We don’t have all the answers. While this statement could apply to a lot of things, this time we’re talking about Americans and sharing the Gospel in international contexts. We’ve written a good bit about the good, not so good and how of short-term mission trips. Recently while on such a venture to Eastern Europe, Alvin Reid comments [...]
Many a list has been made for books on missional living, the missional church conversation, etc., etc. We want to know. What are your top 3 most influential books for cross-cultural missions? This certainly includes books written specifically with the missional church in the West in view, but lest we leave missions out of missional, [...]
Lottie Moon and Hudson Taylor are among many remarkable missionaries in history who can shape how people today view what a missionary looks like. Unfortunately, sometimes members of the American church get the idea the title of “missionary” is for a select few who have special training in how to evangelize, are well-traveled and -educated, [...]
“When I think about the future of missions, I think the local church is the key component for missions and for seeing people go to the mission field.” “We want to engage the local church in reaching the unreached.” What role does the local church play in global missions? Watch this video from Pioneers to [...]
A back and forth between Trevin Wax and Kevin DeYoung has once again highlighted the ongoing proclamation vs. presence debate. Their missiology is showing. Trevin has some nagging questions about DeYoung and Glibert’s new book What Is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission And DeYoung responds [...]
Part 2 of a two-part story on the shaping of one man’s missiology. Because of the truths mentioned at the end of my previous article, much changed for me, and by proxy, for my little church back home. Too much changed to list it all here because everything changed. A few notables: • Having come [...]
Part 1 of a two-part story on the shaping of one man’s missiology. The cheesy line applies to me: If you had told me a few years ago what Iʼd be doing now, I wouldnʼt have believed you. I grew up in a Baptist church, learning about missionaries in Royal Ambassadors (RAs) and hearing stories [...]
Whose orders do you follow on mission? Upstream’s own Caleb Crider argues in his TheMissionBook.com article, Spirit-led, that a follower of Christ should unabashedly obey the direction of the Holy Spirit. “Forget ‘unreached people groups,’ your ‘strategic focus,’ or ‘what works,’” he writes, “our only guide for mission is the Holy Spirit.” Crider points to [...]
What does it mean to be led by the Spirit on mission? At The Upstream Collective, we often talk about the importance of being led by the Holy Spirit. We believe this is how God administers the church’s efforts as missionaries. But how does the Spirit lead? For starters, the missionary impulse is of God. [...]
It turns out that your philosophy of mission may be more influenced by the social sciences than the Bible. Recently, there’s been some discussion around the web regarding the influence of anthropology on popular missiology. It’s an important topic that is rarely considered by most churches. Upstream’s Ernest Goodman has written extensively about the subject, [...]
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