Our present pandemic has not only forced churches to host on-line worship gatherings, but led some to begin having conversations about transitioning to house church models. I have heard more discussions regarding house churches in the past five months than in the last several years. But what makes a house […]
Yearly Archives: 2020
“Many exegetical studies on mission fail to indicate which notion of mission is used or presupposed. Some authors operate with a vague concept of mission, sometimes linked with the term ‘mission,’ used in official declarations (e.g., that of the World Council of Churches), that describes comprehensively all aims, efforts and […]
Understanding Mission(s)–Beverly Hillbilly Style
With the publication of Transforming Mission (1991), David Bosch acknowledged the Church’s activity in mission has transitioned through several paradigms. His conclusion at the end of the twentieth century was the new paradigm had not arrived but was in the process of development. We are still in this liminal state. […]
Apostolic Imagination: Rethinking Missions
New disciplines express themselves through neologisms. Missiology is no exception. One such term, heard infrequently today, is that of missiometrics. David Barrett notes this is the empirical and quantitative area of missiology that studies and measures “anything and everything in any way relevant to world mission and global evangelization” (Moreau, […]
Picture Worth a 1000 Words? A Video Worth 5 Billion?
In early August 1745, David Brainerd (1718-1747) observed an amazing awakening among the Native Americans living in Crossweeksung, New Jersey. A large crowd gathered to hear him preach, and the Spirit of God moved in a powerful fashion. Brainerd described his observations in his diary: “The power of God seemed […]
This Week in Mission History: Legacy of Brainerd
Life in the Kingdom is filled with irony. The first is last (Matt 20:16). The greatest is like a little child (Matt 18:4). The cheek is turned (Matt 5:39). The extra mile is traveled (Matt 5:41). We should not be surprised by this Ethic. Yet, an unnecessary tension is found […]
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