Five More Ideas for Crafting Stories among UPGs

Last updated on: July 8, 2014 at 8:34 am By Brad Vaughn

In a previous post, I suggested 10 ideas for crafting stories among unreached people groups (UPGs). Here are a few more. Start with the human family Within traditional cultures, family is central to daily life, moral decisions, and sense of identity. Many people discuss the fact that God is “Father” and that his people are brothers and sisters; however, two points can get overlooked. First, from the beginning God created a human family. This is the fundamental identity of “humanity”... Read more

10 Ideas for Crafting the Biblical Story among UPGs

Last updated on: July 3, 2014 at 8:40 am By Brad Vaughn

Storytelling often is a key component of ministry among many Unreached People Groups (UPGs). Various organizations, such as the International Orality Network, have given significant attention to developing strategies to reach oral learners. This sort of ministry is about more than simply telling true stories in an interesting way. How we tell the biblical story and the themes we discuss shape the “DNA” and worldview of the people who hear and receive the gospel. These UPGs are largely collectivistic, honor-shame cultures.... Read more

Must we have "a shot of heresy"?

Last updated on: July 1, 2014 at 8:15 am By Brad Vaughn

Consider this quote about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. “[Bonhoeffer] had once told a student that every sermon must contain ‘a shot of heresy,’ meaning that to express the truth, we must sometimes overstate something or say something in a way that will sound heretical––though it must certainly not be heretical.” –– Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer, 364. What do you think about this quote? Inasmuch as it has truth, what does it mean for evangelism? contextualization? missiology in general? Read more

The Logic of Biblical Application (Part 3)

Last updated on: August 14, 2015 at 6:44 am By Brad Vaughn

Does it matter what method we use when trying to find the application of a biblical text? Yes, it does…. In this post, I explain why we cannot be casual as to how to think about and look for application. In Part One of the series, I suggested a more fully biblical meaning of “application” than one often hears. The application of a text concerns one’s total response––our head, heart, and hands–– not simply our actions. In Part Two, I... Read more

A Simple Approach to Applying Scripture (Part 2)

Last updated on: August 14, 2015 at 6:47 am By Brad Vaughn

In the last post, I highlighted the tendency to reduce “application” merely to “actions.” In fact, biblical application involves our head, heart, and hands. Today, I suggest an easy to use method whereby we can apply any Scripture passage, even if it doesn’t tell us some action to do (or not to do). In this post, I’ll give a summary explanation of the method. Later, I’ll further explain why these points are not only less arbitrary than other approaches; in... Read more

What is "Application"?

Last updated on: August 14, 2015 at 6:19 am By Brad Vaughn

A lot of books talk about interpretation and specific ways of obey the Bible. However, there are not many (if any) books that teach people how to apply any given text to one’s life. I think it is because people assume everyone understands the meaning of “application.” It seems obvious to us. In fact, I find few Christians actually do have a holistic, biblical understanding of application. Most people think “application” merely refers to what we do. (more…) Read more

The Church is a Gospel Issue

Last updated on: August 13, 2015 at 2:53 am By Brad Vaughn

Is the church fundamentally collection of individuals OR a single entity? Another way of asking the question is this: Does the Bible have a collectivistic or a individualistic perspective of the church? Check out the video above and let me know what you think. I did not want my accent in the video so I asked a foreigner (a non-Chinese person) to narrate. Leave your comments below. (more…) Read more

How not to privatize faith

Last updated on: August 14, 2015 at 6:21 am By Brad Vaughn

We are not saved by a “profession of faith”; rather, we are saved by faith. In this series, I have contended that faith is public, not private. In this post, I want to address a few applications. I sometimes hear the objection that “we can’t make someone believe” or “we can’t change another person’s heart.” People say this to justify evangelistic methods that verge on easy-believism wherein they assume a “profession” is to be counted as actual decision of faith.... Read more

If the World Only Had 100 People

Last updated on: August 12, 2015 at 7:00 am By Brad Vaughn

What are the missiological implications of this graph? Click on the graph to enlarge. To see the explanation for this graph, click here. Read more

The Injustice of "Christian" Individualism

Last updated on: May 26, 2014 at 10:20 am By Brad Vaughn

In chapter 7 of Christian Political Witness, William Cavanaugh suggests that our political witness is compromised when we see the church merely as a collection of individuals rather than a corporate person. In so doing, the church both creates and perpetuates class divisions that the gospel seeks to eliminate. (I’ll explain more in the second half of this post.) Cavanaugh provides a profound analysis of a complex topic. I don’t pretend that a few paragraphs will not do justice to... Read more