Faith and Life in our World
In a previous post, I blogged about a need for evangelization and missions to the margins. In this post, I will make a case for evangelization to the rich. The left will hate what I have to say here. Missionary families have sacrificed their lives and their comforts of home to live overseas, to adopt …
Continue reading "Evangelization of another marginal group–the rich"
I'm continuing to blog in the same vein as a previous blog-post on missionaries and evangelization. I admire the missionary friends I know. They have sacrificed a comfortable life here in Canada to better the lives of people outside this country. Why? For the sake of Christ's calling to serve God. Many missionaries have literally …
In the next several posts, I’m going to share a few things I wish the universal/catholic Church could be doing better, or more of. We all like and dislike what some of the Church is doing, and not doing. Most of what the church is doing is good. As the Church triumphant on earth, we’ve …
Holiday seasons can be a lonely time for some people, but the loneliness I'm talking about is long-term and reside in each of us. Even at birth, we were separated from God due to original sin, giving birth to our inner loneliness. We are afraid of it and run from our feelings of insufficiency. We …
As people yearning for freedom, we value and appreciate our liberties like freedom of religion, speech, assembly, the press, etc. Liberties and freedoms are a natural outcome of a moral people. To get there, we need to take the right path. Jules Renard said, “Liberty is the right to choose. Freedom is the result of …
Do you remember when you spent blood, sweat, and tears into doing something for someone and never had the pleasure of being recognized or appreciated for your efforts? And perhaps not even a "Thank you"? You might have had the thought: "I really don't want to do this for them again!" This is likely how …
Continue reading "Appreciating missionary work and thankful for missionaries"
While visiting my spouse's hometown in Changhua, Taiwan, I visited Bagua Mountain (actually a hill) where there is a huge statue of Buddha. I climbed up its inner staircases within its inner sanctum where there are displays on each floor explaining the history of Buddhism in Taiwan. I found this to be a good learning …
The idea of single pregnant teenagers scares many people including Christians. We probably wouldn't know what to do about it if someone in this situation were to come to us, or walk into one of our churches. What would your church do about it? What would most churches do about it? Would you advise such …
Have you noticed a decline in evangelism in your local church? In most rural communities, the visible church is more stable and will likely remain (although many historic mainline churches are closing). Naturally, change in rural communities do not happen as frequently; therefore, people will have the opportunity to integrate their spirituality and their religious …
Continue reading "Part 4: Religious and spiritual landscapes — urban vs rural"
Is there still a need in people’s lives to express their spirituality in some way, shape or form--and within community? Our western culture seems to have taken individuality to the extreme where religious community life has been secularized and devalued to the sidelines of life, and even ignored. Participation in religious community life has now …
Continue reading "Part 3: Religious and spiritual landscapes — urban vs rural"
Have we, as a society, kept our spirituality hidden away too much from the eyes of others for the sake of being tolerant? In my move from rural to urban, I have also noticed a big difference in how people approach spirituality (as opposed to religion). Spirituality in the urban setting (especially on the part …
Continue reading "Part 2: Religious and spiritual landscapes — urban vs rural"
This will be the first post in a four part series. I want to bring up and provoke some thoughts about differences in people's attitudes toward religion and spirituality in both rural and urban settings. The Church is at a critical moment in the 21st century. Either we work to survive and thrive, or we …
Continue reading "Part 1: Religious and spiritual landscapes — urban vs rural"
Alan J. Roxburgh, one of premier authorities on the missional church today spoke at Montreal Diocesan Theological College at a clergy conference, Sept. 26-28, 2010. There were seven lectures on the topic: Church When the Maps Have Changed (link). Lecture #1 | Lecture #2 | Lecture #3 | Lecture #4 | Lecture #5 | Lecture …
Continue reading "Missional church: Church When the Maps Have Changed"
These days, many evangelical churches are noticing a lower attendance of young people. Young people are not returning to church after they leave home--either for college or to live independently. Why is this? Wall Street Journal has an article written by a twenty-something author Brett McCracken, author of Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide …
Continue reading "Why I don’t want to be a “cool” Christian"
This is the final post in the series on Leaving Church: Intro 1, Intro 2, Part 1, Pt 2, Pt 3, Pt 4, Pt 5, Pt 6, Pt 7. Why the missional church conversation? It seems to be a conversation that mostly involves the North American church rather than the universal church around the world. …
Continue reading "Leaving church #7: Let’s be the missional church in the world!"
