The Missions Show

In the West, we tend to think in terms of law, justice, guilt, and innocence. Our gospel presentation naturally picks up this flavor. But in many Eastern cultures, honor and shame are the dominant values—and in tribal contexts, it’s fear and power that take center stage. Has the Western church focused too much on a “legal” gospel and missed out on critical components of the biblical message? And if so, how do we avoid overcompensating and leaving out critical parts of the gospel such as the doctrine of justification?

This week, Scott Dunford and Alex Kocman interact with the core ideas from books like Rolland Muller’s Honor and Shame: Unlocking the Door (2001) and discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and biblical wisdom surrounding the cultural lenses of guilt and innocence, honor and shame, and fear and power.

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

This show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund.

Is it biblical for a missionary to change sending churches or agencies? Is there a right or wrong way to do it? How often should pastors visit their missionaries? Is it worth it to start a family on the field? Is missions easier or harder as a single?

We’ve been soliciting your questions and feedback since episode 1, and in this episode we finally dig into the mailbag and tackle some of our listeners’ most insightful inquiries. We also discuss other pressing matters including fried chicken restaurants and signs of the apocalypse.

We also recommended Benjamin Vrbicek’s latest book, Don’t Just Send a Resume. If you purchase a copy, be sure to let Benjamin know.

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 for a future episode? Email [email protected].

This show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund.

How are Christian women to respond to the onslaught of lies barraging them from the surrounding culture about who they are and the basis of their identity? And how is motherhood a “mission field” for the Christian woman? This week Rachel Jankovic, pastor’s daughter and author based in Moscow, Idaho, tackles these questions with whit, flare, and deep biblical wisdom that’s rare.

Be forewarned—Scott and Alex were a bit punchy for the recording of this episode.

Rachel Jankovic is a wife and mother of seven children. She is author of You Who? Why You Matter and How to Deal With It and Loving the Little Years and has been featured on sites including Desiring God. She is heavily involved with the Christ Church Ladies Bible Reading Challenge and invites you all to join in that great movement of Christian women becoming women of the word. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram.

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].

This show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund.

What are the non-negotiables of how we do missions? Is it possible to reverse-engineer what’s “working” on the field to build our methodology, or are we locked in to a finite set of prescriptions from Scripture about how to do ministry—thinks like preaching the word training elders? Andy Johnson (Ph.D., Texas A&M), Associate Pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. and contributor to 9Marks, is unafraid to answer these weighty questions. Andy joins us this week to discuss his short book Missions: How the Local Church Goes Global and why faithfulness beats modern North American pragmatism any day of the week.

Andy was born and raised in a believing family in Texas. He worked both on church staff and managing a small, family cattle operation. After completing degrees at Texas A&M, Andy moved to Washington, DC in 1997. Andy earned a living as an agricultural advisor for the US Congress while serving CHBC as an elder. In January of 2006, Andy joined CHBC as an Associate Pastor. Andy also gives special attention to the discipling and international missions efforts of CHBC. Andy loves reading, gardening and, most of all, spending time with his wonderful wife, Rebecca, and their children, Andrew, Evelyn, and Samuel.

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].

This show is powered by ABWE International and the Global Gospel Fund.

What is it like for a Christian living in the Middle East? What do believers usually get wrong about Islam and how to share Christ with Muslims? These questions are especially pressing during the month of Ramadan. This week Fouad Masri shares his personal conversion account and weighs in on these issues.

Author and lecturer Fouad Masri was born and raised in the war zone of Beirut, Lebanon. As a third-generation ordained pastor, he has a passion for sharing the love of Christ with Muslims and has been reaching out to Muslims and inspiring others to follow his example since 1979.

After coming to the United States to attend seminary, Fouad realized the urgency for teaching American Christians to reach out to the growing population of internationals, particularly Muslims. In 1993, he founded Crescent Project to nurture transformational relationships between Christians and Muslims and to rally the Church to reach out to Muslims to share Christ. You can follow him on Twitter.

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].

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Radical. Transformative. Impact. Crazy, even. These words fill the atmosphere when Christians discuss the sacrifice and risk involved in missions. But has all this talk of “radical” living left us unable to cope with regular life, ordinariness, boredom, and God’s normal means of grace? This week we talked with Dr. Michael Horton, professor, author, and nationally-syndicated radio host, regarding his book Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World.

Dr. Horton is the J. Gresham Machen Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California since 1998, Editor-in-Chief of Modern Reformation magazine, and president and host of the nationally syndicated radio broadcast, The White Horse Inn. He also leads Core Christianity and hosts Core Radio. Dr. Horton is an ordained minister in the United Reformed Churches in North America and lives in Escondido with his wife, Lisa, and four children. Follow him on Twitter.

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].

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The social justice controversy echoing across conservative evangelicalism has brought terms like “privilege” into the Christian vernacular, but in all the discussion of rights, equity, and cultural engagement, we’ve missed a critical category: gospel privilege. Chad Vegas, founding board member of Radius International and lead pastor of Sovereign Grace Church, joins the show this week to discuss privilege, the reality of eternity, and how pastors can keep their congregations aware of global spiritual need.

Later in the conversation, we address the critical need for biblical and theological training among missionaries and why seminaries and pulpits can’t afford to stay divorced from the missiological community.

Chad is the founding pastor of Sovereign Grace Church. After completing his MA in Theology at Talbot, and being the high school pastor at RiverLakes Community Church, Chad was called to plant a church in Bakersfield. His passion is to know Christ and to make him known. He has been married to Teresa since 1994, and they have 2 children. You can email him.

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].

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Christmas-and-Easter Christians. Mainline Protestants. Nominal Catholics. Bible-Belt believers. Let’s face it—cultural Christians are everywhere. And the problem is that we see cultural Christianity as a discipleship issue rather than an evangelistic field.

In this enriching conversation, Dean Inserra expounds on his book The Unsaved Christian and the eight types of cultural Christians he identifies as being in special need of evangelism. He builds a case for why North America’s pew-warmers really are a bona fide mission field, and explains some practical tips to help true disciples understand that America’s civil religion is another faith altogether.

Dean Inserra is the founding and lead pastor of City Church in Tallahassee. He graduated from Liberty University and attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He holds a M.A. in Theological Studies from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is pursuing a D.Min. from Southern Seminary. Dean is an advisory member of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission's Leadership Council with the Southern Baptist Convention. He is also a member of Baptist 21. Follow Dean on Twitter.

Dean is married to Krissie, and they have two sons, Tommy and Ty, and a daughter, Sally Ashlyn. Dean likes baseball, wrestling, and the Miami Hurricanes. He believes Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback, and that everyone who disagrees holds the right to be wrong.

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].

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Everybody talks about “engaging culture.” Culture is a slippery concept. When should missionaries break from their host culture, and when should they bend with it? Is missions mainly about creating countless contextualized Christianities across various cultures, or is it also about assimilating believers into one overarching Christian culture? We discussed these issues with Dr. Kenneth Nehrbass of Biola University, author of multiple books including God’s Image and Global Cultures.

Kenneth Nehrbass was a pastor before he and his wife Mendy joined Wycliffe Bible Translators in 2000. In 2002, they moved to the island of Tanna (in Vanuatu) to translate the New Testament with a team of nationals. In 2012 they moved back to the USA, and Nehrbass became assistant professor of International Studies at Belhaven University. In 2014, he moved to Biola to teach and direct the M.A. and Ph.D. Programs in intercultural studies. He continues to volunteer as a translation and anthropology consultant with SIL and the Seed Company. His research focuses on contextual theology and missiological anthropology. He and his wife have four children. Visit his site to learn more.

You can also read Scott Dunford’s review of Nehrbass’ book on the ABWE blog.

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].

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For decades, missiologists have assumed the priority of the “unreached”—and for good reason—building entire organizational strategies around it. But do we need to redefine this term? Matthew Bennett, Ph.D., former IMB missionary and current Assistant Professor of Missions and Theology at Cedarville University, weighs in.

In a recent article, Matthew argues that we’ve taken the arbitrary 2-percent definition of “unreached” too far, countering that we need to consider both unreached people groups and unreached places. He also argues in another piece that we must shift our focus from “finishing the task” to being faithful in the constant disciple-making mandate. In this interview, we ask Matthew about the history of UPG emphasis and talk about Ralph Winter, Donald McGavran, and how the homogeneous unit principle morphed from description into prescription. Finally, we discuss the importance of unhitching our missiology from a narrow conception of eschatology so that we can focus on our present callings. Nerds, this episode is for you. (And everyone else too, of course. We promise.)

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. You can listen to our preview interview with Matthew 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].

Powered by ABWE International.