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christian vision project faith culture and mission the christian vision project is asking a select group of creative christian thinkers pastors scholars artists and activists one big question you ll find their answers in the pages of christianity today books culture and leadership and in october 2006 on a groundbreaking documentary dvd here you can learn more about the contributors read their responses and add your voice to the conversation learn more newsletter sign up to receive updates recent articles singing in the chains the lima bean gospel praise the lord unexpected global lessons getting back on course the dread cancer of stinginess powering down the patrick paradox liberate my people from tower dwellers to travelers singing in the chains mark buchanan to be saved means more than we might think i had a paul like conversion there were no horses voices blindness no bloody trail at my feet but it was dramatic something like scales fell from my eyes i stood in the shadow of christ s cross and in the light of his resurrection christ met me embraced me forgave me and gave me himself i never looked back read more posted on february 7 2008 the lima bean gospel mark labberton the good news is so much bigger than we make it out to be w hy does the gospel look to so many like a bowl of lima beans read more posted on january 9 2008 praise the lord mark noll song culture divine bounty and issues of harmonization a n old german proverb runs wer spricht mit mir ist mein mitmensch wer singt mit mir ist mein bruder the one who speaks with me is my fellow human the one who sings with me is my brother in the world christian community today nothing defines brotherhood more obviously than singing as it was in the beginning of the limited christian pluralism in 16th century europe so it remains in the nearly unbounded christian pluralism of the 21st century as soon as there were protestants to be differentiated from catholics calvinists from lutherans anabaptists from lutherans and calvinists anglicans from roman catholics and other protestants so soon did singing become the powerful two sided reality that it continues to be read more posted on december 5 2007 unexpected global lessons andy crouch how short term mission is becoming a two way street a few years ago i was in a church service where a team of energetic young adults was reporting on their short term international mission trip like most such groups this one had plenty of cross cultural experiences to report the food was so spicy one wide eyed young woman said drawing laughter from the congregation it was terribly hot and humid we had such a hard time getting to sleep another team member said amid much hilarity the team leader described their consternation when they arrived at a remote village only to discover that the christians there were expecting them to lead a worship service on the spot read more posted on december 5 2007 getting back on course ajith fernando it s time to return to the priority of evangelism t he church is notorious for its course corrections toward the end of the 19th century theological liberals began to emphasize the humanness of christ they presented christ s life as the main focus of the gospel evangelicals reacted by emphasizing the atoning work of christ especially as explained by paul almost to the exclusion of the life of christ so liberals concentrated on good deeds and evangelicals on saving souls read more posted on november 5 2007 the dread cancer of stinginess john rowell when it comes to missions giving donor dependency may not be the greatest problem f ew principles have been as central to the modern missions movement as the three self paradigm this seminal framework was popularized in the 19th century by three notable leaders henry venn rufus anderson and john nevius it proposes that truly indigenous churches should be self governing self propagating and self supporting for 200 years the three self ideal has been nearly axiomatic modern missiologists have placed particular emphasis on the last point interpreting it to emphasize financial independence and developing a whole stream of thought trumpeting the dangers of dependency these missiologists want to prevent the unhealthy dynamics they presume are unavoidable when outside funds are introduced into any newly developing indigenous movement read more posted on october 4 2007 powering down interview by andy crouch with jayakumar christian world vision india head jayakumar christian on how the poor become movers and shakers and movers and shakers become poor n ine years ago world vision staff discovered pervasive bonded child labor in the district of gudiyatham in india parents indenturing their children to moneylenders in payment of debts as small as 20 the children rolled cigarettes tanned hides or made matches without freedom to go to school and with little prospect of ever repaying loans made at ruinous interest rates read more posted on september 10 2007 the patrick paradox dana l robert o n march 17 people of irish descent around the world celebrate st patrick s day nearly a million people stream into dublin ireland to enjoy the fireworks concerts parades and street theater st patrick s day parades began in 1762 when irish soldiers serving in the colonial british army marched through the streets of new york city accompanied by irish music by the early 20th century st patrick s day parades in major american cities had become triumphant celebrations of irish arrival in the hallowed halls of city government victors over the old guard protestant yankees the importance of st patrick to growing irish self confidence was expressed in 1921 by seumas macmanus author of the sentimental favorite story of the irish race what confucius was to the oriental moses to the israelite mohammed to the arab patrick was to the gaelic race and the name and power of those other great ones will not outlive the name and the power of our apostle 1 read more posted on august 13 2007 liberate my people interview by andy crouch with ruth padilla deborst theologian and educator ruth padilla deborst says true christian mission addresses issues of power and poverty your life has unfolded through a series of moves across cultures i was born in colombia to an ecuadorian father and an american mother but i grew up in argentina when i was in high school and university argentina was ruled by a military dictatorship and u s intervention in latin america was pervasive there was great anger among my fellow students about how american power was being used in latin america read more posted on august 8 2007 from tower dwellers to travelers interview by andy crouch with emmanuel katongole ugandan born theologian emmanuel katongole offers a new paradigm for missions you ve lived on three continents and in four countries and your parents were from yet another country rwanda how does your story affect your understanding of god s mission in the world being an immigrant can be a blessing god s mission as i read it in 2 corinthians 5 17 is new creation god is reconciling the world to himself and there is a sense of journey that is connected with that when later on paul says that we are ambassadors of god s reconciliation god is appealing through us he is inviting us into a journey toward a new kind of community people looking at christians should be confused who are these people are they black are they white are they americans are they ugandans in revelation john sees people drawn from all languages and tribes and nations an unprecedented congregation living on three continents has deepened my understanding of the church as such a congregation at the same time it has heightened my sense of christian life as a journey and of what it means to live as a pilgrim a resident alien read more posted on july 3 2007 the mission of the trinity interview by andy crouch with simon chan singaporean theologian simon chan says missional theology has not gone far enough you have written a great deal about liturgical theology but missional theology seems more popular these days i think that missional theology is a very positive development but some missional theology has not gone far enough it hasn t asked what is the mission of the trinity and the answer to that question is communion ultimately all things are to be brought back into communion with the triune god communion is the ultimate end not mission read more posted on june 4 2007 a bigger and smaller view of mission john g stackhouse jr a nyone who is sent on a mission had better be clear about what is being asked of her and why if she is not clear about the nature and rationale of the mission she risks trying to do too much or not enough or the wrong thing entirely she also risks trying to do the wrong thing for the right reason or the right thing in the wrong way read more posted on june 4 2007 the african planter an interview with oscar muriu nairobi chapel pastor on mission trips and working well across cultures what happened to change nairobi chapel from a dwindling group of discouraged whites to a vibrant international church planting fellowship they began to pray that god would show them what to do and they sought new leadership to help them reach the african students around them that s how i got to come to the chapel i was finishing my studies at nairobi evangelical graduate school of theology any given sunday maybe ten sometimes only four people were there they probably figured he can t do much damage read more posted on may 1 2007 christ my bodhisattva interview by andy crouch with ram gidoomal multinational businessman and politician ram gidoomal talks about translating the gospel in today s world you come from a hindu religious background and attended muslim schools in africa yet you became a follower of jesus during your studies at university at the university i was out of the family context with the need for something that could make sense of the wider world in which i found myself i started reading about jesus i was intrigued by the strong basis for his historical existence read more posted on april 27 2007 living with islamists joshua t white a year in pakistan gave me a glimpse of what christian witness might look like today i t was by any measure a rather large funeral when i arrived on the morning of the third day the weary looking colonel at the gate told me that about 125 000 people had already filed through the durrani ancestral home to pay their respects it was a staggering number for such a remote corner of northwest pakistan but i believed him no one goes to bannu just to visit yet when news spread that the uncle of the province s chief minister its top elected official representing the mma islamist alliance had been killed people came read more posted on march 30 2007 companions of life philip jenkins a supple faith b e careful what you wish or pray for you may get it for some centuries european and american christians prayed fervently for the conversion of the wider world especially in africa and asia and many devoted their lives to achieving this end and to an astonishing degree they succeeded during the 20th century alone around 40 percent of the population of africa converted from animism or primal religion to some variety of christianity within a few decades the african continent could be in numerical terms the center of world christianity growth in asia has also been impressive while enthusiastic new forms of christianity have blossomed in latin america many denominations are discovering to their surprise that large numbers of their adherents even majorities no longer live in those areas that could once be claimed to represent the christian world read more posted on march 21 2007 on a justice mission gary haugen thanks to william wilberforce we already know the key to defeating slavery w ouldn t it be ironic if western christians were more excited about what god did through william wilberforce to fight slavery in 1807 than about what god wants to do through us to fight slavery in 2007 read more posted on february 26 2007 a community of the broken christopher l heuertz a young organization models what it might mean to be the church in a suffering world s everal years ago i made my first trip to freetown sierra leone just as that country s civil war was winding down one of my first stops was a camp for the war wounded during the war nearly 250 000 people had their arms or legs amputated by rebels militia groups or government soldiers the mutilations killed the great majority of victims but a few survived those who had the presence of mind to run to safety with their bleeding stumps lifted above their heads to avoid fatal blood loss read more posted on february 12 2007 what did you go out to see andrew jones pilgrim pilgrim where have you been i ve been to london to visit the emerging church scene pilgrim pilgrim what did you there i found a little queen sitting on her chair w hat did we go out to see the same thing we always see the same thing but in a different place we seek out sameness we go to a foreign city to eat noodles and end up with a hamburger and fries we know that global church growth is largely happening in the margins among ordinary people without big budgets or impressive credentials but when we go out to worship with the indigenous church in colombia or malaysia or italy we end up sitting on a pew singing expat choruses with a national pastor who has colonized himself for our approval to be discovered to be seen by people who do not have eyes to see read more posted on february 6 2007 we aren t about weekends an interview with bob roberts o ne sunday pastor bob roberts asked everyone in the congregation at northwood church in keller texas to invert the collar of the person in front of them find the label and call out the nation where the shirt was made china india vietnam mexico chile kenya dominican republic and spain were all mentioned before someone finally said usa the shirts on their backs came from all over the world it was bob s way of reinforcing his recurring theme of glocalization synonymous with thomas friedman s the earth is flat it describes today s seamless integration between the local and global a comprehensive connectedness produced by travel business and communications read more posted on january 31 2007 copyright 2008 christianity today international privacy policy contact us