For God so loved the world: On becoming a Baptist pacifist

In 1970, at the age of 17, Mark Thiessen Nation became a Christian and became a member of the local Baptist church. Through listening to his pastor's evangelistic sermons Mark came to understand John 3:16, came to understand that God loved the whole world. Through the next year, Mark came to believe that in good conscience he could not go to the war in Vietnam. When it came time to register for the draft, Mark wrote an essay based on Matthew 5:43-49 to explain why he could not go to war. Mark shared with the congregation his development into a pacifist, and went on to challenge some of the back-tracking from pacifism that he perceives in parts of the Mennonite church today. The call of Christ to love our enemies is as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago.