This response article originally appeared on the website of the Jenkins Center for the Christian Understanding...
Missiology Articles
The Mission of the Church
This essay originally appeared on The Gospel Coalition. It is reposted here with permission from the author....
The Culture of Missions: Choosing to Be Mistreated
Reprinted by permission of the Asia Mission Association. Originally published April 2020 in the journal, Asian Mission...
Yesu or Issa? (Part 1 of 4)
By Ian Westmark Several compelling reasons for transliterating the name Jesus in all Bible translations, even in...
More Articles
Bridging the Gap for Muslims
Bridging Concept A bridge is a link that connects two opposite sides of a gap. The purpose of a bridge is to transport people or vehicles from one side to the other. "Building bridges" has been used extensively as a missionary strategy aimed at reducing the resistance...
Arabic-speaking Christians Condemn Muslim Idiom Translations & Liberal Commentaries Produced By Western Missions Agencies
A number of Coptic and Evangelical churches and organizations in Egypt recently released public statements condemning The True Meaning of the Gospel of Christ, a “Muslim Idiom Translation” (MIT) of the Gospels and Acts, its companion volume, The Bold Proclamation of...
When Your Church’s Missions Heartbeat has Flattened
All church leaders feel the tension. No matter how passionately we plea for our church members to be committed to the Great Commission, it seems to fall flat. The greatness of the Great Commission seems to be lost in the sea of a...
Show Me Thy Glory
Amy Carmichael (1867-1951) served for 55 years in India without furlough, becoming one of the pioneers of the modern missions movement. In this excerpt from her book, Things As They Are, Carmichael describes the biblical motivation behind missions. What is God's...
Diversity, Monoliths and Essentialism
Preparing servants of Christ to participate in the Great Commission is an important task which requires continual evaluation and honing. We live in an exciting time in history in which Muslims in various contexts have opened their hearts to the gospel. Coming from a...
Redeeming Missiology
What is Missiology? Missions is the central theme of the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, God reveals his love for his creation and calls his people to be a light and a blessing to all nations. (Genesis 12:1–3; Isaiah 49:6) Missiology was driven by the need of...
The Unoccupied Mission Fields
By Samuel Zwemer. Zwemer, known as the "Apostle to Islam," served as a pioneer missionary to Arab nations at the turn of the 20th century. Below is an excerpt from his book The Unoccupied Mission Fields of Africa and Asia. The challenge of the unoccupied fields of the...
“Adam the Son of God”: Why Literal Meaning is Essential
Some of the greatest gems of truth lie in the Bible’s genealogies. The end of Luke 3:38 contains one such treasure, equally exquisite for both its richness and rarity: “Adam, the son of God.” Inherent within this description of our very first forefather is a witness...
Did the Apostles Proclaim an Honor Shame Gospel Part 2
Read Part 1 here. Having (1) looked at the honor-shame movement’s understanding of the gospel as a message that changes based on the target audience’s predominant cultural outlook and also (2) gained a better, if not brief, understanding of how the movement views...
Did the Apostles Proclaim an Honor Shame Gospel? Part 1
As I was writing this article my wife and I were reading The Soul of Shame. I say “reading” but we were doing more than reading. We also shed tears and talked at length about how we had both listened to and transmitted shame to others, not the least of which were our...
Book Review: Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures: Biblical Foundations and Practical Essentials by Jayson Georges and Mark D. Baker
Publisher: IVP Academic (September 1, 2016)ISBN-10: 0830851461 / ISBN-13: 978-0830851461 Christians involved in cross-cultural missions quickly find out that their assumptions are not universal. Each culture has ideas of what is acceptable and unacceptable. To...
Reaching Muslims: A Practical Approach
Praise God for Georges Houssney and his ministry reaching Muslims! In Engaging Islam(2013), Houssney distills his years of experience of both living in a predominantly Muslim country and reaching Muslims with the Gospel into a...
Inside the World of Christians from Muslim Backgrounds, Part II: “A Place and a Nation: Encouragement to Overcome Insecurity and Shame”
“Inside the World of Christians from Muslim Backgrounds” is a 4-part series. 1: Tear Down my Father's Altar? (2/25/19) 2: A Place and a Nation (3/4/19) 3: Prayer, Presence and Program (3/11/19) 4: Messengers of God (3/18/19) The previous article in this series...
Who Is the Messiah and Why is He Named “Jesus”? Downloadable Arabic/English Evangelistic Tract
This article contains the English text of an evangelistic tract that I wrote to acquaint Muslims with the truth of the Gospel and call them to repent, believe in and follow Jesus. It makes use of several Old Testament prophecies about Jesus, parts of His birth...
Centrality of the Son in the Kingdom of God: New Covenant Complete, Summary & Conclusion (Part 7 of 7)
Centrality of the Son in the Kingdom of God is a 7-part series. You can find others here: Introduction, Summary, and Promulgation of the Kingdom (8/27/18) Enthronement of Son (9/3/18) Qualities of the Kingdom of God – Heb 2:1-4:13 (9/10/18) The...
Centrality of the Son in the Kingdom of God: Promise & Oath: First Covenant Incomplete (Part 6 of 7)
Centrality of the Son in the Kingdom of God is a 7-part series. You can find others here: Introduction, Summary, and Promulgation of the Kingdom (8/27/18) Enthronement of Son (9/3/18) Qualities of the Kingdom of God – Heb 2:1-4:13 (9/10/18) The...
Centrality of the Son in the Kingdom of God: Kingdom and Covenant Relationship & Hebrews as God’s People (Part 5 of 7)
Centrality of the Son in the Kingdom of God is a 7-part series. You can find others here: Introduction, Summary, and Promulgation of the Kingdom (8/27/18) Enthronement of Son (9/3/18) Qualities of the Kingdom of God – Heb 2:1-4:13 (9/10/18) The...
Centrality of the Son in the Kingdom of God: The Restoration Ministry of Jesus (Part 4 of 7)
Centrality of the Son in the Kingdom of God is a 7-part series. You can find others here: Introduction, Summary, and Promulgation of the Kingdom (8/27/18) Enthronement of Son (9/3/18) Qualities of the Kingdom of God – Heb 2:1-4:13 (9/10/18) The...
The Qur’anic Jesus and My Muslim Neighbor: A Response to Thabiti Anyabwile’s “How to Use the Qur’an to Get to the Gospel”
In the article titled “How to Use the Qur’an to Get to the Gospel,” which was recently posted to the International Mission Board website, Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile is enthusiastic about using the Qur’an in evangelism to Muslims: “Using the Qur’an can help establish a...
9/11 & Muslims: How Should Our Union With Christ & Citizenship in the Kingdom of God Impact The Way We Think About Islam and Muslims?
Many of us can remember where we were and what we were doing when we were suddenly interrupted with the images of September 11, 2001. It was a tragic day as many were killed, destruction was inflicted, and fear was injected even as confusion and anger arose to a new...