One of the things I am totally looking forward to in 2009 is The Idea Camp hosted by Charles Lee and company. This event has been conceived as an “open source hybrid conference designed to help people move from the realm of ideas to implementation.”
We are gathering some of the most innovative [...]
Archive for the 'Global Christianity' Category
The Idea Camp - February 27th -28th Irvine Ca.
Published by December 3rd, 2008 in Global Christianity, Global Issues, Leadership, Poverty, Social Issues, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices and mission. 1 CommentiFeedReaders
In the Spirit of (Red) Friday…
Published by December 2nd, 2008 in Global Christianity, Global Issues, Justice, Poverty, Social Issues, Spiritual Practices and Western Christianity. 2 CommentsiFeedReaders
Shane Claiborne and co. push “buy nothing day” in Philly
Shane Blogs about it here…
Enough to the myth that happiness must be purchased. Enough to an economy that is awarding CEOs salaries 500 times that of their workers and still manages to seduce people in poverty and wealth alike to give more money to these predatorial [...]
China’s Two Faces…
Published by August 15th, 2008 in Global Christianity, Global Issues, Justice, Politics and Social Issues. 2 CommentsiFeedReaders
Like many of you, I have been enjoying the Olympics this year! Wonderful athletic performances from world athletes on a global stage. It is the ugly backstage realities that bother me as I watch the highly sanitized news coverage provided by Bob Costas and company on NBC. The playful banter about the amazing accomplishments of [...]
Waiting for Heaven or Joining in the Adventure?
Published by February 15th, 2008 in Global Christianity, Kingdom, Spiritual Dynamics, Uncategorized and Western Christianity. 5 CommentsiFeedReaders
Christians Wrong About Heaven, Says Bishop- TIME
H.T. Jon Reid
Wright: The New Testament is deeply, deeply Jewish, and the Jews had for some time been intuiting a final, physical resurrection. They believed that the world of space and time and matter is messed up, but remains basically good, and God will eventually sort it out and [...]
The “Social Passion” of the Bible
Published by September 23rd, 2007 in Bible, Global Christianity and Global Issues. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
In ages when the serf and the slave had no spokesman, the Old Testament gave the laws from a God who cared. When women and children were still considered as ‘impedimenta’ in the pilgrimage of the race, in the Bible a tender concern, a growing respect were visible. The prophets thundered for the [...]
Teaching Theology from a Missional Perspective
Published by September 7th, 2007 in Church, Global Christianity, Missiology, Theology and Western Christianity. 2 CommentsiFeedReaders
The conclusion of article by John R. Frank called Teaching Theology from a Missional Perspective. The article offers a brief overview of missional theology and then moves to suggest pedagogical implications:
“Christian theology is an ongoing, second-order, contextual discipline that engages in the task of critical and constructive reflection on the beliefs and practices of [...]
Jesus and Community: The Social Dimension of Christian Faith: by Gerhard Lohfink
Published by August 14th, 2007 in Books, Church, Global Christianity, Kingdom, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices, Theology and Western Christianity. 4 CommentsiFeedReaders
SUMMARY OF INITIAL OBSERVATIONS
Reflecting on experiences of his childhood, German Catholic Theologian and Scholar Gerhard Lohfink once wrote: “I saw men and women who were forced to sew a yellow star of David on their garments; then one day I didn’t see them any more.” This memory would bring about a reconsideration of faith [...]
Book Review: The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity by Philip Jenkins
Published by August 9th, 2007 in Books, Global Christianity and Global Issues. 2 CommentsiFeedReaders
SUMMARY OF INITIAL OBSERVATIONS
Philip Jenkins is Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University. He has written over twenty books that deal with various topics in the fields of history, religion and criminal justice. Because of his meticulous research, he has been in demand as a speaker and expert on [...]
Smatterings: Random link of Interest
Published by July 1st, 2007 in Global Christianity and Justice. 3 CommentsiFeedReaders
Apparently, there is glut of refrigerators among Venezualan elite. Not cool, says Hugo, not cool. Chavez orders supporters to give up extra possessions - CNN.com
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told his supporters to give away possessions they do not need such as an extra refrigerator because he only wants true socialists to be [...]
What is Acceptable? What is Possible?
Published by May 24th, 2007 in Global Christianity, Global Issues, Justice, Kingdom, Poverty, Social Issues and Spiritual Practices. 10 CommentsiFeedReaders
A great speech about facing global poverty given at the commencement address at Georgetown University by Jim Wallace.
Each new generation has a chance to alter two very basic definitions of reality in our world - what is acceptable and what is possible. First, what is acceptable?There are always great inhumanities that we inflict upon one [...]
Ethnocentric Prayer?
Published by April 27th, 2007 in Global Christianity, Global Issues, Prayer and Western Christianity. 3 CommentsiFeedReaders
Last week, I recieved an urgent update from our denomination asking for prayer for our Foursquare work near Virginia Tech, the site of last weeks tragic killing. Many students and university employees attend this church. I was greatful to recieve the update and to be in prayer. As I began to learn [...]
Prayers for my colleagues in Turkey
Published by April 27th, 2007 in Foursquare, Global Christianity, Global Issues, Kingdom, Prayer, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
I have been following with great interest the story of the Christian Church in Turkey as they respond to the brutal torture and murder of three of my colleages there. 5 young turkish nationalists ages 19 to 20 murdered one german missionary and two turkish christians working to distribute Bibles.
WORLD Magazine | [...]
God’s Hands are in the Mud
Published by April 20th, 2007 in Faith and Politics, Global Christianity, Global Issues, Justice, Kingdom, Poverty, Social Issues, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices, Theology and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
The second chapter of Ray Bakke’s “A Theology as Big as the City” is titled “God’s hand are in the mud.” He takes this language from William Temple’s “Christianity and the Social Order” in which Temple unpacks the theological significance of the creation snapshot in which Gods hands form the human out of clay. [...]
Nondogmatic Specificity
Published by April 10th, 2007 in Global Christianity, Philosophy, Postmodernity and Western Christianity. 2 CommentsiFeedReaders
…the viability of Christian faith in the twenty-first century is not guaranteed by claims to power and declarations of strengths and doctrinal postures. This is not a slide into relativism but a commitment to nondogmatic specificity. We can tell the gospel story without resorting to competition, exclusivism, or elitism. –Barry Taylor
Enjoyed this thought [...]
New Monastic Communities
Published by April 6th, 2007 in Global Christianity, Global Issues, Justice, Kingdom, Poverty, Social Issues and Spiritual Practices. 1 CommentiFeedReaders
Brief review of Scott Bessenecker’s book, “The New Friars: The Emerging Movement Serving the World’s Poor:The Capital Times
“I predict that the emerging movement to the world’s poor, powered by the new friars, will also bring renewal to the global church of the 21st century.” Bessenecker focuses on five groups that now are the launching pads [...]
N.T. Wright on the Mission of the Church
Published by April 4th, 2007 in Faith and Politics, Global Christianity, Social Issues, Spiritual Dynamics, Theology and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
Mere Mission | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction
For generations the church has been polarized between those who see the main task being the saving of souls for heaven and the nurturing of those souls through the valley of this dark world, on the one hand, and on the other hand those who [...]
Holding our views of Bible Interpretation with humility
Published by March 21st, 2007 in Bible, Faith and Politics, Global Christianity, Scripture, Theology and Western Christianity. 2 CommentsiFeedReaders
I wish Christian leaders (evangelicals specifically) would adopt a posture of greater humility when expressing their theological perspectives. Tim Lahaye, whose very popular “Left Behind” books advocate the position that the book of Revelation should be read literally as a “what will happen in the end times” (biblical prophesy interpretation) strikes out with some [...]
Deconstructive Theology (and why I am a Christian and a Pastor)
Published by March 16th, 2007 in Bible, Global Christianity, My Story, Philosophy, Postmodernity, Scripture, Spiritual Dynamics and Spiritual Practices. 6 CommentsiFeedReaders
In a great article called “Why is the Emerging Church drawn to deconstructive theology?” by LeRon Shults, a professor of theology at Agder University in Kristiansand, Norway. Shults says:
…deconstructive epistemology (or hermeneutics) calls for humility within the search for knowledge. Now, my point is not that all deconstructive philosophers are humble and (say) analytic [...]
Not for Sale - David Batstone
Published by March 16th, 2007 in Books, Faith and Politics, Global Christianity, Global Issues, Immigration, Justice, Politics, Poverty, Social Issues and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
I just finished Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade–and How We Can Fight It by David Batstone. Batstone (a graduate of Westmont College here in Santa Barbara) does a tremendous job of storytelling through the issue of modern day slavery. Thoroughly researched and compellingly written, Not for Sale exposes [...]
Can Emerging Churches survive the “Wish Dream” Phase?
Published by March 2nd, 2007 in Books, Global Christianity, Spiritual Dynamics and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
I recently read for the second time Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, the Classic Exploration of Faith in Community. Bonhoeffer writes:
“Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream. The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to [...]
“Persecution” of Christians in the West - Myth or Reality?
Published by February 27th, 2007 in Faith and Politics, Global Christianity, Kingdom, Pop Culture, Postmodernity and Western Christianity. 2 CommentsiFeedReaders
Ekklesia’s Jonathan Bartley has written an interesting article called The End of Christendom as a Political Threat The article offers a number of thoughts from a British perspective, about the end of Christendom and the rapid movement into a post-christian culture that seems to be well underway in Europe (and some would say, to [...]
Anne Rice on Jesus Studies
Published by February 26th, 2007 in Global Christianity, History and Western Christianity. 3 CommentsiFeedReaders
Anne Rice (author of Interview with a Vampire and more recently, Christ the Lord out of Egypt) shares her perspective on studying the life of Christ historically.
H.T. to George Woodlif via Stephen Shields
. . . Having started with the skeptical critics, those who take their cue from the earliest skeptical New Testament scholars of [...]
Is the Gospel of the Kingdom Spiritual or Social?
Published by February 22nd, 2007 in Faith and Politics, Global Christianity, Kingdom, Philosophy, Politics, Social Issues, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices and Western Christianity. 14 CommentsiFeedReaders
Reflecting on some previous comments about Christians and politics, I want to ask for your opinions…
1. Does the Gospel of the Kingdom have primarily Spiritual or primarily Social implications? (or Both, or other?)
2. To the extent that it is has social implications, to what extent do those infer politicol obligations?
3. What other [...]
Tired of the Religious Right? Sutton says: Blame Sister Aimee
Published by February 21st, 2007 in Foursquare, Global Christianity, Politics and Western Christianity. 4 CommentsiFeedReaders
In a new book, author Matthew Avery Sutton, (who grew up in Foursquare Church) makes a case that today’s religious right owes its force and vigor to Foursquare founder and evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson who died in 1944. While I certainly look forward to reading this book (I am facinated with all aspects of [...]
The “in’s and out’s” of Salvation
Published by February 13th, 2007 in Global Christianity, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices and Theology. 2 CommentsiFeedReaders
Since I have applied to Fuller Theological Seminary, I have been following the school’s goings on a little more closely. The President at Fuller has a blog where he posted his thoughts regarding the mystery of salvation. This particular post was a response to a Southern Baptist theologian’s confident assertion that Mahatma Gandhi [...]
New Advocacy Group Aims To Point Up Atrocities in Africa
Published by February 9th, 2007 in Faith and Politics, Global Christianity, Global Issues, Islam, Justice and Poverty. 1 CommentiFeedReaders
Advocacy group is headed by leaders with experience in African humanitarian work and aims to shape U.S. foriegn policy, capitalizing on growing national awareness. New Advocacy Group Aims To Point Up Atrocities in Africa - washingtonpost.com
Veteran Africa activists, frustrated by the slow response from Sudan’s government to international demands to ease the plight of [...]
What Did You Go Out to See?
Published by February 8th, 2007 in Global Christianity and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
Great article by Andrew Jones at Books and Culture: What Did You Go Out to See? - Books & Culture
By focusing our attention on Western look-a-likes rather than the God-breathed expressions of ekklesia, we miss the joy of participating with the global church. We also miss the blessing these networks and ministries can offer us. [...]
Implicated by priviledge
Published by January 29th, 2007 in Global Christianity, Global Issues, Kingdom, Poverty and Western Christianity. 1 CommentiFeedReaders
If the statistic quoted in the previous post doesn’t stir you, take this test an see if you are implicated at all. For those of us among the wealthiest in the world who also call ourselves Christian, what must we do with our wealth, status and privilege? Perspective is powerful. I am richer [...]
Advocacy for Economic Equality - What does it look like?
Published by January 29th, 2007 in Global Christianity, Global Issues, Kingdom, Philosophy, Poverty, Social Issues, Spiritual Dynamics and Western Christianity. 3 CommentsiFeedReaders
Rose Marie Berger, Davos Meet Nairobi:
“God weeps,” Archbishop Tutu told participants in the ecumenical gathering near the conclusion of the World Social Forum in Nairobi, “and says, ‘Who will help me so we can have a different kind of world, one in which the rich know they have been given much so they can share [...]
Who really is “a Christian?”
Published by January 29th, 2007 in Global Christianity, Philosophy, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
Scot Mcknight on a question with enormous implications. Who really is “a Christian?”:
Who is a Christian? And before I try to answer that question, I have a higher one: “Who decides?†Not me, not you, not your local church, not your denomination … leading to this: God decides. We better get that straight before [...]
Shane Claiborne: Mad Jesus Skilz (Applied Pacifism Isn’t Passive)
Published by January 26th, 2007 in Global Christianity, Social Issues and Spiritual Dynamics. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
Outstanding article by Shane where he tells a story that reveals the way of Jesus in the face of violence.
I just told a group of graduate students I would like to see them do a study comparing the ethos of violence globally with the violence on the streets here in the U.S. Remember [...]
Soooo… You think you’re an “Evangelical?”
Published by January 24th, 2007 in Global Christianity and Western Christianity. 2 CommentsiFeedReaders
Evangelical. What does it mean? Who gets to decide? Has it become pejorative? (the way “fundementalist” has?) Is it just another word that means “religious republican?” Two interesting articles:
Evangelical: Can the ‘E-word’ be saved? - USATODAY.com
If the term evangelical stands for a list of values, “the question is who gets [...]
Is Evangelism Necessary?
Published by January 19th, 2007 in Global Christianity, Kingdom, Philosophy, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices and Western Christianity. 2 CommentsiFeedReaders
What is the Mission of Christ and the Mission of the Church? There has been much debate in the emerging/missional church conversation about the true nature of Christ’s mission, and the mission of the church as we seek to be the community of the Kingdom of God. Is this mission primarily to rescue [...]
Ryan Bolger on McGavran
Published by December 19th, 2006 in Global Christianity, Kingdom, Philosophy, Postmodernity, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
Really looking forward to reading this article…
This article explores Donald McGavran’s writings for resources that enable mission engagement today in the culture of late modernity. There is, indeed, much of value in McGavran’s 1955 classic, “The Bridges of God,†among other writings. With these resources in hand, the author situates McGavran within the socio-cultural changes [...]
Syncretism, an expanded definition:
Published by December 13th, 2006 in Global Christianity, Philosophy, Spiritual Dynamics and Western Christianity. 4 CommentsiFeedReaders
As I will be participating in a collective blogging excercise today exploring evidences of Syncretism in the Western Church, I thought it would be fair to add a post here with an extended definition. The link above is to a short but effective article defining Syncretism and some of its potential implications for the [...]
Uniting over Jesus ChristÂ
Published by December 12th, 2006 in Global Christianity, Global Issues, Islam and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
Uniting over Jesus Christ - Editorials/Op-Ed - The Washington Times, America’s Newspaper
With the advent of the Christmas season we two friends — a Christian and a Muslim — find our thoughts turning to the relationship between Christianity and Islam, which looms so fatefully on the global stage.
Christianity’s recentering in the global south and the theological implications.
Published by December 6th, 2006 in Global Christianity, Global Issues, Philosophy, Social Issues, Spiritual Dynamics and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
Great article covering Philip Jenkins work in short form. Interesting read for those interested in the future of Global Christianity.
“Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction
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