Is John 3:16 Only About Life In The Hereafter?

The small blue dot in space we get to inhabit inhabit is a part of the vast cosmos God loves.

"Christ is the perfect teacher, and his sacrifice is the perfect sacrifice."    

- Menno Simons 

One of the most quoted texts in the Christian Bible is John 3:16, often referred to as "the gospel in a nutshell." It is part of a response to Nicodemus, a noted religious leader who came late one night to learn more about Jesus, whom he addressed as "Rabbi" and as "a teacher sent from God." 

Here's the key verse from that conversation (King James Version):

For God so loved the world (the cosmos, a word used to describe the complete, orderly and harmonious universe)

that he gave his only begotten Son (God in human form, incarnate as a human being)

that whosoever believeth in him (all new-born people everywhere who embrace and live by his life-giving message)

should not perish (come to an end or be destroyed)

but have everlasting life (a life that will be forever secure and lasting)."

Jesus goes on to say, in the next verse "For God sent not his Son into the world (again the cosmos) to condemn the world (cosmos), but that the world (cosmos) might be saved."

We have typically interpreted these words to apply only to how each of us can receive assurance of living forever in a far off heaven, based on the sacrificial death, by crucifixion, Jesus was later to suffer. 

But is it only that, or is Jesus' redeeming work even more consequential that just that?

In other words, is God, through the Word made flesh, intending to salvage and restore all of creation to its original state of shalom, where "nothing is marred and nothing is missing?"

I'm beginning to see it as both, as later affirmed by the apostle Paul: 

"God was pleased to have his whole nature living in Christ. God was pleased to bring all things back to himself. That’s because of what Christ has done. These things include everything on earth and in heaven. God made peace (Greek word is eirene, Hebrew is shalom) through Christ’s blood, by his death on the cross."   - Colossians 1:19-20 (NIRV)

Two More Deaths At Deerfield Prison Last Week

Deerfield Correctional Center houses over 1000 men, many with serious medical conditions requiring costly tax funded medical care. According to someone there I regularly correspond with they currently have no full time MD on staff. 

Last week's deaths were not untypical, with one person dying of cancer who had just been put on chemo, and the other with severe heart disease.

 Here are the names of some persons who have agreed to meet with Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections Chadwick Dotson at an upcoming visit of the facility. 

1) Charles Zellers, 1036758

Born: 04/10/68 (Age 57)

COMPAS Score: LOW RISK for General or Violent Recidivism
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Long COVID, severe sleep apnea, severe Peripheral Neuropathy, Pulmonary Fibrosis, Dupuytren's Contracture (both hands), and he must be on 2 Liters of continuous supplemental oxygen.
Home Plan: 1/3 ownership of home at 723 East 6th Avenue, Kenbridge, VA, with his two sisters
Financial Goal: To be on Full Disability
Mandatory Release Date: N/A
Infraction free over 25 years
First time in prison.
January 2026, would have served 33 consecutive years.

2) John Thomas Carter, 1419465
Born: 06/04/56
COMPAS Score: ?
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Legally blind, had reconstructive surgery to face, has a tube in his trachea to breathe, severe headaches, intestinal issues, and etc.
Home Plan: Live with son and daughter-in-law in Farmville, VA
Financial Goal: Social Security
Mandatory Release Date: 10/??/42

3) Denny Coggin Melton, 1177600
Born: 03/05/1954
COMPAS Score: ?
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Black lung, Cancer, Diabetic, COPD, etc.
Home Plan: To Brother Allen Thomason @ 28 Clover Hill Drive, Stafford, VA 22554 (540) 846-1550
Financial Goal: Social Security
Mandatory Release Date: N/A

4).Jackson Puckett, 1456242
Born: 10/19/51
COMPAS Score: LOW
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Stage 4 Kidney Disease, broken screw in neck (makes him shake), needs pacemaker, needs cataract surgery, type 1 diabetic, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, hiatus hernia, acid reflux disease, and etc.
Home Plan: Own home at 403 Fields Avenue, Blue Ridge, VA 24064
Financial Goal: Social Security
Mandatory Release Date: 08/11/31

5) Linwood T. James, #1095666
Born: (Age 67)
COMPAS Score: Low/Low
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Back issues, disabled veteran
Home Plan: Live with sister
Financial Goal: Social Security, Veterans Administration
Mandatory Release Date: N/A
Infraction free 20 years
Served 37 years

6) Troy L. Weeks, 1037843
Born: (Age 58)
COMPAS Score: Medium/Low
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Crohns Disease, Hypoglycemic, Pancreas problems
Home Plan: with brother in Vinton, VA
Financial Goal: Working with DOC or P&P as a Peer Recovery Specialist
Mandatory Release Date: Single Life (Fishback)
Infraction free 17 years
Served 29 years

Some others willing to meet:
1) Dennis Ray Graves, 1176500 - Legally blind
2) Minor Junior Smith, 1158588 - Legally blind
3) Richard Palmer, 1092784 - Legally blind, Diabetic, Diabetic Neuropathy, Lower Back issues, Circulation issues, etc.
4) George Edward Cooley, 1135561 - Dementia
5) Oscar Lee Robbins, 1119888
6) John Bennie Williams, 1091323 - Legally blind

Guest Post: Justice Matters DN-R Column: Introducing The Public Defender's Office

Abigail Thibeault (Tee-bow) is a real blessing to our community.

When I moved to Harrisonburg in 2021, I thought I would work for the public defender.

I was living in northern Virginia, where I worked as an assistant public defender in Maryland and was committed to public defense. I was shocked to learn that Harrisonburg and Rockingham County didn’t have a public defender’s office. Public defenders staffed courtrooms in Staunton, Winchester, Charlottesville, and even Page County, but not here.

In Maryland, every county, no matter how small, has a public defender’s office. Instead of waiting, I joined the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Western District of Virginia and daydreamed about the day the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission (VIDC) might open an office in Harrisonburg.

I’m a public defender to my core, and I believe in the power of a public defender’s office. An office of attorneys and professionals committed to indigent defense working together can stand up for defendants and stand against the abuse of power in a way that individual attorneys may not be able to. Harrisonburg and Rockingham County still had court-appointed attorneys — zealous lawyers in private practice willing to take on court-appointed cases individually — but no office solely dedicated to indigent defense. I wondered why a place as big as Rockingham County didn’t have this awesome resource until last fall.

Last fall, I left the Federal Public Defender’s Office, and we quietly began to build the first Office of the Public Defender for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. The work started years ago, when the VIDC, community members, courthouse stakeholders such as VIDC Commissioner and local attorney Aaron Cook, and local government, along with state Dels. Tony Wilt, R-Rockingham, and Sam Rasoul, R-Roanoke, who cosponsored the bill that established our office, started advocating for public defense in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Our office was founded on the hard work of countless individuals.

For me, the work started last September, in my living room, where I reviewed employee applications and introduced myself via email to everyone I imagined might be helpful — the sheriff, the commonwealth attorney, the Department of Social Services, the Community Services Board — anyone I thought might be a colleague, ally, or resource for our clients.

In October, I became “we,” and we began working in our office at 50 West Market Street. The office manager and investigator joined me at a long conference table in an otherwise empty office, where we began to imagine our office and set big goals.

We spent months hiring nine other attorneys, two mitigation specialists, two paralegals, and two legal assistants. Finally, we rounded out our team on Sept. 10, when our tenth attorney joined the office.

The Office of the Public Defender represents individuals facing criminal charges in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County who cannot afford to hire private counsel. Most people charged in criminal court are eligible for court-appointed representation, which includes the services of the public defender. The VIDC is dedicated to protecting and defending the rights and dignity of our clients in criminal court through zealous, compassionate, high-quality legal advocacy. We take our mission seriously. We work to protect our clients’ rights, knowing that our advocacy ensures fairness for every member of our community. Every day, we hold the line on our Constitutional rights and the fair enforcement of the law.

We believe that your wealth should not dictate the quality of the legal advocacy you have in criminal court. To that end, we fight for freedom every day. We cherish our own and take to heart the words of Toni Morrison, “the function of freedom is to free somebody else.” We further strive to show the Court, the Commonwealth, and the community the whole of our clients, who are too often the most vulnerable residents of Rockingham County.

We are pleased to partner with many outstanding community advocates in town, including the Valley Justice Coalition, which played a key role in the establishment of our office. Through these partnerships and our work in the court, we aim to enhance public safety. That may sound strange given we defend people charged with committing crimes, but we believe that a fair, humane, and forgiving court system improves safety and reduces crime.

To celebrate our first year, we are hosting an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. on Oct. 24 at our office, 50 W. Market St., in Harrisonburg. Please take a moment to visit our office, speak with our team, and ask any questions you may have about public defense. Light fare will be provided. We are grateful to be here.

Abigail M. Thibeault is the chief public defender of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Justice Matters columns are provided by members of the Valley Justice Coalition, a local citizen voice for criminal justice reform in our community and in the Commonwealth since 2014.

I'm Becoming An Unapologetic 'Proxy Beggar'

 

I picture homeless Gazan families, malnourished Yemeni mothers, starving
South Sudanese children and millions of others in desperate need around
the world begging as if their lives depended on it. For all too many, they do.
Are they not our neighbors?

Like the pious priest and Levite in Jesus' story in the gospel of Luke, chapter 15, we find it easy to "pass by on the other side" when we see images of hungry, homeless and helpless neighbors in faraway places. 

Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan in answer to the question, "Who is my neighbor?" To love our neighbors as ourselves means we are to have the same regard for their wellbeing as for our own. But are our neighbors just those who live near us and who are much like us, or is the whole world both God's neighborhood and our own?

In the gospel story, Jesus affirms the "good neighbor" as the person who, even though from another place and of a different faith and culture, sees a need and does everything he can to meet it. Ignoring suffering, passing by on the other side when people are dying for lack of care, is not an option.

One opportunity to help fellow neighbors in need is to give to organizations like Mennonite Central Committee--or to any of scores of similar organizations--is to make a generous contribution. MCC, for example, accepts donations on their website and receives help from efforts like the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale, where all profits from food, auction and other sales go to help those in need. They also have a Sharing Our Surplus (SOS) giving table for making donations by check, cash or credit card.  All donations will be matched dollar for dollar up to a grand total of $25,000.

You can also donate on the VMRS website by credit card or by sending a check made out to VMRS (with SOS on the memo line) and mail it to VMRS, 601 Parkwood Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22802. Those gifts will also be matched.

On behalf of the desperately poor, on behalf of their compassionate Creator and on behalf of the servant of the poor, Jesus himself, I beg your help.

Not Your Ordinary Stewardship Seminar

Keynote speaker Sam Funkhouser notes: "We live like royalty, enjoy
a level of prosperity that is unjust and unsustainable, and that is
 predicated on the poverty of others...  Nothing could be more clear in
the teachings of Jesus and the prophets than a condemnation of this
kind of wealth."

The Virginia Mennonite Conference is offering a ground-breaking workshop at the Harrisonburg Mennonite Church Saturday, November 15, on "A Rebirth of Anabaptism: Living Justly, Joyfully and Sustainably." The event is open to anyone interested, with a registration fee of only $15.

Here are some of the special features of this 9 am-2 pm event:

• The keynote speaker is a Princeton Seminary graduate, a farmer, and a member of the Old German Baptist Brethren, New Conference.

• The noon meal will be a stone soup vegetable stew with ingredients brought by participants, served with an assortment of home baked breads provided by the planning committee.

• Washington-based attorney J. Daryl Byler, with panelists Pat Hostetter Martin, Carmen Schrock-Hurst and Steven Pardini will offer practical ways to live more justly, joyfully and sustainably.

• An original theme song has been created for the event by local songwriter Seth Chrissman, and music will be led by George Makinto, an award winning international musician and  performer.

• Generous donations will be received from those attending in support of Mennonite Central Committee in support of its worldwide relief and development work.

• There will be table groups for Bible studies on the topic and for discussion of what it means to live justly in today's deeply troubled world. 

You can also register at Virginia Mennonite Conference, 601 Parkwood Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22802

**************************************************

Honor the Lord in the works of your hands, and let the light of the Gospel shine through you. Love your neighbor. Deal with an open, warm heart your bread to the hungry, clothe the naked, and do not tolerate having two of anything, because there are always those who are in need. 

- Anna Jansz, 16th century Anabaptist martyr 

The whole scriptures speak of mercifulness and love, and it is the only sign whereby a true Christian may be known… All those who are born of God, who are gifted with the Spirit of the Lord, take to heart the needs of the saints. They entertain those in distress. They take the stranger into their houses. They comfort the afflicted; assist the needy; clothe the naked; feed the hungry; do not turn their face from the poor, and do not despise their own flesh…” 

- Anabaptist reformer Menno Simons, Complete Works p. 558 

A Prisoner Creates Art In Support Of Those In Need--And Invites Us To Match His Generosity

This beautiful manger scene, crafted by someone incarcerated at the Dillwyn Correctional Center, was donated to the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale's annual auction to help raise money for world relief. The creche is currently on display in the lobby of VMRC's Park Place, along with other items for the Sale.

Over  4000 people are expected to attend this year's Relief Sale at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds October 3-4. Among them are the many who contribute to make this fundraiser possible for Mennonite Central Committee, mostly by donating auction and other sale items and through selfless hours of volunteer time to make this an annual event a success. 

Many of the rest of us will help mostly by being consumers of the food and craft items offered at the event and not primarily as actual contributors to this effort. We will leave the Sale with full stomachs, good feelings about having enjoyed a pleasant day, and with whatever items we have added to our store of possessions.

Could more of us consumers become generous contributors as well? 

One way is by encouraging increased cash, check or credit card donations at the SOS (Sharing Our Surplus) giving table, or for those unable to attend, by sending a gift to the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale, 601 Parkwood Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22802, with checks made out to VMRS. 

On the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community campus I am personally collecting contributions for the SOS effort, which since 2017 has raised well over $200,000, thus substantially adding to the total income produced by food, craft and other sales.

Having said all that, this effort isn't primarily about raising record funds for the Relief Sale, or even for MCC. Rather it's about loving our hungry, homeless and hurting neighbors around the world just as we love and care for ourselves, neighbors whom God loves and longs to bless with daily bread and adequate shelter.

Let's all join good people like the one who created the Christmas creche shown above, someone who gave so much of his time, talent and meager means for a cause he deeply believes in. 

Here's how he describes his amazing creation:

Artist: Brian E. Brubaker

Dillwyn Correctional Center

A Virginia Model Facility

1522 Prison Rd.

Dillwyn, VA 23936

This project made for the 2025 Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale is

in part made possible by the many members of the Mennonite

community residing in the Virginia Mennonite Retirement

Community, the greater Harrisonburg area, and my friends and relatives scattered across our great nation. I simply would not be able to craft if not for those who have chosen to journey with me supporting my artistic endeavors during my incarceration. I must also give credit to the Administration here at DWCC who give artists the ability to purchase Elmer’s Glue for artists like myself who work in three dimensions. This project required the following materials to create and my only tool not created by myself that I can purchase off the commissary used was the tiny 2” in length, fingernail clipper used to cut every popsicle to size.

2 boxes of popsicle sticks (roughly 2000 stick)

25 pencils split in half

4-sheets of 15”x20” aquarelle artists painting paper

16 8 1\2”x11” cardboard legal paper pad backings

17 4 oz. bottles of Elmer’s Glue

2 16oz. Peanut butter jars of sifted sand to make plaster

1 cornstarch shower powder bottle added into the plaster

2 handsfull of stones used to the stable/chimney construction

4 an estimate of the number of 2 oz. Bottles of acrylic paint

6 broken or worn out mini fingernail clippers

2 bottles of Kiwi brand brown shoe polish

Brian would be honored to have his effort inspire each of us to make an equally generous contribution.

https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2023/10/some-reflections-after-2023-va-relief.html

In Resigning As A Pastor, I Want To RE-sign As A Newborn In the Jesus Family

The Zion Mennonite Church nurtured and supported me
in the first two decades of my ministry as a pastor. 

It was September of1965, sixty years ago, that I was first licensed as a minister in the Virginia Mennonite Conference. I was only 26, and had no seminary trining when I began serving as an assistant pastor, then senior pastor, at Zion Mennonite for the next two decades while also teaching part time at Eastern Mennonite High School. 

In 1972-74 I was granted a two-year leave of absence to serve as an interim principal at Western Mennonite School in Oregon  and was later granted a nine-month leave to attend the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Indiana in 1983-84. Meanwhile I was also taking graduate courses at JMU and intermittently at Eastern Mennonite Seminary before finally completing a masters degree in counseling at JMU in 1979 and one at EMS in 1996. I could have never done that without the encouragement and help of my good wife, family and church family.

In 1988 I left Zion and accepted an assignment as a counselor and congregational resource pastor at VMC's new Family Life Resource Center, where I worked for the next 38 years while also serving as an unsalaried pastor of  Family of Hope, a house church congregation I've been a part of up to this day.

At 86, I am far past the age at which Virginia Conference pastors are expected to retire, and our aging house church no longer has the required ten households to be recognized as an official VMC congregation.

In consultation with our overseer Roy Hange, and in light of normal uncertainties about my future vitality and health, I've felt it was time to resign my official role as pastor of the house church I have loved and been an active part of for nearly four decades. I've expressed my willingness to continue being an active participant in whatever form Family of Hope may take in the future, whether as an official VMC congregation (with another pastor or pastoral team), or as simply a fellowship or cell group of people who meet for occasional fellowship, prayer and/or Bible study, but in which each member has transferred their membership to another congregation. 

Needless to say, I feel some sadness and loss in coming to this place, as well as feeling a pastoral obligation to make sure none of our members are left spiritually homeless should the congregation choose to disband. I am meeting with individual members and with the group to consider a range of possible options.

I am likewise encouraging the HomeTown Pastoral Counseling Group, where I still work one day a week, to seek a replacement for me.

Meanwhile I'm making a conscious choice to reclaim a new sense of just being a beloved child in God's great extended family. As such I choose to re-sign for the following:

Me at around six or seven.

I am re-signing to experience the wonder of being an ever more avid learner, reveling in more of the mystery and miracle of all God has created rather than primarily being in the role of a teacher for others.

I am re-signing for closer relationships with friends, family and members of my church family, recovering more of my role as a sibling and an "under-seer" rather than primarily as an elder or overseer.

I am re-signing for a time of intentional preparation for the life to come, of getting my earthly affairs in order and focusing on whatever legacy I can leave behind for my children, grandchildren and other loved ones everywhere.

This is but the beginning of a list I want to be adding to in the time I have left here on earth.