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Biblical Basis of Missions
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Transforming Culture
By Sherwood Lingenfelter / Baker
In this finely crafted book the author lays solid theoretical foundations for analyzing many of the intercultural misunderstandings that emerge in the everyday lives of those in global ministries. By careful analysis of case studies the author helps us apply these insights to your ministries, and guides us to biblically based and culturally sensitive responses to the difficult issues raised by cultural differences.
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Missions in the Third Millennium
By Stan Guthrie / Authentic
Necessitated by the September 11th terrorist attacks , this newly revised and expanded edition of Stan Guthrie's missions analysis blazes the trail for the missions field in the 21st century. His keen insight supplies help to students, churches, missionaries, agencies, and Christians from outside the West in grasping the big picture and taking practical steps for more effective involvement. Notes, suggestions for further reading and discussion questions are included.
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Let the Nations Be Glad! 2d ed.: The Supremacy of God in Missions
By John Piper / Baker
Why do we do missions? We are told, by Jesus, to preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations. So missions is duty, right? Wrong. If you do missions purely from a sense of duty you will not honor those you are reaching out to, nor will you truly honor God. Duty is the wrong place to look, so where do we find the answer to why we do missions? We turn, according to John Piper, to worship.
In our worship of God we encounter God's glory. The overflow from our worship is a desire to share God's glory with others (the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever), and we naturally become missional. When Jesus was asked what the kingdom of God was like, he compared it to a pearl so valuable that one would sell all they owned simply to possess it. Does that seem like duty to you? Instead, Jesus calls us to a new mindset, which flows from the mindset that worship creates in us. Thus, according to Piper, does worship become the goal of missions and the fuel which makes missions possible.
Worship as the fuel for missions makes sense to a lot of people, but worship as the goal of missions? Piper reminds us that the true reason we share God with others is to make them worshippers (and sharers) as well. He feels that the true goal of missions is "the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God." If it is true, (as Piper states) that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him," then increasing the number of people who are satisfied in God will bring God more glory. And missions is the way we can do that.
Missions must be seen as more than simply saving people from sin, though that is a very important aspect. And missions is not just about getting people into heaven, although that is important as well. Instead, through missions we should always seek to make as many people as possible into true worshippers, into those fully satisfied with the greatness of God.
With that mindset, missions becomes a joyous experience, as we joyfully share the life-changing presence of God in our lives with those who don't know God. When we have made worship both the fuel and goal of all our missionary endeavors, we realize that "missions is not a recruitment project for God's labor force. It is a liberation project from the heavy burdens and hard yokes of other gods." Missions is never a burden, because it comes out of our overwhelming joy in God's grace and mercy, and we just want to share that joy. So make God the center of your missions work, and joyfully share what He has graciously given to you.
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The Great Omission
By Trevor Harris / Evangelical Press
Having spent many years working with the Slavic Gospel Association (SGA), Trevor Harris has been privileged to witness the way in which the church in Eastern Europe itself 'missioned' the gospel, not only during the repressive days of Communism, but also with the subsequent freedoms that came after the 1989 revolutions, typified by the fall of the notorious Berlin Wall.But what of the situation elsewhere? The danger appears to be that any efforts at mission work become confined exclusively either to our own country, or to overseas work; but not necessarily both. True mission, the author fears, has been sidelined and marginalized in the life of our local churches. In this helpful and challenging book, Trevor Harris's desire is to stir readers into examining the place of mission and returning it to its rightful place at the heart of our local churches. He draws not only on his extensive experiences with SGA but also on biblical practices and theology, leading us to reassess our own attitudes to mission and challenging us to see what a privilege it is to proclaim Christ, both home and abroad.
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