The outrageous idea of this book is that God wants to use professors as professors to reach others, transform the academy, and meet the needs of the world. God is on a mission to redeem and restore this fallen world, and as members of one of the most influential institutions in society, Christian professors in the university play an import- ant role in that mission. Becoming a missional professor will require a clear vision of God's heart for the lost as well as humankind's purpose and calling under the banner of Christ, an understanding of the significance of the university as a cultural shaping in- stitution and mission field, and a desire for Christian wholeness in a fragmented world. This idea is outrageous because many Christian professors struggle to live missionally and need a clear vision of such a life as well as role models to lead the way. Many pro- fessors already living missional lives need encouragement to "excel still more" (1 Thess 4:10). We all need God's grace and mercy as we try to faithfully follow Christ within the university. Paul M. Gould (PhD. Purdue University) teaches philosophy and apologetics at Oklahoma Baptist University and is the founder and president of the Two Tasks Institute. D. Keith Campbell (PhD. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Global Partnerships Vice President at Global Scholars. Li Ma (PhD. Cornell University) is Senior Research Fellow at the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College. Omar Montero (PhD. Candidate, University of Buenos Aires) is Associate Professor and Researcher for Undergraduates and Postgraduates in the Architectural and Design Department at the University of Buenos Aires. Granville W. Pillar (PhD. University of Newcastle) is Associate Professor of Philology at Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian Institute, Ukraine. Osam Edim Temple (PhD. University of Ibadan) is former Professor of Philosophy at the American University of Nigeria and Special Advisor to the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs. Bee-Lan C. Wang (PhD. University of Chicago) taught at the Science University of Malaysia, Northern Illinois University, and Wheaton College (Illinois).

Listening to the Voices of Global Practitioners In Christian mission, we cross boundaries between the people of God and the not-yet people of God, declaring “[God’s] glory among the nations” (Ps 96:3). Mission begins and ends in worship. In mission, we proclaim the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. We also care for the whole person. Thus, at its core, mission intertwines praise, word, and deed. This book represents the latest in missiological thinking. Though some contributors are scholars and even professors, most are field practitioners —evangelists, church planters, Bible translators, medical professionals, refugee workers, and community development specialists. Based on decades of faithful service, they report on what they have learned about mission. Mission in Praise, Word, and Deed addresses a wide range of critical concerns, such as informal theological education, Bible translation, business as mission, trauma care, and working on multicultural teams. As we ponder best mission practices, it’s wise to hear from global practitioners—those who have been at it for a long time. This book represents the diversity of the global church. They are men and women from Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America, and Europe who have served or presently serve in places across the world. These contributors share the conviction that the future of missions involves a growing global church and missionary workforce joining hands to complete the Great Commission amid severe opposition and disruption.

Renewing the Christian voice, conscience, and imagination so that we can become compelling witnesses of the Gospel in today's culture. Christianity has an image problem. While the culture we inhabit presents us with an increasingly anti-Christian and disenchanted position, the church in the West has not helped its case by becoming anti-intellectual, fragmented, and out of touch with the relevancy of Jesus to all aspects of contemporary life. The muting of the Christian voice, its imagination, and its collective conscience have diminished the prospect of having a genuine missionary encounter with others today. Cultural apologetics attempts to demonstrate not only the truth of the Gospel but also its desirability by reestablishing Christianity as the answer that satisfies our three universal human longings—truth, goodness, and beauty. In Cultural Apologetics, philosopher and professor Paul Gould sets forth a fresh and uplifting model for cultural engagement—rooted in the biblical account of Paul's speech in Athens—which details practical steps for establishing Christianity as both true and beautiful, reasonable and satisfying. You'll be introduced to: The idea of cultural apologetics as distinct from traditional apologetics. The path from disenchantment with how we understand reality to re-enchantment with the reality of the spiritual nature of things. The practical tools of good cultural engagement: conscience, reason, and imagination. Equip yourself to see, and help others see, the world as it is through the lens of the Spirit—deeply beautiful, mysterious, and sacred. With creative insights, Cultural Apologetics prepares readers to share a vision of the Christian faith that is both plausible and desirable, offering clarity for those who have become disoriented in the haze of modern Western culture.

In today’s multi-cultural and multi-religious world, evangelism is often viewed as scandalous, not only by those who are opposed to anything religious, but also by many Christians. In this book, Elmer Thiessen provides a response to those who find most or even all Christian evangelism objectionable. He does this through a careful analysis of what the Bible says about the ethics of evangelism. Based on this inductive study, mainly of the New Testament, Thiessen proposes thirty guidelines for ethical evangelism. Part II examines some specific contexts that pose unique challenges for doing evangelism ethically—evangelism of children, evangelism within a professional context like the secular academy, evangelism within the context of humanitarian aid, and finally the problem of proselytism, understood in the special and narrow sense of sheep-stealing.

Can our students learn something positive for themselves in spite of traumatic and toxic situations? Can they thrive in their cognitive, emotional, and social capacities to transform their painful and challenging current COVID-19 environment? What do teachers need to do for this? These questions guided this book to suggest a new perspective of education, called the Pedagogy of Thriveology, which challenges students to overcome the current toxic social environments based on the biblical perspective. In fact, Jesus presents many effective teaching cases in Scripture. In this book, I identify specific cases of audiences who experienced trauma (that are related to physical, emotional, relational, spiritual, cultural, ethical identity issues) along with appropriate learning strategies and instructional processes that are used by Jesus so that the specific audience in each case would be equipped with resilience needed to overcome their trauma.

Missiologist and church planter JR Woodward offers a blueprint for the missional church--not small adjustments around the periphery of the infrastructure but a radical revisioning of how a church ought to look that entails changing how we think about leadership and what we expect out of discipleship.

Jesus is calling his church to be a multiethnic and missional people who listen and learn from the many voices of world Christianity. Graham Joseph Hill issues a moving call for churches to be missional by being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Hill does this by exploring the thinking of twenty-five Asian, African, Latin American, Indigenous, African American, diaspora, Caribbean, Oceanian, Eastern European, and Middle Eastern pastors and theologians. These are as diverse as Melba Padilla Maggay, Emmanuel Katongole, Lamin Sanneh, Oscar Muriu, Ruth Padilla DeBorst, Pope Francis, Richard Twiss, Lisa Sharon Harper, Willie James Jennings, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Soong-Chan Rah, and Mitri Raheb. These voices show us the future of missional churches in world Christianity. When churches are conformed to Christ they make disciples, heal a broken world, and witness to Jesus and his gospel. Jesus forms us in his image and moves us to be a people of shalom, humility, character, justice, peace, wisdom, prayer, beauty, and witness. The church has had a Reformation but now it needs a Conformation. Hill explores biblical themes and the voices of world Christianity to show that a missional church is conformed to the image of the incarnate, crucified, resurrected, and glorified Christ. Conformity to Christ is the heart of missional ecclesiology and discipleship.