Reprinted by permission of the Asia Mission Association. Originally published April 2020 in the journal, Asian Mission...
Mission Strategy Articles
In an age where unbiblical practices abound, commitment to not only biblical theology but also biblical practice is becoming increasingly rare. More than ever before, missionaries and scholars need to be equipped to apply biblical principles to the way they do missions. Find answers to your questions about Insider Movement, mission strategy, and more plus practical articles that will equip you for success in ministry.
Because the Bible is the only authority on missions.
Contextualization: Biblical Reflections (Part 4 of 4)
By Barbara Helen Burns Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Conclusions It is clear that the Scriptures offer clear help...
Contextualization: Biblical Reflections (Part 3 of 4)
By Barbara Helen Burns Read Part 1 and Part 2 here. III. Attempting a Definition: What is Biblical Contextualization?...
Contextualization: Biblical Reflections (Part 2 of 4)
By Barbara Helen Burns Read Part 1 here. II. The Need for Consensus A. About the Nature of the Scriptures The first...
More Articles
Jesus in the Qur’an: ‘Word’ and ‘Spirit’?
Muslims and the gospel — a key question in considering how to share the gospel with Muslims is how the Quran and the Bible describe differently who Jesus is. This article, originally published by Biblical Missiology in 2017 will help you understand exactly that — who...
The Danger of Focusing Only on Unreached People Groups Part 2
A perennial question in missions is how much investment should be made to bring the gospel to places it’s already been. It’s been a while since the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and not so long since the summer games of Athens 2004, but what remains of them is...
The Danger of Focusing Only on Unreached People Groups Part 1
No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there is someone who hasn’t heard it once- Oswald J. Smith Occasionally it hits me just how much that quote has shaped my life. For one, when I signed up to serve overseas after college, there were only three places...
Restoring the Gospel
Why the Journal of Biblical Missiology? In light of Biblical Missiology's new rebranding and site, we wanted to repost the very first article every published in 2009: "Restoring the Gospel" by Georges Houssney. Eleven years later, Georges' passion to restore biblical...
Is This What Victory Looks Like?
This article considers the momentous things God is doing in our generation. The Lord Jesus is calling many people from Muslim backgrounds into His Kingdom. This is God’s work, which has been strategized by the Holy Spirit. Many committed Christians in past generations...
Psst…”Did you hear what Jesus did?”
Gossip as a means of mission When we think of the word 'gossip' we often think in negative terms of someone who has nothing better to do than to talk behind the backs of other people. A quick word study in the New Testament would largely confirm these sentiments with...
Do We Have to Reach All People Groups Before Jesus Returns? Part 1 of 3
A Cautionary Analysis of Missionary Language In Genesis 12 Abraham receives the promise that his offspring will be a blessing to the nations. Revelation 7:9 provides a picture of the future consummation of this promise. In this passage, men and women of every nation,...
Do We Have to Reach All People Groups Before Jesus Returns? Part 2 of 3
Unoccupied Fields Building on this growing interest in missions, a major conference was held in 1910 in Edinburgh, bringing missionary delegates together representing missions work around the globe.Zane G. Pratt, Michael David Sills, and Jeffrey Kirk Walters,...
Do We Have to Reach All People Groups Before Jesus Returns? Part 3 of 3
To the degree that the pursuit of world evangelization is a first step, leading to deep, full disciple-making discipleship and consequent church planting of “kingdom outpost” churches, let the church throw herself towards the strategic targeting of the unreached....
Two Surprises From Ministry Travels Outside The USA
The first trip I took for ministry outside of the United States was to the Philippines. On the plane ride from Tokyo to Manila, we skirted a typhoon. The plane was shaking so violently at times that people would occasionally screech and even grab the person sitting...
How Attached are Your Disciples to this World?
Lessons from History A. The Bishop of Caesarea The Bishop of Caesarea, named Basil lived from about 330 to 379. Basil was a man who followed the example of his Master Jesus, and lived with very loose attachments to the world, his possessions and even his life. In a...
What’s Wrong with Western Missionaries
Their words almost knocked me over. They hit me like a horse hoof to the gut. When I was a young boy, I helped my father train quarter horses. And we always felt the danger of being the recipient of a wayward hoof. One day, not paying close attention, I was kicked,...
Why Campus Revivals Spark Missionary Advance
J. Edwin Orr (1912-1987) was a Christian minister and revival historian. In this short overview originally published in a missions textbook in 1983, Orr tells the story of some of the greatest college revivals in history and their impact on missions. Can you Imagine...
The Secret of Discipling
Discipling Disciples? Why have we Christians turned discipling, the verb, into discipleship, the noun? I am a pastor of discipleship, but why am I not called a pastor who disciples disciplers? I suppose the answer to the last question is that the title would be more...
Why We Partner in International Student Ministry
There are millions of needs around the world, and millions of ways to invest in those needs. With all the needs around the world, why should someone invest their time and energy in seeing international students reached with the gospel? During my time in ministry, God...
An Apologetic for Bold, Proclamation Evangelism in the So-Called Muslim World
"But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts." (1 Thessalonians 2:4) In the New Testament we read of Jesus, Paul and others preaching openly and regularly in the...
FAQ on Insider Movements
This FAQ deals with a missionary methodology popular in the evangelical world called “insider movements.” It is also known as C5 contextualization among other terms. This response to it was compiled by national church leaders, including those from Muslim backgrounds...
Identity, Security, and Community
Synopsis: God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). It is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18). Jesus is truth (John 14:6). God incarnated as Word (John 1:1). Jesus was anointed to preach and proclaim (Luke 4:18-19). We have been sent in...
Henry Martyn on Islam and the Divinity of Christ
Next to David Brainerd's Life and Letters, Henry Martyn's missionary zeal and legacy as a pioneer missionary and translator as captured in The Life and Letters of Henry Martyn (John Sargent) has become a classic in the modern missions movement. Martyn served in India...
Sending Missionaries in Ways Worthy of God
"You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God" (3 John 1:6). In this passage a senior elder of the church commends Gaius for the way that he took great care of people who “went out in the Name” of Jesus. He asks him to continue doing so...