Strength to Strength Sisters welcomed Linda Miller to share on how God redemptively lightens the dark journeys of our lives.

In a world of brokenness, we experience pain and hardship. We shy away form suffering, longing for healing and relief from the pain. How can there be beauty in my difficult circumstances? Can any good come out of the hard situation I’m in? God is our Redeemer; He makes all things beautiful in His time. He walks with us in our suffering, to bring about His purpose.

An interactive question-and-answer period follows.

Strength to Strength welcomed Josué Moreno to share his testimony of faith as a disciple of Jesus in Mexico. 

Josué tells his life story of growing up in a happy evangelical home. Growing up, he experienced doubts and fears, and departed from the Lord for a season of his life. He came across the Anabaptists at age 15. 

In his words, “The Lord brought me home again. I just want to follow and serve My King here in Mexico!” 

An interactive question-and-answer period follows.

Strength to Strength welcomed Shawn Miller to share an overview presentation of the kingdom of God.

To be a “kingdom person” means to be under the reign of God. Like earthly nations, Jesus’ kingdom has four components including a leader, constitution, domain, and citizens. However, in contrast to the nations of the world, Jesus’ kingdom is international. He came as a King with all the intended consequences of that terminology. His citizens are disbursed among all nations of the world.

How can we present this idea of God’s kingdom to the world around us? A visual presentation can help people firmly grasp the meaning of this concept and open the door for deep discussions about what it means to be a part of the marvelous kingdom of God.

An interactive question-and-answer period follows.

Strength to Strength Sisters welcomed Darla Weaver for a practical topic for women of all ages.

What happens when we bring God into the secret longings of our heart? What does emotional purity look like for a young woman? How does God fit into that vulnerable part of our life and what do we do with these desires for intimacy and connection?

Join us as we talk about God’s heart for purity, His desire for a relationship of intimacy with His daughters, and the why’s behind His standards of holiness.

An interactive question-and-answer period follows.

Mothers, please be conscious of the age and maturity of your listening daughters. Thank you!

Strength to Strength welcomed four brothers from four different countries on an off-Saturday to join us to discuss the current Ukrainian crisis. Each of the four brothers are directly involved in providing assistance through various channels.

Jesus’ words in the Judgment scene are a reminder that while we serve others, we are serving Jesus:

An interactive question-and-answer period follows.

Strength to Strength welcomed Zack Johnson to discuss how those politically uninvolved are to remain active in effecting change in the world.

Given voting is an abdication of responsibility, then how should Christ followers be reclaiming responsibility? This talk explores Christianity’s burden in global poverty and world change. Together with David Anderson, the two introduce James Hunter’s paradigms in To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World.

An interactive question-and-answer period follows.

Strength to Strength welcomed Charlton Sweazy to introduce and discuss a new Bible study course.

Many people don’t have a comprehensive understanding of the storyline of the Bible. As a result they blindly follow false teachers who strip them of their money, life and dignity while fanning a false hope of a better future. We believe everyone should understand the storyline of the Bible from creation to new creation, freeing them to love and create a better world without being stripped of their possessions by scamming pastors.

The new “Creation to New Creation” (C2NC) Bible study course is no ordinary course where you go and do as you please. Instead, the goal is deep, biblical transformation over time.

We want to empower and equip Gospel-informed disciples of the Kingdom to answer the call to a serious and holy witness for our King Jesus.

An interactive question-and-answer period follows.

Strength to Strength Sisters welcomed Deborah Bercot to reflect on characters whose lives are worth replicating.

Running the race faithfully to the end, even unto death. Our sisters and brothers have done this through the ages. Deborah presents a glimpse into the lives of some early Christian and Anabaptist sisters who faithfully ran their race toward Christ and eternity.

An interactive question-and-answer period follows.

Strength to Strength welcomed Dean Taylor to discuss the atonement.

When it comes to the doctrine of the Atonement, most theologically minded Anabaptists (including myself) would consider ourselves a “Christus-Victor-guy.” What I mean by this is that we believe that the story of what Jesus accomplished on the cross includes the bigger picture of Christ’s victory over Satan and all of Satan’s kingdom. That’s good. However, what’s not good is that in the process of championing Jesus’ victory over Satan, we have often thrown the sacrifice of Christ under the bus.

As a historical theologian, I feel that many in the neo-Anabaptist world have gone way too far with “Christus Victor” and “Ransom Atonement” theories of the Atonement. I think I understand why we have done this. But we were wrong. For this reason, I wrote a paper (see link below) where I discussed a few possible reasons why this reductionism occurred. I called this problem “Kingdom Reductionism.”

The current rhetoric among neo-Anabaptist (and many in the academic world) is that the sacrifice themes of the Atonement, commonly known as “Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA),” started centuries after the early Church with Anselm in the middle ages. In my paper and in this presentation, I look at several critical early Christian passages related to the Atonement. In doing so, I demonstrate that from a historical perspective, this rhetoric is complete nonsense.

In saying that, please understand that I will not be trying to claim that PSA was the exclusive view of the early Church. All that I am saying is that PSA was very clearly one of the metaphors used by the early Church to describe the miracle of the Atonement. From a historical perspective, this is easily proven.

As a conclusion, I argue that pastorally I believe that the loss of PSA has hurt our churches producing unnecessary division, a loss of holiness, spiritual pride, and anemic worship.

An interactive question-and-answer period follows.

Download: Kingdom Reductionism by Dean Taylor

January 22, 2022

Strength to Strength welcomed four brothers on an off-Saturday to introduce and discuss ministry opportunities.

The unsung heroes of Jesus’ kingdom are the faithful disciples who serve their Lord without fanfare or applause.

Whether you are a warrior in secret prayer, a widow who casts in the last two mites, or a worker advancing the bleeding edge of the kingdom, you can rest assured that deeds of service do not escape the eye of our benevolent King.

An interactive question-and-answer period follows.

https://strengthtostrength.org/walk-the-talk-1/