March 19, 2025

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Category: Disciple-making

Focus Mentoring on a Few God-given People
Photo by Daniel Öberg on Unsplash
Disciple-making, Mentoring

Focus Mentoring on a Few God-given People

Editor’s note: We are continuing our blog series on mentoring using the Mentoring Pillars written by Jim Feiker. This second pillar addresses the question of how to select mentees. God is actively, and personally in the process of bringing people into our life to whom we might minister, and who, in turn, can minister to us. Significant relationships are one of His divine change agents for life transformation. Since God will uniquely bring people into our life, we need to be sensitive to the Spirit of God in identifying those divine mentoring connections. Ways God might connect mentors and mentees 1. The mentor proactively selects the mentee The mentor keeps their eyes attune to people in their natural relational network to whom God is obviously leading, and seeks them out. This was true of Barnabas to Paul, Paul to Timothy, and Jesus with the Twelve. We are often drawn to… Read the whole post
Jim Feiker1 min read
Preparing to Preach: Illustrating and Applying the Big Idea
Photo by Alena Koval from Pexels
Preaching

Preparing to Preach: Illustrating and Applying the Big Idea

This entry is part 4 of 5 in the series "Preparing to preach". In this series on preaching for missionaries, I have stressed being students of Scripture and of our audience. This “double listening” (as John Stott calls it)1See the first post in this series. is critical for illustrating and applying the big idea of our biblical text. In fact, illustrating and applying form the key connection between the biblical truth and our listeners. Additionally, illustrations set the stage for the application in the daily lives of our audience. Illustrating the Big Idea Shining light on the big idea Illustrations include quotes, anecdotes, examples, comparisons, statistics, testimony, and poetry. Sources include personal experience, news, history, literature, imagination, and the Bible. Whatever the type or source, they must shed light on the biblical truth and connect with listeners. That is, illustrations must help our audience understand and identify with the biblical… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley2 mins read
Disciple-making, Spiritual Formation, Book Reviews

Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: A review

Most times when I read a book, it leads me to another book.  Sometimes the new read is a supporting work that is cited in the first. At other times I am intrigued to read more writings on a particular topic. Reading Gwen Adams’ newly published book Crazy Church Ladies: The Priceless Story of an Unlikely Group Winning the War Against Trafficking was no exception.  Gwen mentioned that in her years of leading church ministries, she had prioritized her spiritual growth, but not her spiritual health.  Is there a difference and why does it matter? My piqued curiosity then led me to read Emotionally Healthy Discipleship by Peter Scazzero.  In short, the book argues that spiritually healthy disciples can only be as mature and deeply rooted as their leaders and disciple-makers are.   As I looked at the chapter titles, I immediately became aware that this book was more than a curious read and was going… Read the whole post
Jenny Baker2 mins read
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
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