Philip Friesen

ON A HOPELESS PRAYER

But Samuel replied, “Why ask me, since the Lord has left you and has become your enemy? The Lord has done just as he said he would. He has torn the kingdom from you and given it to your rival, David. The Lord has done this to you today because you refused to carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites. What’s more, the Lord will hand you and the army of Israel over to the Philistines...

Philip Friesen

The Mexican Border Today

ON BOUNDARIES The gospel breaks down boundaries and brings humanity together as one in Jesus Christ. What does this mean for the  need of secure and defensible borders we all assume to be necessary? We will look at social boundaries, physical boundaries, and national boundaries. Social Boundaries Soon after Pentecost  in the New Testament, certain social boundaries began to disintegrate.  The Jerusalem...

Philip Friesen

Why I Wrote the Book- OT Roots of Nonviolence

My story and testimony: My paternal grandparents came to Minnesota as children of German-speaking Mennonite immigrants from the Ukraine. They left land, wealth, and comfort in Russia for the sake of conscience, and the issue was military conscription. What they did not fully understand was the reality that they were buying stolen property when they came to Minnesota. They bought land taken violently from...

Philip Friesen

Introduction to OT Roots of Nonviolence

On a sunny day in 2001, the World Trade Center in New York was completely demolished. Those who flew the planes and those who sent them did so, as they claimed, in the name of God. More than three thousand years ago, the city of Jericho was similarly destroyed and devoted in destruction to God. What was the difference between these two events? Four thousand years ago Abraham devoted his son to God and...

Philip Friesen

NATURE, GENDER, AND THE IMAGE OF GOD

The invisible things of Him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made- Romans 1:18 The natural world exists by reason of an imbalance that keeps the world going. Imbalance of nature creates wind and weather and the movement of continents. It keeps the stars and planets in motion. Perfect equilibrium would be death.From physics we understand the...