September 6, 2026

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

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Meditations on the Doctrine of the Trinity
Doctrinal Statement

Meditations on the Doctrine of the Trinity

As we work our way through the SEND International Statement of Faith, we come to the triune nature of God. The doctrine of the Trinity distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. The second point in SEND International’s Statement of Faith says that we believe “that there is only one true God, eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” The central question of this series is: how does the statement of faith hold us? 1. How does this statement hold our thinking? Millard J. Erickson writes, “A powerful evangelistic and missionary implication is involved in this doctrine” (Erickson, Making Sense of the Trinity, Baker, 2000, 77). While we are walking in the foothills of mystery, there is no Christianity and no salvation apart from the doctrine of the Trinity. Religious systems which do not affirm the Trinity are false in their statements about God. The doctrine of the… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Meditations on SEND International’s Statement of Faith #1
Missiology, Doctrinal Statement

Meditations on SEND International’s Statement of Faith #1

I have been convicted recently about neglecting our statement of faith. No, I have not changed my belief in it but I just don’t think about it that much. I tend to sign it when required but then file it away and go about my business. So, in the coming months my blog posts will focus on the eight statements of SEND International’s Statement of Faith. The Opening line in our statement reads, “Based on our understanding of Scripture, the members of SEND International hold to the following Statement of Faith.” This is the statement that we hold, but the question that comes to my mind is, ‘Does it hold us?’ I will use a little help from my Puritan friends as I reflect on each statement. Puritan meditation (see my blog post on 4/30/15) engaged the mind, the heart, and action. So, we will ask: 1. How does this… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Training

Confident Proclamation in a Pluralistic Age

Is there any place for confident proclamation of the gospel anymore? Robert Bellah’s book, The Good Society (1991) quotes a graduate student’s comment of his experience at Harvard: They tell us it’s heresy to suggest the superiority of some value, fantasy to believe in moral argument, slavery to submit to a judgment sounder than your own. The freedom of our day is the freedom to devote yourself to any value we please, on the mere condition that we do not believe them to be true.” (quoted in D. A. Carson, The Intolerance of Tolerance, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012, 97) Related Posts:Context - Important at Both Ends of ContextualizationMeditation on Heaven and HellDefining WorldviewFollow-up: Keep Culture in PerspectiveExploring Spiritual Formation: DisciplineWhat limits our disciple's progress?… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Success in ministry

Should We Find Joy in Our Ministry Achievements?

“Do not rejoice in that this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20) Over the years, I have heard various missionaries and Christian leaders say that these words of Jesus indicate that he intends that his disciples should find their joy and satisfaction not in their ministries but rather in their personal salvation (justified status with God). I found a recent example of this thinking in a book I am reading, The Emotionally Healthy Leader. Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples two by two. When they return, they are excited to report significant numerical impact and that the demons submit to them in his name. Jesus affirms their activity of kingdom building, but he also reminds them of something more important: “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Review of the God Ask
Book Reviews

Review of the God Ask

It’s been a long, long time since I have had any training in partner development.  More than 30 years have passed since I went through “candidate school” and first “raised my support” as we called it back then. This year, at part of my Individual Growth Plan, I wanted to learn some new skills in this area, and decided to read The God Ask: A Fresh, Biblical Approach to Personal Support Raising by Steve Shadrach.  I ended up listening to it as an audio book over a period of a few weeks on my morning runs and walks (see previous blog post).  What a valuable resource!  I wish I had read it ten years ago, although I guess that would have been impossible, since it was only published in 2013. Related Posts:The Vine Project: A reviewBook Review: Well SentManaging Leadership Anxiety: a reviewBook Review: Women in God's Mission: Accepting the…Set… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
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