Strike the Match with J. D. Payne

The world is always changing; our mission remains the same. Dr. David Sills is my guest and we discuss his forthcoming book, Changing World, Unchanging Mission: Responding to Global Challenges. In this conversation, we address some of the key global challenges confronting disciple-making today.

David calls us to be proactive as Kingdom citizens and to grow as students of both God’s Word and God’s world.

In addition to this book, David is the author of several other publications, a seminary professor, and president of Reaching and Teaching International Ministries.

** CORRECTION: In this conversation, reference is made to Samuel Chiang as being the president of the International Orality Network. Since this recording was made, Chiang is no longer in this role and is now the president and CEO of The Seed Company.

Discussions related to the topic of orality and missions often focus on contexts outside of North America. However, in 2003 half of the Untied States’ citizens struggled with literacy. Few college students read books on a regular basis after graduation. And according to my guest, Mark Snowden, after work and school, “the vast majority of Americans who go home at night do not have anything to do with the literate world.” If this is our present reality in the United States, what is the implication on disciple making since the Christian faith walks on literate legs?

In this episode, Mark and I discuss the topic of orality and disciple making in the United States. Mark is the co-author (with Avery Willis) of Truth that Sticks: How to Communicate Velcro Truth in a Teflon World and leader of Snowden Ministries. He blogs at TruthSticks.us, found on Facebook, and may be contacted at [email protected].

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My latest book, To the Edge: Reflections on Kingdom Leadership, Mission, and Innovation, was released this week. Only a few days remain to take advantage of the “Buy 1, Get 1 Free to Give Away” discount.

Your church is not involved in church planting. How do you begin to cast such a vision to move from where you are to where you need to go? Proverbs 20:5 notes, “A plan in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding draws it out” (NASB). Vision casting is more art than science. As a leader, you need to be a person of understanding and paint a picture of the possible future to come by God’s grace.

In this episode, I talk about the art of vision casting and 5 steps involved in casting a vision for church planting. And in appreciation to you for listening, here is a link to a corresponding article I wrote on this topic a few years ago: http://northamericanmissions.org/files/Casting-Vision-Article.pdf

The 20th century has been called the Age of Migration. Presently, 232 million people live outside of their countries-of-birth. They move for different reasons. Some are relocating for a better standard-of-living and education; others are fleeing persecution, war, disease, and famine.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Enoch Wan, one of the leading global experts in the area of migration and missions. Several years ago Dr. Wan pioneered a new area of study in missiology that he labeled, “diaspora missiology.” And this burgeoning field is one of the most important areas of study today.

Enoch and I talk about the international movements of both Christians and non-Christians and how such movements have created a paradigm shift in Kingdom work. The lines are now blurred between domestic and international missions. Will churches, denominations, and mission agencies be wise stewards and adjust accordingly? Check out this exciting conversation and share it with others!

Be sure to visit EnochWan.com where you may find out more about Dr. Wan’s work and publications.

The United States is home to the third largest number of unreached people groups in the world (behind India and China). The Global Gates Network is one of very few groups in North America attempting to make disciples and plant churches among the unreached peoples in the United States. In this episode I speak with Brad Wall, co-founder of Global Gates and Director of Strategy and Leadership Development. We spend time discussing the network, what they are learning about this type of ministry, the numerous opportunities to share with unreached peoples in the United States and in other counties via the United States, some encouraging stories, persecution in this country, and practical steps to get involved in such church planting activities.

This network is on the cutting edge of Kingdom expansion. Many individuals and churches are seeking the wisdom of the Global Gates Network. Check out our exciting conversation and share it with others!

One of the cutting edge organizations out there is GMI. They have been thinking and leading on an innovative plane for 30 years. With a mission statement like: GMI leverages research and technology to create, cultivate, and communicate mission information leading to insight that inspires Kingdom service, you know they are involved in some exciting and different work!

In this episode, I speak with their new president and CEO, Jon Hirst.  We talk about GMI’s history, what they are doing, and where they are going as well as the changes influencing mission agencies and churches. During our conversation, Jon notes, “We are in a significant paradigm shift in missions. . . . The old levers and systems. . . that were fairly staid, accepted, and understood in the 20th century, fundamentally don’t work the same way anymore.” This is a fascinating conversation. Check it out and share with others!

You may find Jon on Twitter @jonhirstgmi

Take a look at their excellent missiographics too!

My next book, To the Edge: Reflections on Kingdom Leadership, Mission, and Innovation, is scheduled to be released this summer. In this podcast, I share about the book and my reason for writing it. I even read an excerpt for you! Most of what I share in this episode about this book, I have not shared with the public yet. You are hearing it first on Strike the Match!

As Jesus builds His Church, His Church must keep going to the edge and beyond. The edge is a scary place; it is where change happens. Many people fear the edge. They try to stay as far from it as possible because it comes with risks. But being on the edge means being on the frontiers of Kingdom expansion. And going beyond the edge means blazing new directions as the Builder leads. Jesus is with us. It is an honor to be working with His Spirit.

Not only should we expect change, but we must be wise stewards with it.

Check out this episode. And thanks for listening! Keep watching for the release date of To the Edge and the opportunity to make pre-orders. I will keep you informed via social media and at jdpayne.org.

Mission agencies have always faced challenges. However, the 21st century has brought some unique challenges to agencies headquartered in North America.

In episode 15, I speak with Dr. Steve Moore, Executive Director of the Center for Excellence in Leadership. Steve is an author and formerly served as the President of MissioNexus, the largest network of North American Mission Agencies.

Steve and I discuss matters related to globalization, growth of the Majority World Church, niche ministries, as well as a few other challenges shaping the face of agencies today.

You may connect with Steve at The Association for Biblical Higher Education.

Check out his book Seize The Vuja De.

This week Baptist Press released the article, “SBC Reports More Churches, Fewer People.” Within hours, secular media outlets were reporting on these findings too.

For those who have been tracking these numbers, this article brought no surprises. And while there is nothing surprising here, as a Southern Baptist, I have many concerns for the tribe I deeply love.

In this episode of Strike the Match, I share some of the findings from this article, offer some general observations, and provide a few missiological concerns. The writer of Proverbs notes, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (25:11, ESV). It has been my prayer that this recording will be fitly spoken at a time when the latest news about the Southern Baptist Convention is not very encouraging.

It has been said that since Gutenberg the Christian faith has walked on “literate legs.” And while we are very thankful to have the Bible in our language, we often operate from the assumption that the majority of the world also prefers to learn through literate means.

However, close to 5 billion people in the world are considered oral learners. This means they cannot, do not, or will not take in information by literate paradigms. How such peoples receive, process, remember, and pass along information is critical to the Church’s disciple making and church planting activities.

My guest in this episode is Samuel Chiang, former Executive Director of the International Orality Network. We talk about communicating with oral learners, how mission agencies are embracing oral methods, and his latest book (co-edited with Grant Lovejoy), Beyond Literate Western Practices which followed his 2013 publication (co-edited with Grant Lovejoy), Beyond Literate Western Models.