I once sat in a meeting with a group of new missionaries being sent to East Asia. One man wanted to have proper expectations about learning Mandarin. He raised his hand and asked sincerely, “How long will it take before we can read things like theological journals in Chinese?” With a snorting laugh, one woman interjected something like, “Ha, don’t count on ever doing that!” (The sentiment was echoed by some of the leaders in the room.) I on the other... Read more
What image comes to mind when you think of a Chinese pastor? Meek and mild? Bold and tireless? Often, Chinese pastors are very daring in their evangelism; sadly, that boldness does not always serve them well when it comes to shepherding their churches. I’ve said before that one of the more critical needs in the Chinese church is theological training. One area is particular is ecclesiology––the doctrine of the church. In this post, I will use a news story from... Read more
In Exodus, God catalyzes a “people planting movement.” This differs from “disciple making movements” or “church planting movements” (CPM). In fact, I have argued elsewhere that there are no CPMs in in the Bible. In Exodus 13, we see God in the early stages of planting a royal priesthood and a holy nation (cf. Exod 19:6). From these Israelites, the Lord would grow a people who are called by His name. Out of a desire to see people saved, we... Read more
I’m thinking a lot about the atonement these days. At this years ETS Conference, I’ll be talking about the sacrificial system from an honor-shame perspective. Also, I am preparing a class called The Theology of Atonement. One of my favorite books from this past year is Adonis Vidu’s Atonement, Law, and Justice: The Cross in Historical and Cultural Contexts. As an introduction to the book, I’ve posted the video below. A key aspect of cultural contextualization is exegetical contextualization. By... Read more
Simplification is not contextualization. Of course we want to communicate the gospel as simply as possible. Yet, the gospel is not as “simple” as many people suppose. Consider the various contexts involved. We have to understand the gospel as it was understood in multiple ancient settings. Our own cultural lenses limit our interpretations. In addition, we are trying to communicate and apply that message in a cross-cultural context. Do we preach an “abstract” gospel? There is nothing simple about... Read more
There is a very particular story that frames the way the biblical writers present the gospel. This is an important premise of the model I propose in One Gospel for All Nations. The framework of the biblical story is unchanging. It is what gives firmness to our gospel presentations. As Paul says in Gal 1:6–7, there is only one gospel. Some aspects of the gospel are inflexible. Naturally, we should identify what those are. (I am in the middle of... Read more
What do think? Is this the gospel? Read more
Congratulations to Sharon Walraven! She has won the third and final drawing of the month for free books. She has won a copy of…. One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical Contextualization plus her choice of one of the following…. Vainglory (by Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung) The 3D Gospel: Ministry in Guilt, Shame, and Fear Cultures (by Jayson Georges) Saving God’s Face: A Chinese Contextualization of Salvation through Honor and Shame (my first book) The Glory of God... Read more
In this post, I will explain why Gal 3:8 says that God’s covenant with Abraham is the gospel. I will simply outline how I understand the gospel from the perspective of the Abrahamic covenant. For a fuller discussion of the gospel and its framework (i.e. the themes of creation, covenant, kingdom), you can check out One Gospel for All Nations. The Promises to Abraham Let me first cite a few passages the state or restate God’s promises to Abraham. It... Read more
This past week Tim Challies posted his thoughts about guilt and shame. His view is representative of most people evangelicals I meet. Because his comments are so conventional, they unfortunately are very incomplete and need clarification. I appreciate our brother’s blog. His suggested resources and commentary is often helpful. However, in this instance, his perspective is only correct in part. In this post, I would like to clarify the significance of guilt and shame within the Christian life. Although my... Read more
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