Missions commonly today focuses on the idea that contextualization is necessary. Contextualization is the enculturation of the gospel message. A Christian 1st century Greek did not, and should not live like a Christian 1st century Jew. The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 recognized Unity within Christ while maintaining Diversity in Culture. Today, in missions we …
Tag: christian missions
Miscegenation and Missions, Part II
Some questions as a follow-on to Part 1 of this post topic. Does interracial or intercultural marriage lessen the foreignness of the Christian faith? In Asia and Africa the “Sword and Taxation” method of Islamic conversion had begun to falter well before that religion reached Southeast Asia. And yet some of the greatest success of …
Miscegenation and Missions, Part I
<I am part of a mixed race marriage, and our children are (not surprisingly) mixed race and mixed culture. As such, I have a particular interest in mission’s attitude to racially mixed marriage and the role of race in missions in general.> For those who don’t know the term, miscegenation refers to “marriage or sexual …
Screaming Hornets and Letters from Home
We just got a box of goods from our home church. It had a couple of books, some vitamins, Old Bay Seasoning, clarinet reeds, a table cloth, some letters from children and friends at our home church, and a couple of bottles of Screaming Hornets Hot Sauce. The box reminded me of a few things …
Power Encounter, Love Encounter, and Pandemic Love
One of the two most popular posts on this blog is: From Power Encounter to Love Encounter In that post, I argued that the common missiological model of encounters, Truth Encounter, Allegiance Encounter, and Power Encounter, is flawed. Power Encounter, the challenging of the powers of evil with the power of God for missiological purposes …
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Can Confession Serve as a Missional Outreach?
Many Christians downplay the practice of public confession. Christians tend to emphasize confession as personal and private. Even among those churches that practice the rite or sacrament of confession (penance), they accomplish it in a private chamber between an individual and a priest. The one who confesses need tell no one else, while the one …
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“150 Percent Person” Quote for Missionaries
"If we desire to be obedient to Jesus' command to carry the good news of his resurrection to the world, we must be willing to become 150 percent persons. We must accept the value priorities of others. We must learn the different definitions and rules of the context in which they live. We must adopt …
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The Gospel Blimp and Holy Tee-shirt Cannons
"The Gospel Blimp" by Joseph Bayly is a great short story (or perhaps novella). It is a parable in the sense that it attacks commonly held "truth". The story revolves around an evangelical church in Middle America that wants to "reach their community for Christ". This was motivated by the neighbor of one church member …
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From Power Encounter to Love Encounter
<A related, follow-on article is Power Encounter, Love Encounter, and Pandemic Love.> In Missions there is often 3 types of "encounters" discussed. Charles Kraft, in particular, has a lot in this area and include: Truth Encounter Allegiance Encounter Power Encounter St. Boniface and Power Encounter Truth Encounter is the challenge of God's truth against the …
Strudel Missions? A Story.
This is a true story, but I share it intentionally vague in terms of details. Years ago, the church convention my wife and I are members of had a partnership with the Austrian Baptists. Many people respond negatively to the term "partnership" in missions because the partnership is often in word only. In practice, it …