Justin Taylor probably has the most helpful post I’ve seen yet about the Wheaton controversy and whether Christians and Muslims worship the same god. I think Justin’s comments cut through a lot of the word smithing that goes on in this discussion. His post is rather thorough so I’ll highlight what I think is his core contribution. In short, it may be helpful to reframe the conversation around the meaning of “worship”, not the word “god.” Much of this discussion... Read more
This the second half of my interview with Christine Dillon, a church planter in Taiwan with OMF International. We talk about storying in relation to honor-shame. Christine has written Telling the Gospel through Story: Evangelism that Keeps People Wanting More as well as 1-2-1 Discipleship. She has an excellent blog, which has been translated into other languages including Mandarin. Honor and Shame JW: What are some stories that have honor-shame significance but typically might get overlooked? CD: We all see... Read more
Over at Reformed Margins, Andrew Ong has posted a generous and constructive review of my book One Gospel for All Nations. Reading reviews of your own book always leads to mixed feelings. People sometimes misrepresent your thoughts or nitpick small details. However, I truly appreciate Andrew’s thoughtful comments. His balance and breadth of understanding of the related issues demonstrates why he is PhD student in World Christianity under Andrew Chow at the University of Edinburgh. Although he gives a kind... Read more
Today, I interview Christine Dillon, a church planter in Taiwan with OMF International. We talk about storying in relationship to contextualization and honor-shame. Christine has written Telling the Gospel through Story: Evangelism that Keeps People Wanting More as well as 1-2-1 Discipleship. She has an excellent blog, which has been translated into other languages including Mandarin. CONTEXTUALIZATION JW: There is a difference between biblestorying and using stories as illustrations for the big points in our systematic theology. Could you help... Read more
Today’s post comes from guest blogger Christine Dillon, a church planter in Taiwan with OMF International. Christine has written Telling the Gospel through Story: Evangelism that Keeps People Wanting More as well as 1-2-1 Discipleship. She has an excellent blog, which has been translated into other languages including Mandarin. Jackson recently came to share on “honour and shame” at our conference. As he shared about this theme, it became obvious that most of us share the good news in the way... Read more
Here’s a short video interviewing my friend and doctoral supervisor, Bruce Ashford, about his recent book Every Square Inch:An Introduction to Cultural Engagement for Christians. In my favorite part of the video, he reiterates something he said in an interview with Christianity Today: One of the ways I help people get started making culture and engaging with their cultural contexts is to teach them to ask three questions. These three questions can be asked and answered when we find ourselves... Read more
Most evangelicals seem to agree––Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God. The question I want to ask is simply, “Why?” When Wheaton suspended a teacher who thought otherwise, countless evangelicals spoke out to defend the school’s decision. Most people gave theological arguments, claiming that God’s nature were irreconcilable with Islamic views of God. For example, the one true God exists in three persons––Father, Son and Spirit. While these are legitimate considerations, I will suggest a more directly biblical... Read more
I came across this debate over at Books and Culture regarding the historicity and importance of Adam. For Christians in China, conversations about Genesis are regular occurrences because of the prevalence of teaching about evolution. John Walton, who wrote an important book I reviewed this past year, had a very clear and cogent statement that I think should provoke some good discussion. I am certainly curious to hear what you think. We can contend that Adam and Eve are theologically... Read more
Christianity Today reports that Wheaton suspended a teacher, Larycia Alaine Hawkins, for her explanation as to why she is wearing a hijab during Advent season. She said, “I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.” Wheaton said their actions are “in response to significant questions regarding the theological implications of statements that [Hawkins] made about the relationship of Christianity... Read more
Suppose you are a single 20-something. Your friends tell you about a woman named Jesse, whom they think would be a great match for you. They go on and on about all her good points. They tell you that she’s smart, beautiful, conversational, honest, comes from a good family, is low maintenance yet seeks excellence in all she does. After a solid 5 minutes or more of this, they finally ask the big question, “So, are you willing to marry... Read more
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