July 26, 2026

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Category: Book Reviews

Missiology, Book Reviews

A Great Resource for Understanding Diaspora Missiology

A review of Diaspora Missiology: Reflections on Reaching the Scattered Peoples of the World, edited by Michael Pocock and Enoch Wan, Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2015 The theme of The Evangelical Missiological Society’s 2014 Annual (and regional) meetings was “Diaspora Missiology.” The Content of the 2015 annual monograph are select papers from the 2014 conference. This book extends the audience of the conference. The book is organized into six parts. Each chapter begins with a helpful abstract.… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Book Reviews, Evangelism

Developing the Art of Conversational Evangelism

I found David and Norman Geisler’s book, Conversational Evangelism: Connecting with People to Share Jesus while doing some reading on contextualization.   I thought it would be interesting combining Norman Geisler’s expertise in apologetics and his son, David’s experience on college campuses and 7 years serving in Singapore. I was not disappointed. This is a very helpful book. Similar in some ways to Randy Newman’s book, Questioning Evangelism: Engaging People’s Hearts the Way Jesus Did, the Geislers’ book has more emphasis on worldviews and apologetics. The first chapter, “The Need for Pre-Evangelism in a Postmodern World”, makes the point that evangelism is a process. Then chapter 2 introduces the model with four types of conversations: “Hearing Conversations, Illuminating Conversations, Uncovering Conversations, and Building Conversations”.  The Geislers relate these conversations to four roles we play:    … Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Disciple-making, Theology, Book Reviews

Are Missionaries Public Theologians Too?

I recently finished reading the book The Pastor as A Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision by Kevin J. Vanhoozer and Owen Strachan (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2015). The authors write, “Our task in this book is to argue, first, that pastors must be theologians; second, that every theologian is in some sense a public theologian; and third, that a public theologian is a very particular kind of generalist.” (p. 5) I am not going to review this excellent book but use it as a springboard to the question of missionaries as public theologians. First I would argue that missionaries, like pastors, must be theologians. The missionary task is fundamentally a theological task. Unfortunately, theology is often seen as impractical and esoteric. But theology is practical; “William Ames [a Puritan] says it is simply the teaching of ‘living to God’.”(Vanhoozer and Strachan, p. 16) “To be a Christian theologian is to… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley2 mins read
Book Reviews, Church Planting, DMM

DMM – Book Review of David Watson’s Contagious Disciple Making

DMM’s (Disciple Making Movements) have sparked much interest in the missions world of late, particularly for ministry in challenging contexts. David Watson, as one of the leading practitioner and thinkers in the area, has written Contagious Disciple Making: Leading Others on a Journey of Discovery along with his son, Paul Watson as a practical and valuable guide to obeying the Great Commission. While David is engaging in his in-person teaching, drawing on rich examples from his own ministry, his written work is even more balanced and valuable for those involved in establishing churches, particularly among the unreached. DMM is often used synonymously with CPM or Church Planting Movement. Watson defines CPM as “an indigenously led Gospel-planting and obedience-based discipleship process that resulted in a minimum of one hundred new locally initiated and led churches, four generations deep, within three years” (Kindle location 210).… Read the whole post
Ted1 min read
Spiritual Formation, Theology, Book Reviews

New Series from Crossway Books: Theologians on the Christian Life

SEND U is always looking for new resources for spiritual formation. A few years ago, Crossway Books launched a new series called Theologians on the Christian Life. I am excited about this series. The editors, Stephen J. Nichols and Justin Taylor write in the series preface: Some might call us spoiled. We live in an era of significant and substantial resources for Christians on living the Christian Life. We have ready access to books, DVD series, online material, seminars – all in the interest of encouraging us in our daily walk with Christ. The laity, the people of the pew, have access to more information than scholars dreamed of having in previous centuries.        … Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
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