I have heard so many sermons stating that happiness is not something that Christians should seek, but rather, they should seek “joy”. “Joy” is described as feeling good based on some sort of spiritual empowerment that transcends one’s momentary circumstances. “Happiness” is looked upon as feeling good because good things are happening. But maybe both definitions …
Tag: christian missions
Christian Missionaries Need Critics
No one likes critics... at least when the critic is leveling their critique at them. In theory, a critic can give positive or negative comments... but we tend to associate critics, and critiques, with negative comments. Christians are often very thin-skinned about criticism in matters of faith. We often feel that criticism of Christians, Christianity, …
What is a Christian Missionary? (Preliminary Thoughts)
It seems like it is time to redefine the term missionary. The term has tended to be defined in terms of culture. If one ministers outside of one's culture (E-2 or E-3) one is a missionary, and one is doing missions. This certainly seems to be the way the Perspectives course does it (this is, …
Continue reading What is a Christian Missionary? (Preliminary Thoughts)
Translation and Diffusion in Christian Missions
Lamin Sanneh uses Translation and Diffusion as terms to describe two types of mission work. Diffusion is the traditional (although not universal) form of Islamic mission. The assumption is that the culture of land of its origin (Arabia) is the ideal form for its missional expression. Translation is the traditional (but by no means universal) …
Continue reading Translation and Diffusion in Christian Missions