Should our proclamation of the gospel be in words or deeds or both? What do the Scriptures say? New Testament scholar and missionary Dean Flemming takes a look at this disputed question. Rooted in the Old Testament and covering the Gospels, Paul, Acts, Peter and Revelation, Flemming provides a biblically sound basis for holistic evangelism.
For many Christians, the book of Revelation is a confusing, coded screenplay for the end times. But when we read Revelation as focused on the future, we miss what it says about what God is doing in the world now. Dean Flemming mines this untapped resource by introducing a missional reading that draws on a variety of cultural perspectives.
Conflict resolution and peacemaking are not enough. What makes real reconciliation possible? Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice work from their experiences in Uganda and Mississippi to recover distinctively Christian practices that will help the church be both a sign and an agent of God's reconciling love in the fragmented world of the twenty-first century.
Theology disconnected from mission is not Christian theology at all. The pastors, professors, and missionaries writing Theology and Practice of Mission provide a clear biblical-theological framework for understanding the church's mission to the nations. Toward that goal, the book holds three major sections: God's mission, the church's mission, and the church's mission to the nations. Part one explores the canon of Christian Scripture from narrative and systematic angles, explaining how the mission of God-to redeem a people who will be a kingdom of priests to the praise of his glory, bear witness to his gospel, advance his church, and dwell with him forever on a new heaven and earth-is communicated in the Bible's four movements: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. Part two sees the mission of God's people in the light of God's mission, emphasizing not only preaching and church planting but also gospel witness in every dimension of human culture-glorifying God in family, church, work, community, through the arts, sciences, education, business, and the public square. The writers encourage us to live missionally, leaving all of our resources at God's disposal for the sake of his kingdom. Finally, part three contends that the North American church must come to terms with its missional calling-just as international missionaries do-and gives a starting point and parameters for conceiving the church's mission to all people groups and cultural contexts. Chapters here include ones on unreached people groups, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Postmoderns.
Since the Second World War the church's history has undergone a profound change. After a long period in which the gospel had been embedded in a Western European context, it must now be seen in a pluralist setting, and the full implications of its claims to universality have emerged. This change is likely to be as significant as the first major change in Christian history, when the church developed from being a Jewish community to an institution in the Hellenistic world. What does that mean for the mission and the pastoral life of the church? Christians, especially Roman Catholics, from the Third World are well aware of the problems that have arisen. Solving them cannot just be an administrative matter. There is a need to go right back to the roots of missionary work. Hence the importance of this new book, strangely enough the only one of its kind. It considers the traditions and dynamics that shaped Israel's consciousness of itsdestiny in relation to the Gentiles and which ultimately led Christians to proclaim the gospel to Gentiles. After this survey of biblical evidence a final chapter summarizes the results and considers implications for contemporary theology and church life, and the relationship of Christianity to other religions.
This comprehensive introduction helps students, pastors, and mission committees understand contemporary Christian mission historically, biblically, and theologically. Scott Sunquist, a respected scholar and teacher of world Christianity, recovers missiological thinking from the early church for the twenty-first century. He traces the mission of the church throughout history in order to address the global church and offers a constructive theology and practice for missionary work today. Sunquist views spirituality as the foundation for all mission involvement, for mission practice springs from spiritual formation. He highlights the Holy Spirit in the work of mission and emphasizes its trinitarian nature. Sunquist explores mission from a primarily theological--rather than sociological--perspective, showing that the whole of Christian theology depends on and feeds into mission. Throughout the book, he presents Christian mission as our participation in the suffering and glory of Jesus Christ for the redemption of the nations.
What will it take to accomplish Christ's mission in our lifetime? That's the question evangelicals have been asking for over a century, but our efforts to reach the unreached and finish the task have often sacrificed the important for the immediate. The greatest challenge in evangelical missions isn't a lack of urgency, but a lack of discernment. As we've prioritized movements that are simple and reproducible, the gospel and faithful churches are now threatened. Our mission itself could be disqualified. In Mission Affirmed, Elliot Clark seeks to reshape our motivation by considering the example of Paul the missionary. The desire for God's approval is what formed his ambition and directed his methods, and it should guide ours too. In these pages, we rediscover how pursuing God's praise can both motivate and regulate our gospel ministries. We also refocus—as missionaries, pastors, churches, and individuals—on what matters more than a mission accomplished: a mission God affirms. Biblical Ministry Advice: Provides a holistic look at Paul's ministry, methods, and motivation A Great Resource for Church Leaders: Helps churches vet and send missionaries First-Hand Ministry Insights: Provides a practical solution for common weaknesses in modern missions, with descriptive examples from the author's experiences as a missionary Published in Conjunction with the Gospel Coalition (TGC)
Culture is the public manifestation of religion, expressing the values and beliefs that a society treasures. Western culture was built upon the principles of Christian belief. Today, having largely abandoned the triune God and his word in public and private life, we have undermined this cultural foundation. We must recover our footing or collapse.
Winner of a 2006 Christianity Today Book Award! Honored as one of the "Fifteen Outstanding Books of 2005 for Mission Studies" by International Bulletin of Missionary Research From Cairo to Calcutta, from Cochabamba to Columbus, Christians are engaged in a conversation about how to speak and live the gospel in today's traditional, modern and emergent cultures. The technical term for their efforts is contextualization. Missionary theorists have pondered and written on it at length. More and more, those who do theology in the West are also trying to discover new ways of communicating and embodying the gospel for an emerging postmodern culture. But few have considered in depth how the early church contextualized the gospel. And yet the New Testament provides numerous examples. As both a crosscultural missionary and a New Testament scholar, Dean Flemming is well equipped to examine how the early church contextualized the gospel and to draw out lessons for today. By carefully sifting the New Testament evidence, Flemming uncovers the patterns and parameters of a Paul or Mark or John as they spoke the Word on target, and he brings these to bear on our contemporary missiological task. Rich in insights and conversant with frontline thinking, this is a book that will revitalize the conversation and refresh our speaking and living the gospel in today's cultures, whether in traditional, modern or emergent contexts.
