Nearly anyone can live abroad. But incarnation is about more than just location. Successfully entering a culture that is different from yours requires that you learn the rules. If you're trying to influence across cultures, the rules are crucial.
Society is made up of rules. There are rules for how a ...
I hate when people give advice about evangelism. "What you need to do," they start, "is buy a five-pound bag of individually-wrapped Lifesavers candy. Then, print about five hundred business cards with the plan of salvation on the back. Staple a lifesaver to each of the business cards, and ask ...
Have you ever watched one of those insanely melodramatic Mexican soap operas? You know, the ones with beautiful women, beautiful men, and lots of crying and screaming and face-slapping? You may not know this, but those telenovelas have great influence. Believe it or not, they are intentionally filled with subtle, ...
Why do millions of people around the world tune in every week (many are even willing to pay for it) to watch a convoluted, (half-baked?), confusing serialized television show about plane crash victims stranded on a mysterious island?The story.Questions. Unexpected twists. Attention to detail. Artistic nuance. Mythologies. Love. Danger. The ...
Sure their computers are prettier and crash a lot less than everyone else's, but Mac users are more than just adopters of an alternative operating system. They're members of a club. If you've ever been evangelized by a Mac user, you know what I mean. It's more than a computer, ...
As I talk with other Christians about life and society and current events, it strikes me how suspicious we are of everyone. The atheists have taken over the public school system. The homosexuals want to turn all boys gay. The Mexicans are invading. The Muslims want to outlaw Christianity. Universal health care ...
Get a hobby.This is my advice for Christians everywhere, and especially those who are intentional about living out their faith in culture. For some reason, many believers act as though time spent doing anything other than witnessing and studying the Bible is time wasted. But those same people have an ...
My team had an interesting discussion over the last couple of days. This isn't as remarkable as it might sound, but while most people spend Christmas talking about football and shopping, our team talks about ecclesiology. Who says we aren't committed to our jobs? (And no, there is no truth ...
December 19th 2006
Tags:
Art,
Culture,
Evangelism
3 Comments
A couple of weeks ago, I itunsed the first episode of "One Punk, Under God," a six-part documentary on the life of Jay Bakker (Jim and Tammy Faye's son). It basically tells the story of his unique childhood (growing up in a Christian theme park?) and his life now, as ...
Backyard Bible Clubs. Youth Camp. Sports ministries. If you do any of these as evangelistic outreach, I've got a question for you: are you taking advantage of children?Yeah, I know- you came to faith through VBS when you were six years old. If it "worked" for you, it can't be ...
Unless writing a lot makes one a "writer," Ernest is an unemployed former missionary. After more than six years in Western Europe, he is moving to Portland, where he drinks too much coffee and over-analyzes human behavior. For more about Ernest, visit the About page where you can read a long-time reader's interview with him. Or, if you don't mind waiting a very, very long time, send him an email.