Again, what I mean by this is the lack of confidence in the church so prevalent among recent generations of Christian workers. There was a good amount of feedback to the last post, but interestingly, no one seems to have too much doubt about the basic premise: many Christian young people don’t dare place the […]
Archive | 2012
Ecclesioporosis
Recent generations of overseas Christian workers, especially in ‘frontier’ mission fields, have been plagued by a brittle bone ecclesiology – a lack of confidence in the church to effect change in the world. Instead, many missionaries seem to believe in a fragile, fractured church that is unable to support the weight of the body of […]
7 Reasons to Get to the Mission Field Before You’re 30
1. Languages are hard to learn It is very rare to meet a missionary who learned another language later on in life. A foreign language is not an opponent you want to underestimate. It will handicap you for the rest of your ministry unless you take it down early. Facing the challenges of learning a […]
The Li Bo Perspective #3
Last bit about the Chinese Three-Self Church and whether or not it is wise for missionaries to work in coordination with them. The question that remains to be considered is: is there anything that a missionary is compelled to do that is prohibited by the Three-Self Church? Of course ‘compelled‘ is a tricky word. But […]
Thrill-Seekers
There’s a certain way to market the Great Commission that strikes a chord with bored twenty-somethings who are tired of college classes or are not looking forward to entering the rat race. And it goes something like… ‘Wouldn’t you like to do something meaningful with your life? Don’t waste your life in a cubicle when […]
The Li Bo Perspective #2
In review, we’re talking about the case for the Three-Self Church, the Chinese government-sponsored Christian congregations. Li Bo is just one of many voices in China that denounce the work of missionaries who plant unregistered churches and maintain that the rightful avenue for ministry is via the government church. But I am just one of […]
The Li Bo Perspective #1
A couple months ago, Li Bo gave some feedback to a post about Chinese churches that represents a certain perspective that I am still learning about. While I ultimately disagree with this view as a missions philosophy in China, it does offer a stronger challenge than I used to think and ought to be carefully […]
The Church that Paul Built
There’s a lot at stake when we address our understanding of Paul’s ministry. The bulk of our missiology comes from his missionary travels. What is the missionary’s goal? How is the missionary supported? Who does the missionary target? When does the missionary move on? How does the missionary preach? These are all questions that are […]
What Kind of House Church?
One of modern missions’ most romanticized concepts is the house church. But to talk about ‘the Chinese house church’ is somewhat akin to talking about ‘the American house’. It’s a useful concept in some very general ways, but practically useless if you’re trying to tell your realtor what kind of house you want to buy. […]
How to Become a Missionary in China
There seems to be a good number of people who make it to this blog in search of an answer to the question ‘how can I be a missionary to China?’ If that’s you, I would love to share a few thoughts with you as well as hear from you personally. It’s obvious that, in […]
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