Strike the Match with J. D. Payne

Two of the most influential missiological books of the twentieth century were Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? and The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church, both written by Roland Allen. Even today, Allen’s missiology greatly influences missionary activities.

In this episode, Steven Rutt and I continue our two-part conversation about Roland Allen. What were his views about church planting and church leadership? What did Allen believe about ecclesiology and pneumatology on the field? What are the roles of church structure and organization on the field? What is necessary for the occurrence of church multiplication movements?

Be sure to check out the previous episode where we discuss Allen’s life and times.

The influence of Roland Allen on missionary activity continues today. Valued by pastors, missiologists, missionaries, and New Testament scholars, Allen’s writings are constant calls for the Church to return to the New Testament for guidance with apostolic endeavors.

In this two-part episode, Roland Allen scholar, Dr. Steven Rutt is my guest. We take time to address the biography of the man. What were the things that shaped his life, ministry, and resulted in numerous writings including the prized Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? and The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church? In the next episode, we discuss Allen’s missiology.

Missiologists and mission agencies operate from two unreached people group lists: 1) global unreached people groups; and 2) global unengaged-unreached people groups.

The global unreached people group list receives a high strategic priority when it comes to global disciple making.

The global unengaged-unreached people group list receives an even higher strategic priority when it comes to global disciple making.

However, I believe a third list (representing the highest priority) is needed, one that takes into consideration the work of the Spirit among the peoples across 2000 years of Church history.

A list is needed that provides an answer to the question: “Among the people groups in the world today, which groups have had no followers of Jesus in the last 2000 years?”

Church multiplication strategies must include pastoral training. Though some people believe pastoral training gets in the way of making disciples and planting churches, the bible advocates otherwise. “After church planting, what?” asks my guest, Dr. Ramesh Richard.

In this episode, we discuss the importance of pastoral training throughout the world. We address the global conversation related to this topic and both formal and non-formal training. Equipping pastors to equip the saints for the work of the ministry is vital to the health and multiplication of disciples, leaders, and churches. The same apostle who desired the Word to spread rapidly and with honor (2 Thes 3:1) was the same apostle who taught the Ephesian elders the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). Richard is a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary and founder and president of RReach Ministry (rreach.org).

Evangelicals have been asking questions related to the ministry of apostles for several years. Some of these conversations have been unhealthy and unhelpful while others have been edifying and resulting in Kingdom advancement.

Do apostles exist today? If so, who is an apostle? If so, are they different from the Twelve? Is there an ongoing role of apostles in missions? If so, what is that role? What do apostles do? Is it dangerous to talk about contemporary apostles? These are a few questions addressed in this episode.

Don Dent is my guest on Strike the Match. Don is a professor, author of the book The Ongoing Role of Apostles in Missions (re-published fall 16), and Director of the Kim School of Global Missions at Gateway Seminary.

Good research and healthy mission strategy should go hand-in-hand. How can we be wise stewards with Kingdom resources in view of 7 billion people in the world?

Jim Haney is my guest in this episode. Jim is the Director of Global Research with the International Mission Board. He is also the registrar of the Harvest Information System and involved with Vision 5/9.

Our conversation involves the history and terminology of evangelical research among unreached people groups, future research interests, limitations of missiological research, and the importance of missionary history on contemporary priorities.

Jeff Sundell has been involved in Great Commission activities for many years. After serving in South Asia and seeing the multiplication of disciples, leaders, and churches, he returned to the United States in 2009, contextualizing what he learned.

Now, many churches across the United States benefit from Jeff’s vision and training. Christians are becoming aware of the unreached peoples in U. S. cities and are responding with the gospel. In this episode of Strike the Match, Jeff shares his journey of how he began to apply his missiology within the United States and how churches are being multiplied from the harvest.

Jeff may be contacted through 4Fields.net.

Last week, Baptist Press released the article by Carol Pipes: “ACP: More Churches Reported; Baptisms Decline.” Media sources across the country quickly ran stories on the information found in the article.

The Southern Baptist Convention added 294 churches in 2015. However, our membership declined by more than 200,000 people, with average weekly worship attendance now at 5.6 million. While we should praise the Lord for the 295,000 baptisms, reported baptisms declined. It now takes 52 Southern Baptists to baptize 1 person in 1 year.

In this episode of Strike the Match, I address this article, some concerns about the future of my denomination, and offer missiological reflections to lead us into the future.

The concept of church multiplication movements is often discussed in missiological circles. Kingdom citizens desire to see “the word of the Lord. . . speed ahead and be honored” (2 Thes 3:1) and for new churches to be taught the “whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). Nathan Shank is my guest on this episode of Strike the Match. Nathan lives in Asia and serves as a church planting strategist. He has witnessed the multiplication of disciples, leaders, and churches across unreached people groups. In this episode, we talk about biblical strategy, church health, measuring effectiveness beyond simply reporting numbers, and the need to redefine our metrics.

Here are the links to the two resources we mention in the conversation: Nathan and Kari’s book Four Fields of Kingdom Growth and No Place Left.net.

This episode of Strike the Match kicks off season 2. In this podcast, I share insights from eighteen years of training pastors in both the academy and the church.

The pastor is the most important and influential person in a local church when it comes to leading that congregation to participate in the mission of God. Missiologists face challenges in training pastors to develop a healthy apostolic imagination.  These challenges exist within the discipline of missiology, within the academy in general, and within our present way of thinking about missionary activity. In addition to these matters, I also address 6 guidelines for helping pastors develop a proper imagination.

Also, be sure to listen for the Strike the Match special coupon code to get 41% off of my book To the Edge: Reflections on Kingdom Leadership, Mission, and Innovation.