Yesterday evening I had a terrific time at a University Christian Union giving some insights into why and how Christian students can/should share Yeshua with their Jewish friends. It was a well-attended evening seminar. (more…)
Category Archives: Mission
The power of God’s word – Interview with Robert Cole
Everyday Ministry
Imagine not having access to a Bible. Imagine being unable to read it in your own language. Unfortunately these are realities for many Christians around the world. Tony Payne speaks to Robert W Cole, President of Bible League, about the extent of the need and what we can do about it. (more…)
Is the gospel still first for the Jew?
Interchange
I have just got round to reading the September issue of The Briefing and Martin Pakula’s article ‘Is the gospel still first for the Jew?’ in which he refers to “the London Missionary Society (later known as the Church Missionary Society)”. This is quite wrong. (more…)
One Land, One Saviour
One Land, One Saviour: Seeing Aboriginal lives transformed by Christ
Peter Carroll and Steve Etherington (eds.)
Church Missionary Society, (www.cms.org.au)
Sydney, 2008, 246 pp. (more…)
Mission in the 21st century
Everyday Ministry
A friend of mine is a missionary. He is working on the African island of Madagascar, serving the local Anglican diocese in a church planting initiative, which they hope and pray will see many thousands of people come to know the Lord Jesus. He is helping to train evangelists, and is investing much time and energy in learning the local language so that he will be able to teach the good news of the Lord Jesus properly. His home churches are supporting him, giving generously and sacrificially to a mission agency that is coordinating his financial and prayer support. (more…)
Is the gospel still first for the Jew?
With so much gospel need in the world today, it can be hard to know where to begin. But, as Martin Pakula argues, the Bible makes it very clear: mission starts with the Jews.
There are a billion Chinese people in the world, more than a billion Indians and a billion Muslims. There are also many courses, books and seminars on how to reach them, and the church is right to make mission to them a high priority. In contrast, there are only 14 million Jews in the world. Evangelical Christians may be convinced that Jewish people need to hear and believe the gospel. But when we do the math, Jewish mission often falls at the end of the queue. Well, not if you believe your Bible! (more…)
The church on the move: An interview with David Cook
David Cook, Principal of Sydney Missionary and Bible College (SMBC) in Croydon, NSW, Australia, recently authored an excellent guide for those wanting to preach through the book of Acts: Teaching Acts (Christian Focus, 2007). Peter Hastie speaks to him about preaching, mission and what the book of Acts has to say about church growth.
Peter Hastie: The book of Acts is said to be a ‘tonic for the soul’. What are some of the things that Luke says are crucial for our spiritual strength and vitality? (more…)
Oops! Did we just start a denomination
David Shead tells the story of how he was forced to change tactics while doing ministry in Slovenia.
“We got more than we bargained for”. It’s a lovely phrase, conjuring up images of unsuspecting tourists trying their hand at a bit of marketplace haggling. However, when they examine their purchases later, they get a nasty surprise: weevils in the food or a visit from the constabulary about stolen goods. Getting ‘more than you bargained for’ pinpoints that sobering moment when your lack of control is exposed: you planned and prepared well, but somehow—and you’re not too sure how—things didn’t turn out the way you expected. (more…)
Finding Jesus at GAFCON
Up front, Sola Panel
The buses left early for our trip (or pilgrimage, as it was styled) to the Mount of Olives. It offered a strange mix of experiences: joy at the extraordinary singing of the African choir, who led us in a brief prayer service on the mountain; fascination at seeing the places where Jesus walked and talked and prayed and was betrayed; eye-rolling distaste for how it all has been turned into a site for religious tourism and idolatry (the Franciscan church at Gethsemane being an extraordinary example of both); and above all, a strange blankness at not feeling even one little bit closer to Jesus through the whole experience. (more…)
Diary of a missionary in deepest darkest Africa
Life
Reaching Muslims for Christ
With so many Muslims living right here in our own backyards, how can we reach them with the saving gospel of Christ? Stewart Binns offers are few ideas.
There are many situations in which you can encounter Muslims: they could be work colleagues, neighbours, strangers in the supermarket or diners at your local restaurant. The more strict Muslim women are easy to spot because of their head coverings; detecting the men may require a little more skill. It is easy when the men are with their wives, when they’re visiting a particular area (e.g. halal food shops) or when their language gives them away. (more…)
The strategy of God
Pastoral Ministry
Blast from the only slightly recent past
Resource Talk, Sola Panel
Have you ever had the experience of reading something you’d written a long time ago and being surprised to meet yourself again? It might be a letter you wrote to your grandmother that she kept and then returned to you (grandmothers do these things), or a diary you scribbled in as a teenager that your mother dragged out of the shoebox in the storeroom, or an impassioned essay you wrote at Uni which you discover as you’re cleaning out the filing cabinet.
Who is a Jew?
Who is a Jew? And why does this distinction still matter? Martin Pakula investigates. (more…)
Back to mission
Couldn't Help Noticing
How times have changed. When I first went on beach mission *umphh-murmur-cough* years ago, we lived in tents, built a beach pulpit, put up with an appalling ‘amenities block’, got washed away when the inevitable rain came, and spent at least some part of every day whooping and hollering through the caravan park dressed in weird costumes to ‘scoop’ in the kids. That was then. After a very lengthy break, Ali and I have recently gone back to beach mission—this time with a family in tow. Now I am that old guy who used to hang around the place, and try a little too hard in the competitive games: the Camp Dad. And that’s not all that’s changed: the mission we are part of now runs in mid-January rather than straight after Christmas, it is located in a school rather than a caravan park (there’s covered concrete walkways and carpet on the floor!), and it is aimed at the locals rather than the holiday-makers. However, even though some of the surface details have changed, in all other respects everything that was wonderful about beach mission in the old days still applies—even for the Camp Dad. There’s the fun, challenge and joy of mucking in together and working hard with 40 or so other keen Christians for a week; the priceless opportunities for training younger Christians to have a go at things they never would have dreamed of doing at home; and the scary but vastly encouraging experience of telling kids and adults about Jesus. And here’s the kicker: you get to do all this alongside your own kids. It’s tiring (of course!), and Camp Dads don’t sleep as easily on camp mattresses as they once did. But let me testify to the fact that it’s one of the best Christian things we’ve done as a family in years. If you’re keen to give it a go, it’s not hard to sign up. Just let it be known quietly that you’re thinking of going back to beach mission. Word will quickly reach the ears of a Team Member near you. You will be pounced upon! (more…)