Mission language forms our ideas and actions. Talking about such language is not a waste of time. Uncertainty abounds when it comes to the language of mission. Definitions are found in the eye of the beholder. Missionary activity is defined as everything from church planting among an unreached people to […]
Mission
“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
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
The first Sunday in November marks the Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. On this special episode of Strike the Match, Dr. Gregory Cochran is my guest. Greg is a professor of theology at California Baptist University and author of Christians in the Crosshairs: Persecution in the Bible and […]
Gregory Cochran, Persecution in the Bible and around the World
Conversations about sexual immorality and pornography are often challenging to have within the Church’s fellowship. My guest in this episode is Dr. David Parks, Director of the Global Center at Beeson Divinity School. We address the impact of the pornification of societies on the Church and Her mission. Why is […]