Last Saturday I went with 3 youth and Stevin (who works at TZ) bowling. Here are some pics. (And no laughing at the horrible one of me but I wanted to prove that I was there.)
10.30.2007
Temple Zion Baptist Church & Eau Claire High School
Brief: In my Understanding Cultures and Worldview class, half of our grade consists of doing an ethnography of a particular group of people. Through pastoral contacts that our professor, Dr. Cashin, prearranged we work with a local church. My teammate is Christian. At the beginning of the semester we met Pastor Flynn from Temple Zion Baptist Church and decided we were going to try and start an after school program, recruiting kids from the high school closest to the church, Eau Claire. So over the past month and a half (almost two months), Christian and I have been going to ECHS during their lunch periods on Monday and Friday, meeting a lot of the students, trying to ask them questions and get to know them a little, and tell them about the up and coming after school program. (There are obviously a trillion more details but that's the basic outline.)
Last Saturday I went with 3 youth and Stevin (who works at TZ) bowling. Here are some pics. (And no laughing at the horrible one of me but I wanted to prove that I was there.)
Last Saturday I went with 3 youth and Stevin (who works at TZ) bowling. Here are some pics. (And no laughing at the horrible one of me but I wanted to prove that I was there.)
Eau Claire High School
I didn't realize people didn't know about this. I will post more about it soon and put up pictures of bowling on Saturday with youth from Temple Zion.
the CHALLENGE
(taken and tweeked from "the next iron chef")
Supply one or two recipes for Chef Katie to prepare, eat, and judge.
the RULES:
1) No dessert and no breakfast.
2) Can't need an oven or more than two cook tops.
3) Must have fairly inexpensive ingredients (if I think it's too costly, I will remove the entry).
some HINTS:
favorite flavor - onion
favorite food genres - southwest & greek (not homemade mexican)
variety and creativity are key!
i will announce the winner and award them their PRIZE thanksgiving weekend!
Supply one or two recipes for Chef Katie to prepare, eat, and judge.
the RULES:
1) No dessert and no breakfast.
2) Can't need an oven or more than two cook tops.
3) Must have fairly inexpensive ingredients (if I think it's too costly, I will remove the entry).
some HINTS:
favorite flavor - onion
favorite food genres - southwest & greek (not homemade mexican)
variety and creativity are key!
i will announce the winner and award them their PRIZE thanksgiving weekend!
Uh... What do I do?
I went out to my car this morning to go to work. I normally swipe my windshield wipers to get off the morning dew. *swish* What in the world? I open my door and feel the layer of ice on my windshield. Hah. So I sat in my car with the heater blasting waiting for it to warm up enough to melt the ice on my windshield. Is that what I'm supposed to do?
10.23.2007
Fires
"And when Jesus got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, 'Save us, Lord; we are perishing.' And he said to them, 'Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?' Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, 'What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?'" Matthew 8:23-27
"For he draws up the drops of water; they distill his mist in rain, which the skies pour down and drop on mankind abundantly." Job 36:27-28
"God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend. For to the snow he says, 'Fall on the earth,' likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour." Job 37:5-6
10.18.2007
10.12.2007
The Alphabet Game
Driving through Los Angeles you can play the Alphabet Game where you have to find a word written on a sign or billboard that starts with each letter of the alphabet. Driving through North Carolina you can play the Alphabet Game where you have to find road-kill that starts with each letter of the alphabet. Playing TAG in NC might actually be easier.
(Yes, I drove through North Carolina on my way to the Mouth - Yippee!)
(Yes, I drove through North Carolina on my way to the Mouth - Yippee!)
10.06.2007
Praise the Lord!
I’ll be back in California on December 26th! And I get to stay for a whole month! Praise the Lord! So I will be spending the ten days after school gets out and Christmas Day with my grandparents and brother and other family in Mouth of Wilson, VA. Also… I will be home in March for my Grandma’s birthday which just happens to coincide with my spring break. Praise the Lord again! I am very excited!
Things I'm Learning
1. Biblical Contextualization
a. Define contextualization. According to Hesselgrave and Rommen, why must it be both authentic and relevant?
Contextualization is presenting God’s Word accurately while being applicable to the cultural context in which it’s shared. God’s truths in the Bible do not change. You must correctly read the truths in the Bible to be able to transfer them to a particular people group. A difficulty in contextualizing is being able to take the Biblical truths out of your own frame of reference before trying to make it relevant to another culture. What does God really say, not how does my own culture apply this truth? Instead, what does God really say and how can these people apply this truth to their thoughts and behaviors? Contextualization is being faithful to the Bible and being relevant to the culture.
According to Hesselgrave and Rommen, it must be authentic in order to be faithful to God’s authority. He has revealed Himself to the world through creation, man’s conscience, Jesus, and the Bible. You cannot be faithful to God without accurately handling His truth (2 Timothy 2:15). It must be relevant so that the people group will be able to apply God’s truths no matter how they think or interact with each other.
One last thought: contextualization can only be effectively accomplished through prayer and the powerful work of the Holy Spirit.
1. Biblical Contextualization
d. Briefly describe the three steps of contextualization as laid out in “Folk Religion.”
The first step is to understand the people as the people understand themselves (phenomenological). An in-depth study of the people’s beliefs, thought processes, expressions, behaviors, communications, relationships, and decision-making processes is necessary. It answers the questions who are these people; what do they do; when, where, and how do they do things; and very importantly why do they do the things they do? The answers are not completely from an outsider’s perspective but takes specific note on how the people understand their practices for themselves.
The second step is to test the people’s beliefs and practices based on the truths of Scripture and objective reality (ontological). Are they correctly theologizing the invisible, worship, history, the kingdom of God, the cross of Christ, discernment, pain, death, and community? What proof do they have for their ideas? What do they observe and how are they rationalizing?
The third step in critical contextualization is to evaluate all their findings according to God’s Word. Then the Christians in the culture make decisions with the enlightenment.
There is also a fourth step that “Folk Religion” mentions as a finale for critical contextualization: transformative ministries. Simply stated, God helps people get where He wants them.
2. Worldview Ethnography
a. Describe three key components of epistemology and show how any one effects two other quadrants of Worldview.
Epistemology centers on how one thinks. One key component is authority. What is the highest authority? What makes the rules? These authorities can be either textual, experiential, or some of each. Another key component is logic. This has to do with systems of proof that match with what is assumed. How is something to be proven true or false? It can be linear or connectional or some of each. A third component is persuasion. What would be enveloped in argumentation to make the person listening convinced?
Authority in epistemology effects ontology because that authoritative book or that authoritative incident or emotion is how someone understands being. For example, if one has authority as the Bible there are specific beliefs that evolve about God, like that God particularly longs to be intimate with his human creations. On the other hand, a Muslim who has a different authoritative book underlying his epistemology would say that God is too far above human therefore cannot be personal with them.
Authority in epistemology also effects axiology. Who gets to make the rules and say what is right and wrong? It depends on what the authority is to even know if something is right or wrong. Many couples have intimate relations with each other outside of marriage and many truly do not think that what they are doing is wrong. Whatever their authority on how something can be known, we know that their authority is not the Bible which clearly states that such action is wrong behavior.
2. Worldview Ethnography
c. Briefly describe four components of a team strategy for doing ethnography amongst a particular (any) community using the paradigm of the “FOQUS” cycle.
F – Focus
O – Observe
Watch. Don’t just look from the outside; participate in the life of the people. While you eat, talk, laugh, shop, party, and dance with them pay attention to what is being said and done. Open your eyes to things that you may not have paid much attention to before. Record your observations.
Q – Ask Questions
How do you know the heart of a people without asking? This is mainly done with a cultural helper who is ready and willing to give you honest answers. A very important part is listening intently so you can build off of the questions you asked and the answers received. There are mainly three types of questions: descriptive, structural, and contrast. Ideally, it shouldn’t be interrogation but with a genuine interest in the person you’re questioning. Allow this question-and-answer time to be as normal as possible but also keep the conversation guided and on course with what will be truly beneficial.
U – Understand
Record everything, read carefully, and think. Look at the information, look for patterns, look for different interpretations, and wait for your thoughts to solidify. Allow a lot of time to really try to understand and make sense of your observations and answers. Talk all your findings through with the rest of your team members.
S – Strategize
What’s your theory? What’s the outcome of all the time you spent thinking? The whole point of this system is to be able to apply the new found and in-depth cultural knowledge of a people group to evangelize and eventually plant a church for the Kingdom of God. Finalize and write a report with the purpose of motivating people to that end.
a. Define contextualization. According to Hesselgrave and Rommen, why must it be both authentic and relevant?
Contextualization is presenting God’s Word accurately while being applicable to the cultural context in which it’s shared. God’s truths in the Bible do not change. You must correctly read the truths in the Bible to be able to transfer them to a particular people group. A difficulty in contextualizing is being able to take the Biblical truths out of your own frame of reference before trying to make it relevant to another culture. What does God really say, not how does my own culture apply this truth? Instead, what does God really say and how can these people apply this truth to their thoughts and behaviors? Contextualization is being faithful to the Bible and being relevant to the culture.
According to Hesselgrave and Rommen, it must be authentic in order to be faithful to God’s authority. He has revealed Himself to the world through creation, man’s conscience, Jesus, and the Bible. You cannot be faithful to God without accurately handling His truth (2 Timothy 2:15). It must be relevant so that the people group will be able to apply God’s truths no matter how they think or interact with each other.
One last thought: contextualization can only be effectively accomplished through prayer and the powerful work of the Holy Spirit.
1. Biblical Contextualization
d. Briefly describe the three steps of contextualization as laid out in “Folk Religion.”
The first step is to understand the people as the people understand themselves (phenomenological). An in-depth study of the people’s beliefs, thought processes, expressions, behaviors, communications, relationships, and decision-making processes is necessary. It answers the questions who are these people; what do they do; when, where, and how do they do things; and very importantly why do they do the things they do? The answers are not completely from an outsider’s perspective but takes specific note on how the people understand their practices for themselves.
The second step is to test the people’s beliefs and practices based on the truths of Scripture and objective reality (ontological). Are they correctly theologizing the invisible, worship, history, the kingdom of God, the cross of Christ, discernment, pain, death, and community? What proof do they have for their ideas? What do they observe and how are they rationalizing?
The third step in critical contextualization is to evaluate all their findings according to God’s Word. Then the Christians in the culture make decisions with the enlightenment.
There is also a fourth step that “Folk Religion” mentions as a finale for critical contextualization: transformative ministries. Simply stated, God helps people get where He wants them.
2. Worldview Ethnography
a. Describe three key components of epistemology and show how any one effects two other quadrants of Worldview.
Epistemology centers on how one thinks. One key component is authority. What is the highest authority? What makes the rules? These authorities can be either textual, experiential, or some of each. Another key component is logic. This has to do with systems of proof that match with what is assumed. How is something to be proven true or false? It can be linear or connectional or some of each. A third component is persuasion. What would be enveloped in argumentation to make the person listening convinced?
Authority in epistemology effects ontology because that authoritative book or that authoritative incident or emotion is how someone understands being. For example, if one has authority as the Bible there are specific beliefs that evolve about God, like that God particularly longs to be intimate with his human creations. On the other hand, a Muslim who has a different authoritative book underlying his epistemology would say that God is too far above human therefore cannot be personal with them.
Authority in epistemology also effects axiology. Who gets to make the rules and say what is right and wrong? It depends on what the authority is to even know if something is right or wrong. Many couples have intimate relations with each other outside of marriage and many truly do not think that what they are doing is wrong. Whatever their authority on how something can be known, we know that their authority is not the Bible which clearly states that such action is wrong behavior.
2. Worldview Ethnography
c. Briefly describe four components of a team strategy for doing ethnography amongst a particular (any) community using the paradigm of the “FOQUS” cycle.
F – Focus
O – Observe
Watch. Don’t just look from the outside; participate in the life of the people. While you eat, talk, laugh, shop, party, and dance with them pay attention to what is being said and done. Open your eyes to things that you may not have paid much attention to before. Record your observations.
Q – Ask Questions
How do you know the heart of a people without asking? This is mainly done with a cultural helper who is ready and willing to give you honest answers. A very important part is listening intently so you can build off of the questions you asked and the answers received. There are mainly three types of questions: descriptive, structural, and contrast. Ideally, it shouldn’t be interrogation but with a genuine interest in the person you’re questioning. Allow this question-and-answer time to be as normal as possible but also keep the conversation guided and on course with what will be truly beneficial.
U – Understand
Record everything, read carefully, and think. Look at the information, look for patterns, look for different interpretations, and wait for your thoughts to solidify. Allow a lot of time to really try to understand and make sense of your observations and answers. Talk all your findings through with the rest of your team members.
S – Strategize
What’s your theory? What’s the outcome of all the time you spent thinking? The whole point of this system is to be able to apply the new found and in-depth cultural knowledge of a people group to evangelize and eventually plant a church for the Kingdom of God. Finalize and write a report with the purpose of motivating people to that end.
10.05.2007
An Interesting Read
I've been wanting to blog this for a long time and finally have a little time to do it. It's from my Folk Religion book.
"What would humans want to know if they could know the unknown?"
"How should Christians respond to the problem of the unknown, and the human desire to know? What answers do the Scriptures give regarding the way God guides human lives? When new converts ask when they should go to hunt for much needed game - should they go tomorrow or the next day, and should they go north or east - how should missionaries respond? If we ask them where they got game last time, or tell them to take their chances, we inform them we have no religious answers. They will go back to their practitioners who cast bones and tell them to go tomorrow and to go east. Christians must provide better answers to the real questions people ask about life.
Before looking at biblical principles regarding God's guidance, a few preliminary remakrs are in order. First, Christians as leaders must model for the people concrete ways of seeking to know God's will. We need a theology of guidance that informs human actions, but theology alone is not enough. It must be made real in everyday life. Like other spiritual disciplines, learning to know God's guidance is as much a matter of mentoring as instructing."
"It is interesting that Jesus in his parable spoke of stewards, not accountants. There is an important difference. Accountants are human calculating machines who keep track of every cent to mkae sure it is properly recorded. They do not make decisions regarding investments based on risk and return. Stewards, on the other hand, are given resources and entrusted with using them for the gain of the master. They have many options open to them, and must make wise decisions. God calls Christians to be stewards. He has provided gifts, and sound minds to use them. He gives wisdom when asked, but allows freedom to use these gifts for his glory. When asked, he guards against wasting these gifts, and he helps believers grow to maturity by empowering them to use what he has given in ways that provide meaning and purpose in a multitude of culturally appropriate ways. Too often missionaries have had an accounting rather than a stewardship approach when they give resources to young churches."
"Churches in the West face another danger. They are deeply unfluenced bythe engineering mentality of their world, and believe that if they know how things work and do the right things, they can control the future and uncover the past. Consequently, planning, budgeting, measuring, evaluating and replanning often constitute the heart of church business meetings. The same can be said of many Western Christians who believe they can control their lives with science. Like Christians everywhere, Westerners need to learn again dependence on God, and a need to seek his leading, and not to trust their own efforts."
"What would humans want to know if they could know the unknown?"
"How should Christians respond to the problem of the unknown, and the human desire to know? What answers do the Scriptures give regarding the way God guides human lives? When new converts ask when they should go to hunt for much needed game - should they go tomorrow or the next day, and should they go north or east - how should missionaries respond? If we ask them where they got game last time, or tell them to take their chances, we inform them we have no religious answers. They will go back to their practitioners who cast bones and tell them to go tomorrow and to go east. Christians must provide better answers to the real questions people ask about life.
Before looking at biblical principles regarding God's guidance, a few preliminary remakrs are in order. First, Christians as leaders must model for the people concrete ways of seeking to know God's will. We need a theology of guidance that informs human actions, but theology alone is not enough. It must be made real in everyday life. Like other spiritual disciplines, learning to know God's guidance is as much a matter of mentoring as instructing."
"It is interesting that Jesus in his parable spoke of stewards, not accountants. There is an important difference. Accountants are human calculating machines who keep track of every cent to mkae sure it is properly recorded. They do not make decisions regarding investments based on risk and return. Stewards, on the other hand, are given resources and entrusted with using them for the gain of the master. They have many options open to them, and must make wise decisions. God calls Christians to be stewards. He has provided gifts, and sound minds to use them. He gives wisdom when asked, but allows freedom to use these gifts for his glory. When asked, he guards against wasting these gifts, and he helps believers grow to maturity by empowering them to use what he has given in ways that provide meaning and purpose in a multitude of culturally appropriate ways. Too often missionaries have had an accounting rather than a stewardship approach when they give resources to young churches."
"Churches in the West face another danger. They are deeply unfluenced bythe engineering mentality of their world, and believe that if they know how things work and do the right things, they can control the future and uncover the past. Consequently, planning, budgeting, measuring, evaluating and replanning often constitute the heart of church business meetings. The same can be said of many Western Christians who believe they can control their lives with science. Like Christians everywhere, Westerners need to learn again dependence on God, and a need to seek his leading, and not to trust their own efforts."
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