I hear a lot of stories (sometimes comedies, sometimes horror stories) regarding short-term missions (STM). I nod and smile, or shake my head and scowl. But I am happy to say that I can't really relate to these stories. My experience with short-term missionaries has generally been quite positive. But my own experience with STM …
Month: December 2018
What I Want For Christmas
My wife has asked me several times what I want for a Christmas. I am really not a gift person. Finally, I gave in to the fact that my cellphone needs to be replaced. It has had a big crack down the middle of the screen for over a year (some discoloration but still works), …
Dialogue Lessons from Westboro
I was watching a TED Talk of Megan Phelps-Roper. She was raised up in Westboro Baptist Church, a small church in the United States known for its "hate speech." Now I know sometimes people use the term "hate speech" pretty loosely, but I think most anyone would say that Westboro's words and actions would fit …
The Joy in Not Singing
A few months ago, although I only read it today, was an article in churchleaders.com entitled, "Why We Need to Sing in Worship Even When We Do Not Know or Like the Song" by Chuck Lawless. You can click on the title to see the link. It is pretty brief and lists It’s right to …
A (Maybe) Advent Poem
A Child Sleeps A child sleeps as armies clash. A piece of dirt covered with blood This killing for a piece of mud. Still the child sleeps. A child prays, but not for cash Shared love and lives make the spirit lift. The giver's always greater than the gift So the child prays. …
Some (Kind of Ironic) Great Things About Christmas
I would like to expand on a post I did 6 Decembers ago, "Christmas. It's Okay, Really." There are some, possibly ironic, reasons that Christmas is good as it is. It is at the right time of year. I know it is popular to say that the birth of Christ, as a historical event, …
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Brokenness
Check out @_SJPeace_’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/_SJPeace_/status/1073699742637547526?s=09 I hate doing videos so happy when someone else does it instead. The short video at the link above promotes the idea of "showing our scars" rather than trying to hide them. This ties to some of my work on wabi sabi and kintsukuroi.
The Creedal Life of Jesus
https://postbarthian.com/2014/12/30/jurgen-moltmanns-proposed-additions-creed/ As a Baptist, I am from a non-creedal tradition. But we all summarize our beliefs. We can summarize it well as a community or poorly as individuals. The more ancient creeds I find more valuable since they point to our common heritage and faith. We need that reminder. Of course, creeds don't just express …
The Cost of Holy Languages
I typed in Google about "speaking holy language" and got a lot of websites discussing or arguing or maybe pontificating about the following: Is speaking in tongues (ecstatic speach) a holy language? <No. ecstatic speach doesn't have the structural qualities of a language so it is not a language-- holy or otherwise.> What is the …
Advice for Undertrained Missionaries like John Chau | by Jackson Wu
Please click on the link below to Jackson Wu's blog. (If you don't want to read my comments.... then click here now Advice for undertrained missionaries like John Chau | Jackson Wu). It has a great article on the recent situation regarding John Chau, and his ill-fated contact with the North Sentinalese. Actually, it is …
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