Answering Hard Questions About Missions, Theology, and Practice
It’s Christmas. Images of Mary are everywhere. But when missionaries encounter veneration of saints among Roman Catholics and others, what should our response be? Dr. James Fryer joins this week to share.
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How can a missionary discern where they should serve? Is it biblical for a church missions program to target some countries but not others? And what’s the reason more missionaries don’t go to the unreached?
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The barriers to reaching unreached people groups are real. This week, Harry G., overseeing South Asia for ABWE, returns to the show to explain why they still matter—and how churches can recapture a pioneering spirit.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Our conversation with Ted Esler continues as we try to define words like “disciple” and “church” and map out both the common ground and the battle lines. Then, we try to chart the path forward.
You can listen to part one.
Ted Esler is the president of an association of agencies and churches representing over 30,000 mission workers worldwide. Ted worked in the computer industry before becoming a church planter in Sarajevo, Bosnia, during the 1990s. In 2000, Ted became the Canadian director of Pioneers and three years later moved to Orlando to join the leadership team of Pioneers USA. In 2015 he was appointed as president of Missio Nexus. Ted has an MTS in theology (Heritage Seminary, 2002), and a Ph.D. in intercultural studies (Fuller Theological Seminary, 2012) and resides in Saint Cloud, Florida with his wife, Annette. They have five adult children and two grandchildren.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
This week, we continue our crucial conversation with Ted Esler as he shares his opinions about methodologies, movements, and the biblical definition of “fruit” in ministry. Hear part 1 here.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
What are disciple-making movements and church planting movements? Do these methods, carried to their logical conclusions, undermine our doctrines of the local church and of conversion? Or are we being too theologically rigid?
Let’s reason together, build common ground, and determine where the real issues lie. Hear part 1 in a two-part series with Missio Nexus president Ted Esler.
Hear our previous conversation with Ted here.
Ted Esler is the president of an association of agencies and churches representing over 30,000 mission workers worldwide. Ted worked in the computer industry before becoming a church planter in Sarajevo, Bosnia, during the 1990s. In 2000, Ted became the Canadian director of Pioneers and three years later moved to Orlando to join the leadership team of Pioneers USA. In 2015 he was appointed as president of Missio Nexus. Ted has an MTS in theology (Heritage Seminary, 2002), and a Ph.D. in intercultural studies (Fuller Theological Seminary, 2012) and resides in Saint Cloud, Florida with his wife, Annette. They have five adult children and two grandchildren.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
This week, Ted Esler returns to the show for a frank conversation about movement methodologies and the biblical doctrine of the local church.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Why does God give us a glimpse of the future? How can we prepare for suffering in missions?
This week, hear a special presentation from Alex Kocman to members of Westminster Theological Seminary’s Global Missions Fellowship on 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, taken from Alex’s upcoming book with Chad Vegas on integrating doctrine and practice.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Coming up this week: Alex Kocman presents why enlisting in ministry means enrolling in God’s seminary of suffering.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
What is obedience-based discipleship, and is it biblical? The issue isn’t as simple as it seems. This week, Alex and Scott discuss Alex’s article addressing the topic and explore all the related questions of law, gospel, and salvation by faith alone.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Coming up in our next episode: Alex and Scott dive deep into obedience-based discipleship, the book of Acts, and the importance of rightly distinguishing law and gospel.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Everyone’s talking about “care”—self-care, healthcare, pastoral care, and the list goes on. What’s the biblical case for churches to care for missionaries on the field, and how can we do it well? Ryan Martin answers.
Read Ryan’s articles on the topic:
Ryan graduated in 2008 from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he received his M.Div. in Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth. He also earned an undergraduate degree from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, in 2005. He currently is pursuing a D.Min. degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary where he also serves as a trustee. Ryan lives in Fayetteville with his wife, Rebekah, and three children: Hudson, Annie, and Hattie. Follow him on Twitter.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
What stops too many pastors from confidently shepherding their sent missionaries? Ryan Martin, Director of Missions for Lightbearers, explains some of the common hurdles.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Europe is more “post-Christian” than ever. So why would a high form of Christian worship be the key to reaching—and discipling—the unchurched in Europe? Melissa Baccarella, ABWE missionary to Italy, rejoins to show along with Andy Messmer to continue our previous conversation about liturgy.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
In our upcoming episode, ABWE missionary Melissa Baccarella shares how the content of corporate worship is the key to discipleship.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Should church planters target a specific people group (the homogeneous unit principle) or begin a multiethnic congregation from day one? The answer isn’t always simple. This week, BJ, a church planter working with diaspora Muslim peoples, weighs in as Scott and Alex have an honest conversation.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Missions strategists tell us to target specific people groups, but Scripture paints a picture of a multiethnic church. How do we resolve the tension? This week, “BJ,” a church planter working with Muslim diaspora peoples, shares how we can learn from the best of both approaches.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
The up and coming generation is a source of confusion and controversy. Are Christians among Generation Z missions-minded? And if they are, do they have what it takes? We ask Tanner and Amber Callison, mobilizers with the Traveling Team.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
This week, Tanner and Amber Callison, missions mobilizers with the Traveling Team, offer their advice for how to awaken a generation sometimes perceived as tech-obsessed, shy, and noncommittal.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Honor and shame. Fear and power. Guilt and innocence. Missiologists are increasingly identifying these cultural value systems as the key to communicating the gospel. But have we gotten them wrong?
E.D. Burns, author of The Transcultural Gospel, returns to the show to explain how the biblical gospel message transcends cultures and all our imperfect efforts to contextualize.
Listen to our previous interview with E.D. To support E.D.’s work, contact us directly.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
What is “enoughness,” and how can it help us translate the gospel across cultures? E.D. Burns, author of The Transcultural Gospel, returns to the show in this week’s upcoming episode.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Ted Esler believes there’s a crisis in the Christian world. He believes leaders in ministry and missions aren’t innovating. Is this true—and is innovation itself biblical? Ted joins Scott and Alex this week to discuss his new book, The Innovation Crisis.
Ted Esler is the president of Missio Nexus, an association of agencies and churches representing over 30,000 mission workers worldwide. Ted worked in the computer industry before becoming a church planter in Sarajevo, Bosnia, during the 1990s. In 2000, Ted became the Canadian director of Pioneers and three years later moved to Orlando to join the leadership team of Pioneers USA. In 2015 he was appointed as president of Missio Nexus. Ted has an MTS in theology (Heritage Seminary, 2002), and a Ph.D. in intercultural studies (Fuller Theological Seminary, 2012) and resides in Saint Cloud, Florida with his wife, Annette. They have five adult children and two grandchildren.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Where is the line between innovation in ministry and accommodation of the world? Ted Esler, president of Missio Nexus, shares his perspective this week in a lively interview.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
What does C.S. Lewis have to do with missions? More than you’d think. This week, Dan DeWitt explains how Lewis’ vision for literature, tradition, and the affections can transform cross-cultural ministry.
Before joining the faculty of Cedarville University, Dr. Dan DeWitt served in academic and pastoral roles as Lead Pastor of the Campus Church, a campus of Highview Baptist Church, which met on the campus of the University of Louisville, and as Dean of Boyce College, the undergraduate program for The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He started the Center for Biblical Apologetics and Public Christianity in his first year at Cedarville in the fall of 2016. Follow his work on TheoLatte or follow him directly on Twitter.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Can we learn missions from C.S. Lewis? Dan DeWitt, director of the Center for Biblical Apologetics and Public Christianity at Cedarville University, thinks so. Find out why in this week’s upcoming show.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
In our final mid-week exclusive from our time at Cedarville University, meet Brian Nester, Cedarville’s director of Global Outreach. You’ll be hard pressed to find someone more passionate about missions—or a more effective mobilizer of students to serve overseas. Hear Brian’s story in this interview.
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Abortion isn’t just a US issue. It’s a global issue—which makes it a missions issue. This week, we talk to John Ensor, author, pastor, and president of PassionLife, about how missionaries can push against the culture of death through the gospel of life.
As president of PassionLife, John trains Christian leaders in biblical bioethics and pregnancy crisis intervention in countries suffering the highest rates of abortion worldwide. He is the author of Innocent Blood: Challenging the Powers of Death with the Gospel of Life and lives in Roswell, GA.
Learn more about PassionLife’s Gospel Life Rally.
Did you know ABWE operates multiple pro-life ministries around the world in countries ravaged by abortion? Get involved.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Every missionary, pastor, and believer must answer these four questions about the issue of life for the unborn. Hear PassionLife President John Ensor in our full interview premiering Sunday night at 7 PM Eastern.
Our Cedarville series continues. Healing happens on the mission field—in ordinary ways. In this podcast midweek exclusive, Katie Webb, M.S., RN, Assistant Professor of Nursing, shares why medical missions is vital to reaching the unreached.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
What is it like being sent out from a Zambian church as an American missionary to serve in a Hindu context? Joshua Bowman of Cedarville University shares his unique story.
Joshua Bowman holds a Ph.D. in Missiology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and is Assistant Professor of Missions and Theology at Cedarville University. He served with his wife Amy and their four children in Zambia and South Asia with the International Mission Board for seventeen years as a church planter, church strengthening strategist, and team leader.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Coming soon, Generation Z will be taking the mantle of the Great Commission. Are they ready? And what role can Christian colleges and missions agencies play in mobilizing them? Dr. Thomas White, president of Cedarville University, and Paul Davis, president of ABWE, join to discuss in this episode recorded on the campus of Cedarville.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
Is the upcoming generation actually ready to carry on the Great Commission? Paul Davis shares in this week’s upcoming episode, recorded live at Cedarville University.
What’s happening in Afghanistan isn’t just political—it’s spiritual. This week, Matt Bennett of Cedarville University examines the crisis from a missionary perspective.
Dr. Matthew Bennett joined the faculty at Cedarville University in fall 2017 after serving and living in North Africa and the Middle East since 2011. Most recently he wrote 40 Questions About Islam. Hear our preview interviews with Matt here.
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The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE’s Global Gospel Fund.
What is the Korean Pentecost? Is Korea under divine judgment? And what does any of this have to do with Insider movements in the Islamic world? We tackle some massive topics with missionary and author James T. Cha of the Crescent Project, author of Fear Not.
Rev. James Cha was born in Pusan, Korea, and immigrated to the US in the early 1970s with his family. While studying electrical engineering at Cornell University, he surrendered his life to the call of God to be His ambassador to the world, especially to the Muslims. In 1991, he married his BFF, Faith, and after studies at Columbia Biblical Seminary (SC), they took their little children to Central Asia to serve the Lord as church planting missionaries. By God’s grace, over 120 Muslims came to faith in Jesus during their ten years of ministry. Since 2010, they have been back in the US, reaching out to the nations living in their community. They are on staff with Crescent Project, a ministry that equips the local churches to reach out to the Muslims in the community. James and Faith are also founders of i43, a ministry committed to fulfilling the Great Commission to the ends of the earth. They have three grown children: Joniel, Josiah and Karis.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.
The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE.
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How did North Korea become so spiritually dark? How did Christianity take root in South Korea? And what can missionaries learn today? Here’s a taste of our upcoming interview with James T. Cha of the Crescent Project, author of Fear Not.
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The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few (Matt. 9:37). Only 713 of the world’s 7,387 languages have a full Bible translation. Yet our work can’t stop with translation. In this interview, Kyle D. of Bible Translation Fellowship asks churches to send more teams of church-planters and Bible translators.
Kyle is the founder and executive director of BTF. He and his wife Hannah are in the process of relocating to South Africa, where Kyle will lead BTF and labor as a Bible Translation Consultant. His education includes a B.A. in Philosophy and Organizational Leadership, M.A. in Bible Translation, M.A. in Biblical Counseling, M.Div., and a Th.M. in New Testament.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.
The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE International.
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Bible translation must lead to church planting. This week, Kyle D., Executive Director of Bible Translation Fellowship, explains why translating Scripture into the languages of the unreached must go hand-in-hand with growing local churches.
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We often say that missions isn’t about building hospitals and schools or digging wells. But sometimes it is, says Tim Hunsicker. In this week’s episode, this architect and ministry leader explains the biblical basis for construction in missions—and how building projects can help make disciples.
Visit ABWE to see how to use your construction, engineering, mechanical, design, or project management skills in short-term or long-term missions.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.
The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE International.
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We know that missions is more than building projects. But it isn’t less. This week, we speak to Tim Hunsicker of ABWE’s Project Office about how construction and design can advance the gospel.
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How we worship matters. How we worship really matters in missions. In Roman Catholic-dominated Spain, ABWE Missionary Andy Messmer argues that returning to a traditional style can be life-changing. How? Scott and Alex explore with him in this episode.
Andy and Lindsey Messmer are serving in Madrid, Spain with their children Sofia, Lucas, Zoe, and Eva. They focus on church planting and theological education.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.
The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE International.
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Why haven’t missionaries won more of Western Europe? Does it have to do with our worship style? Why does liturgy matter for missiology? ABWE Missionary Andy Messmer answers in this week’s upcoming interview.
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The assassination of Haiti’s president on July 7 put Haiti back in the news. For years, this nation has been caught in a painful cycle of crime, corruption, poverty, and natural disaster. What is the news not telling us, and how is the gospel the answer?
Live Global missionary Ismael, a Haitian national and Old Testament Ph.D. focused on pastoral training, shares his perspective and how believers elsewhere in the world can partner.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.
The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE International.
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What’s happening in Haiti following the assassination of their president on July 7? A Haitian national and missionary shares.
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The Apostle Paul models missional apologetics in Acts 17. What can we learn? In this episode, Scott Dunford walks through a crucial text and draws application for cross-cultural ministry at home and abroad.
This episode features a sermon originally preached at Community Evangelical Free Church of Harrisburg, Pa. on June 13, 2021.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.
The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE International.
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Should missionaries adapt their message? In this week’s episode, Scott Dunford explains what’s really happening in Acts 17 in Paul’s sermon.
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Sometimes doors close in missions. Visas are revoked, governments change policy, or unrest breaks out and endangers expats. How should missionaries respond to these changes? This week we talk to Carol Ghattas about her latest book When Doors Close: Changing Course in Missions Without Losing Your Way.
With over thirty years in missions, Carol Ghattas writes and speaks from experience. Ghattas worked among Laotians, West Africans, and Arabs, and she co-authored with her late husband Raouf, A Christian Guide to the Qur’an: Building Bridges in Muslim Evangelism. She has written three novels under the pen name Um Daoud and A Life Surrendered: Raouf W. Ghattas, a book about her husband’s life and work. Ghattas has contributed to numerous works on missions and Islam, is a contract writer for Missions Mosaic magazine, and an active blogger.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.
The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE International.
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Sending missionaries has taught these pastors what to do—and what not to do. Chad Vegas, Paul Davis and Barry Brown join Scott Dunford and Alex Kocman in this panel from the 2021 Radius Missiology Conference.
Watch the video version of this episode: youtu.be/NEyXBNj9HTU.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.
The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE International.
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Recorded live at the 2021 Radius Missiology Conference: Wayne Chen, director of Radius Asia, was a pastor who wanted to send missionaries. In the end, he ended up mobilizing himself—and repenting of his apathy. But as his ministry among the Biem people group in Papua New Guinea reached its climax, he and his wife Gail received devastating health news. This week, Wayne shares his story of overcoming apathy and seeing the gospel advanced amid suffering.
Watch the video version of this episode: bit.ly/2UjGwvX.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.
The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE International.
Subscribe: linktr.ee/MissionsPodcast.
Recorded live at the Radius Missiology Conference in Minneapolis: Engage Global is more than an educational experience—it takes missions-minded believers to the streets to immerse them into a cross-cultural experience in the US. In this midweek exclusive, Rick Davis shares how their unique approach is helping believers and churches reframe their perspectives on the world Christian movement.
Watch the video version of this episode: bit.ly/3dwpC40.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.
The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE International.
Subscribe: linktr.ee/MissionsPodcast.
Recorded live at the Radius Missiology Conference in Minneapolis: In this midweek exclusive, Chad Vegas, pastor of Sovereign Grace Church in Bakersfield, California, and board chairman for Radius International, joins to discuss his and Alex Kocman’s new book on missions scheduled for publication from Founders Press later this year.
Watch the video version of this episode: bit.ly/3dritlv.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.
The Missions Podcast is sponsored by ABWE International.
Subscribe: linktr.ee/MissionsPodcast.
