<Sermon I gave at Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary on April 29> Please open your Bibles to II Kings 5. Part of the story was read earlier. I would like to recount it in my own words. The story starts in Israel. A young girl... I am going to call her Nachah... because... well why not? …
Continue reading Three Pastoral Functions Seen In Three Biblical Servants
For someone who blogs a LOT on Christian missions and Missions Theology I don't really immerse myself that much in the "Missions Scene." There is a pretty good reason for this. My wife is a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) supervisor and we have a pastoral counseling center. I end up doing a fair amount of …
Continue reading Christian Missions Books I am Reading Right Now
Most real-world "Yes/No" questions have three good answers (in my view): Yes, but... No, but... I don't know, but here are some of my thoughts... For the question above, the correct answer is "No, but..." and that answers fills out into 'No, but it is a helpful tool." Here are a few points in this. …
Continue reading Does Video Communication and the Internet Make International Missions Unnecessary?
The book “Character Theology: Engaging God through His Cast of Characters” by Tom Steffen and Ray Neu, published 2024, is a book that I highly recommend to missionaries, church leaders, and theologians alike, despite the frank admission that the book is not really written for me. I think I need to explain this. If it …
I have been reading "Character Theology: Engaging God Through His Cast of Characters," by Tom Steffen and Ray Neu. I hope to have a review done in a couple of weeks. However, I was reading a passage that got me thinking: "Recall Charles Hodge’s perspective that the Bible is a “store-house of facts” and “the …
Continue reading What is the Best Way to Teach Theology in Church?
The following is the first part of an article I wrote for a class I took on teaching in orality cultures. The title is "Biblical Commentary as Story: Is There a Place for Aggadic Midrash in Oral Cultures?" Stories have many purposes in their religious communities. Much of Scripture is in the form of story. Bruce …
Continue reading Is There a Place for Aggadic Midrash in Oral Cultures?
It has been a hobby of Christians to set a date for the return of Christ. Even non-Christian groups such as "Jehovah's Witness" fall prey to this lure. There is a long history of this. The church of Thessalonica in the New Testament had members who were so sure of the imminent return of Christ …