The title above doesn't always apply... but often does. Usually does, I think. A missionary, as noted by others, is a person who works himself out of a job. He (I am going to use "he" although missions is one of the most egalitarian roles in Evangelical Christianity, so feel free to substitute "she" or …
Continue reading Missions is a Often a Dead-end Job… Thankfully
When studying religions, one simple classification is between "Universal Religions" and "Ethnic Religions." There are religious perspectives that don't clearly fit into either, but these two are useful categories. Universal religions are a system to identifies with all people. As such, there is an evangelistic component normally. Ethnic religions, on the other hand, identify with …
So what might we say of revelation in other religions? In an era past, the Scottish missionary to India John Nicol Farquhar famously championed the idea that Christ fulfills the best in Hinduism,[46] an idea that could be applied to other religions and their sacred texts. At the other end of the spectrum there is …
I was asked to research and recommend some policies on the use of Generative AI ("Artificial Intelligence") at the seminary where I teach. I had to do some study of this since my involvement with AI is quite limited. Reading experts, including policies of some universities, it is clear that a nuanced approach would be …
Continue reading Is It Beneficial to Use Generative AI in Missiology?
I have often liked to surprise people by saying that Missionaries (or Cross-cultural ministers if you prefer) are FLEXIBLE and WILLING, but not particularly SPIRITUAL. And I upon reflection, I think most people kind of get what I mean by that. However spirituality is visualized in a faith tradition, missionaries within that faith tradition tend …
I had never heard of this book, nor its author until he was on the Preston Sprinkle's podcast "Theology in the Raw" (Episode 1170). They were talking about Nijay's new book, "Strange Religion: How the First Christians were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling." I have always wanted to gain a clearer understanding of the early church. …
Continue reading Book Review: “Strange Religion” by Nijay Gupta
When we speak of the Gospels (Good News) we speak of the four Evanglists--- the stories of Jesus by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But the Good News is presented in other ways as well. The 2nd chapter of Acts is a great example of this. Some describe the Parable of the Prodigal Son (probably …
In a previous post I said I was going to read up more on "decolonization" as it pertains to anthropology, as it is considered a pretty important trend right now. I did some reading... but I kept bumping up against two issues. Issue #1. I kept reading takes on decolonizing anthropology related to racism that …
Continue reading Struggling with that Whole Decolonizing of Anthropology Thing
The following is a presentation that I did years ago for learning cognitively, affectively, behaviorally, and spiritually. It is loosely based on Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning. Although it is old, I still don't have too much of a desire to update it. I think it is still pretty valid. A major concern I have is …
One of my favorite parables of Jesus is the Parable of the Unrighteous Judge... or the Unjust Judge... or the Persistent Widow. I prefer, "The Parable of the Corrupt Judge." It is in the Gospel of Luke 18:1-8. Below is the NIV translation of the passage. Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show …