Some argue that missionaries are to only be working with unreached people groups. I don't think so. Undeniably... far more missionaries (Christians in general) need to to be where the gospel is proclaimed the least. But does that mean that these are the only places where missionaries should serve? In the early church missionaries worked …
Month: November 2010
A Church Built to Last? Part Two
<Part 2> Part One of this topic pointed out that a major problem where regional churches have died (such as in North Africa and Central Asia) was due to a lack of enculturation. The church remained as a church of outsiders. In North Africa, the church was Roman, rather than North African. In Central Asia, …
A Church Built to Last? Part One
<PART ONE> Why does the Church in some parts of the world grow, while in other parts dies? As noted by Dr. Philip Jenkins, author of "The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-- and How it Died", we need to develop a Theology …
Multi-dimensional Evangelism
The term "evangelism" ("euangelizo") certainly has gone through many stages in understanding its meaning. The Greek root of this term limits it to "proclamation" or the sharing of news. Within the Christian context, it would cover sharing the good news of Christ to people. However, in its usage in the Bible and in the early …
What is a Missionary? (Preliminary Thought)
It seems like it is time to redefine the term missionary. The term has tended to be defined in terms of culture. If one ministers outside of one's culture (E-2 or E-3) one is a missionary, and one is doing missions. This certainly seems to be the way the Perspectives course does it (this is …
Continue reading What is a Missionary? (Preliminary Thought)
Discipleship. Time for something new (and old)
Consider the following quote by Nick Taylor, pastor of spiritual formation, Coast Hills Community Church, Aliso Viejo, CA. “Why have so many Sundays of Bible teaching produced so few spiritually mature adults?" For all the work that the church has done toward educating adults, we seem to have much less to show for it than …
Continue reading Discipleship. Time for something new (and old)