Imaginatively Missional
In 2016, when Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States, a significant number of evangelical Christians, especially evangelical nationalists, rallied around a curious biblical parallel: Isaiah 45. The passage describes the Persian king Cyrus as God’s anointed instrument to accomplish divine purposes, even though he was not part of God’s covenant …
In contemporary missiology, the terms “unreached people groups” (UPGs) and “unengaged unreached people groups” (UUPGs) have become a staple in our missions vocabulary. Defined by missiologists as ethnic groups with no significant Christian presence and/or little to no access to the gospel, UPGs and UUPGs represent the frontier of missionary efforts. However, as we reflect on the theological implications of …
Continue reading "50 Years Since Lausanne: Rethinking our Nomenclature"
Get Into the Spirit of Giving this Thanksgiving In partnership, we can provide quality theological education and training opportunities where most needed. As you are considering your end of year giving, we would be honored to partner with you in God's work around the world. Here is what some leaders say about our training: Your …
Preliminary observations from ongoing research into the history of theological education in the early church Paul’s connection to the academy in Athens (Acts 17:18-20) and Ephesus (Acts 19:9-10) clearly influenced his disciples. The disciplines of careful observation of and dialogue with culture, reflective examination and application of Scripture, and informed engagement were critical to the …
Continue reading "Theological Education in the Second Century"
Preliminary observations from ongoing research into the history and evolution of the word "pastor" Eusebius’ magisterial work entitled Ecclesiastical History, written in four editions between 311-324AD, spans the history of the church from the time of Christ to the time of Constantine: about 300 years. The volume comprises a total of 10 books. Remarking on Eusebeius’ …
Continue reading "The Use of ποιμην in Early Christian History"
Adapted from Grace Al-Zoughbi Arteen, "A Palestinian Reflection on Overcoming Injustice: Seeking a Christ-like Response in Matthew and Luke," in Social Injustice, Volume II: Evangelical Voices in Tumultuous Times. Ephesiology Press, 2021. I was just seventeen years old when one morning at 2am I finally arrived at my own home in Bethlehem, laid my head on …
Continue reading "A Palestinian Reflection on Overcoming Injustice"
The early church fascinates me; especially the practices of those Christians who were disciples of people like Paul, Peter, Barnabas, and Timothy–the first century giants of the New Testament who set the foundation for Christian belief and practice. I’m often curious about what their disciples did to carry on the work of the gospel throughout …
Continue reading "Looking to the Past to Move to the Future"
In one dark period of human history, Dietrich Bonhoeffer defined the church’s role, what he referred to as the “disciples’ community,” in the following manner: The disciples are given no choice whether they want to be salt or not. No appeal is made to them to become salt of the earth. Rather they just are …
Malikah was sitting near me at the hospital recently when I asked her about her favorite Christmas song. She replied, “Oh, that’s a hard one. I think I’d say ‘This Christmas.’” I admitted that I had never heard that song when Judy, standing within ear shot of us, chimed in, “I like ‘the Little Drummer …
Worldview is a term originating with the 18th century Prussian philosopher, Immanuel Kant, and it expresses the idea of how people make sense out of the things that happen around them. To describe our perception of the world, he wrote: “If the human mind is nonetheless to be able even to think the given infinite …
As increasing numbers of Americans are leaving the church, a recent Barna study on the American worldview does not seem all that surprising. For years now, Americans have expressed a loss of confidence in the church as the institution is no longer viewed as important. Many Americans believe that church has actually had a negative …
Continue reading "Who is transforming whom? What American Christians Believe"
Over the weekend, one popular Christian apologist ignited social media with remarks he made at a global conference sponsored by the American Association of Christian Counselors. His video was later removed from the AACC website and he rightly issued an apology. Unfortunately in our world today, he and many other evangelicals often take a polemical position when engaging culture. …
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