Month: July 2015

Source: The 3D Gospel

Readers may have read Roland Mueller’s slim volume on Honor and Shame, which came out in 2001, or Werner Mischke’s more extensive 2015 work on this important topic, The Global Gospel: Achieving Missional Impact in Our Multicultural World.

Recently Jayson George kindly shared with us a copy of his 2014 book describing honor and shame cultures as well as guilt-innocence and fear-power cultures. At only 80 pages, The 3D Gospel: Ministry in Guilt, Shame, and Fear Cultures is a quick read and helpful resource for anyone working cross-culturally. It provides an introduction to these three cultural types and explores how the gospel addresses each.

“Although guilt, shame, and fear are three distinct cultural outlooks, no culture can be completely characterized by only one,” says George. “These three dynamics interplay and overlap in all societies.” He encourages the reader not to neglect any of the three facets but to recognize the importance of each in order to share the gospel in a more complete way.

The author hosts the website HonorShame.com (which we’ve mentioned here previously) and will lead a Missio Nexus webinar on September 17. He has also developed an assessment tool called TheCultureTest.com. It uses 25 simple questions to help you recognize your primary culture type: guilt, shame, or fear.

» Learn more or purchase The 3D Gospel for US$5.50 (or less) from Amazon or elsewhere; the Kindle edition is US$3.99.

Missions Catalyst News Briefs 7.16.15

1. WORLD: Sharing Jesus with Our Muslim Neighbors
2. TURKEY: So Logical and True
3. WORLD: Latest Trends in Religious Restrictions
4. MIDDLE EAST: Good News
5. NIGERIA: Workers Stand Firm amid Violence

 

Greetings!

It was as a guest at an event sponsored by the Friends of India club on a local college campus that I first heard of the Ramayana, the epic story of Ram. After the graduate students introduced me to the story they grew up on, I decided I should learn more about it to better connect with my Indian friends. (You can find many versions on YouTube.) This month, I read about another epic, the movie Baahubali, which claims to have cost more than any other Bollywood film, and a different Indian film which holds the world’s record for speedy production, only twenty-four hours.

But when I think of real Indian heroes and achievements, the globe-trotting musician Benny Prasad may currently top my list. He holds the world’s record for the most countries visited in the shortest time. His testimony is worth watching.

Movies, sports, and the arts suggest we all want a hero even if that hero is fictional or legendary. Every culture has its heroic tales. Might learning some of them open doors to share the greatest epic story of all time?

Blessings,

Pat

Source: Anglican Frontier Missions, July 3, 2015

On a packed, beat-up bus, filled with smoke, deep in the heart of an Islamic nation, I was chatting with [a] new-found friend who me told me that though his mom and dad were Muslims, he’d didn’t really believe it anymore.

After a few more minutes of conversing, the bus stopped abruptly– no gas station, no rest stop, nothing in sight. What followed absolutely amazed me. Every single man got off the bus, spread out in two lines on the frozen dirt of the high mountain plateau, and began doing the Islamic prayers. Even the guy sitting next to me who had just told me he didn’t believe anymore was joining in!

Though many of us understand some of the historical, political, social, and religious events that have led American culture to become increasingly “tolerant,” relativistic, and post-modern, wrapping our fingers around the world’s second largest religion can be downright baffling. Where is Islam today? How does it differ, country to country? Where might global Islam be heading? And most pertinently, when I meet a Muslim, what are some things I might say or do to draw them nearer to Christ?

» Read full story.

» Also on the topic of Muslim-Christian relations, read How American Muslims Are Helping Black Churches Rebuild After Spate Of Fires (Huffington Post) and watch this fun, challenging, ad about the labels we put on people (Coca Cola).

Source: TWR News, June 30, 2015

A broadcasting ministry received the following letter from a listener in Turkey:

“Hello, I’m a student at a theology university of the country’s religion. We were always told that the Bible has changed. And they teach us always the faults of the Bible. I was so much wondering about these things that I finally got a Bible.

“Our teacher told us that if we want to learn how ridiculous Christianity is that we can listen to a radio program. This is how I started to listen to your program. I listened nine months regularly to your programs. You never said anything ridiculous. What you told was so logical and true. I decided to give my life to Jesus Christ. It is so difficult for me to study at this school and to be a Christian. I can’t talk with anyone about this.”

“Could you please pray for me?”

» Read full story and one from another broadcasting ministry that writes about ministering to an Iranian woman suffering from hopelessness and depression (SAT-7).

» In some parts of the world, Christians, too, have limited access to Christian input and materials. See The Journey of God’s Word to Myanmar (Asia Harvest). And listen to an interview on Building the Church in Burma (Compassion Radio).

Source: INContext, July 2015

In February 2015, the Pew Research Center released the sixth in a series of annual reports analyzing the extent to which governments and societies around the world impinge on religious beliefs and practices. Looking at the overall level of restrictions—whether resulting from government policies or from hostile acts by private individuals, organizations, and social groups—the study finds that:

1. Restrictions on religion were high or very high in 39% of the 198 countries and territories monitored.

2. Nearly 5.5 billion people (77% of the world’s population) live in nations where religious restrictions of some kind (related to either government or social groups) are either high or very high. This figure has increased from 76% in 2012 and 68% as of 2007.

3. Among the world’s 25 most populous countries, the highest overall levels of restrictions were found in China, India, Burma (Myanmar), Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Russia, where both the government and society at large impose numerous limits on religious beliefs and practices.

4. Among these populous countries, China had the highest level of government restrictions in 2013 [the most recent year for which data was available].

5. India had the highest level of social hostilities involving religion.

» Read the rest of the report.