Calling

We had a timely lecture on 'the missionary call' the other day. Turns out that the call to tell people of all nations about Jesus and to teach them and help them mature is a call made to the whole church. We must all be involved; we have only to work out what our individual role should be. On the whole the Bible does not record people receiving an extra supernatural call - rather, they are appointed and commissioned by the church. This is been good for me to see as I haven't had any sort of supernatural calling - and yet, because he is in control of the details of our everyday lives, I have seen God ordering small and bigger things so that I might go.

Learning a language the non-overwhelming way

The Oxford Take Off in Latin American Spanish kit rocks! It's a kindly, patient and encouraging teacher. Each group of lessons is focused on a theme (eg shopping) and the vocabulary keeps repeating. You listen to an easy dialogue, answer comprehension questions, repeat some phrases, read over a little bit of relevant grammar, then participate in a 'conversation' yourself. It's like being a little baby and having people speak simply to you about concrete things. Maybe it came from this method which I'm told is excellent.

Demons

So far as I can tell, the supernatural beings that the Bible speaks about are GOD, angels, Satan and demons. I can't exactly remember what it says about angels, except that they're fearful beings and they praise God and help people.

So it seems to me that the supernatural beings recognised by people (jinn, ghosts, ancestors etc) are probably demons. Realising this may be happy news for some who feel trapped and oppressed by these beings, but it may be shocking and horrifying news for others.

Don't take my word for it

Sometimes people misunderstand the Bible because they're unable to read or they don't own one - and their preacher misunderstands it. We need to help those guys to read, and get Bibles to them in written/audio form.

Sometimes people misunderstand the Bible because no-one's told them that not every bit is immediately applicable to their life. We need to show them that the Bible speaks about the historical nation of Israel and later, the new Palestinian church.

Above and below

When us Westerners think of God, we think first of what he is like in his person, and what he has been like for all eternity ('from above'). When Africans grapple with the Bible they look first at God's work in the world, and at what he is like when he relates to us men ('from below'). It's all good.1


1 ibid, 107-08.

Christ as Ancestor?

In Africa, Jesus is sometimes seen as the ultimate Ancestor1. When I first read of this it seemed massively dodgy, like he was being reduced to the important-but-not-divine status of a Catholic saint. But hang on a minute, what do I know about the African conception of ancestors . . . Those with better knowledge than I say that this label has some legitimacy - for, like (but better than) the traditional ancestors, the Son is the Mediator between man and God. He is the head of humanity/the church and in him we who are alive now are connected with the rest of the Christian family who have died. And it may help to explain Christ's humanity and divinity. Yet, it has its problems, and not all Africans are happy with it.


1 TC Tennent, Theology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007), 122-31.

Reconciliation after genocide

A man from African Enterprise spoke the other day about their Rwandan Reconciliation project, which is being financially supported by the Bible Society NSW.This project is run in every Rwandan school and is part literacy training, part reconciliation/Bible teaching. The genocide happened 14 years ago, before these primary school kids were born, but many have family members who murdered or who were killed. Their readers are full of Bible stories of reconciliation. At lunchtimes there are Reconciliation Clubs for those who want to join where they role play the Bible stories and sing, dance and debate reconciliation. Then they go home and tell their Mums and Dads.