When Love for All Made Jesus Angry at a Few
Perhaps there’s no story in scripture so often used to justify our self-righteousness as Jesus clearing the Temple. It’s a favorite for every Christian with an anger management problem. I once had a tennis coach who wanted me to be more angry with my opponents. He always knew how to press my buttons. He looked at me and said, “Even Jesus kicked people out of the temple.”…
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The Cartography of Culture
I’m excited to announce I have a book coming out in June (2027) with B&H Academic! Have you ever had a conversation with someone from another religious background and were surprised to hear them say things that didn’t seem to match their religion? This is common, actually. What is uncommon is a model that helps a Christian working cross-culturally to clarify the complexity of an individual’s worldview…
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Mission in the Midst of a Global Pornography Epidemic: A 3D Gospel Approach for Addicts
I was awakened to the true scope of the problem in 2009, two months after teaching a two-week course, “Discipleship in Youth Ministry,” in Penang, Malaysia. A youth minister from Jakarta emailed to thank me for what he learned in the course. Specifically, he let me know that he had found the power to defeat his pornography addiction. He proceeded from there to tell me how he…
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Bible Storying and the Affective Domain
Mark, a Chinese man, came up to me after the story of Simon and the sinful woman smiling and shaking his head in amazement. Referencing the previous stories about Jesus as well, he said, “Every time time these stories start, I wonder how Jesus is going to handle this situation.” He cocked his head and smiled again, then added, “And He always does what is best and…
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African-Americans, Missions, and a Chinese Teenager
This article was originally published by Evangelical Missions Quarterly July 1, 2016 African-American Christians have a significant role in the global spread of the gospel for many reasons. One unique contribution was clearly illustrated as I was leading a few seminary students on a trip to a Southeast Asian country where I had previously lived. While we were there, I witnessed one of my students accomplish something…
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Eustace Scrubb and the Iranian New Year
Missionaries faced with the task of explaining the gospel to people in radically different contexts have often found bridges embedded within the culture itself. Don Richardson became known for the book, Peace Child, in which he recounts being a missionary in New Guinea wrestling with how to share the gospel with tribes who are perpetually at war. Eventually he discovered a practice where two tribes would give…
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About Me
David Parks is the Director of the Global Center and Contextual Learning at Beeson Divinity School and a former missionary in Southeast Asia. His writing includes worldview, global youth culture, missions in general, and articles related to Global Center events
David Parks 