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There are many Jesuses proclaimed by professing Christians—just as there were in Paul's day (2Cor11:4). But we are not called to follow white Jesus, wealthy Jesus, nationalistic Jesus, or violent Jesus. We're called to follow Jesus of Nazareth, prophetic Teacher, crucified Messiah, resurrected Lord.

submitted 19 hours ago • 1 comment

I've been participating in a Canadian Anglican-Mennonite dialogue over the past several months. Praying for our Anglican Church of Canada siblings as they gather over the next few days for their General Synod. Some significant decisions being considered!

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I heard of this a few days ago, now confirmed here. MCI in Gretna is closing its doors after more than 130 years. The school has been incredibly significant in the life of our congregations in southern Manitoba. Personally, our oldest attended MCI. Hard news. pembinavalleyonline.com/articles/gre...

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Looking forward to worshiping with North Kildonan Mennonite Church this morning! We're exploring what makes for a healthy body (of Christ).

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I'm thinking that now is not the best time to be reading dystopian fiction. Or else now is the best time to be reading dystopian fiction. 😬

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Lord, have mercy.

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To search for evidence for God betrays a certain understanding of God: that God is a being like other beings who leaves behind traces like other beings. What evidence does a God leave behind who is the one in whom all things exist, who is the ground of all being, besides the reality of being itself?

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

On this National Indigenous Peoples Day I think of TRC call to action 60, which calls us as churches to recognize "the need to respect Indigenous spirituality in its own right." I am grateful for the ways Indigenous spiritualities have shown me the Creator in ways I wouldn't otherwise see.

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1) Florida was simply the better team. 2) You can't give up that many first period goals and win a series. 3) Edmonton needs better goaltending.

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War is where all our worst attributes come together: our greed, our hubris, our fear of the other, our propensity for violence, our abuse of power, our thirst for vengeance, our disdain for the poor, our disrespect for the earth. There are no winners in war. There is only death.

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Being a Jesus-centred church means we recognize Jesus as the heart of our faith, and we don't allow other things to take Jesus' place. Jesus of Nazareth, prophetic Teacher and healing Saviour and crucified Messiah and resurrected Lord—this Jesus is at the centre of our faith and life as a church.-->

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Praying for peace in the Middle East—and the world—tonight. Lord, have mercy. #KyrieEleison

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Over the past few weeks I've been walking through Paul's letter to the #Colossians in my social media, sharing insights from a course I've just taught. Those posts are all collected here, forming a concise commentary on Colossians: michaelpahl.com/2025/06/02/c...

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

"Grace be with you" (Col 4:18). Paul normally ends his letters with a benediction such as this, often longer. "Grace" is Paul's shorthand for the unearned gifts of God, given to us in Jesus, given through the presence of the Spirit. Grace be with you, my friends.

submitted 8 days ago • 1 comment

"I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand" (Col 4:18). Common practice: hire a scribe to prepare the papyrus and ink, take notes, and write out the letter. The author, then—if able—would write a short greeting in their hand. In Gal 6:11 Paul contrasts his large writing with that of the scribe.

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Paul wrote a letter to the Laodiceans, yet we don't have such a letter (Col 4:16). Was this lost? Or was it, perhaps, the letter to Philemon, or to the Ephesians? Regardless, we know of at least two other letters Paul wrote which have been lost to us, to the Corinthians (see 1 Cor 5:9; 2 Cor 2:3-4).

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"Nympha and the church in her house" (Col 4:15). Women served as patrons, deacons, teachers, and even apostles in the early church (see Rom 16:1-7). However we understand prohibitions against women having authority (e.g. 1 Tim 2:12), in practice women had much authority—and should still have.

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"Luke, the beloved physician" (Col 4:14). This is the traditional author of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. We have no solid way of confirming this, but there's also no good reason to doubt this tradition.

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"My coworkers for the kingdom of God" (Col 4:11). As Christians, this is what we are called to be and to do: working together in Jesus' way of love to see God's reign come on earth as it is in heaven, God's reign of true justice and lasting peace and flourishing life for all people.

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More than 50,000 children killed or injured in Gaza in the past 20 months of IDF onslaught, according to UNICEF. 50,000 children. We need a permanent #CeasefireNOW.

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The Colossians have received instructions about "Mark the cousin of Barnabas"; they are to welcome him if he comes (Col 4:10). This is the same Mark that Paul didn't want to bring along on his second missionary journey (Acts 15:36-39). A reconciliation behind the scenes of the New Testament.

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

"Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you" (Col 4:9). This is the same Onesimus who is the runaway slave from Philemon, for whom Paul in that letter advocates. He is to be received "no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother" (Philmn 16).

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The ends of Paul's letters are often skipped over, but in some ways they're the most interesting parts (e.g. Col 4:7-18). It's there that we learn about Paul's coworkers and we get a window onto his closest relationships. We can even glimpse God at work behind the scenes of the NT.

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

Christians: "Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders... Let your speech always be gracious" (Col 4:5-6). I'll say it again for those in the back of the social media room: Christians are called to let our speech always be gracious toward those who are not Christians. Gracious. Always.

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

I'll say it again: for Paul "the word" is not the Bible—it's the gospel, the good-news story of Jesus, "the mystery of Christ" (Col 4:3). As Christians may we all—through our words and through our deeds—"reveal" this mystery clearly (4:4).

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"Devote yourselves to prayer, with thanksgiving" (Col 4:2). "Persevere in prayer" (Rom 12:12). "Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thess 5:17-18). Regular, persistent prayer—with thanksgiving—is a fundamental reality of the Christian life. It's the air we breathe.

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"They are defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus" (Acts 17:7). For Anabaptists, there are #NoKings but Jesus. And he's a king unlike any other. He gives himself for the world, and he gives his kingdom to the poor and the poor in spirit.

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The Christian nationalism we are seeing in the 🇺🇸 and bubbling up elsewhere is only superficially Christian. There is nothing of Christ in it—none of his mercy or self-giving love, none of his desire for the poor, the stranger, all those called "last" or "least," to experience God's flourishing life.

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

"There is no partiality" with God (Col 3:25); this is one of Paul's axioms (Rom 2:11; Gal 2:6; Eph 6:9). God regards each person equally, through the eyes of love, regardless of their ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, age, socio-economic status—or any other social distinction we might make.

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Col 3:18-4:1 is a "household code," similar to the better known one in Eph 5:22-6:9. How should we read these for today? A thread... (1/7)

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There is nothing either biblical or Christlike in driving foreign-born people from our midst, regardless of their immigration status. Moses: "Treat the foreigner living among you as the native-born; love them as yourself" (Lev 19:34). Jesus: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me" (Matt 25:35).

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

"Giving thanks to the Father" (Col 1:12). "Abounding in thanksgiving" (2:7). "Be thankful" (3:15). "Giving thanks to God the Father through Jesus" (3:17). "Devote yourselves to prayer, in thanksgiving" (4:2). Gratitude—and the basic contentment that comes with it—is essential to the Christian life.

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"Do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus": do everything as if you were an envoy of Jesus, specially commissioned by him (Col 3:17). That's a daunting task! But it is our calling as followers of Jesus: to be as Jesus to the world, especially in the way we love.

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“Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!” Deuteronomy 27:19 —I feel like I need to keep reposting this verse

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How does the good-news story of Jesus make itself at home among us? Through our teaching and our worship (Col 3:16). As with believers individually, so with the church collectively—we never move beyond the gospel, we never move beyond Jesus, but maturity is a deepening of life in Jesus (Col 2:6-7).

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments