Anabaptist Perspectives

Mambadu was a witch doctor and animist priest in Sierra Leone for 11 years and was overseer of 13 villages and their priests for six of those years. When Mambadu lived in darkness, he was involved in sacrificing children, calling down curses, and using dark powers to control the natural elements. Mambadu tells how the Gospel arrived in his village for the first time and how the power of Christ tra...

What would your faith be like if you didn’t have access to the Bible? Joe Fleming explains how (and why) this is reality for countless Christians across West Africa and beyond. Joe shares stories from his years of missions experience, where he has witnessed the power of God’s Word to bring people to Christ and into spiritual maturity. The Word of God is living and powerful, and we should never tak...

Phil Yoder moved with his family to Costa Rica in 1968, when he was a teenager. The early days after moving were difficult. Shortly after his family arrived, a volcanic eruption forced them out of their home. Their business venture didn’t work out, and they struggled to find somewhere to live. All of this was in addition to the challenges that come with adapting to a new culture and language. From...

Markus Meena was born into a difficult situation in northern India. His parents were unable to care well for him and sent him to an orphanage, hoping he would have a better life there. Markus tells the story of how he found Christ and gave his life to ministry. He explains the basics of Hindu beliefs and tells about the suffering that came to him and his family as a result of their conversion to C...

Are all theological issues of equal importance? Or should we give greater emphasis to some issues, and be more willing to give and take on others? Paul Lamicela makes the case for theological triage, a framework that defines how core various theological concepts are to orthodox Christianity. The study center Paul started (Lancaster Anabaptist Study Center) “A Call for Theological Triage and Christ...

What is catechesis, and why does it matter for our churches? Mr. Russell returns to the podcast to discuss how we prepare people for joining the church, how the early church did this, and what he believes that preparation process should look like. Here is a previous episode with David Bercot on infant baptism This is the xxxth episode of Anabaptist Perspectives, a podcast, blog, and YouTube channe...

What would it be like to feel like your whole life was an accident? What if you didn’t know who you really were? Grant Bontrager always knew as a child that he was different. One day, the reality of just how different he really was crashed into his life. Born as the result of abuse, Grant tells how Christ redeemed his story by entering into the intense pain that came to Grant and his family throug...

It is common to hear people lament about how the world is getting worse and worse, and as we look at the news and what is happening around the world. Yet there are secular optimists who make a strong, data-driven case that in many ways the world is better than in the past. Marlin and Jaran engage with this idea and the concept of Christian optimism. They also look at how this interacts with histor...

How did we get the Bible that we have today? What are the “missing books” of the Bible? Can we trust that the Bible we have is accurate and complete? Stephen Russell explores how we got the Bible in its present form and how the canon of Scripture was recognized. Church History in Plain Language The Bible Was Not Written in English. Why Is That Important? - Andrew Lamicela Here is a previous episod...

The sacraments of the church were some of the most fundamental issues in the Reformation debates. Dean Taylor explains how intense these differences in theology were and how the Anabaptists were often persecuted and executed for not fitting with the standard Catholic or Protestant teaching of the time. So, what did the first Anabaptists believe about the sacraments? Dean’s previous episode on the...

Does God still have special plans for ethnic Israel? Julian Stoltzfus argues that God made specific promises to Abraham and David that will be fulfilled in a future millennium. This will involve genuine heart revival and faith in Christ on the part of Israel and will happen in God’s time not ours. There is no reason Christians should politically support the current Israeli nation state. Article on...

Stephen Russell was raised a Roman Catholic and had ambitions of becoming a priest but ultimately left and joined the Anabaptists. In this episode, he explains the key doctrines that caused him to leave and where the Catholic church got several important points wrong. Mr. Russell explains some of the core Catholic beliefs, such as prayer to the saints and the Eucharist, while also showing how we o...

When David Bercot was an Anglican priest, he believed in infant baptism and thought this was the position of the early church. Over time, he reevaluated this belief. In this episode he describes why he became convinced infant baptism was not the position of the early church. David Bercot's faith story Origen’s Commentary on Romans volume 1 Origen's Commentary on Romans volume 2 The Ante-Nicene Fat...

Nils grew up in the Netherlands and was militantly against Christianity; he fell deeply into the occult, drugs, and atheism. He explains why he believed this way and describes the darkness that comes from a life removed from Christ. Eventually, God redeemed Nils while he was living in Shanghai, China, though the whole of his journey into the church spanned across two continents. Saher’s Story Will...

Saimir Braho lived under the extreme Communist rule in Albania, sometimes called the “North Korea” of Europe. Saimir experienced the tragedy of how far an atheistic worldview can drive a country away from the good God intends. For many years, Saimir himself did not believe in Christ, but over time he began to realize the deep failures of mankind when it turns its back on God and religion. In this...

On February 28, America and Israel began attacks on Iran. But why did this war start? What happened in the past to lead the world up to this moment? Chris Stoltzfus has studied Islam and the Middle East for years and he has spent time in Iran. He brings his extensive study and experience in the Middle East to this interview to bring clarity to a complex situation. Chris explains how we should resp...

How should we engage with, and respond to, the many hot-button current issues, such as the American abduction of the president of Venezuela? The endless news cycle adds much confusion, and it can be hard to know how to live as citizens of God’s Kingdom, while also living within earthly kingdoms in this world. And what does Romans 13 have to do with this? Jaran and Marlin examine several recent eve...

Bryant Martin unpacks a theology of hospitality and gives practical ways we can “extend our tables in the wilderness” to reach into a broken and hopeless world. How can hospitality be effective ministry? How can we create life-giving spaces for the world around us? Bryant started Sowers Harvest Cafe; find more info here . Extend Cafés . The Ideal Resistance Doing Business Differently by Bryant Mar...

There are many different interpretations of the sacraments throughout church history. Dean Taylor takes us on a journey through what the early church believed about baptism and the eucharist (Lord’s supper) and helps us think about how their beliefs can inform our lives and churches today. Dean’s previous episode on the sacraments Ante-Nicene Fathers (online for free) Origen’s Commentary on Romans...

Vince Lewis completed two years of officer training followed by 24 years of being an officer in the United States Air Force. He then worked for 14 years in weapons development for the Department of Defense on projects such as the B-2 Stealth Bomber. Eventually, Vince came to a different understanding of war and saw how Christ’s followers are instead to love their enemies. Vince draws from his expe...

Sometimes communion services in Mennonite churches can be a time of anxiety and bring up questions about assurance of salvation. Why is that? What is a proper way to think about and prepare for communion? Verlon Miller and Marlin Sommers explain how Mennonite churches traditionally have observed communion, and how we can come to the Lord’s Supper with joy rather than fear. Anabaptists and the Sacr...

Paul Lamicela makes the case that we often oversimplify the kingdom of God. He takes us on a journey through Scripture to discover a fuller picture of God’s kingdom. What did this kingdom mean to the Old Testament saints and the New Testament church? What does it mean today? Exile and the Storyline of the Bible The Crucified King by Jeremy R. Treat Biblical Storyline Academy This is the 305th epis...

Cancer affects or will affect most of us, whether it comes to us personally or to someone we love. Arvin Martin reflects on his own journey with cancer and offers some ways to think about God’s love and care through the pain cancer brings. Walking the Talk by Arvin Martin Cancer Statistics Losing Linda Mae: A Cancer Caregiving Memoir Trauma-Informed Churches - Janelle Glick This is the 304th episo...

Dean Taylor returns to the podcast to explain the sacraments and what this means for the life of the church. Historically, the Anabaptist view of the sacraments was a major issue in their breaking from the Catholics and Protestants. What were the issues at stake in those debates? What is the Anabaptist view of the sacraments? How should this inform how we live and do church? Dean’s episode on the...

Albania was once the strictest and most isolated of the Communist countries and was sometimes called the “North Korea” of Europe. Saimir Braho was born in Albania during the Communist regime and witnessed the period of religious turmoil that came after the collapse of Communism. Saimir eventually embraced the truth of Christianity, despite living in a country in which talking about God had been gr...