The Missions Show

“Eastern” and “Western” aren’t just geographic labels—they’re terms that signify a massive worldview chasm. How do Chinese culture, the Confucian system of thought, and Eastern patterns of thought impact the church in Asia? What questions to Chinese Christians tend to bring to the Bible, and what questions should they—and we—be asking instead? Dr. Diane Poythress provides answers, drawing upon her theological expertise and her time as a missionary in Asia.

Diane M. Poythress earned her Ph.D. in Reformation history and theology from Westminster Theological Seminary. She studied under Francis Schaeffer at L’Abri, was a missionary in Europe and Taiwan, and served as staff for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Washington, D.C. She is a speaker, writer, and housewife married to Vern Poythress, and mother of two grown sons.

Announcement: If you’re coming to Together for the Gospel, join us for an expert panel and luncheon discussing the topic: who are “the nations,” and what can the local church do to reach them? Hear from Paul Davis, Zane Pratt, Darren Carlson, Brooks Buser, John Klaassen, and more debating the important issues raised in Darren’s 2019 article on the meaning of the Great Commission. Register now for only $10, and enjoy lunch on us in Louisville on April 15!

We’re excited to partner with Live Global to pull off this event. If you haven’t already signed up for T4G, use the promo code T4G20LiveGlobal10OFF to receive $10 off your registration.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email us.

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International.

We often talk about the state of theology in the American church, but what about on the mission field? In this episode, Mark Tatlock, president of The Master’s Academy International (TMAI), explains why there is reason for rejoicing but also much concern—and how the root of many heresies overseas can be traced to a gradual retreat from biblical inerrancy and sufficiency in the West.

Dr. Mark Tatlock, prior to being appointed to his full-time role with TMAI, served as executive vice president and provost of The Master’s University. Mark is a graduate of The Master’s Seminary, and he and his wife Lisa have five children, included adopted children: Jacob, Josiah, Hope, Paul, and Olivia.

Announcement: If you’re coming to Together for the Gospel, join us for an expert panel and luncheon discussing the topic: who are “the nations,” and what can the local church do to reach them? Hear from Paul Davis, Zane Pratt, Darren Carlson, Brooks Buser, John Klaassen, and more debating the important issues raised in Darren’s 2019 article on the meaning of the Great Commission. Register now for only $10, and enjoy lunch on us in Louisville on April 15!

We’re excited to partner with Live Global to pull off this event. If you haven’t already signed up for T4G, use the promo code T4G20LiveGlobal10OFF to receive $10 off your registration.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email us.

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International.

Of the world’s 7,100 languages, less than ten percent have a complete, written Bible. The Great Commission depends on translations into the heart languages of the lost. How can we get Scripture into the remaining languages without waiting for English-speaking experts in Greek and Hebrew to learn multiple foreign languages—or, is speeding up the process the wrong idea altogether?

We dive deep this week with Dan Kramer of Wycliffe Associates who developed the MAST (Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation) methodology that is rapidly increasing the speed of translation across the globe, resulting in 254 complete New Testament translations.

Dan Kramer worked for thirteen years in the field of education as faculty at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He came to Wycliffe Associates in 2009 to create an English program. Within three years, the program spanned across 25 countries. Today, Dan leads a staff of more than 60 people to spread of MAST reach the entire globe aside from a handful of nations, reaching into oral language groups, deaf and eventually deaf/blind populations. Dan resides in Orlando, Florida, with his wife Holly, and they have six children.

Announcement: If you’re coming to Together for the Gospel, join us for an expert panel and luncheon discussing the topic: who are “the nations,” and what can the local church do to reach them? Hear from Paul Davis, Zane Pratt, Darren Carlson, Brooks Buser, John Klaassen, and more debating the important issues raised in Darren’s 2019 article on the meaning of the Great Commission. Register now for only $10, and enjoy lunch on us in Louisville on April 15!

We’re excited to partner with Live Global to pull off this event. If you haven’t already signed up for T4G, use the promo code T4G20LiveGlobal10OFF to receive $10 off your registration.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email us.

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International.

Is it possible to “finish the task” of missions? How should we count converts—if at all? Is it necessary to feel a sense of calling before pursuing missions? We tackle these questions are more received by listeners in this week’s special episode.

In the conversation, we also referenced these past episodes:

• “Do We Need to Redefine Unreached?” with Matt Bennett
• “How Many Unreached Are There Really?” with Justin Long

Announcement: If you’re coming to Together for the Gospel, join us for an expert panel and luncheon discussing the topic: who are “the nations,” and what can the local church do to reach them? Hear from Paul Davis, Zane Pratt, Darren Carlson, Brooks Buser, John Klaassen, and more debating the important issues raised in Darren’s 2019 article on the meaning of the Great Commission. Register now for only $10, and enjoy lunch on us in Louisville on April 15!

We’re excited to partner with Live Global to pull off this event. If you haven’t already signed up for T4G, use the promo code T4G20LiveGlobal10OFF to receive $10 off your registration.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email us.

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International.

How should missionaries argue for the Christian faith? If human beings are dead in sin, then they need more than evidence—they need to realize that even their refusal to believe is an act of rebellion and a sin for which Jesus died. To argue this way is to argue using presuppositional apologetics, but how to apply this method in missions isn’t always clear. How can missionaries take this way of presenting truth—used most often in challenging atheism—and apply it to Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or other pagan religions?

Dr. Vern Poythress returns to the show to unpack this important topic. Taught by Cornelius Van Til, the primary theologian credited with advancing presuppositionalism, Dr. Poythress explains that apologetics matters to missions because no one is neutral before God.

Rev. Dr. Vern Poythress (Ph.D., Harvard; D.Th., Stellenbosch) is professor of New Testament and biblical interpretation at Westminster Theological Seminary, where he has taught for 43 years. Hear our previous interview with Dr. Poythress on the topic of linguistics here.

Announcement: If you’re coming to Together for the Gospel, join us for an expert panel and luncheon discussing the topic: who are “the nations,” and what can the local church do to reach them? Hear from Paul Davis, Zane Pratt, Darren Carlson, Brooks Buser, John Klaassen, and more debating the important issues raised in Darren’s 2019 article on the meaning of the Great Commission. Register now for only $10, and enjoy lunch on us in Louisville on April 15!

We’re excited to partner with Live Global to pull off this event. If you haven’t already signed up for T4G, use the promo code T4G20LiveGlobal10OFF to receive $10 off your registration.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email us.

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International.

For most Americans, Ferguson, Missouri only entered their consciousness in 2014 when news broke of the controversial shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. But the story of Ferguson goes much deeper, and the gospel is spreading slowly. This week, ABWE missionary Chris Brown shares how God is moving in this area and opening hearts to Christ even amidst political, cultural, and racial tensions.

Chris Brown is an EveryEthnē church planter to Ferguson, Missouri serving House of the Lord Baptist Church with his wife Kaitlin. Support their ministry.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email us.

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International.

Can you identify as “socio-culturally Muslim” while still following Christ—and making disciples? That question lies at the heart of the Insider Movement methodology. In this episode, Matt Bennett joins to offer definitions and explain the dangers of the Insider Movement and provide practical guidance for pastors and missionaries navigating these controversial waters.

Dr. Matthew Bennett joined the faculty at Cedarville University in fall 2017 after serving and living in North Africa and the Middle East since 2011. He currently teaches The Bible and the Gospel, Theology I, Urban Missiology, Contemporary World Missions, Global Theology, and World Religions. Hear our preview interviews with Matt here.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can help bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question for a future episode? Email [email protected].

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International.

As we leave the Advent season and enter the new year, it’s important to get back to the basics of the Christian life. Should we consider every Christians a “missionary”—and if not, why not?

This week we’re diving back into the archives to enjoy our conversation with Pioneers USA VP Denny Spitters and 16:15 President Matthew Ellison, authors of When Everything Is Missions, all over again.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email us.

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International.

The holidays are a time of quaint familiarity, but let’s be honest. We wax philosophical about the royal gifts the magi later bring the Christ-child, but we treat “King” mainly as an honorific title. We think, after all, this Boy grows up to be a controversial Jewish Rabbi, an inspiring religious figure, not a Caesar. It doesn’t appear from a human perspective that Jesus is in charge of anything. But Isaiah 9:6 says “the government shall be upon his shoulder.” What government is this, anyway—and what does it have to do with missions?

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email us.

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund.

Nothing requires Christians across tribal lines to work together quite like the Great Commission. However, nothing divides Christians quite like our mission and methods, either. How can we cooperate and disagree agreeably in an age of separatism, without compromising on gospel issues and matters of sound, biblical, conservative theology? How can missionaries understand fundamentalism and how it has historically shaped the churches that support them? In this episode, Pastor Joshua Teis explains.

Josh and his wife Heather have ministered at Southern Hills Baptist Church in Las Vegas, NV for the past fifteen years. He earned his B.A. in Pastoral Theology from Pensacola Christian College where he met his wife, Heather, and also holds a Master’s in Bible Exposition and his M.Div. from Liberty University. Josh launched the Idea Day Network and hosts The Idea Talks Podcast. Josh and Heather have one son, Jonathan David, and two daughters, Savannah Tyler and Scarlett Noel. Read Josh’s blog and follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email us.

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International.