Filed under: blogging, Christendom, dissertation, Global South, missiology, school, theology
I’m not sure exactly how to go about this, but this post represents my first attempt at blogging about my dissertation. I can’t say how many posts I’ll use to write about this, or how frequently I will do so. I’ll start with some general framing words, though.
When I began the process of research and writing, I was intrigued by the possible implications of some of the writings done by a Penn State University professor, Philip Jenkins. I had recently read his book, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. In it, he gives a lot of data that proves a surprising fact: there are currently more Christians in the non-Western world than there are in the West, which has always been considered as the home of Christianity. The past few decades have witnessed an explosion in the number of Christians in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. All of this has taken place at the same time as we have seen a steady decline in church as we know it in the West.
I seriously doubt that I was alone in being surprised at the shift taking place in global Christianity – most USAmerican Christians would never guess that to be the case. Once I took that reality in, I had some immediate questions about power. We in the West are very accustomed to being in control – we have the money, we have the political influence, we have the biggest guns, we have the white skin, we have the theology, we have the authority. But if we’re not even a majority of the world’s Christian population, should this really be the case? How is Western power being used when it comes to theology, social justice, missionary practice, etc.? I was particularly interested in listening to the theological reflections of Christian brothers and sisters from the global South – is it possible that rather than being forced to blindly accept theology developed in Rome, Geneva, London, New York, Nashville, Dallas, Springfield, or Southern California, perhaps they should be practicing theologies that they’ve developed in their own cultural contexts? Further, is it possible that “they” should actually be teaching “us” about some things they’ve learned?
So those were some of the questions I began this research journey with. Many of the answers I found were quite exciting to me. But I haven’t finished setting the stage quite yet. The next time I post on this, I’ll talk briefly about the context that brings “us” and “them” together.
Yesterday morning I was able to successfully defend my doctoral dissertation, and I have now officially completed the Doctor of Ministry degree through George Fox Seminary. It’s a bittersweet kind of day for me – I’m certainly glad to have this thing done, and have the opportunity to breathe a little and bring a bit of harmony back into my schedule and life, but it also marks the close of a process that I’ve definitely enjoyed.
In part because of my busy-ness with school reading and writing, the frequency of my blog posting has dropped over the past couple of years. I’ve also not posted very heavily on the areas of my dissertation research. Maybe it’s just that I’ve been writing so much in academic forms about the research that I haven’t been highly motivated to do more of it here. At any rate, I am now prepared to reveal the title of my dissertation to you. Ready? How’s this sound?:
GLOBAL CHRISTIAN SHIFTS AND MISSIONAL CHURCH MOVEMENTS:
LINKING THE POSTCOLONIAL GLOBAL SOUTH WITH THE POSTMODERN WEST
I’ve defnitely learned a lot, and am planning now to begin sharing some of that here. Globalization is changing our world, and has brought some exciting changes to the Church. There are some rough and uncertain days ahead, but also some things that I am very hopeful about. I’ll share some of that as well.
For today, though, I just want to say thanks to my family and friends for all the encouragement and love that I have received. It’s not been easy, but the support I’ve felt from others has carried me along.
I’m here in San Diego, enjoying family and friends. Last night, over at the Hawthorn House, I had good conversations around the fire out back with fellow travelers. I won’t take the time to name drop in this post, but we laughed a lot. As the night wound down, and only a few of us still there, we talked briefly about the whole emerging church thing. We’ve all walked that road for several years now. The funny thing, though, was that rather than comparing notes on which emerging church bloggers we follow and who we’re connecting with on the web (which is what we used to do early on), and which conferences we’re going to, we compared notes on how long it’s been since we’ve visited certain emerging church websites that we used to congregate around. Months, years. Seems like we’re post-emerging now. I think that’s a very good sign.
Today is the first day of Lent, the Christian journey toward Easter. I am participating in a Lent Synchroblog, organized by Christine Sine. A number of bloggers and communities will be posting regular reflections throughout the season. Check in at Christine’s blog to explore these. I will be using, and posting reflections on the excellent resource that Christine has prepared – A Journey Into Wholeness: Lenten Reflection Guide . I would encourage you to do the same.
There are so many misconceptions about Lent out there. Having been raised in a non-liturgical Christian tradition, I’m not even sure I knew that it existed until I was in my 20s. In the past ten years, I’ve been much more aware, and have learned some of the value of observing. Some of the misconceptions have to do with the question, “What are you giving up for Lent?” Set aside chocolate, caffeine, television, meat, etc. – as though it’s just something you’re supposed to do. Somehow the sacrifices are able to magically translate into brownie points with God (except we have a gnawing feeling inside that we might not quite be getting it right). Fasting and sacrifice are good, but it’s critically important that we do so with the right motives, setting our hearts right.
David’s famous psalm of repentance (51), which begins with:
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
later says,
For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
It’s not about what I do for God, in giving up something I love. It’s about allowing the Spirit to train my senses more completely on Truth.
Lent isn’t always the most pleasant season – fasting and reflection on brokenness reminds of our insufficiency and need for God. But it is important for so many reasons. It sets us in line with God’s generosity toward us. It sets us in right relationship with people around us. It prepares us to celebrate the Resurrection, and the change in our world that results. I am personally walking through a season in which I am acutely aware of my brokenness. May Resurrection hope infuse me, even as I walk in the difficulty of repentance.
Peace to you this season. Unite with God. Unite with the suffering of others.
Filed under: blogging, family, friends, mac, San Diego, school, technology, twitter
Well, it’s been riculously long since I’ve written a real post about anything – in particular anything that’s going on in my world. I do intend to get back on the blogging wagon, but I think it may take a little while to catch up. This is because I want to be thoughtful about how I do this. I’ve noticed that since Twitter came into my life, a lot of the short, quick take things I used to blog are now ending up there instead of here. That’s fine, but there’s a hidden implication – when I do blog something, it tends to be several paragraphs in length, and a lot of blog readers just don’t have the patience for that. So, I’m going to work on posting mainly short items, with an occasional longer treatment of something if I feel like drilling down.
By way of categorizing things that have happened in my personal world since I last really wrote an update:
– Michelle and I went to San Diego for Christmas. Saw lots of family and friends.
– Shortly after the Christmas holiday break, I completed a draft of my doctoral dissertation for review by my academic advisor. I await feedback and editing requests, but the big beast of a project is largely complete.
– Shortly after I turned in said dissertation draft, my trusty laptop, which had been giving me many fits for the previous few months finally crashed on me enough times that I went and bought a new computer. Much to the delight of many of my friends, and the chagrin of other friends, I bought a MacBook, and not another PC. Whatever.
– Since I don’t have a dissertation keeping me busy, I’ve taken on some projects around the house that have been perpetually on the back burner.
– I’ve been scheduling out some inter::mission teach-ins. Really excited about a few of them that are on deck.
– Michelle and I are trying to prepare ourselves for several weeks of a higher-maintenance-than-usual life with a dog. Tomorrow, we take Maui in for the doggy version of an ACL surgery. She’ll be in a puppy cast for like six weeks, and then we’ll have to rehab her for another six weeks. Did I mention that our house has stairs? Should be lovely.
– Since I’m trying to get a fresh start, I popped a new WordPress theme on here. I’ve spent very little time, and intend to do a bit more, editing blogroll links, widgets, etc. I’ll try to make the thing look and function better for those of you who still visit the site, rather read through a feedreader.
O.k., so there are some other items as well, but this post is already breaking the “short items” blog post rule. To those of you who have regularly checked in despite the lack of updates, my apologies and my thanks. You both mean a lot to me.
Filed under: blogging
Hello, hello? Is this thing on?
I’d like to apologize for my lack of posting here. Thanks for visiting. Sorry I’m so delinquent. I have multiple highly credible excuses and alibis, but I won’t go into those here. Instead, I’ll just say that I may be coming into a clearing soonish, and I’ll get back into a more regular posting rhythm again.
I used to post a lot more short quips on my blog, but now I use Twitter. Now all my blog posts feel REALLY long to me. I don’t like that.*
*With the exception of the sentence you’re reading now, the text of this post complies with Twitter’s 140 character limit.
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a big ugly blog post brewing up in me. But essentially, I keep going back to something I posted back in April, which already says what I want to say. I don’t recall ever re-posting one of my entries or doing a “Best of SpiritFarmer” thing before . . . until now. All I can say is that my feelings about this are getting stronger every day, so allow me to reiterate.
I give you The Wacky Emerging Church, Reason #92: Voting for a Democrat for the first time in your life doesn’t mean you’re subversive
In case you’re too busy or lazy to follow the link, here’s the money quote:
[Barack Obama] may be better than what we’ve got now. Things may improve. But let’s keep one thing squarely in mind, shall we? Whether it’s Obama, Clinton, or McCain sitting in the Oval Office one year from now, it will still be nothing more and nothing less than the figure head of an empire. That empire is not where our hope lies. That empire is more concerned with wealth and security and “progress” and indulgence, with precious little regard to whose paying the price for these things. That empire sets itself up as a beacon of hope to the masses, but it has no power to do what this planet needs most. That empire wants our allegiance above all else, and is willing to manipulate and coerce us into giving it up.
In other words, take it easy on the Kool-Aid, will ya? That’s all, carry on.
Looks like I lost a blog post in WordPress, so this is attempt #2.
I was very happy to get the e-mail notification that Todd Hunter is blogging once again, after a disastrously long hiatus. I have learned so much from this guy over the past several years, it’s crazy. I’ve gotten to know him a little bit, through a variety of means – a little church planter coaching here, some common friendships there, a lot of his teaching everywhere. Most recently, I got to sit next to him while gawking at the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I admire Todd on many levels.
Whether you know who Todd is or not, trust me, you’ll want to bookmark/subscribe to this blog. Oh, and be on the lookout for the book he’ll publish soon with IVP. Good stuff awaits us all.
SpiritFarmer 