August 25, 2026

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Category: Books

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
Church Planting, DMM, Book Reviews

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
Theology, Book Reviews, Spiritual Formation

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
Book Reviews

Developing a Strategy for Missions: A Book Review

Review of John Mark Terry and J.D. Payne, Developing A Strategy For Missions: A Biblical, Historical, and Cultural Introduction, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2013. When I was in Seminary, one of my professors began “Pastoral Duties” class by saying, “The church should celebrate Columbus Day – He set out not knowing where he was going, when he arrived he didn’t know where he was, and he did it with someone else’s money – that’s what we often do in the church.” Historians may want to nitpick with elements of that statement but the professor made his point that strategic planning is important. John Mark Terry and J. D. Payne have provided missionaries a helpful resource for developing strategy for missions. As they point out in the introduction (viii), this is the first comprehensive book on mission strategy since Dayton and Fraser’s book, Planning Strategies for World Evangelization, 1980, revised 1990… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley2 mins read
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