October 7, 2024

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Author: Gary Ridley

Education: BA Gordon College 1973; M.Div. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School 1977; DMiss Trinity Evangelical Divinity School 1990. Ministry: SEND Missionary 1977-present. Faculty at Alaska Bible College 1978-2013. SEND U Missiologist 2013-present. Family: Married, 3 children, 6 grandchildren.
Preparing to Preach: Developing the Big Idea
Preaching

Preparing to Preach: Developing the Big Idea

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series "Preparing to preach". In the previous post in this series, I emphasized that a sermon should have one main point. Now I turn to developing the big idea in the body of the sermon. Haddon Robinson explains the task in this way: When anyone makes a declarative statement, only four things can be done to develop it. It can be restated, explained, proved, or applied. Nothing else. To recognize this simple fact opens the way to develop the sermon.Haddon Robinson, Biblical Preaching, Baker: 1980, p. 79 There is a story of a preacher describing his sermon outline in this way: “First, I tell them what I’m going to tell them, then, I tell them, and finally I tell them what I told them.” While repetition and restatement have their place in preaching, this leads to boring preaching. Additionally, restatement… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Preparing to Preach: Stating the Big Idea
Photo by Alexander Michl on Unsplash
Church, Preaching

Preparing to Preach: Stating the Big Idea

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series "Preparing to preach". In the first post in this series on preparing to preach as a missionary, I noted that the preacher must understand both the Bible and the audience. Moreover, the preacher must connect the two. Now I raise the question, “Does a good sermon consist of one point (one main idea) or does it need at least three points? Often expository preaching is viewed and practiced as a running commentary on a text of Scripture. The pattern seems to come from lectures heard in Bible college and seminary. Yet, I have never read a book on preaching that advocates a running commentary approach. In fact, John Stott points out that the chief difference between a lecture and a sermon is that the sermon “aims to convey only one major message.”John Stott, Between Two Worlds, Eerdmans:1982, p.225. .… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Preparing to Preach as a Missionary
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Church Planting, Training, Self-Feeding, Church, Preaching

Preparing to Preach as a Missionary

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series "Preparing to preach". “Missionaries need to be ready to preach, pray, or die at a moment’s notice.” Or so I’ve heard all my life. Though this is often said jokingly, there is a ring of truth to it. In this new blog series, I am focusing on how to prepare a sermon. Missionaries often have opportunity to preach both in their home country and in their host country. Yet, many missionaries do not have formal training in preaching. In this post and four additional posts, I will share my perspective on preparing expository sermons gleaned from teaching homiletics (the art of preaching) at Alaska Bible College for 35 years. In this introductory post, I will define expository preaching, and focus on the preacher’s relationship with the Word and the audience. I will also list the topics for the next four… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Training, Book Reviews, Pre-field Training

Book Review: Relational Missionary Training

In 2006 Enoch Wan introduced his paradigm of “Relational Realism” in an article in the Occasional Bulletin of the Evangelical Missiological Society. This paradigm sees reality as defined by the vertical relationship with the Triune God and the horizontal relationships between created beings. In 2017, together with Mark Hedinger, he published the book, Relational Missionary Training: Theology, Theory, and Practice. Essentially, the book applies the relational realism model to the task of training missionaries. The book aims to provide a foundation for this paradigm. Therefore, the authors look at theological, educational and practical aspects of the model. Their purpose is to describe the paradigm and show how a training program could be developed along these lines. The authors also note that the book is written with missionary trainers in mind.1p.15 So, that makes me part of the target audience. The book contains four parts: Theology (Chapters 1-3)Theory (Chapters 4-5)Practice (Chapters 6-8)Summary… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Cultivating Learning Attitudes
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Lifelong Learning, Learning Attitude, Bible

Cultivating Learning Attitudes

Part of SEND U’s vision is: “Every SEND missionary will be proactive in creating habits of lifelong, intentional learning focused on both character and skill development.” What attitudes does a missionary need to cultivate in order to get personal buy-in to this vision? I suggest that cultivating attitudes of humility, openness, civility, and commitment provide motivation for personal buy-in. Moreover, these attitudes are the soil in which habits of lifelong, intentional learning will grow. Humility Humility is an essential attitude for learning, for without it we will not recognize the need to learn. Furthermore, humility helps us remain teachable. On my desk I have a quote from John Calvin as a reminder to stay teachable:… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
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