GOD TALK
Getting hold of God
GOD and the Western World View
Modern Marriage Makeover (in progress!)
Beginning Revelation Study
God's Treasure Chest - Grace
The Place to Grow a Christian
Sequential Bible Curriculum
Church Structure
"But We Know Him!" A sermon
The Ministry of Reconciliation
Don't just Pray for Revival!
Everyday Evangelism
The Hard Taskmaster
Church Discipline examined
Discipleship reality journey
More to come....
LIFE EDUCATION
Child-centred curriculum
A New Model for Intelligence
Phonics (foniks) reading lessons
Fonetik Nuuspel
Say Maori Words Right - it's easy! Kapai!
What is Purpose
Passion for Purpose
Communication Keys
Make a basic webpage
Teaching, Learning, Communicating
Classroom Cultural Studies
Story writing ideas
More ideas to come...
ARTS
Singing Guitar Lessons
Daniel's Doomsday Dreams
and Other Stories - a musical
St George and the Princess
Stories
Artwork
Sayings
Poems
I believe that the mixture of Christianity with a Western World View
has created incredible difficulties for the western church
to be an expression of God's Kingdom on earth.
_____________________
and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of the quick and dead.
To him all the prophets give witness, that through his name
whoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins. Acts 10:42-43
Available for hardcopy publishing
Contact Deb using form on homepage
INTRODUCTION:
My name is Deb Burton, from New Zealand. Back in 1991 I did a life-changing course called PERSPECTIVES ON THE WORLD CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT.
I was also attending a city-wide prayer meeting at the time. The course taught about worldviews - how different cultures see reality differently, but think it's the truth. I asked God "What is the Western World view?"
and three words came to mind with such force and impact that it was like great building piles being driven into the ground. These words tied so many of my thoughts together, it was like the corner pieces of a great jigsaw puzzle. The picture is actually so big that I feel I only have the framework.
I offer this book freely, and hope that others will see the shape, and add to the picture.
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Explanation: What is a world view?(see below) |
EXPLANATION - WHAT IS A WORLD VIEW?
- I'm not meaning 'with your eyes', I mean, what is real to you about the world you live in?
This is your "worldview".
DIAGRAM OF CULTURAL ASPECTS *
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It is how you see the world - what you think is real, the way things are... But you may be surprised to know that all over the world, other nations and people have vastly different ideas of what is fundamentally real! This article is an attempt to open this subject up, and to say how deeply this matters to us.
A world view begins to form in our earliest moments. A Hindu will learn the world is full of spirit beings needing appeasement for temporal and eternal gain. Westerners (with roots based in the Greco-Roman cultures), mostly learn the need to compete; and that the fortune, power and glory we value is up to us to gain. Daily life is ordered around these things, spiritual beliefs rarely affect us. We assume we can create our own destiny, and are expected to be good, assuming that problems are a result of wrong influences, rather than an inbuilt malaise. It is a non-spiritual reality, and largely self-focused. I firmly believe it allows evil influences to control our lives, illustrated by the characteristics shown in Figure 1. in the next chapter.
And I believe that Western Christians, and those that seek to imitate Western ways, will recognize some of these behaviors in ourselves - because we live by the same world view, which does not allow a thorough application of the full Gospel of Christ. This means we do not fully repent - or change how we think completely - to seeing things how God sees them. |
The key diagram - Figure 1. in the next chapter - is like the skeleton of the whole picture - a lot of ideas come together in it, which help to show that the church of the west, without realising, is in many ways working against itself!
The diagram shows two opposing forces, God and Satan, and the means used to achieve the goal of kingdom, power and glory. That the Creator of the universe is the obvious owner is not in doubt. What is in doubt, is which side the church is on - or perhaps I should say "churchianity", rather than Christianity... And like the Pharisees of old who had similar problems, they will also receive the condemnation.
I pray that all who truly desire to follow Jesus Christ, Lord and Messiah, will not make this same mistake!
And in saying this, I'm remembering the preacher always preaches to him/herself first, I need this material as much as anyone...
Deb Burton
Jesus is Lord!
Maranatha!
*Concept ideas and diagram adapted from Understanding Culture by Lloyd E. Kwast "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement" Pg 363 c. Published 1981 The Institute of International Studies