By: gfesadmin on February 25, 2013
Imagine a conversation I have with a non-christian friend from Germany, talking about my dissertation and my studies at george-fox EVANGELICAL seminary, Portand, USA… If I was asked by him about the EVANGELICAL in the name of the university I study at; if I was asked to define this „EVANGELICAL, what would I say? What…
By: gfesadmin on February 24, 2013
With the advent and advancement of communication technology, the globe is networked and informed of every happening in real time. The terror of 9/11, the Asian tsunami, the war in Iraq, famines in Africa or the recent incident of violence in Delhi that claimed the life of a young girl, are streamed into our living…
By: gfesadmin on February 22, 2013
Two days ago I was in a village in Central India. We dedicated a small Life Center for the use of the Believers there. Village church buildings are called ‘Life Centers’ since it becomes a resource in the hands of the congregation to reach out to the community to meet various needs during the week. New Believers…
By: gfesadmin on February 22, 2013
Value is in the heart of the beholder. Just about everything is marked with meaning and carries some level of value. Often times, value is ascribed to something that is sentimental. The value of something can have a major impact on culture or society at large. In some cases, it may not go any further…
By: gfesadmin on February 22, 2013
Wayne Muller in his book Sabbath tells a story about Harvard President Neil Rudenstine oversleeping one morning in November of 1994. For this zealous perfectionist, in the midst of a million-dollar-a-day fund raising campaign, it was cause for alarm. After years of intensive, nonstop toil and struggle in an atmosphere that rewarded frantic busyness and…
By: gfesadmin on February 21, 2013
Since the life of Christ, believers and churches have pursued the ministry of discipleship in obedience to the great commission text of Matthew 28:19-20 and out of the desire to bring back the King, Matthew 24:14. Two dynamics have thwarted the ministry of discipleship. The first was the clergy and laity division. The idea that…
By: gfesadmin on February 21, 2013
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By: gfesadmin on February 21, 2013
Last weekend I was able to join Nadia Bolz-Weber at the conference „Kirchehochzwei“ in Hannover, Germany and translate her keynote from english into german. She was invited as one of the main speakers to share her experience of her ministry at House for all Sinners and Saints, a ELCA-church she founded in Denver, Colorado. The…
By: gfesadmin on February 21, 2013
(Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) In this writing I have decided to choose and explore a few concepts discussed by Vincent Jude Miller in his book Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture; those of need, desire, scarcity, and lack; and analyze how these might interact and manifest. I will also briefly discuss…
By: gfesadmin on February 21, 2013
Today I was stunned. The first “stun” may seem small and stunned may be on overstatement. It was about choosing lights for a remodel in our church. We had to chose lights for a new foyer area. I was hoping to have very distinct lights, the design and color of which I first thought would…
By: gfesadmin on February 21, 2013
In “Consuming Religion,” Vincent J. Miller argues that the problem with a consumer culture and structure isn’t with belief but in its praxis. Nobody would argue that child exploitation for cheap products is good. A majority of folks active within Christianity can tell you what correct belief is, but that belief hasn’t trickled down to…
By: gfesadmin on February 16, 2013
After reading Douthat’s book: Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, I am compelled to ask if the ‘bad religion’ of American Christianity is bad only for America? Has it left just America in a crisis? In the wake of globalization, I believe this same version of Christianity has reached the urban shores…
By: gfesadmin on February 15, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr_5wDmX3kY Oprahdoxy…is it as bad as Douthat imagines? Has it turned U.S. Christians into throngs of heretics? In the book Bad Religion: How we Became a Nation of Heretics, Ross Douthat, a conservative Catholic journalist, writes a synopsis of the history of Christianity in its various forms and denominations from the 1950’s to the present.…
By: gfesadmin on February 15, 2013
Douthat’s Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics is aserious review of the present condition of Christianity in America. Christianity which once had significant influence on American life and history has fallen from those heights. It has now come face to face with its enemy. Douthat points out that the enemy is not any external…
By: gfesadmin on February 14, 2013
I remember going to Dodger Stadium when I was in Junior High School to hear Billy Graham speak. The stadium was packed out. We sat in folding chairs in right field. He shared a dynamic and stirring message. George Beverly Shea in his baritone voice sang “How Great Thou Art” and I will never forget…
By: gfesadmin on February 14, 2013
A few weeks ago during the super bowl, a crowd of friends and family members came together to watch the big game at our house. Not long into the game, the Super Bowl was no longer what everyone was excited about. Rather, everyone was now excited about seeing some of the knew commercials during the…
By: gfesadmin on February 14, 2013
This last year the youtube video “I hate religion, but love Jesus” travelled on the internet like a virus. Most of us have seen the video. Jefferson Bethke who produced this video is a guy from our city, Tacoma. He said he was inspired by the book by Tim Keller called The Prodigal God. I…
By: gfesadmin on February 11, 2013
December 15th 2013, a 25-year-old woman went to see a doctor at an emergency center in Cologne, Germany. She told the doctor that she was at a party on Friday night, and that at one point she went blank, not remembering anything until coming to on a bench in a different part of the city…
By: gfesadmin on February 8, 2013
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By: gfesadmin on February 8, 2013
Flow with the culture is the subliminal message tagged in our minds by advertisement everywhere. However, there are some things about today’s culture that I am not too sure if I am totally on board with its approach like retribution. Basically, retribution takes place in America through taxation when funds are divided out indirectly through…
