Reflections and resources for lifelong learning for missionaries
In communicating the gospel message, whether through Bible stories or Discovery Bible Studies, we need to be aware that our hearers will interpret what they hear through their worldviews. In a 1993 issue of the MARC Newsletter, Bryant Myers wrote about what happened after showing the Jesus Film in a Fulani village in Africa: The …
Continue reading Worldviews are interpreting your stories
Sometimes we approach the Bible like dining at a smorgasbord restaurant. At a smorgasbord there is no order or progression to the meal, you just pick what you want. Similarly, we can read a passage or story without thinking about where it fits in the story-line of the Bible. We gravitate to what we want …
Jesus told us to go and disciple all nations. That means that those of us who have been called and sent are to be disciplemakers who equip others to be disciplemakers as well. The question that I have been asking myself recently is, "Are the sending and training structures that we have established to help …
The Bible is clear and understandable. Anyone can understand it. [For a helpful discussion on the clarity of the Bible see Wayne Grudem, "The Perspicuity of Scripture," Themelios 34:3 (2009): 288-308]. All believers ought to study the Bible so that the word richly dwells within them. The Berean Jews were commended for examining the Scriptures to see if Paul's …
We live in an inter-connected world, filled with collaborative tools and awash with information. But we also live in a deeply-distracted world and this is the serious downside to the interconnectivity we enjoy. We live in a world where few people seem to have retained the ability to concentrate deeply on a single project. This …
Teaching is sometimes seen as slowing down "movements." Taking the time to teach is seen as unnecessary because the Holy Spirit teaches seekers and new converts. Yet, throughout the biblical record, and especially in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit works with and through human teachers. It is not an either/or situation. Teaching is a …
There is a lot of emphasis on coaching and facilitating in mission circles today. And rightly so - these are great tools! Teaching often does not get much space at the table though. It seems to escape everyone's notice that those who advocate coaching and facilitating are in fact teaching. Teaching is frequently caricatured as …
