Here is a question I have been pondering lately. Is there too much emphasis on Islam in missiology? Let me state up front that I am NOT talking about too much of a focus on Islam in the church, particularly the North American church. I can only hope and pray that churches would be [...]
Pioneers recently adopted a “Statement on Contextualization” which provides insight into how the international leadership of the organization views contextualization. This statement will be heralded in some circles and maligned in others. Overall, though, I think it does a pretty good job of combining freedom with responsibility. I would love to get your feedback on [...]
Is Brad Childress a genius? Maybe, just maybe. The usual visitor to this blog is looking to read about the church, missions, or organizational leadership. Well, Chillie is giving us a rare connection to organizational leadership which is just too rich to ignore. The Minnesota Vikings are "all in" this year. Next year they lose [...]
If you were Chinese, what religion is a better political option for you? Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam? Yesterday I had a conversation with somebody who has been living and working in China for the past ten years or so. We were talking about the incredible growth of the church there. I asked him [...]
Our organization has a wise, old, experienced oracle. I mean, we really, literally do. "Uncle Jack" is a legend in the world of global Christian organizations. For decades he worked with one of the two large umbrella associations to help their members be more effective. He was a founder of SEND International, one of the [...]
Conducting Post-Mortem Debriefs “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana Intentional evaluation of your organization’s successful and failed efforts is crucial to improvement. Most of our best lessons can be learned by simple discussions about what went right and what went wrong. The “Post-Mortem” helps you [...]
The New York Times is now covering the contextualization issue, you can read it here. Like one would expect from the secular press, they don't really get the whole picture. However, it is further evidence that missionary issues that have been primarily fought in academic circles and in the hushed conference rooms of missionary get-together [...]
I have been working on a project for training missionaries who are planting churches. This has led me to consider the history of missionary strategy. I am concluding that we constantly repeat the same mistakes, over and over. In 1899, John Livingston Nevius was asked to speak on missions to the forming Korean church. Nevius [...]
Today I was sent a link to an excellent overview on the current state of affairs regarding contextualization by Christians in their outreach to Muslims. It is by Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo and is entitled, "Recent Changes in Christian Approaches to Islam." it's a pretty good writeup of the history of the issue. It is critical [...]
There is a lot of communication happening on the “contextualization” front. For some years, some missionaries have been using ministry forms which are highly indigenous in nature and rely on sources from within other religious traditions to make their case. Others have been highly critical of this approach. This dialogue has a language all its [...]
