Thoughts on human effort and the work of God

Tag church

A Second Reformation?

Today, we’re discussing the possibility of a Second Reformation. What it would look like, why now, what it’s impact could be and what that means for you and me. But before we begin, let’s consider what happened in the First Reformation…

Why church small groups discussions fail

Have you experienced this? Awkward silence lingers until the small group leader tentatively asks another question. Everyone stares at their toes. Someone offers a nervous answer. The leader tries to parley it into a discussion, but no one really opens… Continue Reading →

A Letter to the Church from a Technologist

Dear Church, We love you, but sometimes we feel like you don’t get us. We’re builders, explorers, inventors. We love making awesome things and sharing them with the world. We love seeing the future and making it real for others to experience. We… Continue Reading →

What is our place in God’s story?

If you haven’t had time to read the entire Bible (or want a refresher), you might like my attempted highlight reel of the story from Genesis to Revelation beginning in this section: Where we came from. By remembering where we came from… Continue Reading →

Link: A Theological Challenge to Second Generation North American Ethnic Asian Churches

Being part of an Indonesian American church, I found this article quite challenging: A Theological Challenge to Second Generation North American Ethnic Asian Churches The article uses some technical language, so let me give my hopefully simplified less technical summary: When people first immigrate to North America and congregate to form ethnic churches, they do so out of necessity because of the language barrier. When they raise children those children speak English fluently. Yet when the church remains mostly centered on its cultural heritage (ethnocentric), it undermines its true identity, which is catholic (universal, including believers of all ethnicities) and apostolic (sent to proclaim God's Kingdom and reflect what it is like today). So the question is: Why should an ethnic church be segregated from the wider church when language is no longer a barrier (which it is not for the children of immigrants)? The author believes that ethnic churches stay that way mostly to preserve language and culture, which over the long term is unsustainable. I would add the major consideration of keeping families together, but this is not addressed in the paper. The author challenges churches to embrace their biblically defined identity. By doing so, they become a witness to the kingdom of God in which people from every culture and language worship God together. I would want to extend the challenge of this paper to all churches and not just "second generation ethnic Asian churches in North America" given the possibility of using technology to help overcome the language barrier. What if churches could be widely multilingual? Since God's Kingdom is multilingual, does that mean they should be multilingual?

Being part of an Indonesian American church, I found this article quite challenging: A Theological Challenge to Second Generation North American Ethnic Asian Churches The article uses some technical language, so let me give my hopefully simplified less technical summary:… Continue Reading →

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