Posted on June 13th, 2008 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Church • Cross • Culture • God • Gospel • Leaders • Leadership • Ministry • Missions • Northwest • Prayer • Seminary • Theology
Categories: Cultural Issues • Missiology
Jarrod Haas is a student in the Cross-cultural Leadership Training Program, CLTP @ Northwest, working towards an undergrad level diploma in preparation for cross-cultural ministry among Asians. CLTP is a one year, mentored, experienced based program that prepares the student for Master’s level seminary studies as well as equips them for ministry either internationally [...]
Posted on June 9th, 2008 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Bible • Church • Cross • Culture • God • Gospel • Jesus • Leaders • Leadership • Ministry • Missions • Northwest • Seminary
Categories: Cultural Issues • Missiology
Jarrod Haas is a student in the Cross-cultural Leadership Training Program, CLTP @ Northwest, working towards an undergrad level diploma in preparation for cross-cultural ministry among Asians. CLTP is a one year, mentored, experienced based program that prepares the student for Master’s level seminary studies as well as equips them for ministry either internationally [...]
Posted on June 6th, 2008 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Bible • Church • Cross • Culture • God • Gospel • Leaders • Leadership • Ministry • Missions • Northwest • Prayer • Scripture • Seminary • Theology
Categories: Cultural Issues • Missiology
Jarrod Haas is a student in the Cross-cultural Leadership Training Program, CLTP @ Northwest, working towards an undergrad level diploma in preparation for cross-cultural ministry among Asians. CLTP is a one year, mentored, experienced based program that prepares the student for Master’s level seminary studies as well as equips them for ministry either internationally [...]
Posted on May 1st, 2008 by Dr. Larry Perkins
Other tags: God • Gospel • Holy Spirit • Jesus • Seminary
Categories: Biblical Languages • New Testament
The Psalmist declared “Since my youth, O God, you have taught me” (Psalm 71:17) and he desires that God continually would teach him to do his will (Psalm 143:10). His experience and expectation is that God does instruct him, with the result that he knows God and his ways. While this [...]
Posted on April 15th, 2008 by Dr. Larry Perkins
Other tags: Culture • Discipleship • God • Gospel • Jesus • New Testament • Old Testament • Seminary • Translation
Categories: Bible • Blogs • Ethics
Paul’s choice of words in his letter to Christians in the province of Galatia reflects careful intention. The issues he confronts are extremely serious, the opponents powerful and persuasive, and his audience somewhat befuddled. Strong warnings mingle with cries of frustration as he encourages these believers to keep running well the [...]
Posted on March 19th, 2008 by Dr. Lyle Schrag
Other tags: God • Gospel • Ministry • Prayer • Theology
Categories: Prayer
In February I wrote a posting about the book series Home To Harmony by Philip Gulley. My suspicion is that just about every pastor I know has enough material to write their own series of stories. A theological version of All Creatures Great and Small, if you will. While few of us pastors who will actually [...]
Posted on February 6th, 2008 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: God • Gospel • Jesus
Categories: Cultural Issues • Missiology
The story of Umar and Marvi is a legend of the Sindhi people that expresses a fundamental tribal value of the Sindhi people. A young, beautiful teenage girl (Marvi) is kidnapped from her tribe by a young prince (Umar) who is enamoured by her and wants to make her his wife. She is taken to [...]
Posted on January 31st, 2008 by Dr. Kenton Anderson
Other tags: Bible • Culture • God • Gospel • Scripture • Seminary
Categories: Bible • Bible Story
My friend and mentor, Grant Lovejoy, sent me a link this morning to the new website for Chronological Bible Storying. The website offers the methodology, research, and reports from the field into this powerful way of preaching to oral and indigenous cultures.
According to the website, "Chronological Bible Storying (CBS) is the process of encountering [...]
Posted on January 25th, 2008 by Dr. Larry Perkins
Other tags: Church • God • Gospel • Holy Spirit • Leaders • Leadership • Ministry
Categories: ChurchTalk • Leadership • Seminary
In 2007 Amal Henein and Francoise Morissette published Made in Canada Leadership. Wisdom from the Nation’s Best and Brightest on Leadership Practice and Development. They argue that "in each of us rests the potential for leadership, but the response and measure depend on us….We are all called to lead"(58). They discovered that parental influence and [...]
Posted on January 17th, 2008 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Cross • Culture • God • Gospel • Jesus • Marriage • Seminary
Categories: Cultural Issues • Evangelism • Missiology
It feels impolite and invasive to challenge someone on a personal level
I am uncomfortable with direct methods of evangelism that early on present the hearer with an invitation to accept Christ as Lord and Savior. Part of my unease has to do with my Canadian upbringing. It feels impolite and invasive to challenge someone on [...]
Posted on January 8th, 2008 by Dr. Larry Perkins
Other tags: Church • Gospel
Categories: Board • BoardTalk • Church
Behaviour will often make the difference between just being a church board member and being a productive church board member. People may know the rules about playing volleyball and participate in the game, but without passion, concentration, commitment and desire to work collaboratively, they will rarely excel and be productive with the team. Similarly a [...]
Posted on January 7th, 2008 by Mr. Loren Warkentin
Other tags: Bible • God • Gospel • Jesus • Prayer
Categories: 2008 Challenge • Bible Study • New Year
I would like to present you with a tough but exciting challenge for 2008 . . . but let me back up a little!
This past two months I have been somewhat restricted in my activities because of a ruptured achilles tendon. After 4 weeks in a fiberglass cast and now another almost 4 weeks in [...]
Posted on December 13th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Church • Culture • Gospel • Seminary • Theology
Categories: Cultural Issues • Culture • Evangelism • Hermeneutics • Missiology
Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends
Edited by Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Charles A. Anderson, Michael J. Sleasman. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007. 285 pages, $29.99, paperback.
Most of our churches in the Fellowship are not missional, but communal in orientation. That is, their primary orientation towards the community in which they are placed [...]
Posted on December 6th, 2007 by Dr. Larry Perkins
Other tags: Church • God • Gospel • Jesus • Leaders • New Testament
Categories: New TestamentTalk
Considerable discussion is occurring about the appropriate way to define an "Evangelical". John Stackhouse (Church and Faith Trends volume 1, issue 1, EFC website) proposes a definition that includes the following elements: orthodox and orthoprax, crucicentric, biblicist, conversionist, missional, and transdenominational. There is much to commend such a definition, although personally I think it emphasizes [...]
Posted on November 23rd, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Church • Cross • Gospel • Leaders • Leadership • Ministry • Northwest • Seminary
Categories: CLTP • Church • Cultural Issues • Evangelism • Leadership
Joy’s (1) emotional pain was evident as she related her move from her family’s mono-ethnic Chinese church to a multiethnic congregation. She felt guilt as if she had somehow betrayed her home church.
Bob pastored a multi-ethnic congregation but was frustrated by his inability to recruit leadership from certain groups.
Jane enjoyed belonging to a church [...]
Posted on November 22nd, 2007 by Dr. Lyle Schrag
Other tags: Church • Gospel • Religion
Categories: Athiesm
I seem to have hit a theme this month. My eye keeps catching the flashes of debate being generated by the modern merry band of atheists. In a recent Journal of Religion and Society, Gregory Paul, a paleontologist, whose specialty appears to be the study of dangerous creatures [Predatory Dinosaurs of the World], decided to [...]
Posted on November 7th, 2007 by Dr. Larry Perkins
Other tags: Bible • Church • God • Gospel • Holy Spirit • Leaders • Leadership • Ministry • Northwest • Prayer
Categories: BoardTalk • Leadership
Dr. Lyle Schrag, director of our Northwest Centre for Leadership Development, led our sixth Best Practices for Church Boards workshop this past weekend. Seven churches participated. As I gave one of the presentations and facilitated a conversation among one of the church boards, the centrality of relationships to good Church Board operations became absolutely clear. [...]
Posted on November 5th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Bible • Culture • God • Gospel • Missions • New Testament • Old Testament • Translation
Categories: Cultural Issues • Culture • Missiology • Seminary • Translation Issues
I am slow. I have come to the realization – at least a full decade after more perceptive and observant thinkers – that we are no longer in the information age; we are in the networking age. Facebook is not about information, but about connecting. Due to the ease of access and overwhelming quantity of [...]
Posted on October 30th, 2007 by Dr. Kenton Anderson
Other tags: Church • God • Gospel • Seminary
Categories: News • Preaching
Yesterday my wife participated in our pastor’s sermon by illustrating his sermon with a simultaneous sermon painting. What’s that, you ask? Let me try to explain.
Brian Stewart was preaching from Philippians 2:15 about how we are to shine as lights for Christ in the places we’re located. He had a lot to say about light [...]
Posted on October 25th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Bible • Church • God • Gospel • Jesus • Leaders • Theology
Categories: Church • Preaching
The following is a response from my wife, Karen, to a couple of recent blogs found on this site:
In his Oct 17 blog "The Foundation for Hearing God," Loren Warkentin wrote:
We Christians have become acculturated to this [fast-paced] style of living and I believe it has affected our spiritual lives. We are easily bored. If [...]
Posted on October 19th, 2007 by Dr. Kenton Anderson
Other tags: Bible • Church • Culture • God • Gospel • Jesus • Leaders • Scripture • Seminary • Theology
Categories: Evangelism • Faith • Preaching
J. P. Moreland of Talbot Seminary was the keynote speaker at this year’s meetings of the Evangelical Homiletics Society. He took the opportunity to offer a proposal for “apologetic preaching.” While such an approach is not new, Moreland seemed to suggest that apologetics could and should take a much higher place in our thinking about [...]
Posted on October 17th, 2007 by Mr. Loren Warkentin
Other tags: Bible • Church • Culture • God • Gospel • Leaders • New Testament • Prayer • Scripture • Translation
Categories: Bible • Bible Study • Christian Life • Culture
There is, today, a proliferation of articles, books and speakers discussing the topic of “hearing God”. Several well known evangelical preachers and leaders have weighed in with their contributions. I did a web search on the words “hearing God” and was fascinated by what came up. Page after page listing web sites, books, articles and other [...]
Posted on October 9th, 2007 by Dr. Larry Perkins
Other tags: Church • God • Gospel • Leaders • Ministry
Categories: Leadership • MinistryTalk
According to Robert Quinn in Deep Change a legitimate vision must exceed perceived resources. If our vision fits neatly within our current resources it is merely a plan, not a vision. Planning is important, but it will not result in "deep change", according to Quinn. Only vision enables an organization to discern a future that [...]
Posted on October 5th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Church • God • Gospel • Jesus • Ministry • Missions • Scripture • Seminary
Categories: Christian Life • Discipleship • Evangelism
Five aspects of evangelism common to our churches that need to change if we are to make a gospel impact in our communities:
a. The individualistic nature of evangelism. People commonly view Sunday worship as their expression of church, while the rest of the week is lived without church involvement. For example, I have seen [...]
Posted on October 4th, 2007 by Dr. Lyle Schrag
Other tags: Church • Gospel • Leaders • Leadership • Ministry
Categories: Church
I posted a note back in July with a bit of a warning – that the Middle-Adult ministry today is not the same as it was 30 years ago, and that if the church doesn’t address the aging Boomer generation, it is missing a huge opportunity [July 5, 2007: Here They Come.] I don’t know [...]
Posted on September 27th, 2007 by Mr. Loren Warkentin
Other tags: Bible • Culture • God • Gospel • Jesus
Categories: Christian Life • Culture • Godliness
On my way to work this morning the radio station to which I was listening had an announcement regarding some of the up-coming fall TV shows. I found myself reacting to the announcer’s casual monologue. What he was describing was entertainment comprised of watching godless and adulterous relationships, of watching actors and actresses portraying a society whose [...]
Posted on September 21st, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Bible • Church • Culture • God • Gospel • Leaders • Missions • Religion • Seminary • Translation
Categories: _Uncategorized
The following are resources that are particularly helpful for those with responsibility to facilitate their church’s involvement in missions.
The FEBInternational resources and servicing churches pages provide a number of resources and helps that have proved valuable for our FEBBC churches
David Mays provides excellent resources from missions in churches on his website. His CDs, Missions Trip [...]
Posted on September 19th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Church • Cross • Culture • God • Gospel • Jesus • Ministry • Missions • Prayer • Scripture • Seminary
Categories: _Uncategorized
Significant Conversations
… where “heaven overlaps with the earth.”
God loves words
He started the world with words
Let there be light!
His words became conversations
Adam, where are you?
And his conversations continued
I am the LORD your God, I delivered you. You are my people
But when God wanted to speak his deepest message of love, [...]
Posted on September 19th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Church • Cross • Culture • God • Gospel • Leaders • Leadership • Ministry • Northwest • Seminary • Theology
Categories: _Uncategorized
Contact Mark Naylor at mark.naylor@twu.ca for further information. All workshops, seminars and interactive programs are available to our FEBBC/Y on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland upon request and dependent upon Mark’s schedule. There is no fee attached to these programs, although there may be some incidental costs.
Resolving Intercultural Conflicts
Gleaned from the experiences of [...]
Posted on September 19th, 2007 by Dr. Larry Perkins
Other tags: Bible • God • Gospel • Jesus • Leaders • Ministry • New Testament • Theology • Translation
Categories: Bible • Bible Study • Biblical Languages • Hermeneutics • Ministry • New TestamentTalk • Preaching • Theology • Translation Issues
No, this is not an attack on any Bible translation. But it is a serious question — how do our translations of the Bible influence the forming of our Christian worldview? We believe that God intended his Word to be translated into every language. Yet as we make the transition from Greek or Hebrew text [...]
Posted on September 18th, 2007 by Mr. Loren Warkentin
Other tags: Bible • God • Gospel • Jesus • Seminary
Categories: Book Reviews • God's Love
Over the years of my Christian life I have often grappled with the questions, "How can I have a relationship with someone I cannot see, hear or touch? What kind of a relationship is it if one party is limited by being bound to this humanity?" I know, and have preached on the theologically correct [...]
Posted on July 31st, 2007 by Dr. Larry Perkins
Other tags: Church • God • Gospel • Jesus • New Testament • Old Testament
Categories: Bible Study • Biblical Languages
Eugene Boring in his new commentary on Mark’s Gospel published in the New Testament Library (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006) proposes that the first word in Mark’s Gospel (archÄ“) signifies both beginning or origin, and norm, which he proposes should be translated as "the norm for the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ" (32). There [...]
Posted on July 30th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: God • Gospel • Jesus • Ministry • Scripture
Categories: Evangelism • Missiology
Every now and again I hear the phrase “how many people have you led to the Lord?” The meaning of this evangelical lingo is “how many people have committed their lives to Christ under your guidance as you have explained the gospel message?” Although my desire is for people to commit their lives [...]
Posted on July 27th, 2007 by Dr. Lyle Schrag
Other tags: Bible • Church • Discipleship • God • Gospel • Leaders • Leadership • Ministry • Northwest • Scripture • Seminary • Theology
Categories: _Uncategorized
What are the Courses of the Christian Ministry Training Program?
There are eight 3-credit learning courses that address three core ministry essentials that form the foundation of a mature ministry: Conviction, Character, and Competency. As Students learn these ministry essentials they will find that they will be prepared to enter a wide variety of ministries from [...]
Posted on July 24th, 2007 by Dr. Brian Rapske
Other tags: Cross • God • Gospel • Jesus • Missions • Old Testament
Categories: Bible Study • Church
Our house has been a-hum with guests most of this month. But as busy as we’ve been, the joy has been greater. Sitting around the crowded dinner table laden with good things this week, I’ve been reminded of how many times in the past my family and I have been the beneficiaries of God’s great [...]
Posted on July 23rd, 2007 by Dr. Larry Perkins
Other tags: Church • Cross • God • Gospel • Holy Spirit • Jesus • Leaders • Leadership • Marriage • Ministry • New Testament • Northwest • Old Testament • Prayer • Scripture • Seminary • Theology • Translation
Categories: _Uncategorized
The application of literary criticism to the Synoptic Gospels has stimulated many new readings of Mark’s[1] Gospel. In particular one application of rhetorical criticism[2] invites the interpreter to discern the various ways in which the author seeks to direct the implied reader to a specific conclusion. In the case of Mark’s Gospel attention has turned [...]
Posted on July 23rd, 2007 by Dr. Larry Perkins
Other tags: Bible • Church • God • Gospel • Holy Spirit • Jesus • Leaders • Ministry • New Testament • Old Testament • Translation
Categories: _Uncategorized
In Matthew 12:38-42 Jesus compares himself to two Old Testament figures - Jonah and Solomon. In both cases he indicates that "one greater than" either of these individuals is now present and active among the people of God.[1] It seems apparent from Matthew’s arrangement of the gospel materials[2] that the choice of these particular individuals [...]
Posted on July 23rd, 2007 by Dr. Kenton Anderson
Other tags: Bible • Church • Ethics • God • Gospel • Jesus • Leaders • Leadership • Ministry • Scripture
Categories: _Uncategorized
January 12, 2001
It is thought that spiritual people don’t make good leaders. Yet a biblical view holds that leadership without spiritual character is incompetent. Integrating competence and character is frightening for spiritual leaders aware of their failings. However, leaders with the integrity to own this kind of honesty will find the grace they need to "finish first."
Spiritual leaders [...]
Posted on July 10th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Culture • God • Gospel • Jesus • Marriage
Categories: Evangelism • Missiology
A number of years ago after delivering a sermon I was rebuked by a young woman. It would be nice to say that this was a unique occurrence, but unfortunately, such is not the case. I had made some disparaging remarks about the “Four Spiritual Laws,†a tract that provides a four step understanding [...]
Posted on July 4th, 2007 by Dr. Kenton Anderson
Other tags: Church • God • Gospel • Religion
Categories: Ministry • Religion • Theology
Here are a few notes taken from a lecture I heard by Alistair McGrath at the International Congress on Preaching in April. The address, titled “Preaching Truth in the Shadow of the Idol of Science” was directed at the recent writings of Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennet, and Christopher Hitchens, all of whom seem to be [...]
Posted on June 12th, 2007 by Dr. Kenton Anderson
Other tags: God • Gospel
Categories: Preaching
Thomas Long has written a tremendous piece on pulpit plagiarism that you can find here in it’s entirety: Stolen Goods. The article traces the arguments for and against using materials developed by others in the pulpit. Long comes down on the issue of honesty and integrity. He writes… A good test of this point is [...]
Posted on June 11th, 2007 by Dr. Larry Perkins
Other tags: God • Gospel • Holy Spirit • Jesus • New Testament • Old Testament • Translation
Categories: Bible Study • Biblical Languages
In the infancy stories of Jesus recounted in Luke and Matthew God actively directs events to preserve his Son and to inform participants about the significance of these occurrences. For example twice in Matthew 2 God reveals (chrÄ“matizÅ) “by dream†his divine decree to the Magi and to Joseph. In the [...]
Posted on June 8th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Bible • Cross • Culture • Gospel • Scripture • Theology
Categories: _Uncategorized
Mark completed his Master of Theology through the University of South Africa in 2004. About his thesis on Contextualized Bible Storying Mark writes:
"Chronological Bible storying is a method of presenting the gospel cross culturally and is especially effective among oral cultures. The weakness of the Chronological Bible storying method is that it generally assumes [...]
Posted on June 8th, 2007 by nav
Other tags: Church • Gospel • Leaders • Leadership • Ministry • Missions • Northwest • Seminary
Categories: _Uncategorized
Director of the Northwest Centre for Leadership Development (NCLD)
Dr. Lyle Schrag is the first Director of the Northwest Centre for Fellowship Leadership Development at the Northwest Baptist Seminary. His responsibilities are to create a collaborative process between the resources of the Seminary and the congregations of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches.for the development of [...]
Posted on June 8th, 2007 by nav
Other tags: Bible • Church • Cross • God • Gospel • Leaders • Leadership • Ministry • Missions • Northwest • Old Testament • Seminary • Theology • Translation
Categories: _Uncategorized
Coordinator of the Centre for Intercultural Leadership Development (CILD)
Mark served along with Karen, his wife, in Pakistan among the Sindhi Muslim people for fourteen years, doing evangelism, church planting and leadership development. He continues with his responsibilities as the supervisor and primary exegete for the Sindhi Old Testament translation project. Here at Northwest Mark’s responsibilities [...]
Posted on June 8th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Bible • Church • Cross • God • Gospel • Jesus • Seminary
Categories: Bible Study • Membership
My wife, Karen, and I belong to a Bible study connected with our church with participants who are extremely diverse in their Christian faith. One person saw God as a finite being who came into existence at the Big Bang. Another refers to himself as a “lapsed Catholic” who views God as an impersonal force. [...]
Posted on June 7th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor
Other tags: Church • Cross • Culture • Discipleship • God • Gospel • Ministry • Missions • Prayer
Categories: _Uncategorized
First semester:
The student
has developed an understanding of the worldview of the ethnic group with whom they are working
has a positive relationship with their mentor who has made an impact in personal, intellectual and spiritual development
recognizes the need to contextualize biblical truths
has established positive and challenging non-Christian and Christian relationships within the ethnic community.
has had opportunity [...]