For someone who blogs a LOT on Christian missions and Missions Theology I don't really immerse myself that much in the "Missions Scene." There is a pretty good reason for this. My wife is a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) supervisor and we have a pastoral counseling center. I end up doing a fair amount of …
Continue reading Christian Missions Books I am Reading Right Now
Decades ago I was a mechanical engineer before I went into international missions. Unlike some I don’t think I ever was very successful at leveraging the skills of engineering in my missions work and theological reflection. However, when my wife and I were asked to speak on retirement and aging (a topic rapidly becoming more …
I serve as a professor of missions in the Philippines, and administrate a Christian counseling center. Some would say that this makes me a "missionary." Others might say that this makes me a "cross-cultural minister." I don't really care what term one wants to use--- I hardly care about the term that I myself use. …
Continue reading Is It Okay for a Missionary or Minister to Retire?
I would like to wish fellow Christians around the world a Happy Easter. Here in the Philippines, Holy Week is a big thing, the keystone to the Christian Liturgical calendar. Of course, in some parts of the world, it is more subdued of necessity. In other parts, Secular Easter (bunnies, eggs, and the like) may …
I remember being told over and again that our salvation is free--- Free grace. As a kid, this seemed fine and good. Who doesn't like free? And in a sense the word "free" is correct... but I believe there are problems with the term that should not be ignored. Simply in terms of common definition, …
Continue reading Salvation: Unearned? Yes! Free? Not So Sure
I attended the EMS (Southeast) Conference on April 5, 2025 at North Greenville University. I have never attended a missiology conference before--- in fact, I don't go to mission conferences all that often. I hoped this would be a good and new experience for me. Truthfully, it was a good experience. I am not sure …
Continue reading Evangelical Missiological Society (Southeast) Conference
My previous post is HERE. In the Bible, there is no EXACT equivalent of "Race" as we presently use the term. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to come up with any sociological term that has an exact equivalent two millennia ago. People group? Culture? Religion? Ethnicity? The closest to something that is constant is …
Continue reading Race Matters… Sort of. But Should It? (Part 2)
"I am not racist, but ..." Do you love talks that start out like that? Almost always it goes into uncomfortable places pretty quick. Often to say one is not a racist is either a ploy to try to get people to listen. Perhaps more often it is something like, "I like to envision myself …
Continue reading Race Matters— Sort of. But Should It? (Part 1)