More from Kenya

January 3, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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The Brooks FamilyJohnny has published another post about the current situation in Kenya.

Here are a few lines from his post, Nakuru January 2, 2008, describing his attempts to check on neighbours and survey the situation in Nakuru.

I was unable to visit a few neighborhoods. Seems that the residents are stoning vehicles to keep the police out. Fear and suspicion rule the day here. Neighbors have turned on neighbors and armed gangs are running about causing havoc. Of course not everyone has sunk to this cave man attitude about members of other tribes. We hear stories of neighbors banding together despite ethnic differences to protect each other.

The innocent are getting caught up in what I would describe as tribal conflict between Kikuyus, Luos, and the Kalenjin. I have a friend who is Kissi. In his neighborhood he is a minority. Luos and Kikuyus outnumber his tribe, but do not have numbers large enough to oust each other. Each tribe, Luo and Kikuyu formed security squads to patrol at night. My friend was approached by both sides, but he told me he did not know what to do. Joining any of them would pit him against the others, and ultimately endanger his wife and daughter. Rape is common in these attacks, and the assailants do not care how old or how young you are.

Please take the time to visit Pure Christianity and let Johnny, Kate and their children know that you’re thinking of them and praying for them and the people they are serving during this very difficult time.

Please spread the word. If you keep a blog please point people towards Johnny’s blog so that they can stay up to date with the situation and pray for the specific needs that will arise over the coming weeks and months.



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The Case for Interfaith Dialogue

December 17, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
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bigpar.gifIs it arrogant to claim that any one religion has an exclusive connection to God? Does discussing faith matters with followers of other religions mean that we think it doesn’t matter which spiritual path you take? What is the role of interfaith dialogue in our spiritual walk?

I grew up in 60s and 70s in the suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. That means that I’ve generally had little connection with people who follow other spiritual paths. My two trips to India have helped to broaden my understanding of those who don’t hold to the same beliefs that I do. I haven’t changed my view that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, but thankfully I can dialogue with others about their journey without feeling that my own beliefs are being threatened.

The 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions was recently launched at Federation Square in Melbourne Australia. It’s an event with an 114 year history and it occurs somewhere around the the world every 5 years.

The 2009 event is to be held in Melbourne and is expected to attract eight to ten thousand guests from eighty countries as well as more than five thousand Australians, providing opportunity for ordinary people of faith – Christians, Jews and Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists – to share their faith with each other and learn more about what each other believe.

Respected theologian, speaker, author and director of John Mark Ministries, Rev Dr Rowland Croucher believes strongly that interfaith activities are something that ‘real’ Christians need to involve themselves in. I recently spoke to him on 98.5 Sonshine FM.

Rowland has years of experience in talking through the tough questions with a range of people on their own spiritual search. He has some brilliant things to say and I heartily recommend that you listen to our interview by clicking the audio player below.



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Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture

March 14, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
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exilesEvery now and then I get to record a radio interview that I want to listen to over and over again. One such case is my interview with Michael Frost about his current book, Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture.

Mike has so many good things to say and he says them so well.

He previously wrote The Shaping of Things to Come together with Alan Hirsch. ‘Shaping’ is a book aimed at church leadership giving leaders ideas on reshaping church for the current culture. It was a great read and so I was very keen to get copies of Exiles and Alan Hirsch’s current book, The Forgotten Ways when I heard that they were available.

I’m currently working my way through Exiles and thoroughly enjoying it, so it’s wonderful to be able to spread Mike’s message to a wider audience through the interview.

We live in a time when more followers of Jesus are living outside the church than ever before. People who are still very keen to follow Christ are giving up on going to church. What does that say about the people that are ‘dropping out’ and what does it say about the church?

In the interview with Michael Frost we look at just what is meant by the term post-Christian culture. We also talk about Mike’s use of the term exiles. Are we really exiled in a foreign culture? How do we thrive in a post-Christian culture while staying faithful to Jesus? How much should we engage with the current culture? How much do we stand up against the existing culture?

My interview will be broadcast on 98.5 Sonshine FM this Sunday night and then replayed on Monday night. You can hear the interview by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

If you missed my earlier post, I interviewed Alan Hirsch about his current book, The Forgotten Ways, a couple of weeks back and thoroughly enjoyed the conversation.

If you’ve read Exiles I’d love to hear your thoughts. I look forward to your comments.



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The Forgotten Ways

February 25, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
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forgottenwaysI read The Shaping of Things to Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch some time ago. I imagine that most people who have read the book have continued thinking through the issues it raises a long time after they’ve filed the book away on their bookshelf.

Both Frost and Hirsch have since written new books. Michael Frost has written Exiles while Alan Hirsch has released the book The Forgotten Ways.

The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church, covers some of the same ground as The Shaping of Things to Come which makes it worthwhile as a follow up or as a stand alone book.

The Shaping of Things to Come asked a lot of deep questions and pointed us towards possible directions. The Forgotten Ways seeks to build on the ground already covered but helps to plot a way forward for the missional church.

Introducing the book on the website of The Forgotten Ways we read a couple of questions that set us up for what the book is looking to answer.

How did the number of Christians in the world grow from as few as 25 000 one hundred years after Christ’s death to up to 20 million in AD 310?

How did the Chinese underground church grow from 2 million to over 100 million in sixty years despite considerable opposition?

In The Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch reveals the paradigmatic insights he discovered as he delved into those questions. He then translates these findings into the context of the contemporary Western church.”

I had the great pleasure of speaking with Alan Hirsch about his book and his understanding of missional church last week. My interview with Alan will be broadcast on 98.5 Sonshine FM both tonight and tomorrow night.

To listen to the interview online simply press the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.



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Life Under Construction

March 10, 2004
by Rodney Olsen
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cranes

I’ve been thinking recently about growing up and seeing cranes across the city skyline.

When I saw huge cranes constructing huge buildings I used to think how untidy they made the city look. I used to look forward to the day when the city would be finished so that the cranes would be gone. I wanted my beautiful city to look neat and complete.

As I grew older I realised that there would always be cranes. Old buildings pass their usefulness and are replaced by new buildings. The population grows and new facilities are needed. It’s all a necessary part of progress.

I think a lot of us feel the same way about the struggles in our lives. We look ahead to the time when all the cranes will be gone, when the construction will be finished and we can enjoy a ‘neat’ existence. It’s not going to happen this side of eternity.

In every area of our lives we need to realise that the struggles and disappointments will always be there – it’s part of our progress. If we ‘put our lives on hold’ until the struggles are sorted, we’ll never learn to live.

Living is all about what we do with those setbacks, how we cope with them, and more importantly, who we turn to to help us through.

Of course there is coming a time when the cranes will be taken away and the construction will be over. Once the building is all done we have an eternity to enjoy paradise with our Lord. I’m looking forward to resting from all the building.



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