Blue = West Culuture vs. Red = Eastern Culture

A College Chinese Girl compares two cultures after living in Germany.

The Boss

Conflict

Party

Punctuality

State of Life

Opinion

The Next Evangelicalism

I just recently started to read a book that truly challenges my assumptions about the practice of church. Here's a quote, "How substantially differently would the Church look if measured success on the parable of the sheep and the goats of Matthew 25 or self-sacrificial community of Acts 2 instead of measuring success based upon cultural values of consumerism and materialism?" The author of the book "The Next Evangelicalism" is Soong-Chan Rah sounds angry with the Western Church. As I was reading I was discounting what he was saying because of the tone it was delivered, but as I began to examine myself it is clear that he is correct on many of his assertions. We need to reexamine our value system about money, status and success.

"Love Bags".... More than you can Imagine

Last Tuesday I went to an Outreach opportunity that CRPC is a part of. It's called "Love Bags"! Love Bags is headed up by Ryan Alexander from another local church. More than 50 people showed up from the surrounding area's churches, including CRPC, with bags in hand. CRPC also helps to provide the food. The Goal of this outreach is simple.... To build personal relationships! Though not first with one another, but with the homeless. Although it is an opportunity to feed the homeless and build unity amongst the group, it is first an idea centered around investment. A personal investment in another, yet the idea continues to grow. The focus.... the bag you bring filled with the things that helps to meet their specific needs, hence the name "Love Bags". The most interesting and personal thing is not so much the items in the bag, but the personalized message you write on the bag to that person your trying to get to know. This is the best part. The "Love" part. Now this person is not just homeless, but a friend! Someone you care about and invest in. Someone you provide for. Someone you love, as we have been loved by Christ! Is this not the hope and desire for our own church community? I left thinking about that verse in James, verse 2:15, "If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?" Now I'm pretty positive that describes me, who I am, what I might do, but it is definitely Not who I hope to be!

For our good and His Glory,
Brent W.

Lesson #1 EE - Modernism vs Postmodernism

Simple Characteristics of Modernism

1.) A value placed on science, reason, and Logic.
2.) This movement was believed to end misery, superstition and religion.
3.) Built on Objective truth.
4.) Some of the negative results of Modernism - The rationality of death camps, World War I and II, Hiroshima, and the advent of totalitarianism for many countries. Many of these ills were attributed to Enlightenment of Science and progress.
5.) Theological implications - An appeal to universally agreed truth. All truth is God's truth. This means that the use of Classic Apologetics became extremely prevalent. Many theologians also had an optimistic view of the world (Post and Amillennialism) were taught in the most prestigious religious institutions like Princeton.

The Shift to Post-Modernism

1.) After the death of Men like Hitler, Nietzsche, Mao, and Stalin the age of Reason was challenged and the void was filled with Post-Modernism.
2.) The loss of Reason brought loss of anything Sacred.
3.) There became a shift to Subjective truth.
4.) Based on Language and expressed in art.
5.) Theological implications - D.A. Carson wrote "The Gagging of God" which identifies the difficultly of communicating in a world with pluralism in science, culture and hermeneutics. This means that subjectivity gives every person a individual reference to reality which is independent on any objective or absolute.


Timeline of Modernism to PostModernism and the men who contributed to that shift.

Karl Barth	c.1925	fideist approach to theology brought a rise in subjectivity
Martin Heidegger	c.1927	rejected the philosophical grounding of the concepts of "subjectivity" and "objectivity"
Thomas Samuel Kuhn	c.1962	posited the rapid change of the basis of scientific knowledge to a provisional consensus of scientists, coined the term "paradigm shift"
Jacques Derrida	c.1967	re-examined the fundamentals of writing and its consequences on philosophy in general; sought to undermine the language of western metaphysics (deconstruction)
Michel Foucault	c.1975	examined discursive power in Discipline and Punish, with Bentham's panopticon as his model, and also known for saying "language is oppression" (Meaning that language was developed to allow only those who spoke the language not to be oppressed. All other people that don't speak the language would then be oppressed.)
Jean-François Lyotard	c.1979	opposed universality, meta-narratives, and generality
Richard Rorty	c.1979	argues philosophy mistakenly imitates scientific methods; advocates dissolving traditional philosophical problems; anti-foundationalism and anti-essentialism
Jean Baudrillard	c.1981	Simulacra and Simulation - reality disappears underneath the interchangeability of signs

Summary - The modern era brought forth science and reason, but lacked elements of compassion and empathy because of the stringent adherence to empirical evidence. Post-Modernism gave rise to spirituality, subjective beliefs and sensual expression. Postmoderns see arguments as propaganda, yet there is the ability to show others your position by living out what you believe.

EE - Lesson # 4 the Opposite Side of the Spectrum

On opposite sides of the spectrum.

Monochronic culture vs PolyChronic culture.

Many cultures view time differently. According to a study in "Figuring Foreigners out " each country was placed on a spectrum. The spectrum indicated which countries were most concerned with time to those which are least concerned. Monochronic cultures believe that managing time is imperative, while the Polychronic culture is much more concerned with many things other the time. The most Monochronic cultures in study were the United States and the United Kingdom. The most Polychronic culture was Africa.

Americans may or may not have coined the expression "Time is Money", but they certainly embraced that idea. Because of some of the culture drivers such as capitalism and individual development, time keeping is very important. Our computers have outlook, our phones are blackberries and the iphones have time keeping apps.

Africans and Mexicans are much more inclined to develop relationships at the expense of a stringent schedule.

When two cultures maintain polar views on an issue it is easy to see the flaws in each. A pastor that I work with in Uganda had scheduled a meeting with a partner in ministry. The pastor ended up showing up the following day for the scheduled meeting. When asked what happened it he said that he needed to deal with a congregants needs. He was late a whole day, not an hour.

It is easy as an American to feel frustrated, but as we look at the difference it is important to understand our goals.

May we be quick to listen to others and maintain a position that is receptive to learning from people who maintain a different opinions. Often the view we embrace is a matter of preference and not an absolute defined in scripture. It is interesting to see Christians place priorities on ideas that have very little consequence on the gospel. If we are not careful we substitute substance for an argument. Should we consistently strive to make people who are on the opposite side of the spectrum come to our view or should we learn from one another so that we can have dialogue on issues of substance.

Excerpts from "When Helping Hurts". The authors are Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert.

Outreach Opportunities

If you received this in an email it is because you are awesome. If you saw it on the blog that means you are still awesome, but I don't know who you are so please call us and help get people involved in outreach.

October events

Avondale Sports Committee October 9 - Friday for lunch.

Hopewalk October 17th - We need people to get involved by participating in walking and raising money. http://www.thereishope.org

Harvest Fest October 30 - An outreach to the community that saw over 1500 people walk through the doors of the church last year. We need volunteers. Please call the church and ask for Debbie Broek @ 954.334.5201



November events

Nicaragua Planning Trip November 12-16 - A team of educators, children leaders, church planters, youth pastors and community workers are looking to establish a partnership in Nicaragua in a long term effort.

Avondale Thanksgiving Project November 22 - We will need help serving 400 people in the Avondale community.


Weekly Events

Feed the Houseless with XEE every Tuesday Night at 6:30 (meet in the Gangway)

Help on the Benevolence team Sunday Mornings at 9:00 AM in the Outreach office.

Help with the food Drive Salvation Army the first Sunday of Every Month.

Evangelism Explosion Tuesday 6:30 pm, Wednesday 9:00 am, Thursday 6:30 pm.

Abercrombie and Fitch

Check out the Abercrombie and Fitch Shirt. The Little guy in the front in red. I guess the world is really Flat. I saw a Marlins shirt also. I would love to hear the story behind the shirts.