By: gfesadmin on April 5, 2013
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By: gfesadmin on April 5, 2013
It was December 6, 1992, a dark and gloomy day in the history of India, one that left the religious, social and political fabric of the country forever tainted. I vividly recall that day that brought the entire country to a total standstill for almost a week. I had to remain in my hotel room…
By: gfesadmin on April 4, 2013
How are we to engage with our witness in a secular world? How do we find our voice for Christ? It seems there are two overt present options, one is to retreat into a Christian enclave, the other is to aggressively attack both the secular culture and its voice in political venues. But for many…
By: gfesadmin on April 4, 2013
According to Charles Taylor in his book “Modern Social Imaginaries,” a social imaginary involves “…the ways people imagine their social existence…” (250) He states that currently we have a moral order in place that supposes the following points: 1. mutual benefit between individuals, 2. the means to life by practicing virtue, 3. freedom and individual…
By: gfesadmin on April 4, 2013
A read through Charles Taylor’s Modern Social Imaginaries raises a number of questions about life in the modern age in the West. Taylor a Catholic philosopher and social theorist raises the concept of the social imaginary, or essentially “a new conception of the moral order of society,” which is shared by the mass of society. …
By: gfesadmin on April 4, 2013
Disciples and Casinos? In the course of consulting with various churches, some very interesting dynamics are occurring in one particular church. The leadership has determined to make some changes to the church model which has resulted in the departure of most older believers (generationally and spiritually). The leadership team discusses the changes privately and…
By: gfesadmin on April 4, 2013
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By: gfesadmin on April 4, 2013
Charles Taylor’s Modern Social Imaginaries examines the history of modernity as the development of the public square, the economy and sovereignty. The basis of these three elements is a moral order expressed in mutual benefits of equal participants (loc 38). Taylor uses the idea of a social imaginary as the thread, which connects multiple modernities. …
By: gfesadmin on April 4, 2013
One of my favorite movies of all time is “A Knights Tale” starring the late Heath Ledger. In this adventure comedy set in 14th Century mid-evil Europe, a young peasant boy by the name of William Thatcher was given away by his father to a knight named Sir Ector in hopes of “changing his stars”. …
By: gfesadmin on April 2, 2013
pastorsandy: (via http://twitpic.com/aqmffw#.UFSbODfmSDk.tumblr)
By: gfesadmin on April 2, 2013
The week before Easter I called a friend in France, who works as a teacher there. – „Hey, are you enjoying your Easter holidays?“ – “Easter holidays? Are you joking? They are still coming up. I still got to work 2 more weeks.” – “What? But then Easter is already over.” – “Yeah, actually they’re…
By: gfesadmin on March 18, 2013
I was attracted to George Fox’s D.Min program because it was designed for ‘reflective practioners’. This past week’s reading helped me to be just that. Being a practioner on the field speaking often, and working, in the villages with women and children, on the premise of changing the world and building God’s Kingdom, Hunter’s book…
By: gfesadmin on March 18, 2013
Many of today’s gadgets come with some type of an in-built reset option to help them refocus or recalibrate their original purpose and thus to work as designed. When internal or external damage occurs, the gadgets may need to be replaced, and the process of becoming familiar with a new piece of equipment and all…
By: gfesadmin on March 16, 2013
The Christian Faith is all about change. In fact it is more than just ‘change’. It is about transformation and as the Apostle Paul says, it is all about becoming a ‘new creation’. It is about being changed and bringing about change and transformation. It was never meant to be a structured institution as we…
By: gfesadmin on March 16, 2013
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By: gfesadmin on March 14, 2013
I live in Spain. The church, and by extension Christianity has for many centuries been in a position of power and influence. In the modern age, this power became toxic. The church sided with the economic elite, the crown, and the powerful, often against the interests of religious freedom, freedom of speech, democracy, and the…
By: gfesadmin on March 14, 2013
Charlie Brown was shooting his new bow and arrow. Each time he shot it; he would run to the fence and draw a bull’s eye around the arrow. Lucy saw what he was doing and informed him that he was not doing it correctly. His reply to her was, “It works. I always hit the target.”…
By: gfesadmin on March 14, 2013
Yesterday, I watched as Catholics across the globe celebrated a new pope – Francis I. I couldn’t help but be excited, part of which is due to the name he chose, evidently after St. Francis of Assisi. I will never forget my experience visiting the tomb of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy. This white-washed city on a hill…
By: gfesadmin on March 14, 2013
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Human relationships and their interaction form the core of the African culture. Some were organized around kingdoms while others were organized around consensus by council of elders or a combination of the two. The family still was the basic unit of the society. The family included not…
By: gfesadmin on March 14, 2013
Welcome to the city of brotherly love! These were the first words I heard this past weekend after pulling up to the curb at our Center City Philadelphia hotel. Never have I experienced such service. Being our 16th wedding anniversary, we decided to splurge a little and stay at a hotel which is usually beyond…
