Christianity

Sasha Krause Update: A Poem for Her Killer’s Mother

Pray for her...and mothers still raising their little ones

Welcome home, Sasha Krause

So two mornings ago, on April 21, detectives arrested Mark Gooch for the homicide of Sasha Krause. Gooch was serving as an airman at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix, AZ. The 21-year-old is from a Mennonite family in Wisconsin, but I gather he never chose to serve the Lord. Whatever the case, he now stands accused of murder.

I really appreciate the short poem about his mother, written by…I don’t know who. I have two sources, and they don’t agree. One attributes it to a lady in the Wisconsin congregation; another, to someone in the Farmington congregation. But never mind that — here you have it: Read it all

Three Days and No More

Resurrection morning at the tomb -- experiences at the tomb of Jesus.

Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Jesus

Disconnected excerpts from a John 20:1-18 story I wove about Resurrection morning.

  • The Jewish religious leaders remembered something Jesus’ own disciples had already forgotten…
  • Sometime after sunset Saturday night, another great earthquake shook the area…
  • Those who saw Jesus die as well as those who heard of His death knew where He belonged.
  • As soon as she got close enough to see through the gray of dawn’s early light, she peered more intently in startled astonishment.
  • The incredulous men listened as the exhausted, perhaps hysterical woman poured out her report.
  • It looked as though Jesus’ body were still there, except for that disconcerting gap between the body wrappings and the head wrapping!
  • And put yourself in John’s shoes — how would you go about telling Jesus’ mother that you believed He was alive again!
  • The conversation and its matter-of-factness seem to indicate that Mary didn’t recognize these folks as angels.
  • Though she saw Him and scrutinized Him carefully, He just was not anybody she recognized.
  • Imagine the Lord’s compassion for Mary as He listened to her sobbed reply.
  • Or she could have stiffened in shock, and then turned back slowly, recognition surging through her incredulity…
  • So instead of trying to figure out what the Lord meant, notice instead the clear clue to the nature Jesus’ resurrected body.
  • Such a beautiful name for the disciples, even though they had denied and abandoned Him!

Read it all

The Bait of Satan

Your response to offense will determine your future, temporally and eternally.

Last year I listened to a sermon preached in a little church in Texas. I was so impacted by it, I shared it with a friend. The message is “The Bait of Offenses” (preached by the now-late Mervin Graber).

Not long after, my friend was in the book section of a thrift store and saw this book title: The Bait of Satan (by John Bevere). Curious by its similarity to the sermon title, he pulled it off the shelf and saw it addressed the same subject. So he bought it. And read it. And loaned it to me.

I was so impressed by the message that I read the book. Wow! Before long, my friend’s wife found another copy of the book in a thrift store. She bought it and my friend gave it to me for Christmas or my birthday.

You can listen to the sermon version “The Bait of Offenses” at my Anabaptists website. I urge you to do so. Please.

The rest of this post is more about the book as well as some excerpts from it. Read it all

Sasha Krause: Lost, Found, Buried

Actually, they found and buried only the body Sasha inhabited for over 27 years.

Sasha Marie Krause went alone to church on Saturday, January 18. It was just a quick trip for some Sunday School materials. She needed them to teach the preschool class the next day at her congregation’s outreach in Colorado.

Unscheduled in the grand scheme of life, that short drive to church was routine in that it was nothing special. She arrived safely…and vanished, no more to be seen in this life by family and friends. But someone else was with her. Someone not yet identified. Someone who took her or her lifeless body to Arizona.

On Friday (February 28) her body completed its earthly travels, this time in Texas to its burial.Read it all

How to Respond to Treachery in the Church

A determination to show love, forgiveness, and grace

What I say to treacherous, deceitful Brothers in Christ:

  • I love you.
  • I forgive you.
  • I don’t see you as my enemy.
  • I don’t trust you so much.
  • My trust is available for you to win back.

I want to say those five things consistently, dependably, and truthfully from my heart. Amen.

Glory to pass over a transgression (Proverbs 19:11) Read it all

Did Michelle Obama and Donald Trump Voluntarily Damn Themselves?

When people don't forgive, what consequences do they suffer?

Mrs. Obama: “I’d never forgive him” (speaking of Mr. Trump).
Mr. Trump’s response: “I’ll never forgive him” (speaking of Mrs. Obama’s husband).HT: https://www.mediaite.com/tv/trump-fires-back-after-michelle-obama-says-she-wont-forgive-his-birtherism-i-wont-forgive-barack/

Last I read, both the current President and the former first lady say they are Christians.

Then they need to forgive anyone they are refusing to forgive. The Lord Jesus (the Christ in Christians, you know) commands it plainly:

“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses” (Mark 11:25,26).

I’m sure Michelle Obama and Donald Trump have read or quoted the Lord’s Prayer. Here’s a part that’s easy to coast over glibly, even unwittingly: Read it all

A Quiet and Peaceable Life

In all godliness and honesty -- but to what purpose?

“Lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:2-4).

Quiet, peaceable, godly, honest — does that describe the life I’ve chosen for myself?

For what purposes do I want such a life?

Serving the Lord Acceptably
(1 Timothy 2)

Serving the Lord acceptably with prayer and thankfulness.
Gender roles in church. Christian dress and adornment.
How to pray for political leaders.

(PS: Posted via email instead of the Web, so this might not be formatted properly or exquisitely.)

Above all, love God!