Was the letter to the Ephesians written to Jewish or Gentile Christians? Previously, I believed that Ephesians was written to a church made up of both Jews and Gentiles, and that one of the things that Paul was seeking toRead more…
Diaspora Ministry Works: Sharks turned Fishermen
FROM LOAN SHARKS TO FISHERS OF MEN Noel Pantoja, Philippines I grew up in the Philippines seeing men in motorcycles wearing turban and long beard. We call them “Bumbay” when we were growing up. Sometimes adults would scare us thatRead more…
Some Helpful Resources for Studying Diasporic Issues
I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you a few of the helpful resources that I have recently discovered in my work in the area of diaspora missiology. While there are some excellent evangelical writings on this topic, theyRead more…
Trials…God’s Pathway for Growth and Grace
Growth and grace are realized through trials. When these benefits of trials are experienced (and not forgotten), then the unavoidable difficulties of life and faith will be embraced by ardent followers of Christ.
Should we allow culture to inform our values?
There is a common feeling among Christians that modern culture is, as Obi Wan Kenobi said, a “wretched hive of scum and villainy.” These people see society as immoral (or at best amoral) and imagine a great divide between theirRead more…
Himalayan Global Summit 2009
Last week (16 August 2010), I asked Dr. Atul Y. Aghamkar to post on “Partnership in Evangelizing Global Hindu Diaspora.” Related, the wind of God is blowing across the Himalayas and beyond to the Himalayan people in diaspora. Click onRead more…
Prayer for New Paradigms
We find ourselves today in need of new paradigms for responding to globalisation. From time to time I glimpse something of God’s big picture, see the grand view, catch the vision of the multi-ethnic worship in Revelation 7, but mostlyRead more…
Mobilizando a Igreja Local para Transformações Sociais
Nos últimos 50 anos de história evangélica brasileira, parece ter havido uma forte polarização entre igrejas que se envolvem e desenvolvem projetos sociais e igrejas que projetam e implementam estratégias de evangelização. Por algumas décadas prevaleceram as propostas evangelísticas, emRead more…
On Hidden Diaspora Communities, a “Borderless” World, and GLOCAL Initiatives
Previously, I have posted about Flying Communities, Floating Communities, and even Isolated Communities. So a few weeks ago, I curiously went along with four of my Toronto friends to see “hidden communities” in a high-rise condo for sale located in aRead more…
Authentic Evangelism
Here is a paper I am going to give at the Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians gathering in a 10 days time. Any comments to make it a more useful paper would be gratefully received. ’Word, Words and Worship:Read more…