"Regarding the content of the Christian gospel, the gospel story of Jesus occupies the central place, but students should be instructed to avoid majoring on one phase of Jesus’ earthly life only, as often seen in Western preaching. Often, liberal churches in the West major on the life of Jesus, while conservative churches often major …
Continue reading What is the Content of the Christian Gospel
I have been reading "The Global Gospel: Achieving Missional Impact in Our Multicultural World" by Werner Mischke (Mission One, 2015). I have found it to be a valuable book. It seems to have two primary inter-related thrusts. The first is to recognize that the Gospel very much is tied to Honor/Shame cultures in terms of …
Continue reading Brief Book Review: “The Global Gospel” by Werner Mischke
The following is the first part of an article I wrote for a class I took on teaching in orality cultures. The title is "Biblical Commentary as Story: Is There a Place for Aggadic Midrash in Oral Cultures?" Stories have many purposes in their religious communities. Much of Scripture is in the form of story. Bruce …
Continue reading Is There a Place for Aggadic Midrash in Oral Cultures?
I have been reading "The Global Gospel-- Achieving Missional Impact in Our Multicultural World" by Werner Mischke. I still have a long ways to go (I think I am around 1/3 done), but I want to share a diagram from the book. It is in Section 2.7 (I am Kindle-ing it, so I don't have …
In recent years, especially in Christian missions at least, there has been a transition of view regarding divine calling. Traditionally, many mission organizations and churches expected a missions candidate to describe a clear, unambiguous call to ministry. Gary Friesen (in his book, "Decision Making and the Will of God") spoke of the challenge of entering …
Continue reading Is Ministerial Calling a Path, a Destination, or a Vocation?
I had some interesting comments from one of my students. I had written down that in our interactions with people of other faiths there are times when prayer may be an inadequate, or wrong, tool. I am not sure that this student was arguing that prayer may, in and of itself, be inadequate. He was …
I was watching a short little video that one of my students shared. In it, a street evangelist was talking (technically shouting, but in a crowded open-air setting that is just the way things work). The young woman was expressing that she was saved through Christ but also believed that some others may be saved …
Continue reading Does What We Believe Cancel Out Who Saves Us?
One of my students, from Myanmar, was talking to a nurse (the mother of his friend) about Christianity. She also lived in Myanmar and was a devout Buddhist. My student asked her what she liked about Christianity and what she did not. As far as what she did not, the main thing was how many …
Continue reading Is There Value in Pastoral Theology for Inter-religious Dialogue?
Here is a section from "Theo-storying: Reflections on God, Narrative, and Culture." If interested, it is available by CLICKING HERE. Definitions As I have said or implied previously, there is no real agreement on definitions for the terms “myth” and “parable.” The term “myth” was used in chapter 5, but the definition used (as supplied …
This is a sermon I did in church recently. However, it is tied to the mission work that Celia and I do, so I think it is not inappropriate to share it here. I was asked to speak on “Listening Well.” It is interesting because that is the main thing we teach in the Philippines. …
Continue reading Listening Well (Reflections on James 1:19-)