"Abuse of Power". Seems almost like a redundant expression, doesn't it? In Christian Circles, another abuse pops up in the news nearly daily. Such abuse may demonstrate itself in different ways: Sexual and Physical abuse. Of course, the Catholic Church has taken a hit on this one. Once reports started hitting the media, that denomination …
Category: Christian Ethics
The Lost Book (or “Why Do We Write?”)
Thought #1 Our Purpose "Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation." -Graham Greene Is it possible to write a book and forget that you …
Personhood and the Escalation of Conflict. Part 2
< You can click on "Previous" above to see the previous post.> How does this apply to missions or ministry? “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” -Blaise Pascal. I have heard that this is a poor translation from the original French, and probably did not …
Continue reading Personhood and the Escalation of Conflict. Part 2
Personhood and the Escalation of Conflict. Part 1
A few days ago, the "Islamic State" or "ISS" or "ISIL" made a statement (or its leadership made a statement) that it was okay to enslave and have (non-mutual) sex with non-Muslim women and girls. It is hard, as an outsider, to fathom why a group that claims to be acting for a righteous …
Continue reading Personhood and the Escalation of Conflict. Part 1
The “Sin” of Submission
This is a touchy subject. I am American and Americans are not necessarily big fans of submission. Over here in the Philippines, submission is somewhat more appreciated. Confucian relationships (4 of 5) are built around submission (and to a far lesser extent, benevolence). “Islam” and “Muslim” as terms relate to the concept of submission. Some …
Dual Citizenship and God Flipping a Coin
A former pastor of mine shared the following controversial quotes from William H. Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas in "Lord, Teach us: The Lord's Prayer & Christian Life" "To invoke the name of the free, mighty God as patron of our causes is to take the name of God in vain. So when a president prays …
Learning Nothing from the Past in Three Beautiful Ways
I will be teaching "History of Missions" again this coming term at Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary (www.pbts.net.ph). It is one of my favorite classes. I have yet to figure out how to get my students to share that interest. I don't really want to fall into the "just show another video" mode. This uninteresting fact …
Continue reading Learning Nothing from the Past in Three Beautiful Ways
You Can’t Get There from Here
A really really old joke. Maybe one should not even call it a joke, but maybe it is more of an anecdote. A salesman is driving through a sparsely inhabited bit of countryside. He comes upon an old farmer standing at the corner of an intersection of two roads completely lacking in directional guidance. <Typically, …
The Long Reach of Injustice
The death of Nelson Mandela got me thinking about the death of Missiologist David Bosch, an opponent of apartheid. He transition from being a supporter of apartheid in his denomination (that supported apartheid) to being uncertain to being an opponent is well-documented. And then he died allegedly due to the system that he opposed but …
Habakkuk and Faith Community Accountability
I really like the Book of Habakkuk... a book that is hardly known by many Bible readers. For those who don't know, here is a very loose paraphrase of the book in conversant form: Habbakuk: "God. I keep praying and praying, but you don't listen. Your people are living lives of violence and injustice. When …
Continue reading Habakkuk and Faith Community Accountability