Mike loves thought-provoking statements. Here are some: (I'll try to change them every so often)
Post-Christendom
"Arguably Buddhism presents a far more serious challenge to the Christian worldview than any other faith." Dr. Chris Wright (Int'l Ministry Director, Langham Partnership; former principal of All Nations Christian College)
"The contemporary climate is therapeutic not religious. People hunger not for personal salvation… but for the feeling, the momentary illusion, of personal well being." Dr. Christopher Lasch
"We enjoy a thousand material advantages over any previous generation, and yet we suffer from a depth of insecurity and spiritual doubt they never knew" Tony Blair (quoted in idea magazine March/April 2003)
"If Christians don't live as if faith affects all of our life, [then non-Christians] will continue to believe that Christian activities are merely our preferred way of spending our leisure time - rather than the power plant of our entire existence". Mark Greene (idea magazine March/April 2003)
Whole gospel
"An individual gospel without a social gospel is a soul without a body and a social gospel without an individual gospel is a body without a soul. One is a ghost and the other is a corpse" Dr. E. Stanley Jones (missionary statesman, 1884-1973)
"The polarities of 'faith' and 'works' are inadequate labels for the complicated business of human relationships with God" Steve Tomkins (writing about John Wesley, Third Way magazine, June 2003)
"People who say Christianity shouldn't be political are always rich" Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Mottos to Live (and Die) By
"He served his King with constant, excessive and dangerous loyalty." Royalist Epitaph
"Ours is a world in which many people have a lot to live with but not much to live for" Viktor Frankl (holocaust survivor)
"If you have nothing worth dying for, you have nothing worth living for" Anon
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At the moment Mike is particularly thinking about:
| Biblical leadership patterns in a Cambodian context - see this site for more info about Cambodian attitudes to social hierarchy, patron-client relationships and power. |
| The appropriateness of using development projects (material aid, English teaching, hostels etc.) primarily to achieve church planting goals (conversion and church growth) (I'm not convinced it is always 'appropriate') |
I may put more on the website if I get around to it, but in the meantime if you have your own thoughts about either of these subjects, please do get in touch.