I have been portraying "First-time Grandpa" in the last few weeks--- a role I had little preparation for. It has been fun and tiring. In terms of tiring, it has left me without a sense that I have much of anything to say. As such, I have posted little in the last few weeks. I …
Ethical Gymnastics and the Standards of Jesus
I recently started reading The Politics of Jesus, by John Howard Yoder. It is a recognized theological classic, having been published in 1972. The book makes a power case for Christian pacifism. As Americans, this is a tough sell. I recall attending a religious conference ("Baptist Fundamentalism '84") at the Washington Conventional Center. During US …
Continue reading Ethical Gymnastics and the Standards of Jesus
Joy of Missing Out
I am slow in learning and using online acronyms. I only learned what FOMO meant perhaps a year ago ("fear of missing out"). Only a few days ago I learned JOMO--- "Joy of Missing Out." As a shy introvert I missed out on a lot, especially when I was young. But even then there was …
Slavery and the Tests of Orthodoxy
It has been noticed by a number of people that slavery has received "positive" evaluation by some Evangelical Christians in recent days. For the best of my understanding this has been mostly from American Evangelicals. This is a curious thing. I was raised up in white American Fundamentalist/Evangelical Christianity, and it was pretty much a …
PBTS Press
I am happy to say that a couple of projects of Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary Press (PBTS Press) are soon to come out. #1. Our first book under this imprint is about to officially release this January (January 2026). "Drinking Coffee with Some Contemporary Filipino Evangelical Theologians" has been completed by Dr. Francis Jr. S. …
Adorning the Gospel in the Neighborhood
Here are a couple of quick examples this week. I am visiting some relatives in Florida and we visited the local Greek Fest. That is an event commonly done in Greek Orthodox churches across the US. The one here is a BIG THING. We had great Greek foods, and listened to great Greek music. They …
Are There Dangers in Declaring that Disasters are God’s Judgment?
I am not in the Philippines right now--- my wife and I are visiting with our new grandson--- but there is a big typhoon going overhead where we normally serve and reside. A missionary acquaintance of mine put up on social media speculation that this storm is God's judgment for <I won't put his theory …
Continue reading Are There Dangers in Declaring that Disasters are God’s Judgment?
My Writing Projects (and AI) November 2025
Sometimes I look back at my old posts and wonder why I wrote about my writing status. After all, a couple years later and sometimes the information is woefully out-of-date. Sometimes it includes something I decided never to finish. Others, they include something I finished long ago. However, I remind myself, that one of the …
Importance of Training For Ministers
A friend of mine is a pastor of a church in Sierra Leone. He asked me to provide a video training on the topic of the importance of training for ministry. Video is not my strength, but I tried to provide something. https://player.vimeo.com/video/1125053019?h=00eada9d9c&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479
When is the Great Commission “Finished”?
Since the late 1800s, it has been common in Christian mission circles to have slogans or rallying cries around "finishing the task" or "fulfilling the Great Commission." Whether it be "this generation" or "2000 AD" I have never liked the slogans. For one, they have often been used to promote one-sided missions (evangelism rather than …