The last 60 years of Christian missions has certainly had a lot of disagreements (and yes, I know one can find conflicts much further back). Consider: One finds in the late 60s conciliar missiologists claiming that proselytism is antithetical to missions, at the same time that Ralph Winter was saying that missions is evangelism only …
Continue reading Well… Paul, Barnabas, Peter, and Luke Couldn’t Agree on Missions Either
Today, I gave a short lecture on Spiritual Abuse (one of my favorite topics). I was asked about other materials I have. Anyway, thought I would share the presentations I put together years ago. I am sure I need to update these... but they will do for now. <I used to have these presentations on …
Many missionaries will say that the reason they do missions is because of the Great Commission. Personally, I would prefer to say that we do it because of the Great Commandment. To me, the Great Commission simply gives one specific example of how we carry out the Great Commandment.The Golden Rule would be another example. …
Continue reading Does the Great Commission of John Imply We Must Do Social Ministry?
As one who has been a missionary for closing in on 20 years, I can get grumpy on things for various reasons. For example, I feel the temptation to say, "THE JOSHUA PROJECT IS A WASTE OF TIME!!" That may not be totally true. Focusing on people groups is not necessarily the most valuable thing …
When I was first reading the book "Encountering Theology of Mission" by Ott and Strauss, they had given a way of looking at Missional Theology in how it is different from Theology of Mission. At the time I rejected it. But over time, I have seen value in it. Look at the figure below: Theology …
The book I could never finish (since 2015) is finally finished... or at least is finished until I work on it again. At least for the first time I kind of think of it as finished. "Walking With" as Metaphor for Theology of Mission Rev -. 2022 I have put it up on http://www.academia.edu. You …
Will Brooks quote from "World Mission: Theology, Strategy, and Current Issues" by Scott N. Callaham, Will Brooks, eds. In Acts, when Paul enters a new city, he goes to the synagogue first. Theologically, he goes there because he believes the Jews have salvation-historical priority (Rom 1: 16; 2: 9), 25 and perhaps more practically, he …
Originally I had a chapter on this topic in a book I was working on. Then I realized that it is not really appropriate for the book. So I turned it into an article. Consider this to be a DRAFT version of the article. Hopefully, it will be cleaned up eventually. PERSPECTIVES REGARDING SOCIAL MINISTRY …
Continue reading A New Article on Social, Spiritual, and Holistic Ministry in Missions
Flavor #5. Theological Development of Cultural Artifacts Ideally, a robust local theology draws from worldview, beliefs, and values. But not all theology is at such a high level. Theology can also be said to address the small and the mundane. For example, a worship service is a gathering where men, women and children mingle together, …
Flavor #3. Theologies of Cultural Patterns It has been common to think of the Philippines as an Honor/Shame culture, particularly in contrast to Guilt/Innocence cultures. However, tests from Honorshame.com for the Philippines bring doubt to this assessment. As noted before, the Philippines is rather globalized, and this helps give results that are a more mixed. …