Integrating Missionally

We are the World! Today!

Three years ago, I started my doctoral work at George Fox Seminary. At the time, I told my wife that when I finishd my degree she could go next. I meant it, and now that I’m done, we are trying to figure out how to finance a PhD in Education through an accredited program that she can participate in from anywhere.

When people ask me what’s next, I always mention that and then say, “If and when Brenna is done, I want to go back and get a degree in global business.” I believe that the church in USAmerica needs people with a global perspective because the world is coming here and they are not melting into the pot but congregating in their own communities. We need people in the church that understand GLOBAL leadership, not Western church culture.

I found out today that the school where I got my doctorate is starting a Doctorate in Global Missional Leadership. The Global Missional Leadership DMin program “focuses on equipping Christian leaders in church, non-governmental organizations, and mission communities to confidently, to constructively, and to effectively carry out the mission of the gospel of Jesus Christ in an increasingly connected world.”

“Students engage in theological/biblical, historical, and sociological analysis of the emerging global culture to gain cultural and theological self-awareness. They do specialized research in topics such as consumerism, colonialism, the enviroment, and social justice. They gain skills in the use of online and mobil social media tools and they develop an international network of scholarly relationships through real-world experiences in Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia.”

The lead mentor in this cohort-based program is Jason Clark. Jason Clark serves as a full-time pastor of Vineyard Church Sutton in Sutton, London (UK), which he and his wife planted in 1997 while he was an investment broker in London. That church has grown to around 300 adults and 120 children, in an area of London where 1 percent of the population are connected to a church.

Dr. Clark also coordinates the Emergent UK online resource network. This network serves alongside Emergent in the United States and several other countries. He also directs the deepchurch.org.uk project and writes a blog that has a 2,500-member mailing list and has over 250,000 visits per year, that arises from his research area, teaching, and church experience.

He is a council member of the Evangelical Alliance UK.

Dr. Clark is an adjunct professor at George Fox Evangelical Seminary for the MA/MDiv modules on “Missional Ecclesiology.” He also lectures and teaches in other countries on a regular basis in the areas of church and culture. He is currently working on several book- writing projects and articles. These include two chapters in a book titled, “Christ and Postmodern Culture” for Baker Academic’s Church and Post-Modern Culture Series and a book coauthored with Dr. Andrew Walker on ‘Deep Church’ for Paternoster UK’s Faith in an Emerging Culture Series.

Jason completed his DMin at George Fox, and is now a PhD candidate at Kings College London, researching theological assessments of consumerism and secularism and the implications for ecclesiology.

The degree starts in January 2010, with the first advance (not retreats, we advance) to be held in Nairobi. Other advances will be held in Malaysia and Europe.

There is no other school in the country, maybe even the world, that is pursuing this kind of vision.

I have nothing but great things to say about George Fox and their leadership. Truth be known I would love to teach there! I would suggest that if you really want to get a handle on global ministry, you consider this option. I believe it will be well worth your investment, and that the kingdom may be impacted greatly by this endeaver.

For more information, go here: http://www.georgefox.edu/seminary/dmin/gml/index.html. It will be the begining of a journey that will change your life!

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A couple of quick notes on the defeated bailout bill.  This bill scared me to death.  Why?  Because it was the institution of full-blown socialism.  From an article today entitled, “Marx’s Proposal Number Five seems to be the leading motivation for those backing the Wall Street bailout,”

In his Communist Manifesto, published in 1848, Karl Marx proposed 10 measures to be implemented after the proletariat takes power, with the aim of centralizing all instruments of production in the hands of the state. Proposal Number Five was to bring about the “centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.”

If he were to rise from the dead today, Marx might be delighted to discover that most economists and financial commentators, including many who claim to favour the free market, agree with him.

From another article:

Another possible change to the bill would modify “mark to market” accounting rules. Such rules require banks and other financial institutions to adjust the value of their assets to reflect current market prices, even if they plan to hold the assets for years.

Some House Republicans say current rules forced banks to report huge paper losses on mortgage-backed securities, which might have been avoided.

This is the most disturbing aspect of what has happened.  Changes were made so that the value of assets had to be assessed at what they could be currently sold for, not what they were valued.  So if the bank made a $150,000 loan, but could only sell it for $30,000, that had to be reflected on the balance sheet of the bank, despite the fact that the bank may not want to even try and sell it for ten or thirty years.  Thus, banks were taking huge write-offs, despite the fact that over 90% of the mortgages were being paid.

In addition, the credit rating agencies (S&P, Moody’s) changed how they rated the credit value of lenders.  They tied credit worthiness to stock price.  As the stock price dropped, banks had to raise capital to maintain their credit rating.  Now banks won’t loan money because they need that cash to maintain a credit rating.

The last thing we need is the government trying to control banking or create a national bank.  Healthy regulation needs to be in place.  What that should look like is not socialism, or even marxism.

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