David J Hesselgrave

Classical orthodoxy, the Reformational understanding of the gospel, and the Great Awakening beliefs and behaviors, including missions/missiology, reflect what the evangelical movement and its mission should be if it is to have a future. Evangelicals must work and pray together in resubmission of their ways of thinking and working to the Word and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. They must recover the faith of the fathers and the mission of the revivalists. Nothing less will rescue American missions from a marginal role. Nothing less will reinvigorate historic doctrine and get missions back on the track to world evangelization.

Classical orthodoxy, the Reformational understanding of the gospel, and the Great Awakening beliefs and behaviors, including missions/missiology, reflect what the evangelical movement and its mission should be if it is to have a future. Evangelicals must work and pray together in resubmission of their ways of thinking and working to the Word and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. They must recover the faith of the fathers and the mission of the revivalists. Nothing less will rescue American missions from a marginal role. Nothing less will reinvigorate historic doctrine and get missions back on the track to world evangelization.

Drawing from Scripture, social sciences, and history, David J. Hesselgrave tackles the most pressing issues facing missionaries today. The author and contributors show how theological issues have real impact on missions, and they present arguments on both sides of the fifteen subjects of debate while also offering their own biblically informed perspectives on the subjects. Despite rapid global changes, Hesselgrave determines that much of traditional theory, practice, and theology is still valid, if not essential, for the future of Christian missions. Current and prospective missionaries, pastors, seminary students, missions committee members, and laypeople interested in world Christianity will all benefit from the discussions covered in this book: * Sovereignty and free will: An impossible mix or a perfect match? * Common ground and enemy territory: How should we approach adherents of other faiths? * Business as mission: When is it mission and when is it not? * Harvest missions and pioneer missions: Discipling the masses or reaching to the margins? This updated and expanded edition includes five more questions along with new applications and reflections on the original ten questions.

In Discovering Church Planting, J. D. Payne explores the biblical, historical and missiological principles of global church planting as well as unfolding practical strategies for confronting contemporary challenges to our vital task in reaching a lost world. This comprehensive introduction to church planting shows the reader how to apply effective, international church planting practices to specific contexts. J. D. speaks from personal experience, research and training and focuses on crucial issues every planter should consider. His well researched and easy to understand concepts are crucial for anyone who takes seriously the call of Scripture to Declare His glory among the nations and His marvelous deeds to all peoples.

Scripture and Strategy: The Use of the Bible in Postmodern Church and Mission Scripture should occupy a central place in the future strategy of churches and their mission. But what does that mean practically? Amid the many voices in the church, who should we listen to? What wisdom can we glean from those who've gone before us? In Scripture and Strategy, David Hesselgrave serves the church by bringing together ten renowned church leaders and missions visionaries. They advise us not to give in to a simplistic understanding and use of Scripture. Collectively, the contributors emphasize a critical idea that often gets overlooked. In short, the Bible should not only inform our message; it should shape our methods. Scripture and Strategy brings diverse issues into conversation. It explores topics like contextualization, church planting, and spiritual warfare in light of biblical interpretation, postmodernism, and biblical authority. This book presses us to look ahead to the future of missions by looking back to God's revelation in the past.

Those who have come to expect expert analysis of contextualization from David Hesselgrave will not be disappointed with this work. "His expertise," writes George Peters, "shines through in this book." Teaming up with Hesselgrave is Ed Rommen, who, according to Peters, is "becoming an authority in practical contextualization." Together they skillfully bring the labyrinth of meanings, proposals, and tasks of contextualization into clearer focus. The result, says Peters, "is the most comprehensive treatise on the subject produced by evangelical scholars."

Ministry training often emphasizes expanding on the work of existing ministries to the neglect of addressing the difficulties of planting new churches in North America and around the world. This volume provides a practical, thorough, biblical, and inspirational corrective. Incorporating relevant sociological, anthropological, and historical insights, Hesselgrave extrapolates ten phases of cross-cultural church planting that are faithful to Jesus' commandment to make disciples and to Paul's missionary example. Pastors and college- and seminary-level church growth courses have used the first edition of this text for nearly twenty years. This second edition draws on more recent literature, offers refined arguments, and highlights Paul's ministry pattern. In addition, many charts, graphs, and forms bolster Hesselgrave's skillful description of effective cross-cultural church planting.

This revised edition of Dr. David Hesselgrave's great work Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally updates the original edition and interacts with the most recent literature on this increasingly important topic. The original edition went through fifteen printings and, very deservedly, has come to be one of the most widely used textbooks on Christian cross-cultural communications. The revisions in this new edition are extensive and carry on the high level of discussion maintained throughout the original edition, taking into account, for example, the current discussion on the relationship between form and function and the enormous body of literature that has sprung up recently on contextualization. To enhance the volume's usefulness for students, Dr. Hesselgrave has added an extensive bibliography of twenty-five pages on various aspects of cross-cultural communications. This revision of Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally is superb. It raises a great book into a unique category, undoubtedly the finest book on this topic available today.