The biblical storyline reveals a God who remains faithful to His promises which require the ongoing sending of Himself and His servants into a tragically suffering and deeply needy world to accomplish His mission of redemption and restoration. Mission began with God, is sustained by God, and will culminate with […]
apostolic
I recently started a series addressing the need to rethink contemporary evangelical missions. In this post, I ask that we rethink our language. The language of mission, missionary, and missions finds its origin in the sixteenth century. Originally applied to the Jesuits, such language is rooted in Latin referring to […]
Apostolic Imagination: Rethinking the Language of Mission
Great advancements in evangelical mission activity have taken place over the past sixty years. Moving from the mission-station model, we entered into a new paradigm–a paradigm in which we presently reside. However, paradigms have lifespans. As I have written before, the thinking and practices of today will not sustain healthy […]
Apostolic Imagination: Re-Thinking Contemporary Missions
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal 4:4-5, ESV). The Incarnation is the most apostolic act recorded in the Bible. We often do not equate such […]
The Most Apostolic Time of the Year
The apostolic nature of God in the Old Testament has been on my mind for sometime. The fact that God sends Himself, on His mission, is the beginning of the practical outworking of the redemption and restoration of all things. I believe the Church often overlooks this important aspect of […]
Old Testament and the Mission of God
Language is powerful. Language communicates meaning. Language delivers theology. Language is supported by theology and language shapes theology. What we say means something–something more than just words. If I write the word “church,” you immediately have something in mind. This something may be a group of people, the called-out ones. […]