The kind folks at EMQ (Evangelical Missions Quarterly) have just made available for free my article “How Would Jesus Tell It? Crafting Stories from an Honor-Shame Perspective”! So, if you don’t already have a subscription to EMQ and are interested in subjects like honor-shame and story crafting, then here’s an opportunity to check out that article. While you’re there, you will want to survey what other EMQ articles might interest you. Read more
Today, I want to better illustrate what it means to “frame” the gospel. This is a major aspect of the model of contextualization suggested in One Gospel for All Nations. I will prepare you to see why Paul says that the Abrahamic covenant is equivalent to the gospel (Gal 3:8), which will be the subject of an upcoming post. In Galatians 3:8, Paul says, And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand... Read more
In the July/August issue of Relevant magazine, N. T. Wright says, The Gospel is news about news. Ironically, many Western churches think of the Christian message as a system for how you do something—namely how you get saved, or how you behave, or some combination of the two. They conceive of faith as a system that is timelessly true, rather than news about an event that happened in history. There has been a tendency to flatten down the uniqueness of... Read more
Joann Pittman always has great posts with insights into Chinese culture. Here are a few recent ones that may interest you. Golden Rules of Working in China 1. Everything is possible. 2. Nothing is easy. 3. Western business logic does not apply. 4. It is a fun project if there is no deadline. 5. You must persist—things will come your way eventually. 6. Patience is the essence of success. 7. “You don’t know China” means they disagree. 8. “New regulation”... Read more
To celebrate my move to Patheos, I’m giving away books!! After a week, I’ll draw a name of the winner. They will win the “Patheos package”, a selection of books written by various bloggers on Patheos. The winner will choose to receive THREE of the following books. One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical Contextualization (my most recent book) Work: A Kingdom Perspective on Labor (by Ben Witherington) Charis: God’s Scandalous Grace for Us (by Preston Sprinkle)... Read more
The biblical writers’ view of the gospel is shaped by God’s covenants announced to Israel in the Old Testament, especially those established with Abraham and David. This purpose of this post is simple. I want to highlight the frequency with which God’s covenants frame the New Testament’s gospel presentations. The Davidic Covenant The gospel is summarized with reference to the Davidic covenant. For instance, in 2 Timothy 2:8, we read, Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring... Read more
The video below was posted on “WeChat” (微信) by someone who was about 2 km away from the explosion this past week in Tianjin, China. Warning: The video contains language that some people may find offensive or objectionable. I hope this video will have a few effects: 1. May it humble us, for we are dust and life is shorter than we imagine. 2. May it remind us of the urgent task to share the gospel with others. 3.... Read more
As you can see, my blog has a new home! The very kind people at Patheos invited me to join their network of evangelical bloggers. I am honored to join a great host of writers. Some of my personal favorite blogs on Patheos include: Michael Bird Scot McKnight Preston Sprinkle Ben Witherington If you haven’t already done so, click on the link to the right to subscribe to blog posts. If you are new to the blog, I generally write... Read more
The biblical concept of “covenant” should shape how we preach the gospel. I expect some push back on this point when people read my new book One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical Contextualization. Accordingly, in the next few posts of my series, I’ll explain the relationship between the biblical covenants and the gospel. People sometimes object, “Certainly I don’t have to explain Abraham, Moses, and David” in order to evangelize!” What could be more nonsensical? Perhaps... Read more
A few years ago, an author asked me whether I would read the draft of his chapter on the gospel. After helping him through a few drafts, he refused to take out a line that I commented on every time. In essence, he claimed that John 3:16 was the best summary of the gospel in the Bible. I told him plainly that “God loves you” was not the “gospel,” as Paul, Peter, and others understood and proclaimed it in their... Read more
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