher is always right. No one Anabaptist congregation always interprets scripture well. No one association of Anabaptists fully confesses the entirety of the Bible’s message.

So, we read the scriptures, alone and together, and we are responsible to hold each other accountable to live out the authority of scripture. Anabaptists respect the Bible, teach the Bible, and seek to live out the message of the Bible together.

So, let’s go, Church (and read about the Jesus who loves us…)

Pastor Jeff

jeff@bgmc.net

P.S. I’ll be at the A&N Diner on Monday morning, January 27, around 7:30am (depending on how thick the ice is on my windshield). I’ll be at the Broad Street Grind on Friday afternoon, January 31, around 3:30pm (depending on the detours along the 113). These are weekly opportunities to dialogue. It’s your time to ask me anything on your mind. Who knows? Maybe we’ll even read the Bible together…