I was invited to speak at the historic Hawaiian church, Kawaiaha’o Church, on July 7. It was an honor to be with their congregation and share this message. You can listen to me deliver the sermon or read it below. Where do you belong? To whom do you belong? These are the kinds of questions with which we live all our days—from childhood to our elder years. Back in 1998, when my son (our oldest) was 3, we were in Japan,... Read more

This is part of a series of posts on the topic of Hawaiian theology. Start with part 1 and part 2. Listen to this piece. Some may fear the loss of authoritative control when considering the possibility of how orality may shape textuality and theology generally. Whether we are aware of it or not, orality and other forces shape our approach to texts. Those we deem authoritative shape our readings of texts. Schools of thought develop around those who are deemed authoritative.... Read more

This is part of a series of posts on the topic of Hawaiian theology. Start with part 1. Listen to this piece. The study of Hawaiian theology is a very intricate and fragile affair. The intricacies are bound up in part with the multi-ethnic reality of Hawaii. One must also account for the oral nature of communication historically and presently. One scholar here in Hawaii shared with me how difficult it is to study Hawaiian theology since Native Hawaiians have so... Read more

Listen to this piece. What is Hawaiian theology, and what goes into the making of it? The answers to these questions are far beyond my comprehension because there are so many facets to them. Still, they are worth exploring. This post begins to explore them. Along these lines, it is worth addressing questions of cultural preservation as well as transformation and the contextualization of the gospel in the Hawaiian culture, as with any culture. Not that one ever answers fully... Read more

This is part of a series of posts on the topic of racialized theology. Start with part 1 and part 2. Mention was made in my previous post that many people see Black Theology as contextual, but fail to comprehend that all theology is contextual. While I do not share Adolf von Harnack’s view set forth in the History of Dogma that Christian theology or dogma was intellectualized and Hellenized in such a way as to distort or cover the... Read more

This is part of a series of posts on the topic of racialized theology. Start with part 1. Listen to this piece. We often look at Black theology as contextual theology, but fail to see that all theology is contextualized. It is all enculturated. White western theologians like myself present contextualized theologies, too. This statement is not intended to relativize a given theology or to say that it is unbiblical, but to say that there is no such thing as an... Read more

Listen to this piece. Evangelical theology in the United States is often racialized. Racialization pertains to race’s impact on education, health care, job placement, place of living, urban planning, and so forth. When I speak of Evangelical theology as racialized, I am not thinking primarily of what we say and write about race, but of what we don’t articulate and possibly assume. In other words, it is not always the black print, but the white backdrop on the page that... Read more

Today we who are Americans celebrate the founding of our great nation—a wondrous experiment in the pursuit of democratic ideals. There is much to celebrate for sure: freedom from tyrannical regimes where people have no freedom in the areas of speech and religion, among other human longings and values. Of course, we have had more than our fair or unfair share of overwhelming challenges along the way, such as with the struggles for civil rights for various groups of people,... Read more

Recently Christianity Today asked me to list five books that have impacted me most in terms of evangelism. One will not find here a list of how-to books. Evangelism is not a technique, but a way of being in word and deed that leads people to Christ. Certainly, it involves content, bearing witness to Christ and his claims on our lives, including the apostolic witness (Matthew 10:32-42; Luke 14:25-35; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11). Such claims should humble us and lead us away... Read more

Listen to this piece. I hear and read of the increasing fragmentation of the Evangelical movement. Perhaps it has something to do with the passing of the cultural influence of Dr. James Dobson as an overarching force who speaks for the movement. Perhaps it has something to do with the increase in diversity politically and culturally within Evangelicalism. There may be many reasons for such fragmentation. Fragmentation is bound to happen from time to time given that we don’t have... Read more