A missionary, in a cross-cultural setting and before a cross-cultural target audience, needs to learn to communicate Christ, and the Scriptures, in terms of the hearer’s way of viewing the world (sources must assume the responsibility of encoding messages with the worldview of the respondents in mind)…way of thinking (people in different cultures tend to [...]
Who Are You: the importance of “naming” things as they really are During the time of The Warring States, an era of intense conflict and social dysfunction within 6th century B.C. China, Confucius searched China’s ancient past to find a better way of life for the Chinese people. His solution began with the premise that [...]
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Why Are We Here? “…and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man…now write what you see, what is and what is to take place hereafter…” These words record the time when Jesus was walking through the lampstands of Asia Minor, commenting on what He saw and what was taking place. [...]
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-God’s plan is a MYSTERY but it is also an OPEN SECRET (1) its content was once hidden but has been revealed in the apostolic age (2) according to Ephesians 3:3-6, the heart of this mystery is God’s intent to unite into ONE COMMUNITY the two separate segments of ancient society: the Jew and the [...]
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The following is an article that Paul Huneke and I recently submitted for ISSUES IN CHRISTIAN EDUCATION — the topic is: WHAT IS MISSIONAL LUTHERAN EDUCATION? Introduction Paul Huneke and I enjoy a good story and one of our favorite scenes from a great story takes place toward the end of JRR Tolkein’s The Two [...]
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A Theology of Mission Based Upon the Parables of Jesus INTRODUCTION -one-third of the recorded teaching of Jesus consists of parables…in the parables, Jesus is describing the kingdom of God in action and telling us something that happens when God is busy reestablishing Himself as King among humankind -in the words and works of Jesus, [...]
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Missiological Bridge-Building Based Upon an Emic and Etic Understanding of Culture As Derived From Music Missio Apostolica Volume VII, No. 1 (May 1999) INTRODUCTION Francis Schaeffer observed that modern music is both an avenue for creative expression and the means through which modern man is exposed to new views of perceived reality (Schaeffer 1976:186, 201-202). [...]
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Martin Scharlemann, in a November 1964 CTM article, writes about the CONGREGATION — place of God’s presence…here a few of his many interesting and insightful statements: WHERE IS GOD? -that God is there and that He is there for you are two different things…He is there FOR YOU when He adds His Word thereto and [...]
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Fred Mayer, in a March 1963 article on the voice of AC VII on the church, made these statements about the nature and purpose of the church: THE CHURCH AS ECCLESIA: the gathering of all believers -a child of seven knows what the church is, namely, the holy believers and the lambs who hear the [...]
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Bruce Metzger, in a March 1963 CTM article, made the following statements regarding the New Testament teaching concerning the church: -in the Greek New Testament the word commonly used for CHURCH is EKKLESIA, which occurs 114 times in 17 of the 27 New Testament books -in the Old Testament, a similar word referred to an [...]
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Victor Bartling, in a April 1965 CTM article, makes these statements about the church in God’s eternal plan: -essentially the church, like Christ, never changes…its foundations, its goals, its means and resources, its message to humankind always remain the same…but since the church is made up of human beings, it necessarily reflects in its historical [...]
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-these two questions have troubled me for quite a few years now and I thought I would share them with you…I am not trying to be hurtful in asking these two questions but WHAT ARE OUR MOTIVES for MISSION/MINISTRY and EXPERIENCING PARADISE? FIRST QUESTION: if all of your bills were paid as a congregation, would [...]
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WHAT DO WE SAY ABOUT ABOUT OURSELVES? (1) do you have a list of stated values…if my personal values, and our corporate values are not stated, can I, and can we, articulate what they are? (2) are the stated values the real values? (3) which values do we talk about the most often? WHAT IS [...]
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-one of the best books that I have come across on Gospel Communication is a short book by Charles Kraft titled COMMUNICATING THE GOSPEL GOD’S WAY (1983 EDITION) — here are just a few notes from his excellent study of John 4 (plus some Biblical material that I have added): GENERAL THESES ON GOSPEL COMMUNICATION [...]
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THE PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM: AN INTRODUCTION TO A THEOLOGY OF MISSION INTRODUCTION TO THE THE NATURE OF THE PARABLES OF JESUS -one-third of the recorded teaching of Jesus consists in PARABLES…in the parables, Jesus is… (1) DESCRIBING THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN ACTION (2) TELLING US SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS WHEN GOD IS BUSY RE-ESTABLISHING [...]
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THESES ON MISSION FROM GEORG VICEDOM’S “THE MISSION OF GOD” (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House 1965) Thesis 1 The Bible in its totality ascribes only one intention to God: to save mankind. Both the church, and the mission, have their source in the loving will of God. Mission, as the business of God, implies that [...]
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-Roland Allen, an Anglican missionary to China from 1885 to 1903, authored several watershed books on missions of which my favorite is MISSIONARY METHODS: ST. PAUL’S OR OURS — here are just a few of the many observations that Roland noted from the Scriptures and Paul’s missionary experiences: -Paul, in his missionary labors, had a [...]
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-Roger Gehring, in his 2004 book titled HOUSE CHURCH AND MISSION, observed from his research on the HOUSE CHURCH from the first three centuries A.D., that there were THREE POSSIBILITIES: (1) the HOUSE CHURCH that was a private domestic house that remained architecturally unaltered and this house was used by a local Christian group for [...]
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-Ernest Wright, in his book THE GOD WHO ACTS, makes the following observations about BIBLICAL THEOLOGY and the way that God acts in human history: -much of Biblical theology is the RECITAL or PROCLAMATION of the ACTS OF GOD on behalf of the salvation of humankind…and are the CONFESSIONAL RECITAL and INTERPRETATION of the redemptive [...]
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