Foundations 83 (January 2023)

Issue 83 of Foundations: An International Journal of Evangelical Theology, published by Affinity, is now available (here in its entirety as a pdf), which includes the below essays.

Donald John MacLean

Editorial

Andrew G. Bannister

Muslims, Christians, and God: Why Good Theology is Crucial for Effective Evangelism

This article seeks to explore the question of the relationship between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Are they all “sister religions”, or is Islam built upon entirely different theological foundations to the biblical faiths? We will also examine why this is no mere academic question but is a crucial starting point for evangelism and apologetics to Muslims – and why getting this starting point wrong risks, at best, confusing our Muslim friends and at worst, even a sloppy syncretism.

Thorsten Prill

Equipping Twenty-First Century Missionaries for Cross-Cultural Ministry: African and Western Realities and Perspectives

This article discusses the issue of cross-cultural training of both Western Christians who are called to serve as missionaries in Africa and African reverse missionaries who come to Europe and other parts of the world to be involved in evangelistic outreach and church planting. While the value of cross-cultural training for missionaries is widely recognised, both groups tend to demonstrate deficiencies in their cultural intelligence (CQ) which negatively impacts their missionary efforts. This, however, need not be the case. There are various ways in which cross-cultural missionaries can acquire and develop cultural intelligence to become more effective ambassadors of Christ. A solid foundation for mission work abroad is usually laid at home through active involvement in the local church and cross-cultural ministries. Building on that foundation, future missionaries can further increase their cross-cultural competence through short-term mission trips, missionary apprenticeships or formal training at a mission college, preferably outside their home country or in a multicultural and interdenominational setting. Having arrived in their country of service in Africa or Europe, a period of on-field orientation and, at a later stage, participation in continuing education programmes should complement their training.

E.M. Hicham

A Missiological Assessment of the Insider Movement

This paper addresses Insider Movements (IMs) within the world of Islam and presents a missiological evaluation of the principal IM paradigms. A definition of the movement will be given and discussed. We will also consider five major controversial areas that summarise the debate: 1) The legitimacy of IM members’ dual Islamic and Christian identity, 2) The openness of ‘Insiders’ towards the prophethood of Muhammad, the founder of Islam, 3) The Qur’an as Scripture, 4) The new translation of the Bible, and 5) The role of the local Church. The results of the preceding analyses will be synthesised, conclusions regarding the sociological and theological merits of IMs will be made and alternatives will be suggested.

Robert Strivens

Do Christians Meet for Worship? A Review Essay: William Taylor, Revolutionary Worship: All of Life for God’s Glory

This review article considers recent evangelical reflections on the nature of worship. Many evangelicals are positing that as all of life is worship it is inappropriate to speak of Christians going to church to worship. Indeed, for many evangelicals, this is now the ruling paradigm: we meet for worship only in the sense that the whole of the believer’s life is worship. If we think that we meet for worship, our language and our thinking about such meetings needs to undergo a radical transformation. This position has been argued in a recent and influential book on the subject, Revolutionary Worship: All of Life for God’s Glory, by William Taylor, rector of St Helen’s, Bishopsgate. In contrast to this view, this article argues for the historic understanding of the meeting of the local church as a meeting for the worship of God, at which the Lord’s people may expect to know Christ’s presence with them by his Spirit in a special manner.

John W. Keddie

John Davidson and the General Assembly of 1596

In this article we consider one of the most remarkable post-Reformation revivals in Scottish Church history. It concerns what happened at the General Assembly of the Scottish Reformed Church in 1596. It is little known by Christians today, even in Scotland. Yet one contemporary historian, David Calderwood (1575-1650), was to write that “This year [1596] is a remarkable year in the history of the Kirk of Scotland.” We do need to bear in mind that the Word of God is the same, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever, that sin is the same, essentially, in every generation, and the overwhelming need for sinners to be saved is the same in the twenty-first century as it was in the sixteenth. It is a modern arrogance that because we are in such a supposedly advanced society, we have somehow left such things as religion behind. We are in a secular world which holds out no hope for eternity, and has no recognition of answerability to God, or serious thought of judgement to come. We should therefore be moved by the experience of the Church even as far back as 1596 and, after all, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is undiminished in His power to quicken those who by nature are dead in trespasses and sins. We are always invited to believe that what He did then, He can do again in His sovereign grace. Besides this, here is a vital tenet for the Church to maintain: Christ, who has all authority in heaven and earth, is building His church so that the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). In this reconnoitre in Scottish Church history, we can therefore learn many things of timeless value.

Màiri MacPherson

Book Review: When Christians Face Persecution Theological Perspectives from the New Testament

Peter Sanlon

Book Review: Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution

Lausanne Global Analysis 8, 2 (March 2019)

The latest issue of Lausanne Global Analysis, from The Lausanne Movement, is available online from here, including pdf downloads.

In the issue overview, editor David Taylor writes:

‘In this issue we continue our exploration of how we should respond to growing religious persecution around the world, focusing on Islamic State (Daesh) atrocities and legal/political responses to them; we examine how we can present the gospel to cultures dominated by secularism, relativism, and “tolerance” worldwide; we consider how to develop an effective multicultural team in cross-cultural Christian service; and we make the case for the use of local languages and resources in urban ministry.’

International Bulletin of Missionary Research 38:3 (July 2014)

The latest issue of International Bulletin of Missionary Research carries the feature articles noted below addressing the issue of ‘Cultural Disorientation and Understanding the Missional God’.

Nelson Jennings

Cultural Disorientation and Understanding the Missional God

George F. Sabra

Christian Mission in the Wake of the Arab Spring

John Roxborogh

Missiology after “Mission”?

Sarah Hinlicky Wilson

Salvaging C.S. Lewis’s The Horse and His Boy for Mission and Cultural Awareness

David W. Scott

The Geographic Imagination and the Expansion of Methodist Missions in Southeast Asia

Kazue Mino

Campbell N. Moody’s Reflections on the Christian Mission

Mary Motte

My Pilgrimage in Mission

Emma Wild-Wood

A Biography of Apolo Kivebulaya

Ian Welch

Caroline Phebe Tenney Keith—Episcopal Church Missionary and Letter Writer in Shanghai

Mission Frontiers 34, 6 (November-December 2012)

The November-December 2012 issue of Mission Frontiers, published by the U.S. Center for World Mission, contains a number of articles around the theme of ‘Peoples on the Move’.

Here’s part of the summary blurb:

‘In this issue we examine the realities of an increasingly cross-cultural world as the nations are coming to us, be they refugees, business men and women, or international students. What does this increasing reality mean for missions? What does it mean for Christ followers in the nations welcoming these peoples on the move?’

Individual articles can be accessed from here; the whole issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Fruitful Practices 4

L.R. Burke, ‘Describing Fruitful Practices: Communication Methods’, International Journal of Frontier Missiology 27:3 (2010), 147-56.

See the earlier posts:

• Fruitful Practices 1 – Seven Themes of Fruitfulness

• Fruitful Practices 2 – A Descriptive List

• Fruitful Practices 3 – Relating to Society

Following some earlier articles outlining and describing eight ‘fruitful practices’, L.R. Burke explores in more detail those practices relating to communication methods.

Communication Methods 1: Fruitful workers use culturally appropriate Bible passages to communicate God’s message.

The Bible is central in the communication of God’s message, but using it effectively requires cultural insight. Fruitful workers help seekers find the passages that address the issues most relevant to them. The ability to effectively apply biblical truth to the issues of life requires a thorough knowledge of God’s word and an ongoing dependence on wisdom from God.

Communication Methods 2: Fruitful workers communicate the gospel using the heart language, except in situations where it is not appropriate.

In most situations, the heart language is undoubtedly the best way to meaningfully communicate the gospel. However, in areas where more than one language is in common use, established patterns often dictate when one language should be used as opposed to another. Fruitful workers seek to understand local patterns of language use and plan their communication strategies accordingly.

Communication Methods 3: Fruitful workers use a variety of approaches in sharing the gospel.

No one method of gospel communication covers every need and will always be the most effective. Often the best approach to sharing the gospel depends on the audience and the situation in question. Fruitful workers learn to use a variety of different approaches and apply them as appropriate to the setting.

Communication Methods 4: Fruitful workers share the gospel using tools or methods that can be locally reproduced.

In order for faith communities to grow without hindrance, the members of the communities must have access to all the tools they need in their local context. For this reason, fruitful workers focus on methods for sharing the gospel that require only tools and resources that are readily available in the local community.

Communication Methods 5: Fruitful workers sow broadly.

It is not possible to know in advance which ground will bear the most fruit. Fruitful workers sow broadly and pray for wisdom to know where to invest time in personal relationships. They maintain an ongoing balance between the broad sowing of God’s word and the time spent developing individual relationships.

Communication Methods 6: Fruitful workers use Bible study as a means of sharing the gospel.

Spending time in the study of God’s word allows seekers to discover God’s truths for themselves. In some instances, fruitful workers may simply read the Bible with a seeker, responding to questions relating to the text as they arise. In other instances, they may tell Bible stories and ask questions to help seekers discover how to apply the stories to their lives.

Communication Methods 7: Fruitful workers share the gospel in ways that fit the learning preferences of their audience.

Although people from western countries rely heavily on written media, people in many other parts of the world are accustomed to oral forms of communication. Good communicators understand the learning preferences of their audience and plan their communication strategies accordingly.

Communication Methods 8: Fruitful workers use the Quran as a bridge to sharing the biblical gospel.

Certain passages from the Quran can be used effectively in sharing the gospel. Discretion is needed, as inappropriate references to the Quran may validate a seeker’s belief in the divine origin of the book. In general, the use of the Quran as a bridge is most advisable when relating to seekers who already know the Quran well. Fruitful workers do not dwell unnecessarily on the Quran, but use various passages as a bridge in order to share the biblical gospel.

Lausanne on Glocalized Evangelism

The themed articles in the Lausanne World Pulse for May 2010 are devoted to ‘glocalized evangelism’, with the following contributions:

Tuvya Zaretsky
Glocalization, Diaspora Missiology, and Friendship Evangelism
Today, the cross-cultural experience is not taking place in a foreign land. The world is coming to our doorsteps as people on the move. Diaspora can be a global phenomenon with local implications or a local phenomenon with global implications. Zaretsky discusses the theological basic of diaspora and offers case studies for reflection

Eric Célérier
The Church as Glocal… Addressing the World and Our Community
If we want the gospel message to be relevant for our generation, we need to be glocal in our approach. Glocal is the process most adapted for every organization which considers evangelism as the Great Commission. The author shares the four-part process for Internet glocal evangelism.

Winston Smith
Bridge Peoples: The Role of Ethnic Minorities in Global Evangelization
The author takes a biblical look at bridge people and shares why individuals with dual ethnicities are key to the growth of the church. He also shares a five-part plan on partnering with bridge people.

Victor Cuartas
Demands of the Kingdom of God in Relation to Ethnic Diversity
What are the demands of the Kingdom of God in relation to ethnic diversity? The author shares five elements.

Knud Jørgensen
Glocalization from a Norwegian Perspective
Jørgensen takes the reader on a journey of mission in the Norwegian Church, a journey that includes the local church slowly beginning to take center stage as the primary instrument of mission. The deviates off the traditional concept that mission stems from missionary societies.

It also contains two ‘perspectives’ articles:

Kirsteen Kim
Connecting Local and Global Church: A Preview to Edinburgh 2010
The author looks at how the 1910 Edinburgh conference impacted missions and why things are radically different today. Kim says although the Western missionary movement provided an important catalyst for the growth of Christianity worldwide, the actual work of world evangelization has been achieved mainly through local people in local churches. To demonstrate that Christianity is a global religion, a majority of delegates at the June 2010 gathering in Edinburgh will be representatives of local churches from the global South.

Douglas Shaw
The Gospel & International Studies: Can We Make the Connection?
No longer is it necessary to fly groups around the world to have an international impact for Christ. Shaw shares how International Students, Inc. is impacting local communities and colleges for Christ. The core of ISI’s mission strategy is cross-cultural outreach, or friendship evangelism.

The whole issue is available as a pdf here, and an executive summary (from which the above summaries are taken) is available here.