Consideration of four (4) encounters in missions. Truth, Allegiance, Love, and Power.
The following is an excerpt from Richard Stearns book "The Hole in Our Gospel" (Thomas Nelson, 2010, p. 40-41) Referring to the book, "Prayer of Jabez," Stearns wrote: The gist of the book was that if we would truly pray for God to bless us in this way, to be used by Him for the …
Continue reading So You REALLY Want to “Enlarge Your Territory”?
The following is a quote from a 9th century Egyptian (Coptic) monk: I find the proof of the truth of Christianity in its contradictions and inconsistencies which are rejected by intelligence and repelled by the mind because of their difference and contrast. Analysis cannot help it, though the intelligence and perception enquire and search into …
This is an extended quote from Philip Jenkins book, "The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Goden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-- and How it Died" (HarperOne, 2008). I suppose it may be a longer quote than normal copyrights approve. But I do heartily recommend getting the book for …
Continue reading Quote from Philip Jenkins and Timothy of Seleucia
I was writing an article on crisis care within the context of the story of Elijah. It occurred to me how generally useless is miracles (as they are popularly identified). There are different ways to define “miracle” of course. However, I am using the most common, although doubtful, definition. That is, a miracle is a …
Long ago and far away (22 years ago and 9,000 miles away) back before the Internet was called the Internet, I used to hang out on the Religion Forum of Compuserve (especially the Christian Sub-forum). It was a strange place. Although, proselytism was strictly forbidden and language was fairly strongly controlled, I felt that it …
Continue reading Playing Nice on the Net, and the Divine Sysop
Since 2012 starts in a couple of days, I figured I would list the top 10 posts from this year. I hope that you have found God's joy in turbulent 2011, and pray that you will find God's peace and direction in 2012. -Bob and Celia Munson #10 Fallacies and Questions Surrounding Redemptive Analogy. Redemptive …
In some previous posts, I have looked at Saint Boniface as a traditional model for Power Encounter. He used Ecclesiastical power (orders from the pope) and Political power (letters from Charles Martel) to go into pagan German villages and (among other things) desecrate pagan shrines (a clash of Divine power). I have questioned the value …
Suppose you are a young teenage man (or you can choose teenage woman if you prefer... I will choose the teenage male). There is a popstar who you think is just awesome. She looks beautiful on TV. She has a great voice. Her songs really speak to you, and you just know that such soulful …
Continue reading Religiocentrism and Religious Exoticism, Two Sides of the Same Coin
I have been a bit down on "Power Encounter" as a missiological method... especially in this blogsite. Power Encounter has been popularized by Charles Kraft whose understanding has been affected by his work in West Africa. He found the animistic beliefs there made the people receptive to Christianity marketed in terms of power. And perhaps …
The mission of St. Boniface and that of the Celtic Peregrini were considerably different. The table here shows a few broad differences: The Peregrini had a mission of translation (in terms of Lamin Sanneh) in that there was a genuine effort for the work of God to be adapted to the local culture. St. Boniface, …