With all the messages that come our way through social media and in sophisticated gadgets, does the Christian message of love, hope and redemption still have an importance and relevance? What does it have to offer to enable us to meet the various challenges which beset present-day living? Today there is an even greater and more urgent need to focus on it. After all, the Christian message is not merely information because it is also about a way of life. Neither is it simply an exhortation since it also presents a definite goal. This book provides some philosophical considerations which underpin its central teaching. While aware of its richness and complexity, the essays concentrate on the Christian message insofar as it provides a vision for humanity and articulates a mission to implement it. The book serves to establish points of encounter, rather than points of departure, in order to contribute to the ongoing reflection by those who believe in that message, as well as to the debates with those who oppose it.

A deeper understanding of the grand history of mission leads to a faithful expression of God's mission today. From the beginning, God's mission has been carried out by people sent around the world. From Abraham to Jesus, the thread that weaves its way throughout Scripture is a God who sends his people across the world, proclaiming his kingdom. As the world has evolved, Christian mission continues to be a foundational tradition in the church. In this one-volume textbook, Edward Smither weaves together a comprehensive history of Christian mission, from the apostles to the modern church. In each era, he focuses on the people sent by God to the ends of the earth, while also describing the cultural context they encountered. Smither highlights the continuity and development across thousands of years of global mission.

The root of the word 'mission' means 'sending'. All Christian mission has its fountainhead in the God revealed in Scripture, who sent his Son for us, sends his Spirit to us, and summons all people to himself. The privilege and responsibility of his church, sent into all the world, is to testify by his words and deeds to Jesus Christ, God's unique son, crucified, risen and ascended. The East-West partnership in missiological exploration expounds a variety of Old and New Testament texts, and examines a wide range of issues. The authors' desire is that Jesus Christ might be glorified more and more in the church and in the world; their eager expectation is that one day the whole creation will find its consummation in him, and God will be all and in all.

This book contributes to ongoing discussions on the important role of education and on the challenging tasks facing educators today. Drawing on their long, vast and varied experience as educators, administrators and scholars, the authors deal specifically with certain fundamental issues with a view to engaging those involved in education in an examination of what underlies educational theory and practice. The book shows that education is not simply about attending school, academic institutions or any other establishment of learning or training, but, rather, is a process that looks further than the time spent learning lessons, attending lectures, doing research, acquiring knowledge, honing skills, or developing competence, important and crucial as these activities are to human development. Its greatest challenge and purpose come, instead, from life itself. For this reason, this book is about education as preparing us to live a more fulfilled life, and as a process that lasts a lifetime. All those involved in education at all stages and in various capacities will find this book both beneficial and engaging.

A topic of frequent discussion in religious education circles is the relationship between theology and practice. How does Christian theology work itself out in the teaching ministries of the church? Noted Christian education thinker Robert Pazmiño contemplates this debate and offers a contemporary overview of the messages theology brings to Christian education. Sensitive to today's expanding global culture, God Our Teacher reaffirms the essential role theology plays in developing educational practices and conventions, and carefully fleshes out what it means to use the Trinity as a model for ordering educational thought and practice. This book will be welcomed by all those involved in fostering the growth and development of Christian education.

Today, God's overall plan for the church aligns us with His purpose and plan for the manifestation of the son of God, "To destroy the works of the devil"(1 John 3:8). This book, The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: To Destroy the Works of the Devil, is about God's path for our lives to the church and purpose for our lives within the church. "Devil" simply means "liar." All Satan's machinations, strategies, atrocities, and crimes are built on his lies, however and whenever they are manifested. The manifestation of God's truth in our lives vigorously counteracts the works of the liar. God's truth heals the devastating effects that these lies have had on us personally, our communities, and our society at large. More than just a transmission of confusing facts and figures to let you know how smart I am, this book takes the truth of God's Word and helps you connect the dots with the intention of painting a clearer picture of your purpose in Christ as a son of God and therefore the purpose of the "Christ in you." The resulting portrait allows the reader to align our Christlike responsibility to work with God, with our Holy Ghost given gifts, abilities, and opportunities to motivate positive personal changes but also, collectively as sons of God, dynamic changes in our society...indeed-the world.

This volume seeks to be both fair and comprehensive. Its critical insights do not prevent the endorsement of an ecumenical latitude consistent with our biblical faith. It was written for those who are determined to listen and learn from all whom God has manifestly received and called to holistic mission in today's world." --Arthur Glasser, Professor, Fuller Theological Seminary Bassham's comprehensive study of developments in mission theology between 1948 and 1975 is the most thorough and reliable work available on the subject. The book is invaluable for an understanding of the crucial issues in world mission during this turbulent period." --Gerald Anderson, Director, Overseas Ministries Study Center Bassham has written what ought to become the standard textbook for those seeking to acquire a comprehensive long-range perspective on developments in missiology in recent decades. Delightfully clear and simple without being simplistic, the book shows the remarkable convergence of the main streams of missiological thinking..." --Al Krass, Editor, The Other Side

This book offers an alternative reading of the relationship between an American mission and an African church in colonial South Africa. The author argues that mission and church were partners in this relationship from the beginning and both were transformed by this experience.

The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies represents more than a century of scholarship related to the theology, history, and methodology of the propagation of Christian faith and the engagement of Christians with cultures, religions, and societies worldwide. It contains more than 40 articles by experts from different disciplinary and ecclesial perspectives, who are from all continents. It not only offers a broad overview of key approaches and issues in mission studies but it also highlights current trends and suggests future developments. The Handbook builds on renewed interest in mission studies this century generated by recent key statements on mission from ecumenical, evangelical, Catholic, and Orthodox sources, and by a spate of academic works on the topic. Western church leaders now apply insights from foreign missions (such as, inculturation, liberation, interfaith work, and power encounter) to today's multicultural societies. Meanwhile, there are new initiatives in mission from the Majority World, where most Christians live, so that sending is not only 'from the west to the rest' but 'from everywhere to everywhere'. Therefore, this volume aims to reflect the voices of the receivers of mission as well as its protagonists and to raise awareness of new movements. In a time of growing recognition of 'religions' more generally, this work examines and theorizes the missional dimensions of the world's largest religion: its agendas, growth, outreach, role in public life, effect on cultures, relevance for development, and its approaches to other communities.