In an effort to understand the mental health needs and resources of Korean Christians, we collected quantitative and qualitative data through surveys and interviews with Korean pastors and Christian educators. Several mental health concerns were identified: the high level of daily stress faced by many Koreans, marriage and family concerns, conflicts between Korean culture and the teachings of the church, and a tendency to keep emotional discomfort suppressed. Mental health resources include deep spiritual commitment to a life of prayer, high levels of commitment to family and community, cultural values of persistence and patience, and reliance on Christian communities for spiritual hope and meaningful interpersonal relationships.
Apocalypvic beliefs in Christianity have endured Ÿ two thousand years and on occasion havemotivated ancl justified radical and even revolutiona~ coUective action (Boyer 1992). Wh~ apocalyptic visions are part of some Christians' belief system/s grounded in their beliefs about the end t/mes, of eschato/og/es, that shape church cultures and subsequent behaviors. This paper considero cultural aspects of coUective action, applying the concept of frames that ~ve events meaning and inspire and le~timize coUective behav/or to Christ/an church respanses to Y2K asa recent example of an anticipated apocalyptic event. Five interpretive franw.s linking eschatolo~cal ideation with specifu: coUective behaviors ate identified and discussed, as weU as three correspording strate~c respanses to Y2K that were taken by various kinds of Protestant Christian churches as they prepared for the ushering in of a new millennium.
Spiritual formation occurs in the routines of daily living. We are formed by choices made at the grocery storey as we reach for our medicine cabinet, as we consider whether to drive ten minutes or walk thirty. Such seemingly insignificant choices reflect assumptions held about who we are, and how we are supposed to live in the world. Spiritual formation, like notions of civic duty, develops from within a cultural context. Cultural environments give us largely unquestioned taken-forgranted assumptions about how the world is and how we should live in it. This essay explores three of the many Western 21st century assumptions (the autonomous self eradicating pain, and overvaluing efficiency) that affect spiritual formation. Know- ing how we are seeing a thing helps us better interpret what we are seeing and how it influences decisions we make. The hope is that in knowing, we can make choices with more intention, understanding that our decisions shape and form our soul.
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