December 6, 2024

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Month: October 2017

Books, Book Reviews, Contextualization, Worldview

Review of Paul Hiebert’s Transforming Worldviews

Transforming Worldviews: An Anthropological Understanding of How People Change is variously described as “the capstone of Paul Hiebert’s work”, “Hiebert at his best!”, and “mission anthropology at its best.” (from the back cover). A. Scott Moreau writes, “For the first time, all of his major missiological insights – from set theory in church growth to the flaw of the excluded middle to critical contextualization – are integrated into a single volume.” (back cover). Hiebert’s central focus is that the transformation of worldviews must accompany change in behavior and beliefs. Without the transformation of worldviews, change in belief and behavior remain on the surface level. He writes:          … Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
How do we decide whom we can work with?
Missiological Issues, Theology, Training

How do we decide whom we can work with?

Mission agencies, including the one in which I serve, are increasingly drawn to work in partnership with other mission organizations and churches. As Missio Nexus’ tagline says, “The Great Commission is too big for anyone to accomplish alone and too important not to try to do together.”  So we do not often hear calls to be careful about ecumenism.  (Wikipedia defines ecumenism as the “efforts by Christians of different church traditions to develop closer relationships and better understandings.”)… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
The Kingdom of God paradigm and Insider Movements
Missiology, Theology, Contextualization, Insider Movements, Bible, Missiological Issues

The Kingdom of God paradigm and Insider Movements

In our ongoing discussion of Insider Movements, we turn now to the question of what implications an understanding of the Kingdom of God might have for insider movements. In chapter 20 of Understanding Insider Movements, Anthony Taylor prefers the “Kingdom of God” paradigm over the “conflict of religions” paradigm. He writes: An alternative to the ‘conflict of religions’ paradigm is the paradigm of the kingdom of God. This paradigm assumes that what is most important is the quality of one’s relationship to Christ and to a community of believers, and that such communities can have different practices and emphases, whether novel or traditional, foreign or indigenous, as long as they are compatible with the Bible.  (UIM, kindle loc. 4293)… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
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