October 2007

10/30 ~ BUSINESS AS MISSION ~ Taking the Pulse of the Movement :: Business as Mission Survey Results by Kevin Ring, EC Group Int'l ~ (Business As Mission Network) "The BAM Survey is the largest available source of Business As Missions opinion data, providing access to the voices of BAM practitioners in 40 countries." 10/29 ~ WOMEN IN MISSIONS ~ Screams in the Desert: Hope and Humor for Women in Cross-Cultural Ministry by Sue Eenigenburg ~ (William Carey Library) "Sue Eenigenburg’s poignant and humorous accounts of life overseas provide insight into issues that many women encounter in the mission field. Join Sue for trips to the zoo, bouts of illness, landmine fields, miscommunications, and other everyday experiences of life in a foreign country." (Found on Brigada Today ~ 10.27.07) 10/27 ~ ISLAM & POST-CHRISTIANDOM ~ Mosque Plans Prove Test of Faith for Germany's Christians by Andrew McCathie ~ (theage.com.au) "Apart from plans to more than double the number of mosques in Germany, a push has been under way by Muslim leaders to buy some of the country's large stock of empty or barely used Christian churches and convert them into mosques." 10/26 ~ HEART CHECK ~ Who is My Neighbor? ~ (Baptist Press) "Look around your world," pleads the Middle East worker from her balcony. "Pray for those around you. Ask God for the courage to go and share His love and message of hope in Christ with someone. Pray for me to be obedient, not only in praying for my sweet old neighbor who I see every day on her balcony, but to go and meet her. This is what it's all about." 10/25 ~ RESOURCES ~ Missions Catalyst e-Magazine: Resource Reviews - October 24, 2007 BOOKLET - Six Ways to Reach God's World (and 200 Practical Ideas) EVENT - Unreached and Least-evangelized Peoples Forum BOOK - Warriors of Ethiopia DOCUMENTARY FILM - A Cry from Iran NETWORKS - Changes at IFMA and EFMA 10/24 ~ ISLAM ~ Why Muslims Follow Jesus ~ (Christianity Today) "Between 1991 and 2007, about 750 Muslims who have decided to follow Christ filled out an extensive questionnaire on that basic question. The respondents—from 30 countries and 50 ethnic groups—represent every major region of the Muslim world." 10/22 ~ CHURCH TRENDS ~ Willow Creek Repents? ~ (Out of Ur/Christianity Today) "Having spent thirty years creating and promoting a multi-million dollar organization driven by programs and measuring participation, and convincing other church leaders to do the same, you can see why Hybels called this research “the wake up call” of his adult life." 10/20 ~ AFRICA / AIDS ~ 2007 AFRICA: AIDS and Ministry ~ (Baptist Press) 10/19 ~ AWAKENING THE CHURCH ~ Stetzer Highlights Keys to Revitalization by Gary D. Myers (Baptist Press) "Comeback churches exhibited three common faith factors: a renewed belief in Jesus Christ and the mission of the church; a renewed attitude of servanthood; and a more strategic prayer effort ..." 10/18 ~ THE REFUGEE HIGHWAY ~ Turks from Russia Look for Hope in the United States by Michael Logan (Baptist Press) Due to ethnic cleansing, more than 10,000 Meskhetian Turks have emigrated from Russia to the United States. May God providentially guide culturally sensitive believers to recognize and reach out to them with the love of Christ. 10/17 ~ GLOBAL TRENDS / BAM ~ International Business Assignments Get Shorter by Barbara DeLollis (USA Today) "Where international assignments almost universally used to last two or three years, companies increasingly are deploying valued employees outside their home countries in assignments that last less than 12 months — sometimes much less." 10/16 ~ TECH TRENDS ~ The Internet Missionary Society of 2020 by John Edmiston (Lausanne World Pulse) John Edmiston invites us to "jump ahead to 2020 and consider what Internet evangelism and cybermissions might look like in thirteen years." Fasten your seatbelts on this one! 10/15 ~ WAKE UP CALL ~ Dangers of Missionalism by Gordon McDonald (Leadership Journal) McDonald is not addressing a movement of churches that are training their members to reach cross-culturally to their post-Christian neighbors, rather, he is addressing the tragic reality of pastors who allow their pursuit of ministry to grow beyond God's calling. 10/14 ~ ISLAM ~ Muslim World: Hard Ground, Harvest Field -- or Both? by Erich Bridges (Baptist Press) "Are Muslims becoming more open to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? It depends on where you are –- and when. The Holy Spirit works on His schedule, not ours." 10/13 ~ VISION / BOOKNOTES ~ Making Vision Stick by Andy Stanley (davidmays.org) "Andy Stanley, founding and senior pastor of North Point Community Church in Atlanta, has written several very helpful books including this short one that clearly illustrates six key principles for keeping your church focused on the vision." —David Mays 10/12 ~ GENERATIONAL TRENDS ~ What Teenagers Look for in a Church (The Barna Group) "A new study from The Barna Group explores the spiritual lives and expectations of today’s teenagers." 10/11 ~ BAM ~ Is Business as Mission really the Traditional Approach? by Ted Esler (Pioneers) William Carey, now known as the founder of the modern missionary movement ... was a holistic entrepreneur. He not only conducted business, he learned the language, dress, and customs of the people among whom he worked. He knew the scriptures and took difficult positions for the sake of the gospel. Carey’s model has reverberated throughout the past two hundred years and continues to influence what we know as “mission.” 10/10 ~ PRAYER ~ Prayer: The Work of Missions by John Piper (desiringGod) Piper's powerful message on prayer and missions was first heard at the 1988 ACMC National Conference in Denver, Colorado. Well worth posting on your church web site! 10/9 ~ MISSIONAL ~ What is the Missional Life? by Eric Simmons (9marks.org) A very helpful article ... though it's too bad Eric had to minimize the unreached peoples of the 10/40 Window to make his point that the Church needs to recognize and engage people close by. 10/8 ~ MISSIONAL ~ What in the World is the Missional Church? by Jonathon Leeman (9marks.org) Instead of providing the remainder of Ed Stetzer's 5-part series, I thought it would be helpful to provide the perspectives of a few others on what missional means. 10/6 ~ MISSIONAL ~ Meanings of Missional - Part 2 by Ed Stetzer (EdStetzer.com) "People use the words mission, missions, and missional in different ways. Thus, any discussion of missional cannot be complete without asking the question, 'which missional?'" (Note: For all five blog sessions, click here.) 10/5 ~ MISSIONAL ~ Meanings of Missional - Part 1 by Ed Stetzer (EdStetzer.com) Ed Stetzer, Director of Lifeway Research and Lifeway's Missiologist in Residence, provides the beginning of a blog series on the history and meaning of the word, "missional". 10/4 ~ THE TASK REMAINING ~ What Happened to People Group Thinking? by S. Kent Parks (Lausanne World Pulse) "One Asian mission leader shared that just about the time Western Christians have succeeded in raising awareness for UPGs around the world, some seem to have developed “attention deficit disorder” and want to move on to something new." 10/3 ~ OPEN DOORS ~ Secret Believers - Brother Andrew’s latest book (Assist News Service) “So we’re here to first of all launch the book that we wrote recently and tell about those that are following Jesus Christ in the Muslim countries and tell about the opportunities that we still have which are almost unlimited. Honestly when I tell my stories people say, ‘Can you do that in a Muslim country?’" 10/2 ~ MISSION & MEDIA ~ Iranians Flocking to Christian Television (Christian Post) "Muslims watching the shows have confessed that the message of hope and love is a stark contrast to the oppressive Islamic message conveyed by their government and on Islamic TV programs." 10/1 ~ WORTHY IS THE LAMB! ~ The Meaning of Sacrifice (OM International) Another outstanding example of a very poor church making room in their hearts to advance the kingdom. September August July June May April March