September - October 2009

Editorial Rick Wood, Editor

Dear Reader,
It is the greatest need in the world today. It is the most fundamental command that Jesus ever gave us. Yet the Church as a whole is not doing it. The Church and the world are suffering greatly today for our disobedience to His command to make disciples. Jesus said in Matt. 28:19, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations." This verse has been widely misunderstood only to mean evangelizing individuals in countries. download pdf of this story

Every year, hundreds of thousands of American evangelical young people lose their faith while attending college: an estimated 65%. Here they are confronted with a secular humanist worldview, often anti-Christian, which they have not been prepared to engage. Next year a new batch will be sent, and this spiritual holocaust will go right on with few
people seeking to do anything about it. download pdf of this story

Getting it Done: Q & A With Paul Eschleman

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Seeking Closure: The Story of a Movement from William Carey to Tokyo 2010 Ralph Winter & David Taylor

How close are we to "finishing the task?" The question of "what remains to be done" in fulfilling our Lord’s Great Commission has been a driving force of the missions movement from William Carey to the present day. Fulfilling the Great Commission is so large and complex, no one church, agency, or national missions movement can take it on alone. For this reason, missions has often been a catalyst for bringing the Church together. Here in this brief survey, we will take a look at how the concept of closure and mission cooperation has gradually developed over the last two centuries. download pdf of this story

"We’re a mission organization that is traditional in every sense," declared Loren Cunningham in a television special celebrating the birth of YWAM. Cunningham was attempting to paint Youth With A Mission—which he had started nineteen years earlier—
as a credible Christian ministry. However, his mission was anything but traditional, as its very purpose was to construct a new model. YWAM recruited young people (most of
whom had no formal university education) as well as non-Westerners, and formed a highly decentralized and innovative movement. YWAM would grow to become one of the largest Christian movements in the world, attracting many thousands of students and missionaries, both part-time and full-time, united by shared ethos and vision. The mission would emerge from and reflect the spiritual roots of the founder himself. download pdf of this story

What are we supposed to be doing among the nations? In many ways, the last ten years of Dr. Winter’s life was focused on this issue. Having spent three decades getting
the church refocused on the final frontiers, he felt that the most productive use of his
time in the last decade of his life was to look at strategy issues of how we can best reach the major non-Christian blocs of the world. Why have these groups remained
resistant to the gospel message? Is there something defective in what we are preaching? Is it a methodology issue? Like McGavran, he decided to go back to the Bible and see what the guidebook has to say. download pdf of this story

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In the valley of vision are the hearts, minds, and future of a generation. Every generation is faced with a valley of vision. Every generation is faced with a valley of decision. The struggle of leadership for each generation of a culture is a struggle for vision. The writer of the Proverbs reminds us, “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained.”
(Prov. 29:18 NAS). Without a clear vision, people are out of control, unable to make decisions, unbridled in their passions. download pdf of this story

For over 45 years, Summit Ministries has been training students to face the challenges to
their Christian faith by helping them navigate the world of ideas, answer the tough questions that often leave Christians speechless, and engage the significant cultural issues of our day from a biblical worldview. download pdf of this story

In my previous article, I argued that a major project for those of us who work with students is to help them "get" Christianity. While a significant number of Christian students reject Christianity during their university years, far more struggle to embrace a faith that is not really authentic or orthodox. Theirs is a "moralistic therapeutic
Deism" as Christian Smith put it; a tame faith that is privatized and perhaps personally meaningful but which is not publically true, culturally significant, or fundamentally informative to the rest of their lives. download pdf of this story

"I wouldn’t say I follow a particular religion, but I do consider myself a spiritual man,"
answered the car salesman in response to my question concerning his faith background.

As I inquired and listened, he explained his self-concept as a spiritually-minded person,
desiring to do what is good, right and just because "in the long term, that’s
the best way to live." He dropped the terms "neo-pagan" and "spiritual relativist."
After mentioning negative experiences with what he called "fundamental Christians," he asked if I had a particular faith. download pdf of this story

What Assumptions are Driving What You Do? Glenn Schwartz

The Importance of Assumptions a few years ago a bishop in Mozambique told a story about a woman who approached him to buy a Bible. He told her he did not have any
left that she could afford. She was puzzled by his response and asked what he meant. His response was that he had some cheap Bibles, but they were all gone. All he had left
were expensive ones. She reached into her pocket and produced enough money to pay for one of the expensive Bibles. Just by looking at her, he assumed she could not
afford what she really wanted. He now says (with embarrassment) that he jumped to the wrong conclusion about what she could afford. download pdf of this story

In June, I was sitting with a friend of mine from Asia and he shared this story with me. He is involved in mobilizing and training missionaries from a country there. He had just returned from a meeting of missionaries from his nation who work in a Muslim country. download pdf of this story