I have written on Holistic or Integral Ministry or Missions before. I prefer the term "Holistic" but there are many who prefer the term "Integral" and I suppose that is fine. I used to be an engineer so perhaps my dislike for the term "integral" relates to its use in calculus. Anyway, I have often …
Category: Social/Medical Ministry
When Your Dissertation Cannot Be Your Specialization
Back years ago when I was attending Asia Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary (ABGTS), I wasn't sure what my specialization would be. Actually, I originally thought about going with a Doctor of Missiology. Later, however, I decided to switch to Doctor of Theology (ThD) with a focus on Missions. Topically, I originally wanted to do my …
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Evangelical Environmentalism
I have been reading "Environmental Missions" by Lowell Bliss. It has been a good book. But I have been struggling a bit with two or three issues that Bliss goes over quite a bit. I do think there is a healthy place for Evangelical Environmentalism. I know this is a bit controversial especially in the …
How Might Missiology Speak to Pastoral Counseling and Chaplaincy?
Background. I serve in a missionary (cross-cultural minister) capacity in the Philippines. I got my Master of Divinity degree taking all the mission courses that were in the schedule... and a couple that were not. In my early years, my wife and I were active in doing medical missions events, children's group outreach, and some …
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Christian Ministry: Priority without Duality. Part Two
If you haven't yet, please read PART ONE first. While tensions rose between more theologically liberal and pluralistic views of missions with more conservative and exclusive views, things hit a bit of a boiling point in the 1960s. With the IMC becoming incorporated into the World Council of Churches, there was a rapid move away …
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Christian Ministry: Priority without Duality. Part One
It has been a long argument in Evangelical circles about how to relate "spiritual" ministries and "social" ministries. For centuries the two seemed to have a relatively peaceful (even if, perhaps, unexamined) coexistence. The church is supposed to deal with the spiritual needs of its community, AS WELL AS the physical, relational, and often economic …
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Is Prayer Ever the Wrong Tool?
I had some interesting comments from one of my students. I had written down that in our interactions with people of other faiths there are times when prayer may be an inadequate, or wrong, tool. I am not sure that this student was arguing that prayer may, in and of itself, be inadequate. He was …
Are Social Ministries “Simply Bridges” for Evangelism?
I was reading the ABWE (Association of Baptists for World Evangelism) list of basic qualifications for being a missionary. You can read them by clicking below: Basic Qualifications for Missionary Service with ABWE I find them to be, generally, a good list. I found it interesting that there is no specific mention of "Calling." I assume …
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Social Concern and Christians. Too Little? Too Much?
Quote from "Good News and Good Works: A Theology for the Whole Gospel" by Ronald J. Sider -It is... "simply incredible that so many modern Christians, especially evangelicals, have largely ignored this central truth about God. I remember talking to a prominent evangelical leader about fifteen years ago. He had just discovered the hundreds of …
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Fast to Slow Missions: Part 2
You can look at PART 1, if you haven't read that yet. I would like to give three formative stories on my thoughts on this one. Story #1. This is the least story-ish. I was reading T4T: A Discipleship Re-Revolution. It is a so-called CPM strategy. CPM stands for "Church Planting Movement" and refers to …