Amish Life

My name is Eric, and I am from Saint Paul, Minnesota. When I was sixteen, I began studying all the different "tribes,” sects, and denominations of Christianity; I had a hunger for God and was searching for Him because I wasn't satisfied with the rigid formalism of the Lutheran church I was in.

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The Old Testament accounts relating to the worship of God make it clear that by the time Jesus walked this earth, the worship and service of the Jews no longer resembled what God had originally given them hundreds of years earlier. We, too, could be in danger of forgetting what God’s purpose for the Church is. Has the church service become just a tradition without real meaning—something that makes us feel religious, but leaves us empty afterward?

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All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

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Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. (John 16:13)

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This continues a study on the beliefs of our forefathers, based largely on the Dordrecht Confession of Faith from 1632. This section tells about Christology, or the study of Jesus Christ.

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Some time ago, a preacher in the Amish church left the culture with his wife and children. Not long after they left, the former preacher’s siblings and church came to visit the family.  They made one thing clear to the husband: your vow to the church is more binding than your vow to your spouse on your wedding day.  The siblings and church continued to pressure the father to separate himself from his wife and children, take up his church vow, and come back to the Amish.  

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This continues a study on the beliefs of our forefathers, based largely on the Dordrecht Confession of Faith from 1632. This section tells about theology, or the study of God. 

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This begins a study on the beliefs of our forefathers, based largely on the Dordrecht Confession of Faith from 1632. We will discuss different doctrines from the Dordrecht Confession and the Bible. Do we still believe today what our forefathers believed?  The first section, presented here, tells some of the history of the Anabaptists.

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My biggest question right now is about head covering. Should I? Shouldn't I? Is it a command? Does it matter? If you could help me gain clarity on this issue I would greatly appreciate it. It is the main area of contention between me and them and I really have no answer.

Keywords: 1 corinthians 11, amish woman, christian headship, head covering, head veiling, joe keim, mennonite woman  |   6 comments

This is what some local Amish have observed with regard to non-Amish churches in this area. Why, they exclaim, with no fences the sheep will all disappear! Funny they should say that, since sheep are such a good example of the difference between the Old Testament and New Testament system of governing. Also I appreciate the honest comment that permits a conversation. And my thanks to Andy who told me of this.

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The following letter was written and signed by a group of former Amish and mailed out to 10,000 Amish families in the Lancaster, PA area.

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So now that we have established a biblical response to the perpetrators of sexual abuse, let’s think about how we should be relating to the victims. Statistics tell us that 20.5 percent of the people in our churches are sexual abuse survivors.  If you have a church of 200 people, approximately 41 of those people are struggling to heal from sexual abuse. That is over one in five church members.  Yet, we hear almost nothing about sexual abuse.  We don’t talk about “such things.”  Often, we don’t even know who the victims are or how to help them.  And sometimes, if we do know the victims, we shame them instead of believing them.  We betray their trust instead of helping them heal.

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Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483. He was born on St. Martin’s Day, and so his parents named him Martin. Hans Luther, Martin’s father, was a miner. Hans and his wife, Margarete, were able to send Martin to school. Hans had high hopes for Martin and was pleased that he was studying to become a lawyer. On July 2, 1505, Martin Luther was returning to the University of Erfurt when he was caught in a thunderstorm. You will remember that Saul of Tarsus had a sudden change of heart due to divine intervention, and so it was with Martin Luther. A bolt of lightning hit the ground near where Luther was, knocking him to the ground. Afraid, Luther called out to St. Anne, saying that if he would be kept safe through the storm, he would become a monk.

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I am shocked at the manner in which many Anabaptist churches are dealing with sexual abuse and the perpetrators. I do not wish to point fingers at any particular church or church group.  I do not wish to stir up strife.  I do not wish to see divisions among people and church groups.  I do not wish to make people angry at God or the church. But I am saddened and concerned.  Very concerned. Concerned enough to write this.

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October 31, 1517. What is so special about this date? Why should we care about the Protestant Reformation? How sad it is that so many Christians can talk about politics, sports, music, romance fiction books, work, and so much more, yet do not know much about Martin Luther, John Knox, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, and others whom God has used to bring a group of people or even an entire nation back to His Word.

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There’s an old saying that goes like this: “Silence is golden.”  But is it always?  Is there ever a time when silence is not a good option? Silence may be golden in some cases,  but I question whether our silence on sexual abuse in our churches has done anything other than cultivate more abuse. Most of us would like to think that we are pretty good—that this kind of stuff doesn’t happen all that often.  Yet many of us personally know people who have either been abused or who have abused.

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Jakob Amman, born Feb 12, 1644, started a move called Amish. He started out good, but began to lord over the people and exalt himself. When he did that, the Holy Spirit was no longer welcome and had to leave. 300 years later I was born into this deception called Amish. Today there are many different kind of Amish that do not fellowship with each other, because of one man turning away from the Name of Jesus and going into his own name and his own righteousness. Many innocent people have been born into this deep, deep rooted deception as I was in 1944.

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Question: When someone leaves the Amish 2 Thessalonians 3:6 is used to tell them that they are making a wrong decision by leaving. How do you explain this?

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The following article was written by a Miskito Indian, living in the deepest jungles of Nicaragua.  She shared how the Lord gave her a clear message in the middle of the night. Even though she has never met a single Amish person in her life, she said, “the Lord made it very clear to me—print and mail it out to Amish people.” Eli and Leah Lee, former Amish missionaries in Nicaragua, hand delivered the article to our ministry and asked if we would include it in the Amish Voice.   

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Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2). Growing up Amish, I heard the first part of this verse preached a lot, but invariably the teaching would stop at the end of the sixth word. There is no period there, but a colon. Now, I am not an expert in sentence structure or grammar, but I do know there is a big difference between a period and a colon. The period means end of subject. A colon links what was just stated with what is coming. What comes after the colon is usually important.

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I am an Amish man; we have much history, In Switzerland, France, Holland and Germany, Religious freedoms were denied in those nations, So some fled to America to escape the situation.

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As a young Amish boy, I was taught that when I reached a certain age, I would be expected to join the church. In doing so, I would be declaring Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and also my personal vows to our church. And like most other young people my age, I did this without a full knowledge of how salvation works. As I got older, I realized that what I’d been taught did not satisfy my spiritual need for knowing exactly what salvation is. And in time, a very strong sense of not belonging, finally led me to leave the Amish. But what about those vows I made to the church?

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Perhaps you are in the same condition that I was. Perhaps you, too, would like to be born again and have tried to persuade God to save you, but He seems to remain distant. Perhaps your conscience is pressing down on you with guilt. Maybe you are stuck like I was, and you feel that you have tried very hard to please God, but He doesn’t seem to care. You have tried your institution’s prescribed way of reaching God, but somehow you fell through the cracks, and the formula didn’t work for you as it seems to have worked for others. Maybe you are terrified at the thought of meeting God, as I was. And maybe, just maybe, you hate the sin that you are living in, like I did, but you keep going back to it. Maybe you, too, fall asleep on a tear-soaked pillow, praying that you will not die, because it is the only prayer you dare pray.

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One day, I was listening to a man preach from the book of Hebrews. I was at the point where I was desperate to know the truth. I had worn myself out trying to please God, and I still didn’t have peace. I listened to the words being preached, and I was ready to let the Bible say what it wanted to say to me. I was done with trying to figure out what I needed to do; I was ready to just listen. I had tried all that I knew, and all that I had to show for it was a history of failing and a bleak and miserable future of unending efforts that would only serve to ease my conscience while I waited in vain for the miracle of salvation.

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A heart that is heavy. Do those who carry such hearts know what brought such sorrow? When they wake up they’re filled with loneliness and grief. At times their sadness leaves. They laugh with friends; they share their troubles. Friends call them kindred spirits, but in the quietness of their home, when no one is around but God Himself, the grief is keenly felt.

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Little Tobias tried his best to be a good little boy, to sit up straight, and listen to the sermon. but it was all to no avail. Eventually, mother nature would take over, and little Tobias would put his arms on his knees, his chin in his hands, and doze off. It was not humanly possible to stay awake.

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Dear Amish Voice: God has revealed to us that our lifestyle has no merits for salvation. Galatians 3:2-3 says, This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Galatians 4:9 states, But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

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am writing letter as a plea to fathers in this generation. My heart has been deeply hurt by the things I see happening in today's generation, even in churches and religious circles. We live in a fatherless generation. Our children have absentee fathers (whose own fathers were too busy for them) who somehow feel that fatherhood consists of special privileges, sharing seed, and providing an income (if their families are fortunate). When they come home from work, they figure that their day's work is accomplished, and so they put up their feet and relax while the wife and mom, who has been working hard all day, giving emotionally, spiritually, and physically to the children and is ready to relax as well, dishes up supper and cleans it all up, while trying to take care of the children alone.

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I longed for God, yet the desires of the flesh kept pulling me away from him. Every day I faced strong temptations in all areas of life, and, though I tried my best to fight them, I could not resist. I was Amish; everything I did and everywhere I went, I could not be anything else. My clothes were Amish, my house was Amish, my family was Amish, and most importantly, my church was Amish. But I did not know God. I heard about him, and read about Him. But I didn’t know who He was, much less love Him.

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One of the tragic events of recent Amish history is the school shooting at West Nickel Mines School in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A man well known to the community took ten girls hostage; he shot eight of them and killed five before taking his own life. Wikipedia says “The emphasis on forgiveness and reconciliation in the response of the Amish community was widely discussed in the national media.” And I would like to add it was not just national attention but worldwide attention. The complete forgiveness offered to the family of the shooter is a thing which still draws attention today. The Amish were so willing to do what was right and carried out total forgiveness settling an example for people everywhere of how we should relate to those around us; especially to those who have done us wrong.

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