Numerous trends are presently converging in ways that make this moment in mission history significant. These include the growth of short-term service, the multiplication of mission organizations, local churches sending missionaries without an agency, and the internationalization of missions. It is crucial in the midst of such change that we not lose connection with the New Testament model of the missionary apostles. Apostles, now commonly called missionaries, are God's gift for the initial planting phase of the church among every people, to the end of the age. This unique church-planting role is the forgotten foundation of the church. Much of the ineffectiveness in missions is due to our attempts to build Christ's church on a different foundation. This book will examine five critical questions from the perspective of biblical scholarship, history, and contemporary experience: Why are missions-minded Evangelicals reluctant to identify missionaries as apostles, considering that the two words have the same root meaning? How is apostolos used in the New Testament, and specifically, is it sometimes used as a designation for missionaries? How should we conceptualize an ongoing role for missionary apostles that does not detract from the crucial, unique role of the original Apostles? What ministry pattern does the New Testament record from the lives of the early missionary apostles? How should an awareness of missionary apostles guide our mission efforts today?

A leading expert in the field of Christian missions encourages the church to recover the apostolic imagination that fueled the multiplication of disciples in the first century. J. D. Payne examines the contemporary practice of Western missions and advocates a more central place for Scripture in defining missionary language, identity, purpose, function, and strategy. He shows that an apostolic understanding of the church's disciple-making commission requires rethinking every aspect of missionary engagement. The book includes end-of-chapter discussion questions and action steps to help pastors and church leaders develop an apostolic imagination.

Written by a team of 21st-century scholar-practitioners, Discovering the Mission of God explores the mission of God as presented in the Bible, expressed throughout church history and in cutting-edge best practices being used around the world today.

Leading evangelical mission experts offer a comprehensive theology of mission text, providing biblical, historical, and contemporary perspectives.

Reflecting thorough scholarship and decades of ministry experience, Robin Hadaway’s A Survey of World Missions examines the biblical, theological, and historical foundations of missions, as well as issues of culture and worldview, contextualization, philosophy, and mission strategy. The book is designed to assist pastors, students, missionaries, and theologians in developing sound theory and praxis for both the international and North American mission field. Through his use of field illustrations and key questions, Hadaway achieves a conversational tone, making this textbook ideal for use in both academic and lay settings.

Do you want to help bring people from all the nations into relationship with Jesus as he intends? Sadly, there are multiple mission approaches today that are ineffective or even counterproductive to reaching that goal. If that concerns you then join this journey through Scripture, mission history, and contemporary experience to find direction to redeem the nations. We will explore what Jesus intended missions to be, what it certainly is not, why it is important, how it should be carried out, and the essential divine power that must energize it. Along the way, you will discover dozens of misconceptions that can misdirect or scuttle your personal, church, or team efforts while clarifying how you should invest your life and resources to accomplish this most important task on earth.

Sharing in God’s Presence means far more than “getting saved” and experiencing God’s blessing in our lives. As believers, his presence becomes a very personal part of who we are and what we do—God actually shares himself with us! The language that we use often fails to capture the depths of God’s nature penetrating ours, the fullness of his Spirit permeating our hearts, and the innermost infusion of his presence in our lives. But the truth couldn’t be more intimate: “The person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him” (1 Corinthians 6:17)! This book is an invitation to share in God’s presence by allowing God to share himself with you. God wants everyone to share in his embrace. As we accept our responsibility for prayer, ministry, and even revival, we share in the very precious dynamic of give and response that’s involved in an intimate walk with Jesus Christ. For a general readership, this book is a reworking of material from the second half of the author's academic work God's Absence and the Charismatic Presence.

The author's theological inquiry is intended to raise questions of interpretation within the camp of openness theology and to direct a discussion on the implications of this movement for the charismatic/Pentecostal community. Open theism or openness theology affirms that the universe is open, the future is not settled, God is essentially relational love, and the risks of love and the threats against it are real. The author digs deep into this area of doctrine in order to question how far openness theology is willing to go. Is it only the future that is open to God, or are there perhaps unknown aspects to the past and present as well? What does God know about sin, and when does he know it? Is it possible for God to be totally absent from a person's life or even from an entire nation? If God can be absent, can he also be exceptionally present in the lives of believers? What would the divine presence and the charismata (spiritual ministries) look like in an open universe?

The purpose of the letter to the Ephesians is unknown. The book suggests that the purpose of Ephesians is about missions and being missional. The author of Ephesians committed the task of missions to the church. The author located the mission of the church in the redemptive plan of God. The redemptive "plan" (oikonomia) of God consists of historical epochs of missions: the mission of Israel, the mission of Christ, the mission of the disciples, the mission of the apostles, and the mission of the church. The term "missional" has been used ambiguously. The existence of a distinction between the mission of the church and missional church is demonstrated, and both expressions of mission are grounded in the biblical text of Ephesians. The mission of the church is grounded in an exposition of Eph 1-3, and the missional church is grounded in an exposition of Eph 4-6. The author of the letter intended for the mission to the nations to be continued by the church (this is the mission of the church). He intended for the members of the church to continue to reach out to their local community (this is expressed by the missional church). The mission of the church has been grounded in the Great Commission. The missional church is grounded in the values, morals, and lifestyle principles set out in Eph 4-6.