Two recent events have got me thinking about the way we advertise our Christian activities. Firstly, I was in the market for a new computer, having faced a blank screen a few too many times. Secondly, I was working on a brochure for the work I’m involved in here in Latin America (www.moclam.org). The brochure was for prospective students, interested enquirers and possible supporters.
Category Archives: Culture
A prayer request from an Aussie living in the Mother Country
Life, Sola Panel
I was listening the other day to a satirical comedy show on British Radio. The presenter was making a point about human relationships. The bulk of his satirical piece consisted of a reading from Genesis 2:18-25, in full, from the King James Version of the Bible (“And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him …”). He read it slowly and theatrically in a fake American accent. During the reading, the audience laughed uproariously. When the reading was finished, the skit was effectively over; the point was made. The show moved on to the next topic. (more…)
Be careful what you promise
Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel
Do you know for sure that you are going to be with God in Heaven? If God were to ask you, “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” what would you say?
Have you ever used these questions (or a variation on them) to talk about the impact of the gospel of Jesus Christ with friends or strangers? They are the introductory questions in the well-known gospel explanation associated with Evangelism Explosion (EE). They’ve proved themselves to be a very popular way to start a serious discussion about our relationship with God. We assume that people in our world have given at least some thought to their own death and eternal destiny. These questions help us to show how the gospel, with its strong emphasis on assurance of future salvation through Jesus (e.g. 1 Thess 1:10, Heb 9:27-28, 1 Pet 1:3-5), provides a clear answer to important issues. (more…)
You don’t know my pain (a particularly lousy argument)
Life
I’ve been on the rampage about lousy arguments—arguments that get used and abused without any reflection on the validity of the argument. A friend at church on Sunday reminded me about another particularly heinous example that is employed all too regularly: the ‘you don’t know my pain’ defence. (more…)
Greasy inclines (an almost lousy argument)
Life
Of pots and kettles and other things that aren’t black anymore (or another lousy argument)
Life
It’s kind of funny the way the English language dates. How my pot (which is made from stainless steel) could call my kettle (which is constructed from high quality white plastic now beiged with age) black is a mystery that I’m sure my children could ponder without resolution for some time. Nevertheless, the saying persists as another one of those lousy arguments that get better with age.
It’s right up there with “Get that log out of your own eye” and “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. Both of these (rather like our proverbial water boiling appliances) are excellent pieces of godly advice, but hopeless ethical arguments. Before you lynch me for speaking about the Bible like this, let me explain.
Enshrined adolescence (lousy arguments that get better with age)
Life
I have a friend who has an adolescent daughter. Surprisingly, there are moments when the relationship is more rocky-road than dairy milk, if you follow me. As he described his current set of frustrations, it suddenly occurred to me that adolescence is the new black.
Jesus advertising: Give me an (ad) break
Pastoral Ministry
My goodness, ‘Jesus advertising’ annoys me. When people I knew at Bible college do it (as they currently are), it annoys me even more. (No link is provided because, frankly, no matter how funky it is, I don’t want to know and I’m not interested in having others know either.)
Self-knowledge for godliness and ministry (Part 3)
Pastoral Ministry
As Mark has indicated, this little gig is looking at the ‘knowing ourselves’ part of the knowing God/knowing ourselves learning curve we are all involved in. One of the things that has recently surfaced again for me is the ubiquitous personality test—mostly because they have been pattering about all over Facebook like so many hobbits. So I thought it might be time to evaluate these critters again, and work out their strengths and weaknesses. Having a tool is all very well, but we need to be sure we’re using it correctly and not (to use a metaphor) digging a hole with a hammer.
Square pegs in round holes
Everyday Ministry
These pages have often wrestled with the issue of gospel enculturation—the question of how much we adapt the message we preach to the culture in which we dwell. It’s such a complex question that the wisdom and righteousness (or lack thereof) of our attempts at preaching the gospel in a culturally sensitive way will be displayed finally on that last great day. But my last post on character and hope has lead me to a test that we might apply to our gospel preaching.
Stirring the affections
Thought, Sola Panel
I concluded part 2 of this little series with a challenge:
What we need is a change in our affections. We need to change not what we feel nor even what we know but what we love.
The question is: How does one do that?
Our guide (in part 2 in particular) has been Jonathan Edwards and his classic Treatise Concerning Religious Affections. What does Edwards say about how to stimulate the affections?
Thinking about emotions (Part II)
Thought, Sola Panel
Christians are arguing about emotions and passionate outpourings. Some exalt in these experiences, and see in them the revival of true and authentic Christianity; others decry the emotional hysteria of easily manipulated crowds, and assert that rational, mature Christianity needs to rise above such gross displays of experientialism.
Sound familiar? It is a (rough) description of the mid-18th-century American context for Jonathan Edwards’s classic work A Treatise on the Religious Affections.
Thinking about emotions
Life, Sola Panel
I’ve been thinking a lot about emotions recently. This, of course, may be precisely my problem. I shouldn’t be thinking about emotions; I should just be feeling them.
At least that’s what people tell me. Emotions, I am assured, are an important part of who we are as humans created by God, and so Christian faith should also be emotional in some way. It’s not enough just to think and to do; there’s something a bit wrong with us if we don’t also feel.
It’s hard to argue with this, and so I have begun to rummage around in my soul to see if I can rustle up some emotions. And you’ll be glad to know that I’ve managed to find some.
Contextualization vs. chameleonization
Everyday Ministry
I’ve been thinking a bit lately about contextualization—not so much the contextualization of language (‘charms’ and ‘calms’ and so on), but the contextualization of lifestyle: becoming “all things to all people” (as in 1 Corinthians 9:22).
My thoughts were sparked by an evening we spent with our next door neighbours recently. As Dave and I were clearing things away at the end of the night, I reflected on the evening and the way that I’d approached it.
Before our guests arrived, I had chosen an outfit that approximated the style of clothes my neighbour wears, I made an extra-gourmet salad and I bought a couple of fancy cheeses. Over dinner and afterwards, I spent a lot of time talking about mortgages and extensions and consumer products. I had also talked a lot about work—the work I used to do (before kids)—in an instinctive effort to establish the kind of education and career credentials that might be taken more seriously than my current job as a full-time mum. And finally (this is the killer one!) I found myself squirming in my seat, wanting to change the subject, when they asked my four-year-old daughter what her favourite thing in the world was, and she answered, “Jesus”.
All this got me wondering what’s the difference between contextualization (or whatever word you want to use to describe doing what it says in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23) and chameleonization (or whatever word you use to describe not doing what it says in Matthew 5:13-16)?
Wesley, charms and church planting (Part II)
Everyday Ministry
According my trusty Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus, the following are synonyms for ‘pedant’: dogmatist, purist, formalist, quibbler, hair-splitter, casuist, sophist and nitpicker. Given that theologians study dogmatics, doesn’t that tend them towards pedantry? And if so, how could I say in my last post that church planters need to be theologians in order to contextualize the gospel?
Theologians are as risk-averse as actuaries, so how can they contextualize the gospel successfully?