There is a scene I like in the movie "Harvey" (1950) where Elwood P. Dowd, played by Jimmy Stewart, is talking to Dr. Sanderson, a psychologist played by Charles Drake. Dr. Sanderson is trying to psychoanalyze (insight-based psychology) Elwood as to his apparent delusions of an invisible creature he calls "Harvey." Sanderson seeks to explore …
Continue reading I Still Kinda Want to Hold onto the Term “Missionary.”
Nathan was enraged. The King had not only yielded to adultery, but had a man killed to cover it up. And not just any men--- one of his select men--- Uriah! He was one of only a very select group of individuals who knew what was going on. But he was the only one of …
Yea, whereas it was wont to be made the certain mark of a graceless wretch to deride the godly, how few are there now that stick at secretly deriding and slandering those that are not of their opinions! A piousPrelatical man can reverently scorn and slander a Presbyterian; and a Presbyterian an Independent; and an …
I must admit, as I have before, apologetics--- at least as it is commonly done--- is really not my thing. I went to college in a Christian school that seemed to really like apologetics, and I got interested in it briefly but lost interest. A lot of apologists I read seemed like people who acted …
Continue reading Presuppositional Apologetics— A Really Bad Idea?
Many years ago, before I went into Missions... I worked at a manufacturing firm as a mechanical engineer. I had a friend who was JW (a member of the Jehovah's Witness faith). He had tried to convert me--- he was a Pioneer, which meant that he was supposed to commit a certain number of hours …
Continue reading It is Never JUST CAKE. An Inter-religious Reflection
I have been reading a long paper (over 200 pages long when including endnotes)--- APOLOGETICS, MISSION & NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS: A HOLISTIC APPROACH, by Philip Johnson. It is in Sacred Tribes Journal, Vol. 1, #1. I must admit that I would have preferred a "Reader's Digest" version of it, but it is excellent. I had …
If you haven't yet, please read PART ONE first. While tensions rose between more theologically liberal and pluralistic views of missions with more conservative and exclusive views, things hit a bit of a boiling point in the 1960s. With the IMC becoming incorporated into the World Council of Churches, there was a rapid move away …
Continue reading Christian Ministry: Priority without Duality. Part Two
It has been a long argument in Evangelical circles about how to relate "spiritual" ministries and "social" ministries. For centuries the two seemed to have a relatively peaceful (even if, perhaps, unexamined) coexistence. The church is supposed to deal with the spiritual needs of its community, AS WELL AS the physical, relational, and often economic …
Continue reading Christian Ministry: Priority without Duality. Part One
Philip Johnson speaks of a couple of forms of Christian Apologetics. One of them he describes as the "Heresy-Rationalist" Model. I will just use "HRM" for it. This model focuses on the accepted dogma from a logical (rationalist) perspective. While Johnson sees value in this model, he also sees its limitations. Here are a couple. …
Continue reading “Heresy-Rationalist” Apologetics. Quote from Philip Johnson
I would like to share with you one of the great mysteries in the Bible. I Samuel 17: 38-39, 48-49 38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, …
Continue reading Sermon: God of the Second Stone (I Samuel 17)