For much of the 20th Century, Dispensationalists taught that the kingdom is strictly a future event. My first Bible was the Ryrie Study Bible. I loved that Bible! I still own it (though I haven’t opened it in over ten years). Charles Ryrie was a leading theologian in the Dispensational movement in the late 20th Century. In his book, A Survey of Bible Doctrine (Chicago: Moody Press, 1972), he explains the Dispensational view of the kingdom: “The millennial kingdom is that period... Read more
First in a series on the Connections Between the Kingdom of God, Missional Ministry, and Vocation. The confession that “Jesus is Lord” is the most basic foundation for the entirety of the gospel. This was the “good news” that Jesus himself preached. When we confess this, we acknowledge that all of life is placed under Christ’s lordship. The leaders of the missional church movement agree. Darrel Guder wrote, “Before the church is called to do or say anything, it is... Read more
Being Humble as We Make Bold Decisions and Submitting to When Our Plans are Changed. I never got into Google+. I don’t know any friends who did either. According to a recent article by Seth Fiegerman at Mashable, “Google’s effort to build a social network to rival Facebook began with a bold, company-wide yell. Now Google appears to be winding down Google+ with barely a whimper.” Google is known for organic technological innovation. But according to Fiegerman’s research, their Google+ project... Read more
As God Sent Jesus, Jesus Now Sends Us The Great Commission is very often pointed to as the ultimate statement for what we are supposed to do as Christians. At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples, “Go and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Where can we get insight into what... Read more
A One-day Retreat for Pastors led by Peter Greer, President and CEO of Hope International Thursday, October 8, 2015 From 9.00 am until 7.00 pm At Hilton Akron/Fairlawn Hotel & Suites, 3180 W. Market St. Event Information Made To Flourish Ohio presents “Entrepreneurship for Human Flourishing,” a one-day retreat for pastors who are serving churches in Ohio. You are invited to join Peter Greer, President and CEO of Hope International, to be encouraged and equipped in your capacity to further a robust theology of... Read more
In a couple of previous posts, I discussed the concept of “Holistic Mission” (via Christopher Wright) and “Integral Mission” (via Rene Padilla). Basically, the idea is that the mission of God’s people cannot be truncated to just evangelization. For Wright, “Holistic mission includes the whole of what God calls and sends us to do. Evangelism without social action is not holistic mission. Likewise, social action without evangelism cannot be holistic mission either.” For Padilla, “The mission of the church is multifaceted... Read more
Mark Sheerin was once an international aid worker for the Christian ministry World Vision, traveling around to distant lands and helping the poor. He quit that job to go create a financial planning and wealth management firm. And, get this, he is convinced that his current work glorifies God as much as his former work did. Sheerin wrote the Blue Ribbon winning essay for Christianity Today’s This is Our City project with “Why I Left World Vision for Finance: And why... Read more
Church leaders, rightly, have a primary thing on their mind: The mandate to see people come to salvation in Christ. Church programs, worship services, missional small groups, and outreach events are all geared toward obeying the Great Commission that Jesus gave us in Matthew 28 to “go and make disciples…” The Commission to Make Disciples But what does it actually mean to “make disciples”? When we realize that a disciple is more than just a new convert to Christianity, but... Read more
A worldview, a mentor, a community. Nothing magic here, but these three habits of heart have been running through my mind for a long time. In my thirties, I began wondering “why some people keep on keeping on, and why others don’t?” Loving my students as I did, this plagued me, and I eventually spent ten years studying this, writing a dissertation and then a book, exploring its challenges and questions. The book argued that there are three commitments that... Read more
Ronald J. Sider, founder of Evangelicals for Social Action and author of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, has advocated for a more holistic vision of Christian ministry since 1973. He (along with Philip N. Olson and Heidi Rolland Unruh in their book, Churches That Make a Difference: Reaching Your Community with Good News and Good Works) wrote, “The whole gospel brings salvation in its fullest sense — forgiveness of sins, inner conversion of individuals in regeneration and sanctification, physical and... Read more
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