By: Bill Dobrenen on June 21, 2017
Year-in-Review Story – Summer 2015 Introduction Today I sat with a Native elder named Leonard Little Finger for six hours on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Leonard is highly educated and worked as a hospital administrator and teacher for the past 55 years. We talked about leadership. We talked about language. We talked about…
By: Liz Linssen on June 21, 2017
Chartering the Waters of a Doctorate of Ministry Three years ago I felt the Lord impress on me the need to do a Doctorate of Ministry course, something I had not at all expected to pursue. So began my quest to find a quality course that fulfilled the following personal criteria: A college with a…
By: Carol McLaughlin on June 21, 2017
The best stories are the ones we like to hear again and again, the ones we read every year or watch on our DVD players on rainy days. Stories so compelling, so inviting that their familiarity prepares you for surprise, nuance and fresh discovery. Key characters in these stories always seem to face a test…
By: rhbaker275 on June 21, 2017
Leadership Global Perspective: Impacting the Ministry of the Local Church In June, 2013, I engaged in a global forum on the theology and practice of biblical reconciliation. There were church leaders present from sixty-six countries which gave the conference an authentic venue to dialogue concerning the problems facing the church worldwide. The forum considered how…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on June 21, 2017
It does not seem that long ago when I sat in an entirely empty house doing my first online chat that fateful day of September 2013. We had just bought our first home in Florida after transplanting to the Sunshine state the previous summer. We had fully moved all of our belongings the week before. Due to…
By: John Woodward on June 21, 2017
What had I gotten myself into? I must have been crazy to think I could do a doctoral program. What was I thinking? Now two years into the program, I am actually within reach of a doctorate degree. How was it even possible to achieve this longed held dreamed?
By: Dave Young on June 21, 2017
I brought a frustrating issue into the program that surfaced early and almost derailed me. My starting perspective was “this program is great – it will push me to grow professionally!” Like most mid-career pastors, I had lost ministry passion and focus. However, from the beginning of the program, I was asked about what I…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on June 21, 2017
Seeing, Hearing, and Conceiving 9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”[d] 10 But[e] it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep…
By: Nick Martineau on June 21, 2017
I knew that starting the LGP program would be life changing but I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew going back to school meant reading more books, writing papers, and having teachers issue grades. However, I was surprised to find out just how personable and accessible all the advisors and lead mentor have…
By: Jon Spellman on June 21, 2017
“Big fish, little pond” is the phrase that comes to mind as I reflect on this first year’s learning alongside my cohort. At the risk of sounding like I have an overactive ego or hyper sized sense of self-importance, due to the environments I’ve always placed myself in, I’ve grown accustomed to being the smartest…
By: Travis Biglow on June 21, 2017
Year-in-Review Story The first real surprise that I had was being able to attend George Fox. Up to the last minute I did not know whether it was going to happen. My wife kept showing me pictures of South Africa and I really did not want to be disappointed if I was not able to…
By: Claire Appiah on June 20, 2017
Mark Mathabane—Kaffir Boy an Autobiography: The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa Introduction In this raw and captivating autobiography, Mark Mathabane, utilizes the imaginative creativity of his journalistic skills to depict the poignancy and triumphs of his first eighteen years of life under South Africa’s apartheid system. He…
By: Chip Stapleton on June 16, 2017
I read our assigned reading for this week, Christianity and African Traditions by Matthew Michael, with quite a bit of interest. The church I currently serve is about 50% Cameroonian, and as such, I often – on a weekly, sometimes even daily basis – see and try to account for and understand the intersection of our…
By: Geoff Lee on June 16, 2017
Following on from our earlier considerations of contextual theology and folk theology, this book looks at how to marry classic Christian theology in the Judeo-Christian tradition with specific African traditions and culture. Dr. Matthew Michael carries out a sweeping review of various systematic theological categories and considers how they fit in with and can be…
By: Kristin Hamilton on June 16, 2017
Whenever I read a book that analyzes another culture, especially one written by someone who has personal knowledge and understanding of that culture as well as a research knowledge, I know I am at a disadvantage from the start. Such is the case with Christian Theology and African Traditions by Matthew Michael. As Michael works…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on June 15, 2017
“Christianity has “a prefabricated theology, a book theology . . . what she reads in books written by European theologians. . .” and “what she is told by Europeans is accepted uncritically and given out undigested in preaching or teaching.”Similarly, the theological discourse of those times is characterized by unhealthy reactionary to Western misrepresentations of…
By: Stu Cocanougher on June 15, 2017
When we think of traditional missions, we think of missionaries trekking jungles, mountains, and deserts in search of tribal people who have never heard the name of Jesus. Alternately, we may think of missionaries who share the good news with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or Communists. Yet, there are some areas in today’s…
By: Aaron Cole on June 15, 2017
Summary: Kaffir Boy, The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa, by Mark Mathabane is a sobering look at what it meant to grow up as a black male in the 1960’s and the 1970’s in abject poverty of Alexandria, South Africa during the Apartheid. Mathabane’s autobiography takes the…
By: Lynda Gittens on June 15, 2017
Christology Theology and African Tradition Christian Theology: Synonymous with the African individuals Must connect with human setting to stay important Isolate humankind detaches God Be theocentric and in addition human-centric Must connect with the perspectives of the African individuals (convictions, values and customary introductions) Be loyal to the Scriptures no reverberate of contemporary ideological ramblings…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on June 15, 2017
Throughout the pages of Matthew Michael’s book, “Christian Theology and African Traditions”, I was reminded of the many discussions of contextual theology and the words of Paul: “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” (I Cor. 9:22). What a beautiful reminder of our responsibility in…
