It is too bad, sometimes, that Evangelical Christians, especially, tend to give so little time to the Intertestamental Period and to the the time of the Apostolic Fathers. We can learn a lot from them. So why are these periods commonly ignored? I suppose it is the tied to the views: The Sufficiency of Scripture …
Month: November 2016
People, Machines, and Landscape
"In a study of farmers in the northwest United States, is was found that they classified the world into three categories: people, machines, and land. What they considered to be 'people' were their own kind: kith and kin, and other farmers who owned land and were white, Protestant and middle-class. The rest, such as Mexican …
The Boundaries of Missiology
I periodically supervise seminarians in theses or dissertations. Usually, their papers are in missions (although sometimes I oversee other types of papers). A couple of the papers I oversaw in missions pushed the limits of what is considered to be missiological at our seminary. One had to do with process of contextualization of preaching for …
Spiritual Leadership Benchmarks from Polycarp
Consider the quote from St. Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians (Chapter 6): And let the presbyters be compassionate and merciful to all, bringing back those that wander, visiting all the sick, and not neglecting the widow, the orphan, or the poor, but always providing for that which is becoming in the sight of God and …
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“Theology and Missions” Book
I just started working on my newest book. Not sure what it will be ultimately titled. So far, it is just called "Theology and Missions." Note... it is not "Theology OF Missions." Actually, I am still working on a book with my wife "The Dynamics of Pastoral Care" as a follow-on to "The Art of …
Role of a Missionary
I have struggled with a good job description for a missionary. Some descriptions appear to me to be entirely inadequate, or even counter-productive. Missionaries are cross-cultural ministers. This is a common descriptor. There are three major problems with this one for me. First, it doesn't pass the "Paul and Barnabas Test." We often think of …
Food and Missions
I was sitting at a small Ibaloi restaurant a few years ago. My Filipino friends ordered something called “Mix-Mix” (not "halo halo"... that's different). They were all chuckling with each other. My language skills, poor now, was even worse back then, but I kept hearing the word “aso” over and over again, which is the …
Theostorying as Creative Reflection
Excerpt from Chapter two of Theo-Storying: Theostorying is “the act of creative reflection on God, and our associated relationships with Him and each other, crafted artistically into the medium of the story, so as to allow the listener to join in the reflection through experiencing the story, being challenged by the story, and inspiring further …
Medical Missions Reprise
Some things go away but don't stay away. For the most part, my wife and I stopped doing medical missions back in 2010. From 2005-2009, we were with a group called Dakilang Pag-Ibig Diadem Ministries. During that time, we served about 30,000 patients in about 70 different sites. Then, in the first couple of years …
Joshua on the Plains of Jericho
A reflective story loosely based on Joshua chapter 5. When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua approached Him and asked, “Are You for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” He replied. “I have now come as commander …