When Roland Allen wrote his two missions classics – Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s Or Ours (1912) and The Spontaneous Expansion Of the Church And The Causes That Hinder It (1927), missionary work was characterized by centralized foreign sending agencies, foreign missionary leadership, foreign funding, missions stations, and paid native workers. Allen would have said that such an approach to world evangelization was “foreign” to the teaching of the New Testament and that it,…

I read with a great deal of interest the several articles on discipleship in the April 16 edition of the Standard.  As the articles mention, there has been quite a revival in interest in discipleship among most Christian denominations in recent years.  This interest has been fueled by the universal recognition that what we have done in the past-- the centralized publication of one-size-fits-all materials-- no longer has the transformational impact on the lives of church members that it once…

Jesus said in Matt. 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."  After His resurrection He followed that up by giving us the Great Commission in Matt. 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."  As you reflect on some of Jesus' final words to His disciples I think the application to us is obvious.  Jesus wants…

If you have been following my blog, you know that I have been writing articles on John L. Nevius, an American Presbyterian missionary who served the LORD in China for forty years in the 180o’s. His ministry and writings on indigenous church planting greatly influenced Presbyterian missionary work in Korea during his lifetime and after. The primary writing that influenced missionaries in Korea was The Planting and Development of Missionary Churches (1886). It is this booklet that my…

Many people who are involved in missions and church planting have heard the name of Roland Allen. Allen was an Anglican missionary to China in the late 1800's and early 19oo's. He is best known for the writing of two books that deal with missions principles as found in the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. The books are Missionary Methods: St Paul's Or Ours? (1912) and Spontaneous Expansion of the Church and The Causes That Hinder It (1927). Both are considered to be…

Many people who are involved in missions and church planting have heard the name of Roland Allen. Allen was an Anglican missionary to China in the late 1800's and early 19oo's. He is best known for the writing of two books that deal with missions principles as found in the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. The books are Missionary Methods: St Paul's Or Ours? (1912) and Spontaneous Expansion of the Church and The Causes That Hinder It (1927). Both are considered to be…

My recent studies have focused primarily on Islam, hospitality, and the urban diaspora.  In the…

I have posted a number of articles on Roland Allen's Missionary Methods: St Paul's Or Ours? over the course of the past several weeks. Missionary Methods, written in 1912, is considered by many missiologists to be a classic on the subjects of missions, indigenous missions, and church planting.

Though Missionary Methods is one-hundred years old and was written during the time of dominating foreign missions agencies, a spirit of paternalism, and missions…

I continue to post through the missions classic, Missionary Methods: St Paul's Or Ours" (MM),  by Roland Allen.

In MM, written in 1912, Allen addressed issues confronting missions agencies and missionaries of that day as they sought to reach people and nations with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Allen was very concerned about the principles, attitudes, and mind-sets that drove missions and the methods for ministry and the relationships with indigenous people that…

Dallas is like most of the larger cities in America, experiencing an influx of people from all over the world.  Most of us are aware of the changes, but the magnitude of the population shifts and the implications of the changes for Christian witness and ministry sometimes escape us.  Take, for instance,…

Training for Trainers (T4T) is the name of a discipleship strategy developed first in China by Ying Kai.  It has proven remarkably effective there, being used as the primary discipleship tool in a number of church planting movements.  

 

One of the characteristics of T4T is that the way it actually gets worked out in a specific discipleship model is very culture- and context- sensitive, which means that the T4T model is less effective in people groups other than Han Chinese.  The…

Training for Trainers (T4T) is the name of a discipleship strategy developed first in China by Ying Kai.  It has proven remarkably effective there, being used as the primary discipleship tool in a number of church planting movements.  

 

One of the characteristics of T4T is that the way it actually gets worked out in a specific discipleship model is very culture- and context- sensitive, which means that the T4T model is less effective in people groups other than Han Chinese.  The…

I am excited about this week. I will be having two meetings with area ministers to discuss ministry and missions.



My first meeting is in the morning. I will be drinking coffee with a young man who has recently joined the staff of an area campus ministry. This ministry ministers to students enrolled at Texas A&M University (TAMU) in College Station, Texas. TAMU is the 7th largest university in the nation with the 17th largest international student enrollment in the country. This…

My wife Lynda and I have been in  Oahu the last several days preparing for a training of the Oahu Baptist Network.  By preparing, I mean that we have been checking out all of the usual and some of the unusual tourist haunts.  Neither of us are much for party hats and small talk, so Waikiki doesn't hold much attraction for us.  But we have seen some very telling things:  along with the beautiful surf, sandy beaches and rocky tidal pools filled with aquatic life, double rainbows and …