June 17, 2026

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Tag: Paul

Follow-Up: Partnership in the Gospel
Cytonn Photography on Unsplash
Church Planting, Church, Follow-up, Gospel

Follow-Up: Partnership in the Gospel

This entry is part 8 of 13 in the series Follow-upHow does Paul follow-up with the church at Philippi? We have been asking this question in previous posts about Galatia, Thessalonica, and Corinth. Our source of information has been Paul’s letters to these churches. Today we will look at his letter to Philippi. Philippians, a Friendship Letter Many commentators have noted that Philippians has features common to friendship letters in the Greco-Roman world. For instance, expressions of affection and terminology like “yoke-fellow” (Phil. 4:3) were common in letters between friends at that time. Yet the letter is more than just communication between friends. Gordon Fee writes: But “hortatory letter of friendship” is only part of the story, and in many ways the least significant part of that. For in Paul’s hands everything turns into gospel, including both formal and material aspects of such a letter. Most significantly, friendship in particular… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley2 mins read
Do Jesus and Paul avoid conflict?
Photo by Richard Lee on Unsplash
Teaming, Christ

Do Jesus and Paul avoid conflict?

In a previous blog post, I suggested that sometimes Christians need to argue. In fact, I believe healthy teams must have productive and passionate debate about important issues. We will lose much if avoid engaging in them. But I also noted that Christian unity is very important to Jesus, and in fact is taught throughout the New Testament. So does our commitment to keeping the unity of the Spirit (Eph 4:3) restrain us in participating in these types of arguments? Let’s look at both Jesus and Paul and their posture toward arguments. Jesus does not avoid arguments Throughout Jesus’ ministry, we often find him in debate with the religious leaders of the day (e.g. Mk 8:11, 12:28). Generally, these debates were initiated by the Pharisees as they sought to trip up this young, popular teacher who was threatening their power base. But Jesus does not steer clear of controversial subjects… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
Follow-up: Understanding Authentic Christian Ministry
Photo by Marc Scaturro on Unsplash
Leadership, Church, Follow-up, Gospel

Follow-up: Understanding Authentic Christian Ministry

This entry is part 7 of 13 in the series Follow-upAs we saw in an earlier post, the Corinthians needed to learn to keep culture in perspective. This was especially true in their understanding of leadership and Christian ministry. The leadership values of the culture were exploited by Paul’s opponents, causing some in Corinth to question Paul’s credentials. George Guthrie observes, In short, in the apostle’s seeming humility (even humiliation 12:21), his taking on the role of a servant, his rejection of patronage and the concomitant rejection of financial gain, and his refusal to advance his status by use of rhetorical skills, he stood in violation of key leadership values and principles embedded in the Corinthian culture. The apostle, on the other hand, presents to the Corinthians an alternative; a theocentric and biblical vision of authentic leadership. While not all cultural leadership values will conflict with authentic Christian ministry, they… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley2 mins read
Follow-up: Understanding Suffering
Photo by Cristian Newman on Unsplash
Hardship, Follow-up, Church Planting

Follow-up: Understanding Suffering

This entry is part 6 of 13 in the series Follow-upPaul’s follow-up with the church in Corinth is the most extensive in the New Testament. It includes four letters (1 & 2 Corinthians and two we don’t have – a “previous letter” 1 Corinthians 5:9-11 and a “severe letter” 2 Corinthians 2:3,4), a visit by Timothy, two visits by Titus, and two visits by Paul over a five year period. In previous posts on 1 Corinthians, I have noted the need to keep the cross central and the need to keep culture in perspective. Moving on to 2 Corinthians, we see Paul defending his apostolic ministry. His suffering and lack of polish in speaking had caused his opponents to look down on him. Therefore as Paul defends himself, he provides us with an understanding of Christian suffering and gives a model of authentic gospel ministry. This post focuses on the… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley2 mins read
Follow-up: Keep Culture in Perspective
Training, Contextualization, Follow-up, Gospel, Cultural learning

Follow-up: Keep Culture in Perspective

This entry is part 5 of 13 in the series Follow-upCulture is high on the list of mission topics. For example, many colleges and seminaries have renamed their “Mission” departments as “Inter-cultural” departments or something similar. Certainly, cultural studies are essential for anyone proclaiming the gospel to people from other people groups. But we must keep culture in perspective. In 1 Corinthians Paul provides a perspective that both confronts and adapts to culture. Culture does not form the content of the gospel yet it is the context in which the gospel is proclaimed, understood, and lived. Culture is not the source of saving knowledge of God First of all, Paul announces that the wisdom of the world, which is part of culture, does not bring us a saving knowledge of God (1 Cor. 1:18-21). Knowing God depends on God’s revelation (1 Cor. 2:10-13), not on human wisdom. However, the wisdom… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley2 mins read
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