When it comes to helping victims of abuse, the church is often seen to be lacking in rigorous responses. There is a tendency to downplay the abuser’s actions and focus on the survivor’s response. This can lead to survivors seeking refuge in places outside the church, such as psychologists’ offices. I decided to trust the church.
Dr Paul Windsor is a global leader who loves serving others and looking for ways to resource them with new ideas. In this instance he gifts us with an autobiographical reflection of almost six decades of his life and some of the key ways he has learned to live and understand life and ministry through each decade.
An abusive marriage and a violent encounter with family led a young Muslim background woman to search for help. She found freedom and salvation in Jesus Christ. This is her journey, a testament to God's faithfulness and the transformative power of faith in Jesus.
Try to imagine these three situations: a workers' conference where all the speakers are business leaders, a television debate on racism where everyone—including the moderator—is white, and a video series on women where all the presenters are men. Do they not now seem inappropriate, unreal, archaic, more typical of the middle of the last century than of this one?
Superhuman efforts by the some of the world’s fittest and ablest bodies riveted our attention on the Paris Olympic Games in recent weeks. These coming days, the Paralympic Games will bring us more athletic feats, this time performed by the heroic efforts of those living with disabilities. They are declaring to the world that social value and human dignity are not rooted in physical perfection.
Missio Dei is a formal theological term, latin for "God’s mission". The term means just what is says: mission belongs to God. God defines the mission’s purposes and strategies, means and methods, timing and pacing. The mission scope is all encompassing—multi-national, multi-ethnic, multi-resourced. Our participation in God's mission requires that we keep our priorities straight, and Abraham shows us how.
Domestic violence has been well known since ancient times and it can happen anywhere. What are some of the root causes, how is it recognized, what can be done to help those trapped in patterns of abuse? We must not sweep the issues under the carpet. Domestic violence needs to be exposed and treated well.
In the mudslinging barrage of the culture wars, ‘woke’ has become increasingly difficult to define. It was originally conceived as a signifier for those who were aware of (or ‘awake to’) systematic racial and sexual discrimination. Recently, it’s become a buzzword used to mock those who believe in these systematic injustices. Rather than uncritically dismissing the issues, Christians would do well to learn how to distinguish between a theory and a worldview.
In the context of the Roman empire, making disciples of all nations was never about sending out well-funded missionaries from Rome, but the work of migrant peasant migrant workers, traders, sea-farers, and others, moving from one part of the empire to another (and beyond). Is this model from the past also the future of Christian missions?
Through digital hospitality, influencers can win over the masses, even without substantial budgets and powerful production capacities. Their authenticity and willingness to let audiences into their lives creates a powerful bond beyond what they promote. By opening a window into your life in a similar way, you could easily showcase God’s transformative power authentically, drawing others to Christ through your digital witness. But will you?
The story of God is a grand biblical story of how God has revealed himself to humankind and how he has redeemed us from fear and death and has planned a future for the whole cosmos. It’s a monumental story of love and brokenness, fear and hope, truth and lies, and the unending resolve of our loving God and his intention to save all that he has created. And we need to tell it better.
The coronavirus pandemic of 2019 sent churches, big and small, on a massive online migration. The lockdowns of the pandemic season and the implementation of strict physical distancing measures effectively locked-up the sanctuaries of different faith communities in many nations. For a couple of years or so, it seemed like the age of the digital church had finally arrived. But is that the case?
