WORD

“This is He [ Jesus Christ ] of whom I said,

‘After me cometh a Man which is preferred before me:

for He was before me.’”

John 1.30

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Ruth Quote

“A mistake is a thing you did when you knew no better;

a sin is a thing you did when you did know better . . .

the motive determines the morality of the act.”

– C W Ruth, from his book Bible Readings

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Prepare

Make preparations for earth –

may be here longer than we think.

Make preparations for eternity –

may be there sooner than we think.

– eab, 1/98

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I LOVE YOU LORD

 (opening lines of a much longer poem)

I love you Lord Jesus, I love you fine Lord,

Who can wondrously, carelessly, joyfully afford,

To wind up your wind machine and run it all night,

To help humble Jews escape Egypt, in flight.

It plowed through the Sea called red burrowing, pushing

Water to north of it, water to south creating an isthmus

Creating the opposite of a stream mouth

The wind came from the east, plowing a groove

Of dry sandy marching ground in the sea’s belly,

Pilling water north of it, stacked up like jelly,

And water to south of it equally stood,

(Waves folded their hands, as all good waves should.)

And when you were done proving You could

Do what those gods were falsely proclaimed,

(Showing how they were all illfully named)

You closed up your wind machine, closed it so tightly,

Egyptians were caught in it, sadly but mightily  —

-eab, 1/03

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Menno Simmons – separates

ON THIS DATE

Menno Simons 1/30/1536 felt his time had come to choose between the authority of the church and that of Scripture and left the Roman Catholic system (his doubts started with transubstantiation).  He was born January 1496, was a priest, is known to have read some works of Desiderius Erasmus, Martin Luther, Martin Bucer, and Heinrich Bullinger and while still catholic regarded himself an “evangelical preacher.”  After years of staying one step ahead of his enemies (there was once a price of 2000 guilders on his head) he died a natural death in 1561 in Schleswig-Holstein (Germany).   Some time after converting to the Anabaptist movement he became a leader.  From him the Mennonite churches derive their name.

Menno Simons quotes:

 “True evangelical faith is of such a nature it cannot lie dormant, but spreads itself out in all kinds of righteousness and fruits of love…”

“We do not teach and practice community of goods but we teach and testify the Word of the Lord, that all true believers in Christ are of one body…”

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