week7-janmohamed-the economy of manichean (ashcroft)

What I noticed in this article was the cyclical nature of the Imperialist’s domination over the native.  In producing the “imaginary ” representation of the native he fuels the already existent stereotypes of what natives are and in doing so casts this upon the natives so that they can do nothing but perpetuate these stereotypes.

week7-lamming-the occassion for speaking (ashcroft)

The tone carried in this article was quite refreshing.  While he had accepted the fact that the Carribean culture was one of colonialism and thus roots and ties to their ancient or previous culture were severed there still remained hope for the people of the West Indies to preserve a culture that was their own in the face of its utter loss.

week7-monday class reflection

What stuck out to me in class was the question of how the cultural and colonial-empire struggle is or can be intertwined with the spiritual especially in consideration of the death of Christ.  One can easily take Christ’s life and death as a cry against the empire and the empire squashing the voice, but what of anything spiritual is there in a man who wants a revolution and dies for his cause?  How do we marry the two?

week6-fuellenbach-ch. 5 emergence of a world church

One question that I had was how the church can be enriched by the culture it enters into yet be discerning enough to expose what is not “good” about that culture.  How can we steer away from the mentality and position of “let’s be as culturally sensitive as possible by taking the baby and the bath water.”

week6-tat-siong benny liew-tyranny, boundary, and might (sugirtharajah)

It is true that in Mark there are glimpses of empire within Jesus’ rule and ministry.  But what is Liew heading towards?  It appears as if he would rather have little or no authority established.  I know this maybe not “pc” in this class, but authority is not always a bad thing.  I think the important question is, “Is the authority good?”

week6-stphen d. morre-mark and empire (sugirtharajah)

The point that was interesting was that the coming empire or kingdom to come that was to be established by Jesus Christ was to come through self-giving and self-emptying, which most likely meant voluntary submission to torture and execution.  How can we understand Jesus’ tool of the advent of his kingdom.  From a secular standpoint is it just some sort of reconciliation or cognitive dissonance trying to make sense of the unexpected persecution and their mission or does it actually have any efficacy?

week6-response to antonia deboer’s blog on fuellenbach and the emergence of a world church

I think one of the frustrating things about some of the approaches that I am learning about at Fuller or some of the attitudes about missions, evangelism, church, etc. is that there is not much talk about the role of the Holy Spirit.  No, this is not going to be a rant on how Pentecostals are the best and all others are without the Spirit, but it seems that much of the time you see an innovative ministry that understands the culture and ethos of a setting with passionate people in the ministry launch a church or whatever and then just become something that looks just like the world, but with a Christian twist.  Or perhaps the movement is active in making a difference in the community yet there does not seem to be any apparent spiritual harvest.  My sister-in-law is a current writer for Outreach the Magazine and she interviewed a church that plays local coffee shop midweek up in Oregon or Washington (i forget).  The ministry was cutting-edge and cool.  But when she asked if there were any testimonies of changed lives and people coming to Christ the person interviewed could not say much.  Its good to be thinking and rethinking about our approach, but maybe what those people say might be true…that the success of a ministry does rely upon God and people on their faces seeking God to work within a setting.

week6-monday reflection

The thing that stuck out most was the idea that the missio Dei was packaged in a one and a half hour Sunday Worship, but rather encompassed all of life.  This is something that God has been showing me recently and convicting me of.  During the week I would spend so much time stressing out over a Sunday Worship and then live like a “Decadent Philistine” afterwards (Owen Wilson from Shanghai Knights).  My life should be an embodiment of the missio Dei.

week5-gibbons-racial discourse and irish history (castle)

I was at awe at how racist the English were.  It is understandable that the English would treat other colors differently, but to subjugate the Irish to the same class as darker-skinned peoples is telling of their “English-supremacist” mentality.  They neither cared for color or culture, but saw themselves as the only civilized.

week5-kiberd-inventing ireland (castle)

The fight for Irish culture and identity takes place in print and in language.  For many the adoption of the English language meant the dissolve of their culture.  This is much the same in many other cultures.  In my current church the senior pastor desires for us to speak in Korean as it carries within itself a certain spiritual quality.  I do not understand this but only see it as a means to retain the Korean culture in the midst of the influx of Western culture in the church.