This is an extended quote from Philip Jenkins' book, "The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-- and How it Died" (HarperOne, 2008). I suppose it may be a longer quote than normal copyrights approve. But I do heartily recommend getting the book for …
Continue reading Quote from Philip Jenkins and Timothy of Seleucia
Being a missionary is both a divine calling and a professional vocation. These two truths exist in constant tension with each other. This is true of other forms of ministry as well. Micah's Idol Take the story of Micah and the Levite in Judges 17-18. The two main characters are Micah, an Israelite living in …
"Bonhoeffer saw the chief temptation faced by Christians as the lure to withdraw out of the world into pious enclaves, to erect private spheres of religiosity or to view religion as one activity or dimension of existence in addition to the others. The Gospel is not a call to be religious in this sense. Bonhoeffer …
This is just some thoughts on diaspora missions. I have a number of friends and colleagues who are experts on diaspora missions. I am not such an expert. But writing is my way of thinking and learning. Diaspora refers to the "scattered seed" or the scattered people group in other countries. Filipinos are commonly thought …
Continue reading Diaspora Missions and the “Recovery of the Soul”
Blaise Pascal developed "Pascal's Wager", drawn from Thoughts (Pensees) that argues for faith in God over and against doubt or rejection (translated): Yes, but you must wager. There is no choice, you are already committed. Which will you choose then? Let us see: since a choice must be made, let us see which offers you …
Continue reading Pascal’s Wager in Pluralistic Cultural Context
Cover via Amazon I was doing some lookups on doubt on the Internet. Very little good information is available. I took a class called "Faith and Doubt" at Asia Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary. Our two main texts were "Doubt: A History" by Jennifer M. Hecht and "In Praise of Doubt: How to Have Convictions Without …
Summarizing. Doubt is a necessary and healthy part of faith. Doubt is necessary because faith is necessary. Faith is necessary because we are finite and no knowledge or logic is, in itself, compelling. At some point we have to bridge the gap from "reasonable" to either belief or disbelief (at least in some things). Faith …