Artificial Intelligence and World Missions

In this episode of The Missions Podcast, Alex Kocman and Scott Dunford explore the rise of AI and its effects on the global missions community. From AI-powered church services to a new partnership between SIL and Christian Vision to develop a Bible-focused chatbot, the discussion touches on the potential dangers and ethical concerns of AI,Continue reading “Artificial Intelligence and World Missions”

Are We ‘Unhinged’? What Genocide, Assassination, and Other Current News Means for Missions

In this week’s episode, we dive deep into the headlines that are shaping our world and explore how they intersect with the Great Commission. From the UN’s warning of a “great fracture” to geopolitical tensions between Canada and India, we ask: What does this mean for the spread of the gospel? We also shed lightContinue reading “Are We ‘Unhinged’? What Genocide, Assassination, and Other Current News Means for Missions”

Saving God’s Face? A Dialogue With Brad Vaughn on Honor and Shame

Dive into a thought-provoking conversation with Brad Vaughn, previously known as Jackson Wu. With his book Saving God’s Face as the backdrop, we explore the concept of sin as a violation of God’s honor, the overlap between Chinese and biblical culture, and the distinct differences in how Westerners and Asians understand honor and shame. PrepareContinue reading “Saving God’s Face? A Dialogue With Brad Vaughn on Honor and Shame”

Know Your Place: How to Identify and Study Your Mission Field

In today’s technology-saturated world, we can “be” anywhere—except where we actually are. Place matters. So how can we identify what our “mission field” is around us and know the way it thinks? In this episode, Scott and Alex dive into the book of Acts for answers about worldview, context, and missional living. Remember to share,Continue reading “Know Your Place: How to Identify and Study Your Mission Field”

Is All Theology Cultural? Biblical Authority and Contextualization

Biblical authority is under attack. A missionary’s job is partly to make the transcendents truths of God’s word understandable within human language, context, and culture. But is it possible to know God’s objective truth, or are we always “stuck” within our culture—making modern missions inescapably colonialist? In this episode, Scott Dunford and Alex Kocman dialogueContinue reading “Is All Theology Cultural? Biblical Authority and Contextualization”

Race, Evolution, and Missions: Charles Ware Speaks

If missionaries are to carry the gospel across cultural and national lines, it’s critical that they have a thoroughly biblical theology of race and ethnicity. And while much of modern progressive, secular culture repudiates anything remotely “racist,” Dr. Charles Ware explains why that wasn’t always the case. Secularism and Darwinism lie near the root ofContinue reading “Race, Evolution, and Missions: Charles Ware Speaks”

Brad Buser on Tribal Religion, Contextualization, and Disciple-Making Movements

When we think “missions,” we tend to think jungles, tribes, animism, strange languages, and thatched roofs. That impression isn’t always accurate. But for veteran missionary and legendary mobilizer Brad Buser, that’s exactly what he experienced. In this episode, we pick Brad’s brain about the importance of tribal missions and long-term, patient language acquisition and contextualization.Continue reading “Brad Buser on Tribal Religion, Contextualization, and Disciple-Making Movements”

Are Honor and Shame the Keys to Cross-Cultural Evangelism?

In the West, we tend to think in terms of law, justice, guilt, and innocence. Our gospel presentation naturally picks up this flavor. But in many Eastern cultures, honor and shame are the dominant values—and in tribal contexts, it’s fear and power that take center stage. Has the Western church focused too much on aContinue reading “Are Honor and Shame the Keys to Cross-Cultural Evangelism?”

What Are Worldviews and How Do They Change? John Mark Yeats on Paul Hiebert

We use the word “worldview” a lot, but what does it actually mean? Does anthropology have anything to teach missionaries—and can it give us a model for how worldviews actually change as people are converted to Christ? To help us make sense of these questions addressed in the late Dr. Paul Hiebert’s classic missiological text TransformingContinue reading “What Are Worldviews and How Do They Change? John Mark Yeats on Paul Hiebert”