The Missions Show

Coming in the next episode: Why is syncretism unacceptable in missions? Scott and Alex explore this Sunday at 7 pm.

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Born into slavery, George Liele is credited as being the first African-American missionary and Baptist missionary in the modern missionary movement. So why haven’t we heard his story? Dr. Jason Duesing, missions advocate and academic Provost and Associate Professor of Historical Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, explains.

Duesing serves as a research fellow for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, academic editor of the Midwestern Journal of Theology, and general editor for For the Church resources. He is also a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, where he currently serves on the Nominations Committee and the review board for the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. The most offensive thing about him is that he is a Yankees fan. Duesing is married to Kalee, and together they 4 children. Visit his personal site and follow him on Twitter.

You can hear our previous episode with Jason here.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International, Fusion, and Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention.

Abuse Prevention National Conference 2021 attendees: use promo code ABWE21 to receive 20% off your registration.

How did Western society descend from culture of Christendom to the triumph of the “T” in LGBT? Dr. Carl Trueman, historian and author of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self (Crossway, 2020), lays blame at the feet of expressive individualism. But individualism isn’t just the world’s problem—it’s the air we breathe in the church and in cross-cultural missions, too.

In this exclusive interview, Dr. Trueman explains why. Carl Trueman (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen) is professor of biblical and religious studies at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania. He has written more than a dozen books, including Histories and Fallacies: Problems Faced in the Writing of History, Luther on the Christian Life, The Creedal Imperative, and The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and The Road to Sexual Revolution.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International, Fusion, and Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention.

Abuse Prevention National Conference 2021 attendees: use promo code ABWE21 to receive 20% off your registration.

It’s hard to deny: we experience little power in evangelism and missions because we’re slothful in prayer. Jonathan Edwards believed that the world would be reached for Christ when God’s people pled divine promises back to God in prayer. Was he right? And what is the relationship between prayer and revival?

Dr. Thad Bergmeier, Regional Director for EveryEthne, joins us to discuss their Week of Prayer initiative and our own personal spiritual disciplines.

Thad served for over 18 years in pastoral ministry in three different states in the Midwest. In 2016, Thad joined EveryEthne as a regional director because of their commitment to helping local church plant churches. Thad and his wife Monique currently live east of Cleveland, Ohio. Click here to support Thad’s ministry.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International, Fusion, and Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention.

Abuse Prevention National Conference 2021 attendees: use promo code ABWE21 to receive 20% off your registration.

We know missionaries should have a theology of God, the Bible, and salvation—but what does it mean to develop a theology of religions? And what are the bigger problems plaguing evangelical missiology? Dr. Dan Strange, theological director at Oak Hill College and co-chair of The Southgate Fellowship, joins us from London to discuss his new book Their Rock Is Not Like Our Rock: A Theology of Religions, the problem of pluralism, and why his fellowship is pushing back on some emerging trends in missions through its thorough statement of affirmations and denials.

Dan received his Ph.D. from Bristol University, publishing his dissertation The Possibility of Salvation among the Unevangelised (Paternoster, 2000). His speciality is in the area of Christianity’s relationship to other religions. You can follow him on Twitter.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International, Fusion, and Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention.

Abuse Prevention National Conference 2021 attendees: use promo code ABWE21 to receive 20% off your registration.

According to statistics, more than 4.6 billion people on the planet now have internet access—and many of them live among unreached people groups. How does that reshape the way we approach missions? And how can now-commonplace tools like Zoom help Christians in the West invest in fellow believers in hard-to-reach places? Andrew C., executive director for Live Global, shares his journey from ecommerce to ABWE and how technology can be leveraged for gospel aims.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].

The Missions Show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund. This episode is also sponsored by Radius International, Fusion, and Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention.

Abuse Prevention National Conference 2021 attendees: use promo code ABWE21 to receive 20% off your registration.

With all the lost and unreached people in the world, slowing down to think about philosophy may seem like a waste of time. This week, Thor Madsen of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary explains how understanding philosophy from a Christian worldview perspective can be game-changing for the missionary serving on the field afar or at home.

Dr. Thor Madsen has been at Midwestern Seminary since 1999 and is currently Dean of Doctoral Studies and Academic Initiatives and Professor of New Testament, Ethics and Philosophy. Since coming to MBTS, Dr. Madsen has served in a variety of roles including vice president of academic development (2003-2009). Dr. Madsen graduated from Wheaton College with the Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in philosophy. Following his studies at Wheaton, he went to Western Kentucky University for his Master of Arts degree, during which time he was also the graduate assistant for Dr. Ronald Nash. Upon graduation from WKU, Dr. Madsen spent a year in the doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With this foundation, he enrolled in the Master of Divinity program at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and followed this degree with doctoral study at the University of Aberdeen, from which he graduated with a Ph.D. in 1998.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Life's Ultimate Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy
• Worldviews in Conflict: Choosing Christianity in the World of Ideas
• The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog
• For the Church

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, Fusion, and Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention.

Abuse Prevention National Conference 2021 attendees: use promo code ABWE21 to receive 20% off your registration.

Merry Christmas from The Missions Show! To celebrate the holiday, we’re honing in on the incarnation of Christ and asking: what do Christian leaders mean when they talk about “incarnational” ministry? Can the incarnation actually be imitated, or does referring to our ministry as incarnational cheapen the uniqueness of Christ’s birth? This week, Scott and Alex discuss Christ’s nature and example for missionaries in this special edition of the show.

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, Fusion, and Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention.

Abuse Prevention National Conference 2021 attendees: use promo code ABWE21 to receive 20% off your registration.

Recent political events and rallies have Christians asking: what is nationalism? Is it the same as patriotism? These questions are vitally important to the missionary. Can a missionary truly love his home country that he’s leaving—and if so, how? What does Scripture say about love of country—or countries, for that matter? And what about globalism? Scott and Alex wrestle with these big questions on this week’s episode.

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, CROSS Conference, Fusion, and Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention.

Abuse Prevention National Conference 2021 attendees: use promo code ABWE21 to receive 20% off your registration.

Only a big view of God can sustain the people of God on a big mission. Yet have missionaries gotten their very doctrine of God himself wrong? This week, Dr. James Dolezal highlights the doctrines of divine simplicity, immutability, and aseity—aspects of theology proper often lost on modern evangelicalism—and why they matter for reaching pagans, Muslims, secularists, and others.

James E. Dolezal is associate professor of theology in the School of Divinity at Cairn University in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. He is the author of God Without Parts (Pickwick, 2011) and All That Is in God (Reformation Heritage, 2017).

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, CROSS Conference, Fusion, and Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention.

Abuse Prevention National Conference 2021 attendees: use promo code ABWE21 to receive 20% off your registration.