You know the quote... "It it's not broke, don't fix it." Although the equivalent is the contraposive ("If you must fix it, it's broke"), the inverse is important as well. "IF IT'S BROKE, FIX IT!" I believe that there is an aspect of Christianity that is definitely broke, but it is not its essence. The …
Continue reading In the Christian Life, “If It’s Broke, Fix It!!”
This is a very broad brush summary of Protestant Missions from the 16th century to the present. 16th Century Adoniram Judson, detail from an engraving by Alfred Jones after a painting by Chester Harding, 1846 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Cross-cultural Missions? Almost none Leading Sending Nation: None Primary Concepts? State Protestant Denominations. Theological development. …
Suppose you wanted to build a house. You were given all the raw materials, but (for some reason) you were only able to use one tool. Which tool would you choose? You could choose a saw. It is good to have things cut properly to size. Perhaps you could use the handle like a hammer …
Continue reading The “Toolbox” and “Bigger Hammer” Theories in Evangelism
Is the resurrection of Christ important in Christian missions? Is it relevant? Is it a worthy point to study, teach, and support? I believe so. I believe it is foundational to our hope and our message. It Verifies God’s power. If God could raise Jesus, He could raise us. If He could not raise Jesus, …
Continue reading Missions and the Resurrection of Christ. Part I
What role should Christianity have in the world today? Based on the title, obviously, I think Christianity should, in part, have a strong subversive element. Consider some options. 1. Kingdom on Earth. This term can be used to describe Christianity as a politically militant here and now entity. Think Christendom or Christian Nationalism. Europe and …
Continue reading Christianity as a (Good) Culturally Subversive Entity
We hear the term “Calling” a lot in Evangelical churches. > God’s call to the ministry > God’s call to “full-time professional Christian service” > God’s call to “bi-vocational wholistic mission service” I think it has had a very negative effect on Christian ministry. That doesn't mean it is always bad. But sometimes it is. …
A church-based model for missionaries and missions appears to avoid a lot of confusion in other ways as well. If missionaries are those who leave the local church to work outside the local church, then they are simply “apostles”... and “apostle” is simply another term for missionary. This, of course, is not universally accepted. C. …
Why does the Church in some parts of the world grows, while in other parts dies? As noted by Dr. Philip Jenkins, author of "The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-- and How it Died", we need to develop a Theology of Extinction. …
“It’s the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We’re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.” <Quote by …