I live in the Philippines. That really limits my access to new books on Christian missions. Christian bookstores tend not to have such works, and online sources are pretty expensive if one wants them shipped to Luzon. In the US things are somewhat better. At least, online purchases are cost effective. The strange thing is …
Month: September 2023
Is Quoting the Bible the Wrong Way to Use it Sometimes
I wrote an article for our counseling center the answers the question "Aren't You the Counseling Center that Doesn't Use the Bible?" My view is that we do use the Bible... while SOME of the groups that use the Bible are using it... sub-biblically. Anyway... you can decide for yourself: http://bukallifecare.org/2023/07/19/arent-you-the-group-that-doesnt-use-the-bible/
Learning From Missionaries of Other Religions
When I was a young(er) missionary I would get confused by what I would here from older missionaries. For example, I was talking to a mentor of mine (Evangelical Baptist Type) and he was talking rather positively about a friend of his who was a Mormon missionary. Of course, in those idealistic days, they were …
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Is Christian theology war theology? [Question faith #14]
Read this article, linked below, just recently. I must admit that I am not a pacifist. While I do believe that war always involves sin, I believe that there are times (in this completely broken world) that war is the only acceptable choice in a series of unacceptable options. I served in the US military …
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Poisoning the Waters of Learning
I was looking up two things this week with quite similar results. First, I was looking up Narrative Theology. I really see value in narrative theology but it is a challenging topic to wrap one's head around. It really steps back from some of the common ways of doing theology--- emphasis on word etymologies, establishing …
Cultural Anthropology before It Was a Science
Cultural Anthropology developed into a social science in the 19th century. But there were most definitely those who studied other cultures before this. However, such study was rarely systematized. Here is a section of my book on "Cultural Anthropology and Christian Missions." This following is from Chapter 3 Ancient Travelogues Cultural Anthropology is a modern …
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Was St. Paul a Good Contextualizer of the Faith?
Okay, the short answer I am giving to this question is "I don't know." But now I will give the longer answer. Good I believe there are evidences that Paul was a good contextualizer of the faith. In this, I am specifically focusing on Paul as a Hellenistic Jew reaching across to Hellenistic Gentiles. One …
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Book Review: “Basic Bible Storying” by J.O. Terry
Basic Bible Storying: Preparing and Presenting Bible Stories for Evangelism, Discipleship, Training, and Ministry, Revised Edition, by J.O. Terry Christian non-fiction is fairly diverse. At one end I call Inspirational/Devotional (not completely sure what publishers call them). These are books that have some generally positive Christian theme (perhaps on how to pray, or "have victory," …
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Fast to Slow Missions: Part 3
This is a continuation (no surprises) of Part 2. I have written before on the story of the Faithful Servant. Luke 12: 35-48 I have suggested that one could look at this parable being about time. Option #1. The servant does not try to time the return of his master. Because he does not seek …
Fast to Slow Missions: Part 2
You can look at PART 1, if you haven't read that yet. I would like to give three formative stories on my thoughts on this one. Story #1. This is the least story-ish. I was reading T4T: A Discipleship Re-Revolution. It is a so-called CPM strategy. CPM stands for "Church Planting Movement" and refers to …