I was watching one of only a few Religious YouTube channels I peruse--- Gospel Simplicity. In this one, the creator was communicating about what he liked about the Catholic church. It should be noted that the creator is not Roman Catholic. He is actually Anglican. He likes to bring together dialogue between Roman Catholics, Protestants, …
Continue reading Challenge of “Being Nice” in Religious Conversations
I was teaching a class in a small Bible School. This school is in a small country in Africa where Christianity is a minority religion. A couple of students brought up interesting questions that I did not realize were related. One of the questions was about doing missionary work in reaching out to Mormons (or …
Continue reading Using Other “Spiritual Writings” than the Holy Bible in Ministry
I like to promote the 7 Rules of Interreligious Dialogue that was put forward by Max Warren (Anglican Missiologist) back in the 1960s. In my Interreligious Dialogue class, I asked my students to explain the 7 Rules in their own words. I stopped in the middle of grading because I began thinking. They did a …
Continue reading Our Uniqueness in Common Humanity (Max Warren and Anton Boisen)
I was talking with one of my former students yesterday. She was speaking about some of those who try to argue with non-Christians in public forums. The reason for doing this is often to promote the Gospel message--- something I certainly can appreciate. Very often their Gospel message is also mixed with a political agenda--- …
Continue reading Christian “Debate Bros”: Wrong Tool for the Right Task?
As I note regularly in my posts, my wife and I are part of a counseling center. One thing we like to tell our trainees (and I would like to think we practice) is "We have have to earn the right to be heard." A similar way of looking at it is "We need to …
Continue reading Permission to be Heard, and the Risk of Anti-Evangelizing
Okay, maybe you see this, or maybe you don't... but my FB friends often put up things like: ---"I am not a supporter of <a particular political figure>, but...." and then goes into a long spiel fawning over that same political figure. The praise is so lacking in balance or reflection that it is all …
Continuing from Part 1 I do think that missionaries are better in proportion to their being good listeners. I sometimes have made the mistake of couching the issue in terms of extrovert and introvert. Some mission boards idealize the missionary who is rather loud, chatty and very active socially. However, the key point I think …
Continue reading Nobody Becomes a Missionary Because They Like to Listen (Part 2)
My wife and I oversee a pastoral counseling center that trains ministers in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). I also teach some mission courses at a couple of seminaries here in the Philippines. A saying (one I coined as far as I know) is "Nobody Becomes a Pastoral Because They Like to Listen." Similar thoughts could …
Continue reading Nobody Becomes a Missionary Because They Like to Listen (Part 1)
Earlier this week, my wife and I were doing training with a group of volunteers who serve as "Welcomers" or Missionary Member Care volunteers for Filipinos who serve as cross-cultural missionaries. Many of them were pastors or pastors' wives. We were promoting the "Active Listening" and the "Ministry of Silence." My wife was sharing how …
Continue reading You know… NONE Go into Missions Because They Love to Listen.
I just finished a post on the opposite--- "How Might Missiology Speak to Pastoral Counseling and Chaplaincy." So now I would like to suggest the value the opposite way. One challenge the the direction of Pastoral Theology informing Missions is that in a sense it has happened before. Back in the 1960s, a form of …
Continue reading How Might Pastoral Theology Speak to Missions