Tag: Mission

Dying to Be Right: a book review

Efrem Smith was a sought after voice in the denomination I’ve served as pastor in (Evangelical Covenant Church). He planted Sanctuary, a multicultural/multiethnic church in Minnesota. Later he was a conference superintendent for the Pacific Southwest. These days he’s the teaching pastor at Bayside Midtown Church in Sacramento, California,  and the president of World Impact, an urban-missions program which trains the urban poor in mission and helps them to launch indigenous church plants. He is also the author of several books

efremsoftlySmith’s new book, Killing Us Softly describes what it means to die to ourselves and live for God’s kingdom. How are we killed? God kills us (our egos and selfish desires) softly with his steadfast love and grace. In his introduction Smith opens up about his own experience of this sort of spiritual death, “I am allowing God to do surgery on my soul—to kill me, certainly, but to do it softly, lovingly—so that I might die to the upside-down world we find ourselves in, and be empowered to live as a right-side-up child of God. I am living in the messiness of God removing things in me that are not of him so that I might reflect him more each day” (xiv).

The first chapter of the book describe our upside-down-ness of our bizarro world. Things in our culture are not the way God intended because of the reality of sin. Smith observes that sin is both an individual and systemic reality (8). We live the upside-down life of idolatry—”our hearts and worship turned away from God toward other things” (10) The result is fragmentation. We are broken in our relationships to others (i.e. racism, tribalism, sexism) and our institutions are also broken (government systems, schools, economic systems, corporations, etc).

In the chapters that follow, Smith describes the church as the right-side-up remnant(chapter 2);  Christ as  the ‘right side up way, truth and life'(chapter 3); what in us needs to die to set our hearts right (chapter 4); the paradox of Christian maturity (or what it means to have a child like faith, chapter 5); how we advance God’s kingdom through love (chapter six) and what it means to join in God’s mission to set the world right side up (chapter seven).

In this short book Smith gives us a broad overview of the life of discipleship—what it means to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus. He discusses the upside-down-ness of our world, and because he includes a category for systemic sin, he is able to speak directly to fallen institutions and systemic problems (like the incarceration and wrongly death of black people at the hands of police, and deaths of police officers). He challenges Christians to share the love of Jesus with the world, and  to see justice as part of our mission to welcome the kingdom and set the world to rights.

Smith tells stories from ministry, initiatives he’s been a part of to love neighbors and restore communities. He offers an inspiring and pastoral vision of what it means to join our life with Christ and become part of his mission. It is compelling.  I also appreciate that Smith places ‘dying to yourself’ motif under the rubric of God’s gracious work in us. This helps me understand it as something healthier and more fruitful than mere self-loathing. It is about submitting to God’s work in our heart. I give this book four stars.

Note: I received this book from Tyndale in exchange for my honest review

Dangerous Love: a book review

Ray Norman is scholar-in-residence at Messiah College and the director of Fatih Leadership, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at World Vision International and the former national director for World Vision’s program in Isalmic Republic of Mauritania. While he was in Mauritania, in the wake of 9-11, he and his daughter Hannah were shot. Hannah’s situation was critical. Both received medical attention and were evacuated. Both lived. Miraculous, Norman and his family returned to Mauritania. Dangerous Love tells their story of personal risk, the Normans’ commitment to justice and mission, and the radical power of forgiveness.

225_350_book-1780-coverThis book was written more than ten years after the principle crisis it describes. Ray Norman continued his work in Mauritania until he felt God’s call elsewhere. He and Hanna’s story had a major impact on the people of Mauritania, especially those who observed the grace with which they faced near tragedy, and their commitment to caring for the poor and marginalized after being tested by bullets. Because of this instance, Norman got to share his faith with government officials, and commendations from the chief Imam for Norman’s (and World Vision’s) love for the poor of their nation. Hannah and Ray also visited their would-be-murderer in prison and advocated on his behalf. Later he was released from prison and testified to the difference the Norman’s made in his life.

This isn’t all rosy. In a postscript we hear of Hannah visiting Mauritaia ten years later on a college mission trip, which causes a breakdown and panic attack. She  and her family were courageous but that didn’t mean everything was easy.This is a good book if you are interested in mission and stories of how to reach the Muslim world with the love of Christ. I give it four stars.

Note: I received this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review.

How Preaching Participates in the Mission of God: a book review

Books on preaching are of two varieties (at least!). Some books focus on method and creative presentations for the preaching moment, others focus on the content and purpose of preaching. Books on the Missional church follow the same pattern. Some books are pragmatic, offering ideas about ‘new ways of being church’ in the community. Other authors focus on the conceptual framework of ministry shaped by our relationship with the missional God. Of course practical authors hope they are rooted in good theology and conceptual authors see practical application of their ideas, but they have different starting points.

When Patrick Johnson, pastor at Frenchtown Presbyterian Church and adjunct professor at Princeton Theological Seminary decided to tackle both topics–preaching and the missional church–he tackled the conceptual side of both, offering a theology of preaching and mission. The Mission of Preaching: Equipping the Community for Faithful Witness is conversant with the discipline of homiletics and  the missional thinkers who have framed the contemporary discussion, people like Newbigin, Bosch, Barth and the Gospel in Our Culture Network (GOCN). He  is thoughtful about how preaching serves God’s mission and where it fits in the larger context of the church’s witness of Christ. Johnson is suggestive of ways to be more intentionally communal and formational through preaching.

Johnson’s four chapters represent several conversations about preaching and mission. In the first three chapters, Johnson discusses preaching as witness, the witness of Christian community and the witness of missional congregations.. Chapter four forms a nexus, connecting the early conversations and offers a ‘missional homiletic of witness.’

Chapter one examines three different approaches to preaching, from three authors, who each see the function of preaching as witness: The Witness of Preaching by Thomas Long, Preaching as Testimony by Anna Carter Florence and Confessing Jesus Christ: Preaching in a Postmodern World by David Lose. Each of these authors argue that witness is the most appropriate way to understand what a preacher does, though they diverge in their theological commitments, assumptions and points of emphasis. Long places witness alongside other images of preaching, outlines how the preacher bears witness, and places preaching within ‘the context of Christian community’ (4!), Florence repositions homiletic authority on ‘the structure of testimony’ (as opposed to education, ordination and training. (50). Lose offers an analysis of the epistemological challenges to preaching from post-modernity, adds to the idea witness the concept of confession (communal understanding o the gospel) and places preaching within the context of the church’s multifaceted witness (61-62). Johnson closes the chapter with six questions raised by his examination of these three authors and highlights their various answers: (1) What or who is the object of the preachers witness?; (2) By what criteria should one assess the faithfulness of the preacher’s witness?; What kind of witness is scripture?; What of ordination?; In what ways does the congregation bear witness?; and How does the witness of the preacher relate to the witness of the congregation?

Chapter two examines the witness of the congregation through the lens of Barth’s Church Dogmatics (IV,3.2). Barth saw bearing witness as the function of all that the church does. He therefore placed preaching under the larger category of Witness. The church witnesses through praise, preaching, instruction, evangelism, mission, theology, prayer, the cure of the souls, producing exemplary lives, service, prophetic action and fellowship (96-103).  Johnson observes that for Barth, “witness is not a way of preaching, but preaching is a way of witness” (103). Barth helps missional preachers move beyond their individual role in preaching to seeing how the act of preaching connects to the mission of the church and calls the church to orient itself toward the world it is called to reach.

Chapter three focuses on the witness of missional congregations, using the patterns of missional faithfulness described in Treasure in Clay Jars edited by Lois Barret for the GOCN (Eerdmans, 2004). The eight patterns are: discerning missional vocation, biblical formation and discipleship, taking risks as the contrast community, demonstrating God’s intent for the world, dependence on the Holy Spirit, pointing toward the reign of God, exercising missional authority. Johnson walks through each of these patterns drawing out the implications of how missional preaching helps contribute to and give shape to each of these elements in the life of the church.

Finally chapter four draws all of these various conversations together. This is longest chapter of the book and in it, Johnson gives his definition of a ‘missional homiletic of witness.’ He begins under the sub-heading ‘preaching’ and gradually adds more detail until his heading offers a full definition of what he is calling for:

Preaching Confesses Jesus Christ Through a Missional Interpretation of Scripture . . . to Equip the  Community for Witness in the World. 

Johnson builds on the thoughts of all the thinkers he previous profiled, as well as interacting with other recent proposals for missional preaching (such as Al Tizon’s Missional Preaching).

Johnson believes that the preacher has a crucial role in aiding and equipping the church for mission; however, his conclusion draws out several practical ideas from his study. First, he urges congregations to take seriously the idea of communal preaching (a shared ministry of preaching in the church). Because preaching is about bearing witness to Christ’s ongoing (and finished) work, the ordained ministry is not the authoritative voice for the community but one who points to Jesus and his mission. This would mean that one of the tasks of the preacher would be to nurture other preachers in the community, believing that no, one person has all the necessary gifts and insights to prepare the whole church for holistic mission (219). Secondly Johnson focuses on the necessary focus on Jesus Christ as the content of preaching, and a missional hermeneutic of scripture which explores God’s mission for the world (220,221). Johnson also reiterates again how preaching is just one component of the church’s multiform witness.

As a solo pastor and primary preacher at a small church, I found much of what Johnson says insightful and suggestive. I believe in the necessity of biblical preaching and think it is formative and missional but I have been uneasy with the way the preacher’s voice (on any given Sunday, my voice) is privileged over and against others in the congregation. Seeing with Johnson (and Barth) that preaching is just one aspect of the church’s witness is helpful . I also appreciate the hermeneutic lens of mission–reading the Bible with an eye for God’s mission and seeking ways to exhort the congregation to participate in it. Probably the most challenging aspect of Johnson’s proposal for my context, is the communal preaching component. I think I agree with Johnson that this is a good goal to move to, but the culture of my church has been that the called pastor delivers the message. Sermons from occasional members of the congregation or visitors are the exception rather than the rule. A good amount of groundwork would need to precede a move in that direction.

This is a demanding read, examining a large swath of practical theology and systematics. It obviously will be useful reading for a preaching class or seminar at a seminary level; yet this book will also be read fruitfully by pastors, preachers and lay ministers. I give this book four and a half stars and recommend it for anyone who cares about the mission and proclamation of the church.

Notice of material connection: I received this book from IVP Academic in exchange for my honest review.

Evangelism is Hard: a book review

I have friends that came to faith through Christianity Explored, the evangelistic DVD course produced by All Souls Langham Place, London, staring Rico Tice. I even had the opportunity to review that course for another context, so I am aware of Tice’s ministry. So that piqued my interest in his new book, Honest Evangelism: How to Talk About Jesus Even When it’s Tough (Good Book Company, 2015).

Tice begins where most evangelism books do not. The opening sentence of his introduction  says, “I find evangelism hard” (11). Coming from one of the most visible and effective evangelists, it is refreshing to find that he too finds evangelism difficult. His first chapter he discusses the difficulty that awaits the would-be-evangelist. He says first that hostility, persecution, hardship, rejection will be our experience. But the other half of the story is that in addition to hostility, you will see hunger for good news. Tice writes, “The same rising tide of secularism and materialism that rejects truth claims and is offended by absolute moral standards is proving to be an empty and hollow way to live” (20). While Tice offers no guarantees on the results of our efforts, he writes, “Hostility and hunger, that is what you will find as you tell others about Jesus. And of course, at the moment you open your mouth, you don’t know which you are going to be met with; and you don’t know what your words may do to people years later. You have to risk the hostility to discover the hunger”(23).

In chapter two, Tice explores how ‘evangelism is worth it.’  He roots evangelism in three motivators: the glory of Christ, the guarantee of new creation, and the grim reality of death and hell (25).  Certainly he sees the reality of hell as a significant piece of evangelism (loving people means warning them), but I think his order is significant. Tice begins with the glory of God, then the promise of new life in Christ, before addressing hell and death. This is not scare tactic evangelism, but he doesn’t ignore hard subjects. In Chapter three Tice talks about why we (still) don’t evangelize. His conclusion is that it is because we harbor idols in our hearts which keep us from participating in God’s mission. Chapter four, gives three truths to remember as we share our faith: God’s sovereignty, God’s grace and God’s power (48).

Chapter five begins the practical section of the book. Tice lays out his approach to the gospel and frames the gospel in terms of Jesus’ Identity, Mission and Call (62) which is the same approach he takes in Christianity Explored. In chapter six he encourages us to bear witness in our own style. Peter was confrontational, Paul was intellectual, the ex-blind man was testimonal and the woman-at-the-well was invitational (76-79). Tice encourages us to bear witness in whatever style is most like us. In chapter seven, he explores how to evangelize in a culture of increasing tolerance and permissiveness. In his final chapter he exhorts us to pray and proclaim.

Some questions I have whenever I read an evangelism book is, “Is this the full gospel ?” ” Does the author rely too much on ‘technique’?” “Is the story they are telling compelling?” I think Tice does a good job of letting the gospel sing, placing evangelism in the wider context of God’s purpose and plan. But he does focus his presentation on Jesus’ mission, on dealing with the problem of guilt and death. I think more could be said here about freedom, participation in God, restoration, but I didn’t feel like Tice’s presentation was reductionist or transactional. He is also organic in his advice on how to share your faith, prioritizing it without prescribed methods. I felt called by Tice to more purposeful witness, but I didn’t feel guilt-tripped by him. In the end, this is a helpful book for anyone seeking to share their faith. I give it four stars.

Notice of material connection:
I received this book from The Good Book Company via Cross Focused Reviews. I was asked to write an honest review.

Power Through Weakness (or Community, Rest & Mission): a book review

The Christian life is the empowered life.  In Christ we are set free to live life and face the challenges that come our way. But sometimes we feel powerless in the face of life’s obstacles. Kevin Harney, author of Reckless Faith and the Organic Outreach books has written a month-long daily devotional exploring how God’s presence empowers believers. Each week of Empowered By His Presence explores a different God-given source of strength which reveal God’s empowering presence. These include:

  • Suffering, loss & pain.
  • Community
  • Sabbath and rest
  • Mission

The daily devotional entires profiles a character from the Bible which explores their experience of God. Each week has a reading on Paul and Jesus, but the rest of the entries take you across the Old and New Testaments. At the end of each section in the book are a daily reading plan (which parallels the daily devotionals, suggestions for prayer, personal reflection questions and action steps. There is a discussion guide at the back of the book, designed to accompany a small-group DVD also available from Baker Books.

I really liked this book for a several reasons. First, this is a book about God’s empowering presence, but it isn’t esoteric or strange. Harney starts with the experience of grief and loss in Job, the persecution of Paul, Hannah’s sorrow, Joseph’s betrayal at the hands of his brothers, Peter leaving his nets and Jesus’ cry of dereliction.  Each of these people were met by God, but they came to experience his power through loss, grief and weakness. This isn’t a book about the ‘power of God’ that never enters into human suffering. Rather Harney posits that we meet God there!

The other sections are similarly thoughtful. Community is a Christian buzzword, but Harney draws attention to the ways we mediate Christ to one another. The chapter on the four friends and the paralytic is pure gold (chapter seven). He has good stuff to say about Sabbath and Mission as well.

Second, I think the format is perfect for a small group. I am suggesting it for a small group study at my church and will  likely be ordering the DVD.

Third, I appreciate the breadth of Biblical people profiled. Harney isn’t stuck in the New Testament or Old but gives us a nice cross-section of the communion of saints.

Finally, I loved how solid this is. Harney has keen pastoral insights and is judicious in his reading of the Bible. I don’t remember any specific passages where I felt like he fudged it

I give this book four stars and recommend it especially for use in small groups. It may also be read profitably as a small group resource. ★★★★☆

Roll Up Your Sleeves: a book review

Following Jesus involves getting your hands dirty. So argues David Nowell, author of Dirty Faith: Bringing the Love of Christ to the Least of These. Nowell is the president of Hope Unlimited For Children, a Christian ministry which ministers to ‘sex-trafficked children, street kids and child prisoners in Brazil.  Nowell’s book is brimming with heart breaking stories of ministry on the margins. But this book is also full of hope. Nowell and Hope Unlimited have been able to help kids transition from the hard life of the street to a place of security. They have also brought these kids to freedom in Christ.

Dirty Faith is about our willingness to enter into the suffering of those who society throws away. Nowell’s ministry context takes him to the streets of Brazil and he shares the stories of the kids he’s ministered to there–his successes and his failures. He makes the case that Christians have the responsibility to stand against injustice and minister to those who are hurting (i.e. the ‘widowed and the orphaned’ see James 1:27).  This doesn’t mean he isn’t passionate about proclaiming the gospel. Nowell advocates concern for both the physical and spiritual well being of the kid’s in his care. He also urges a thoughtful approach to ministry which is mindful of systemic problems  and ongoing behaviors that aggravate the person’s suffering.

I haven’t interacted with specific passages from the book in this review.  I don’t think that Nowell says much new about injustice or our responsibility; however I think he is thoughtful in his approach. One standard critique of missions-type-books is their  focus on global issues, sometimes obscure issues and ministry opportunities here.  Nowell speaks from his ministry context, but nowhere does he expect his readers to have the same calling and experience as him. This is a book meant to motivate and move us into action on behalf of the marginalized in this country or abroad. It is meant as a way of lighting a fire underneath us and moving us to action. This is good stuff.  I give this book 3½ stars.

Notice of material connection, I received this book free from  Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

Missions in Context: a book review

Contextualization has long been a buzzword for Evangelical missiologists. It denotes the process by which the gospel (our timeless, Biblical message) is transmitted to a particular people group in a way which speaks into that culture. Yet when evangelical missionaries talk about ‘contextualizing the gospel, what practices and philosophical approach do they have in mind? In some of the foundational literature on contextualization, it was assumed that evangelicals simply labored at ‘translating the message’ for a culture but did little else. However this does not do justice to the variety of approaches which evangelicals have taken as they share their faith with the world.

Contextualization in World Missions: Mapping and Assessing Evangelical Models by A. Scott Moreau

A. Scott Moreau, professor of Intercultural Studies at Wheaton College has written a comprehensive resource which identifies and analyzes the landscape of evangelical contextualization. As someone who teaches Intercultural Studies at an evangelical institution, Moreau is no dispassionate academic. However the chief value of Contextualization in World Missions, is Moreau’s ability to describe what it is we evangelicals do on the mission field.

Moreau divides his book into two parts. In section one he discusses the foundations of evangelical contextualization. Evangelicals were not the first to use the term and have built on the work of other thinkers/practitioners. In chapter one, Moreau summarizes the work of Stephen Bevans and Robert Schreiter, both of who mapped various approaches to contextualization and evangelical missiologists have built on their work; however evangelical approaches differ from more mainline approaches in that evangelicals are committed to the necessity of conversion, activism, Biblicism and crucicentrism (Bebbington’s characteristics of evangelicals). In chapter two and three, Moreau further explores the constraints on evangelical approaches based on their understanding of revelation and interpretation.  Chapters four through six look closer at the good and bad in contextualization, conceptual frameworks and describe Moreau’s analytic approach.

In section two, Moreau sets about mapping the variety of evangelical contextual approaches. He maps six approaches to contextualization, drawn from his research into what 249 contextual initiators are doing (i.e missions organizations or ministries working on a multinational scale).  From his research, he uncovered six distinct approaches. That of facilitator, guide, herald, pathfinder, prophet and restorer. He closes this section by imagining future trajectories of evangelical mission and the work of contextualization. Additionally he includes several appendices which evaluate other evangelical attempts at mapping contextualization.

If you are looking for a book that provides a comprehensive overview of evangelical understandings of contextualization, this is really the best book. It is accessible and Moreau does a very good job of evaluated various approaches and summarizing the debates.Each chapter begins with a summary and outline and ends with a list of keywords from the chapter and questions for reflection.  This will be a helpful resource for the classroom, or for missions preparations.  Readers who are interested in the philosophical underpinning of various missional approaches will also find this worthwhile. I highly recommend it. I give it five stars. ★★★★★

I received this book from Kregel Academic through the Kregel Academic and Ministry Blog Program.