Mission Frontiers 42, 5 (September-October 2020)

The September-October 2020 issue of Mission Frontiers, published by the U.S. Center for World Mission, contains a number of articles on the theme of ‘Hunting the Movement Killers’.

According to the blurb:

‘Fostering growing movements is not just about doing all the right things, but also stopping all the things we do that kill movements. This issue of Mission Frontiers is all about how to hunt down and destroy every mission practice that kills movements, no matter how fond we are of them. These deadly mission “viruses” stand in the way of achieving our goal of growing movements to Christ in every people and place. A key take-away… is that most mission strategies focus on adding new people while growing movements focus on methods that multiply disciples – and multiplication sees far more rapid results than addition.’

The issue is available here, from where individual articles can be downloaded, and the entire issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.

In Exile with Ezekiel #3: God’s Restoring Power

I wrote this week’s ‘Word for the Week’, a weekly email service provided by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Ezekiel 36:25-27

It would be all too easy to blame our lack of missional success as God’s people on the fact that we are a disenfranchised minority. Or perhaps, we might think, it’s down to the apathy and stubbornness of people in society.

Ezekiel knows the real reason often lies elsewhere, and it’s altogether more sobering.

It’s clear as we read the Old Testament prophets that the biggest obstacle to God’s people making good on their call to be a light to the nations was not primarily persecution or resistance but their own failure to follow God’s ways. The greatest threat to mission was the worship of other gods.

Called to live among the nations, Israel was to walk in the ways of the Lord and reflect his character to the world in their daily lives. That they had not done so means, as God tells Ezekiel, that ‘wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name’ (36:20). At stake is the reputation of God’s name, and his desire for it to be known in all the earth.

For Ezekiel, and for us, God’s promises of restoration come at the point of deepest loss. And at the heart of those promises is the renewal of the people themselves, which God will bring about as he pledges to cleanse them and give them a new heart and a new spirit.

Reinforced by his vision of dry bones raised to life, Ezekiel sees that this renewing work will come about through the Spirit, who will enable God’s covenant people to walk in his ways. In an action reminiscent of God forming Adam from the ground and then breathing into his nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7), God restores his people to their original design – a new humanity, no less.

That hope expressed in Ezekiel speaks of a larger, deeper restoration which would come about through Jesus, whose death, resurrection, and gift of the Spirit continue to animate God’s people today.

So it is that God’s promise through Ezekiel opens up to include us, who carry forward the same mission to represent God to the nations. For us, too, it is the permanent, transformative presence of the Holy Spirit who empowers us to live out our calling as witnesses to who he is and to what he has done, as we point others to Ezekiel’s God and ours.

Theology and Ministry: An Online Journal

I blogged about this years ago, but it’s just come to my attention again. Theology and Ministry is an open-access journal, a publication of Cranmer Hall, St John’s College, Durham.

According to its website blurb, it’s ‘a peer-reviewed annual publication featuring innovative work at the interface of theological study and ministerial practice and reflection’, which ‘publishes original research articles and book reviews by both established and emerging scholars and practitioners’.

The latest issue is available from here.

Mission Catalyst 3 (2020) on Covid

The current issue of Mission Catalyst, published by BMS World Mission, is now available. This issue is devoted to ‘The Covid-Effect’, looking at ‘what we’ve learned and what we can still learn’.

Mission Catalyst is available as a free subscription, or can be downloaded as a pdf here.

In Exile with Ezekiel #2: God’s Loving Promise

I wrote this week’s ‘Word for the Week’, a weekly email service provided by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’ […] They will return to [the land] and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

Ezekiel 11:16-20

The trauma of displacement stamps itself on the visions and sayings of Ezekiel. He even acts out its humiliation and horrors in his own body, becoming a living demonstration of God’s message to those in exile.

That message is poignantly captured in the vision recorded in chapters 8–11 of his prophecy. Ezekiel sees judgment brought on those practising idolatry and perpetrating injustice in the temple and Jerusalem, before then witnessing the sad departure of God’s glory from his sanctuary and holy city.

On the face of it, not the most encouraging message!

But it was one the people needed to hear. Because, for all its sombreness, it insists that the Lord is in charge. God isn’t too weak to stop Babylon defeating the nation and destroying the temple. In fact, it’s the mysterious path he has chosen. It’s part of his larger plan to purify the people and restore his presence among them.

That’s why even this darkest of moments is accompanied with a promise of renewal on the other side of judgment. While God has left the temple, he has not abandoned his people in exile, and promises to be a ‘sanctuary’ for them there. What’s more, he’ll bring them back, give them new hearts, and restore them to a life of service.

Like other sufferers of traumatic events, Ezekiel’s hearers needed a way to reweave their experiences into a larger, more-encompassing, life-giving plot. Ezekiel’s message offered a way for them to understand their displacement within a story which brought together past, present, and future in the light of the Lord’s work – not only in their lives but for the sake of the world in which they were called to live.

God’s promises to us have a way of doing that.

For us, too, trauma can come in different shapes and sizes. For us, too, is the reminder that God’s purposes will never be derailed by the Babylons of this world, whatever form they take. For us, too, is an assurance that in our deepest need, we are secure in him. Even if his hand leads us into exile, he will be present with us there, and will one day bring about our full and final restoration.

Such is his commitment. Such is his love.

9Marks Journal (September 2020) on Pastoring Through Political Turmoil

The latest issue of the 9Marks Journal, available from here in various formats, looks at ‘Pastoring Through Political Turmoil’.

In the Editorial Note, Jonathan Leeman writes:

‘Our goal is not to tell you what to think politically. It’s to help you think about how to pastor when your church and country are enduring a season of political unrest or division. What posture should you adopt? […]

‘Humility in our politics means that our politics begins with the declaration, “Jesus is King.” This doesn’t require overturning the separation of church and state. But it does mean that a Christian’s view of the state must begin with what King Jesus says about the state in his Word. A humble politics is always under God’s Word, never over it.

‘Humility in our politics yields both courage and deference. It gives us the courage to stand fixed upon on God’s Word, no matter what opposition comes. But it also teaches us to defer to others by listening to them, knowing that we can be mistaken and that our perspectives are limited.

‘Humility in our politics means we can learn from different kinds of people, including from people who disagree with us politically. It means we’re open to critique.. 

Humility in our politics means we show honor to everyone made in God’s image, including our political opponents…

‘As much as anything, pastors, we’re encouraging you to model humility in your politics, a humility that trusts and stands on God’s Word more than on your own political inclinations and opinions.’

Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 24, 1 (2020) on Hebrews

The current issue of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology is devoted to ‘Reflections on Hebrews’, with the below contributions.

In the Editorial, Stephen J. Wellum writes:

‘Our situation is uncannily parallel to the recipients of this letter. Hebrews was probably written in the mid 60’s to Jewish Christians whose world was falling apart. The church not only faced increased external persecution, but also she experienced a more serious, internal compromise regarding her commitment to Christ. The church was not progressing in their sanctification due to not growing in their knowledge of Christ (Heb 5:11-14). Given their precarious situation, the author writes to encourage them to stand firm in Christ and also to warn them of the serious danger of drifting from Christ (Heb 2:1-4). In encouraging them, the author does not minimize their situation or offer them theological pablum. Instead, he encourages them to persevere by giving them a good dose of theology centered in Christ. By faithfully expounding text after text from the OT, the author presents Christ in all of his beauty, majesty, and splendor. The author knows that what this church needs more than anything else is the proclamation of Christ and the truth of the gospel. Why? Because it is only by knowing, meditating, and gazing on the glory of Christ and thinking through all that he has done for us that they will be awakened from their slumber and strengthened by the Spirit to endure external hardships and to avoid internal compromise. Not surprisingly, the great theme of the book is: Christ is better!’

Stephen J. Wellum

Editorial: Christ is Better!

Thomas R. Schreiner

The Trinity in Hebrews

Jonathan I. Griffiths

Leading Many to Glory: An Exposition of Hebrews 2:5-3:3

Brian Vickers

Seeing is NOT Believing: Faith Versus Sight in Hebrews

Barry C. Joslin

Theology Unto Doxology: New Covenant Worship in Hebrews

Gareth Lee Cockerill

From Deuteronomy to Hebrews: The Promised Land and the Unity of Scripture

Ardel B. Caneday

God’s Parabolic Design for Israel’s Tabernacle: A Cluster of Earthly Shadows of Heavenly Realities

James M. Hamilton, Jr.

Typology in Hebrews: A Response to Buist Fanning

William James Dernell

Typology, Christology and Prosopological Exegesis: Implicit Narratives in Christological Texts

Denny Burk

A Way-Station to Egalitarianism: A Review Essay of Aimee Byrd’s Recovering from Biblical Manhood & Womanhood

Book Reviews 

Individual essays are available from here, and the whole issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.