un californien à paris

Citizens of a better city

The writer of the book of Hebrews had intimate knowledge of the tensions experienced by urban immigrants.  It has been argued that the book of Hebrews was written for a Christian community suffering the complexity and the indignities of urban life, persecuted for their faith in Jesus. (Koester 2005)  Certainly an immigrant in any city in any époque can relate personally to the experience of “seeking a homeland” or of having “no lasting city.”   The writer of Hebrews injects everyday-life immigrant experiences with rich theological meaning that is instructive to all Jesus-followers.

I would like to reflect on three eschatological tensions grounded in the immigrant experience as they are found in Hebrews 11:13-16 and 13:12-16:  1) the tension of living between two cities; 2) the tension of living as a resident-alien; and 3) the tension of loving the city that will never love you back.

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Prière pour L'Eglise de Lagny-sur-Marne

Seigneur, notre Dieu, nous voici tous ensemble devant ton trône de grâce.  Nous nous approchons de toi tels que nous sommes, avec nos joies et nos peines, avec nos espoirs et nos craintes, avec nos forces et nos faiblesses.  Nous venons devant toi plein d’assurance grâce à Jésus, notre frère, notre roi… notre grand prêtre qui intercède pour nous.

Nous voici, ton église, rassemblée mais bientôt dispersée dans le quotidien où tu nous as placés.   Nous prions que Jésus nous guide tout au long de la semaine, dans nos lieux de travail, à l’école, dans les transports en commun, dans nos loisirs, et dans nos familles.   Dans tous les lieux que nous côtoyons, fais de nous des témoins de ta présence, de ta paix, et de ton repos.  Nous avons besoin de ton Esprit Saint pour aimer, pardonner, respecter, servir, encourager et édifier notre entourage. 

Aide nous à garder les yeux fixés sur Jésus, qui nous a ouvert le chemin de la foi.  Nous prions que tu nous rendes capables de faire le bien sous toutes ses formes pour que nous accomplissions ta volonté.  Réalises en nous par la même force qui a ramené Jésus d’entre les morts ce qui t’est agréable.

À toi sois la gloire cette semaine et pour l’Eternité. Amen.

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The is my new facebook profile picture.  What do you think?

Kwame Bediako 2004

‘Jesus fulfills and surpasses the function of the Ancestor,’ says the African Christian evangelist.

‘So what?’ shrugs the post-modern Westerner.

What is the next line in this conversation?

Bediako, Kwame. Jesus and the Gospel in Africa: History and Experience. Orbis Books, 2004.

About the author:

Dr. Kwame Bediako was Founder/Director of the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture, an initiative of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in research and advanced studies in the fields of Christian Faith and Thought and in the relationship of the Christian Church to society.  He held two doctoral degrees, the first in Francophone Literature from the University of Bordeaux and the second in Divinity from the University of Aberdeen.

It was during his studies in France that he became convinced of the spiritual and intellectual coherence of the Christian Faith, and discovered the central importance of personal faith in Christ. This understanding motivated his subsequent theological studies in Scotland under Andrew Walls.

He wrote extensively in the fields of Gospel, culture and Christian identity, and in the development of new contextual theologies in Africa. His publications include Theology and Identity—The Impact of Culture upon Christian Thought in the Second Century and Modern Africa (Regnum Books, 1992, reprinted 1999), Christianity in Africa—The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion (Edinburgh University Press; Orbis Books, 1995; reprinted 1997), and the volume under consideration here, which serves well as a representative overview of Dr. Bediako’s legacy.

Kwame Bediako, who passed away in June 2008, now enjoys eschatological verification, knowing even as he is known.  He is survived by his wife, Dr. Gillian Mary Bediako, and their two sons, Timothy Yaw (24) and Daniel Kwabena (21).

Thesis:

This book is a representative selection of Bediako’s articles exploring his conviction that, as God reveals himself though African idioms in African contexts, an “African theology emerges to edify not only the African church but the Church world-wide.” (page xi)   The two-fold purpose of this English-language volume is then (1) to encourage Africans to delve the depths of their worldviews, sacred traditions and cultures for the elements of an African theology and a unique Christian identity; and (2) to introduce the West to the Jesus that is the answer to African questions. Bediako’s legacy stands as an open-ended question:  Can/will the Church worldwide be edified and renewed by a uniquely African understanding of Jesus and the Gospel?

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(This book was reviewed in prepartation for Fuller Seminary's SIS-PhD Qualifying Exam.)

Back to School

This is the last week of summer vacation.  More importantly, it's the week before school starts!  Karen will set up her kindergarten classroom on Thursday and Friday.  Samuel's and Michael's first day back to school will be Tuesday 2 September.  This week, Karen and I are taking turns hanging out with Nathanael at the daycare center for his "adaptation."  Next week, it's the real thing, we'll hand him off from 8am to 4:30pm, 5 days per wk.  It's always hard for parents to leave their baby with "strangers" (actually, we've known the good people at the daycare center for years.)

Where does that leave me next week?  Alone with a pile of missiology books.  From now until January 2009, I will be studying for Fuller's School of Intercultural Studies PhD Qualifying Exam.  It may of course become a disqualifying exam if I don't work at it.  The purpose is to test whether or not I am "substantively familiar with the interdisciplinary field of missiology."  Indeed, we shall see.  The exam covers what Fuller considers to be missiology's "core" literature.  I will be writing reviews of each of these 22 books over the next 4 months to prepare myself for the exam.  I've also decided to share them here with you, my dear blogosphere.  The first book selection is in the area of Mission Theology.  You'll find the amazon links to these 8 books in the left-hand column under the heading "Today's reading" in reverse order (Bediako, Bevans and Schroder, Bosch, Newbigin, Padilla, Van Engen, Ramachandra, and Wright).

I realize that I may have just lost all five of the people who read this blog... who come here mostly because they love my family.  Along with my book reviews, I promise to keep you up to date on our family life.  As a token of good will, here's a selection of our summer 2008 photos.  Karen took most of the pics, if you're wondering why she's not in many of them.  BTW, look for Karen on facebook.

We're back to school and I'm back to blogging...  It should turn out to be a great Fall.. uh.. I mean Autumn...not the humpty-dumpty kind.