Practical. Contextualization. Some people think those words don’t belong together. My newest book will be released in just a few weeks. It will be titled One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical Contextualization. When you write a book with that title, you’re bound to hear questions like, “So, do you have an example of what you mean?” Yes, I do. In fact, that’s the reason for this post. I have recently added TWO new gospel presentations to... Read more
I’m thrilled to announce that I have started a separate website specifically for Chinese readers. The web address is wu-rong.org. If you go there, you will find various Mandarin resources, including: a free translation of my book Saving God’s Face, which is titled 挽回神的脸. multiple tools for evangelism using an honor-shame perspective. evangelistic and training videos in Mandarin a few initial blog posts A few gracious readers were kind enough to translate a few of my blog posts. I simply don’t... Read more
Do you have Chinese friends who should read Saving God’s Face? Now they can! I’m excited to announce that my first book has now been translated. The Mandarin title is 挽回神的脸：以荣辱为救恩的中国处境化 Also, I am giving it away for FREE!! I was granted exclusive rights over the distribution of the Chinese translation. I am thankful to the book’s publisher, William Carey International University Press, who graciously handed me these rights as a ministry to the Chinese church. So, you can download... Read more
Last October (2014), Global Missiology published two articles I wrote concerning Church Planting Movements (CPMs). There Are No Church Planting Movements in the Bible: Why Biblical Exegesis Missiological Methods Cannot Be Separated The Influence of Culture On the Evolution of Mission Methods: Using ‘Church Planting Movements’ As A Case Study As one might expect, I have received a lot of feedback. People tend to have strong opinions when it comes to CPMs. In this post, I will offer a few... Read more
Here is a joke that’s been circulating on 微信 (WeChat). One of our Chinese friends sent it to us. I’ll first write the Chinese, then give a simple translation: 一架客机迫降海面上，空姐让乘客从滑梯下海，乘客不敢。于是空姐求助机长。 见多识广的机长说： 你要对美国人说这是冒险； 对英国人说这是荣誉 ； 对法国人说这很浪漫； 对德国人说这是规定； 对日本人说这是命令！ 空姐为难地说：可他们都是中国人。 机长笑了[阴险]：那更容易啦，你告诉他们这是免费的！ An airplane needed to make a forced landing into the sea. The flight attendant wanted the passengers to slide down the emergency blow-up slide, but the passengers were unwilling. So, the flight attendant informed the captain who advised: to Americans, you... Read more
I sometimes get asked to distinguish a few key missiological terms. These words often appear in missiological and theological literature. Various books and articles go into more detail than I do in this post. Nevertheless, I hope this offers some clarification without getting too technical. (more…) Read more
I’m always so thankful to hear stories from people as they discover ways that honor and shame impact their ministry. I recently received the following message from one reader who lives in Indonesia. I had a fun “wow” moment this week that I wanted to share with you. I am an American recently moved to SE Asia. Today my language tutor (a believer) told me that there are two words in his language that mean “to forgive.” One of them... Read more
Campus Crusade (Cru) has released a short 6-minute film intended to be an evangelistic conversation starter. It’s called “Jangled“ and it’s excellent. Click on the picture on the link here to check it out. They also have a few suggestion conversation questions. The questions only serve as a springboard. I look forward to hearing what you think. (Thanks to HonorShame.com for the notification about Cru’s short film) Read more
Sin is debt. That’s how the Bible describes it. Why? I’ve given a lot of attention lately to the doctrine of the atonement. One key motif that arises again and again is debt. People are accustomed to using this kind of language, such as when someone says, “Jesus paid our debt.” In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray in this way, “ . . . forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And... Read more
This post is the third in a series replying to Doug Coleman’s thoughtful questions about the meaning of sin in view of honor and shame. Here is Doug’s first post. Then, click here for his follow-up response. For my first reply, click here. For my second post, click here. Doug is correct when he says, “If we are to honor God, we must know what that means.” Therefore, in this post, I address this question: “How do we help people... Read more
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