Fall 1989
Volume IV, Number 3
In This Issue
What Will It Look Like? by Carla Bailey
I remember a time when I thought the world was perfect — when I was still young enough not to know anyone who had died. We had lost a dog, of course, and a few canaries, but I hadn't liked them anyway. I slept in a room next to a window outside of which there was a lilac bush that perfumed my sleep every spring.
Psalm 27:13 and Luke 18:1-8 and Waldenström's Commentary by Paul Peter Waldenström and translated by Tommy Carlson
Dedicated to the Memory of Carl Carlson
Philip Jacob Spener, Part IV by Peter Sandstrom
We must beware of how we conduct ourselves in religious controversies with unbelievers and heretics." This fourth proposal for the renewal of the church from Philip Jacob Spener's Pia Desideria (p. 97) might also have been titled, "Disputation as if conversion, ecumenism, scripture, life, and the love of God and neighbor mattered." Spener's proposal #4 is an evangelical and ecumenical tour de force.
They Shall Be Oaks of Righteousness by Dennis Moon
The People Connection: Reflections on Two Years in China by Shelley Ritchie
It was not romantic. In my head I knew it would not be romantic. However, after a lifetime of missionary stories, a senior high school year in Japan, a graduate degree in East Asian history, and seven more-recent years of living and teaching in Asia, my bones expected China to be a land of romance.
Slippery Sam died on John's 45th birthday when Erik was 13 years old. Sam was a gentle, elusive rogue. His haunt was a pool just west of the Atlantic Ocean in the state of Massachusetts.
The Texts We Face by Earl Schwartz
The Bible is a tradition with a history. Its reputation precedes it. It is rare that someone reads from the Bible without first having heard something about it. Martin Buber, in an essay entitled "The Man of Today and the Jewish Bible," discusses the ways in which the Hebrew Bible's reputation may undermine its message.
Olle Engström is Rector Emeritus of Teologiska Seminariet Lidingö — the seminary of the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden. From 1968 to 1983 Olle Engström was a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches. For seven years he served as the moderator of one of the major units of the WCC: The Committee on Education and Renewal. In 1981, Uppsala University gave special recognition to Olle Engström's work and ministry by granting him the honorary degree of Doctor of Theology. Dr. Engström, a former professor of history, is a lay-person.
Ecumenical Experiences by Arthur W. Anderson
This summer I spoke in several non-Covenant, mainstream churches, filling in for some brethren. As I came into one of the churches, a gregarious gentleman said: "You should come here when our pastor is back, he is a top-notch preacher." He didn't know I was on deck that morning but I remembered what he said.
Covenant Annual Meeting Report; Mission Meeting June 1989; Sport Report; Pietists Dismount Mounties
Sport Prophecy by Eric Ecklund-Johnson
Here are my pre-season All-Pro picks. Note that I picked twelve defensive players in an attempt to include players from both 4-3 and 3-4 defenses. I couldn't think of a punter or a kicker for this team, but punters and kickers aren't real players anyway.
We are less surprised at the fact that we have published Pietisten for three years (12 issues) than we were a year ago when we had published for two years (8 issues) or when we had published for one year (4 issues). The only thing more surprising than completing one year was getting out the first issue.
From time to time we all need to "go back home" and check out our roots — that special place that had been such an important part of our lives — and, perhaps, continues to be. But not just the place, also the people who were an important part of our formative years. It was my privilege this past summer to journey home to renew my connections with relatives and friends.