Missions on Point
Missions on Point offers a fresh perspective on local church missions ministries, providing practical guidance for biblical, effective, and strategic sending and going. The podcast equips church leaders and members to engage in global missions with clarity and purpose, aiming to glorify God among all nations. Each episode explores topics related to mission strategy, church partnerships, and the call to reach the unreached.
Episodes
MoP284 The Final Chapter
After 5-1/2 years of weekly Friday podcasts, we are bringing the Missions on Point podcast to the next stage. Lord willing, it has been and will continue to be a source of challenge, encouragement, and information for church leaders, their missionaries, and mission-sending organizations. We may add more to the Missions on Point podcasts, but it won't be every Friday; episodes may be longer and mor
MoP283 The Best of MoP - Ep 142 The Centrality of the Church in Missions - 1 Introduction
This introduction to the biblical principle of the centrality of the Church and missions was actually published as Missions on Point. You can get it through Amazon.com. This is the fire in the engine and the main thrust of all of our teaching and ministry over the last 30 years. Please go back to the Missions on Point episodes and find the entire list, which this episode is just the beginning of.
MoP282 The Best of MoP - Your Church Missions Handbook - 1 Introduction
A good Missions Handbook resolves many debates and provides context for the direction and strategic development of missions in your church by grounding decisions in Scripture. Start with the simplest nuts and bolts, ensuring each policy and procedure aligns with biblical principles and clear scriptural definitions. This biblical foundation provides the framework for your missions team's decision-m
MoP281 The Best of MoP - Ep 118 Special Church Missions Issues - 3 Missions Junkies
I love this topic. I've not found anyone else who talks about it. We've all met missions junkies. You probably have at least one in your church. They are people who love to talk about missions, love it when people pay for them to go "do" missions (but only short-term). They don't have the focus and intensity to become a long-term missionary. It's about THEIR experience, THEIR selfies, THEIR "calli
MoP280 The Best of MoP - Special Church Missions Issues - 1 Visiting Your Missionary on the Field
Visiting your missionary on the field is one of the sweetest blessings as a church leader. You get to see them in context, feel, hear, smell, taste, and touch their world. Yet it is also an earnest endeavor to shepherd them well, even to delve into the hard things in their life. Plan well. Let them know that your visit is not as a tourist, not as a dignitary or featured guest, but simply as a shep
MoP 279 The Best of MoP - Ep 102 Contemporary Issues in Missions - Business As Missions (BAM) 1 of 14
Business As Missions (BAM) has been the darling and the bane of attempts to reach "closed" countries with the Gospel. As Greg Livingstone has said, "You are either a job taker, a job maker, or a job faker." Most BAM out in the wild is job faking. While there is good work to be done by sincere Christians creating God-honoring businesses, they are rarely aimed at the end goal of establishing and str
MoP278 The Best of MoP - Ep 88 Church-Based Missionary Training - Introduction
Church-based missionary training is a huge, paradigm-shifting undertaking. But, if you don't want your sent-ones to be cannon fodder, you'd better wake up and take note. Sound church-based, guided missionary training will make the difference between burnout and longevity, between frustration and effectiveness, between being crushed and thriving. Listen and learn.
MoP277 Best of MoP - Sending Missionaries - Ministry Training and Qualifications 2 of 4
Imagine you had to train someone from your church to become your associate pastor. Then add layers of training in church planting, cross-cultural exposure, leadership training, and becoming an elder. There you have it, in a simple form; that's how you train a church member to become a missionary. This episode will guide your thinking. Look for lots more on Propempo.com, SendForward.org, and the Mi
MoP276 Best of MoP - Ep 84 Sending Missionaries From Your Church - Identifying Candidates
We actually address the issue of candidate identification in other series of the Missions on Point podcast. This one is the first of four in an overview of sending, equipping, and shepherding missionaries. I maintain that having a constant stream of equipping and leadership training in your church is absent in most churches. That's why it's so important to begin to address it. The answers to find
MoP275 The Best of MoP - Ep 79 Missiology You Need to Know - The Missionary Must Reproduce Himself
This episode, featuring The Best of Missions on Point, looks at episode 79. The "Missiology You Need to Know" series continues with The Missionary Must Reproduce Himself. This seems as obvious as the nose on your face. However, missionaries tend to copy the forms of the churches in which they grew up and don't learn because of the absence of emphasizing this in ministry training schools. This pri
MoP274 The Best of MoP - Ep 78 Missiology You Need to Know - First Priority is Culture and Language Learning
Perhaps you didn't think you needed to know about missiology, but understanding the priorities and foundation of practical missionary missiology is essential to comprehend the process of sending missionaries from your Church and supporting high-quality missionaries. Your understanding of key missiological principles will significantly aid you in grasping and empathizing with the work and ministry
MoP273 The Best of MoP - Ep 73 Help My Family Member is a Missionary
The "Best of" series is one of my favorites. It deals with subjects that are almost never admitted to or discussed in public. The angst that those "left behind" by their missionary family member or good friend rivals the angst caused by them toward their dear one. Those feelings of loss or abandonment are real. Shortsighted, damaging perhaps, but real to the "sufferer." So, those around them need
MoP272 The Best of MoP - Episode 63 The VISION of a Sending Church
This "Best of" episode is a synopsis of six major teaching/training topics we covered in 2-day Propempo seminars for churches seeking to learn how to become a sending church. This first one, V for Vision, is a great starting point for getting leadership on board with the concept of a biblical missions-sending church. Please consider sharing this podcast with others and supporting us to keep us goi
MoP271 The Best of MoP - Episode 58 Your Church Missions Profile - Ch Leaders, Missions Team, Individual Participation
Churches, including the missions ministries, tend to evaluate themselves based on metrics from previous years. The same metrics, without reference to an external objective benchmark. Sound familiar? The Church Missions Profile is your ticket to clearer standards. Visit SendForward.org and click on the Church Missions Profile link to learn more. The episode replays and overview of the first three c
MoP270 The Best of Mop - Episode 51 Essential Missions Books - Part 1
Books are an invaluable resource to us all, especially when you get the right ones! Here's my list of high-impact mission books. Visit SendForward.org/Store to explore some of these resources and others that have proven helpful to many.
Email me to let me know your thoughts:
ministry (at) Propempo.com
Go to Propempo.com to find transcripts of every podcast episode -- https://propempo.com/resources
MoP269 The Best of MoP - Episode 46 Discovering Missions Throughout the Bible - 1 The Glory of God
This is a grand series from the best of Missions on Point. It begins a series on discovering missions through the Bible. This first episode in that series is the glory of God. What could be higher and grander and more noble than that?
This episode begins to explore the biblical content, showing how it's easy to see, if you have eyes to see it, the great missions themes throughout the whole Bible.
MoP268 The Best of MoP - Episode 43 - Missions Committee Essentials - Part 1
Churches can easily neglect the essential ministry of the Missions Committee or Team. The series on Missions Committee Essentials, beginning from the replay of Episode 43, provides practical guidance to help start or restart an effective Missions Team. If your church wants to be missions-minded, the Missions Committee needs to be reinforced and refocused so that it can be used to effectively mobil
MoP267 The Best of MoP - Episode 40 - 1 The Centrality of the Local Church in God's Purposes Today
The "Best of" episode features the first of a short series on the most fundamental truths of missions from the Bible for today. This episode works through an overview of key Scriptures that establish the basis for the centrality of the local church in God's purposes. The local church is NOT the universal church. The universal church does not have the same call, commission, or consequence in God's
MoP266 The Best of MoP - Episode 12 - The Necessity of Pastoral Leadership of Missions in the Local Church - Part 1 of 4
Historically, we've battled with the wrong assumption that parachurch missions agencies own world missions ministry. It was true in 1900! It is largely accurate in 2025! This episode calls Pastors to lead their local church to ownership of global missions as the church equips, sends, and shepherds missionaries to fulfill the Great Commission. The Pastor must step up in faithfulness to this biblica
MoP265 The Best of MoP - Episode 5 - Overview of the Local Church's Role in Missions
Starting with validating the individual missionary candidate's missionary call through hands-on oversight and observation, the church equips him or her to be sent. Character, convictions, and proven competencies to do the work of a missionary are worked out in the laboratory of local church ministry.
The local church helps identify the field, the missions agency partner, and other supporting churc
MoP264 The Best of MoP - Episode 4 - The Whole New Testament Screams for Church Planting as the Goal of Missions
This episode continues the biblical case for the centrality of the local church in missions - as the beginning and the end, the progenitor and the purpose, the cause and result of missions to all people groups of the earth. The conclusion of this episode is that:
Churches need to take their responsibility to step up their rightful ownership of missions.
Missions sending organizations and parachur
MoP263 The Best of MoP - Episode 3 - You Can't Fulfill the Great Commission Without Planting a Church
This is a truth that has long been missing in our Western missions mindset. Everyone has been so busy and so hyped on evangelism and humanitarian issues that the heart of the biblical goal of missions has been overlooked. It is right there in Scripture for those who seriously care about what the Bible has to say, without truncating or embellishing it for their own purposes. The interpretation and
MoP262 The Best of MoP - Episode 2 - The Centrality of the Church in Missions - Ephesians 3
This "Best of" replay of Episode 2 takes me back to 1974, when the Lord opened my eyes to interpretive keys to Ephesians 3 and burned it into my heart as my missionary calling. The centrality of the local church in missions practically explodes out of Ephesians 3 and should NEVER be neglected in teaching and preaching the passage, including its connection to missions. We said it before; we say it
MoP261 Best of MoP - Episode 1 - The Propempo Perspective
Celebrating five years of the Missions on Point podcast prompts us to reflect on "the best of Missions on Point." This episode marks the first in a series that revisits and replays podcasts featuring key concepts for Propempo International and the biblical, local-church-centered missions philosophy.
This first one is an explanation of the biblical word, from Greek, "propempo." It demonstrates how
MoP260 The Five-Year Retrospective of the Missions on Point Podcast
We pause to reflect on God's grace and goodness to and through the Missions on Point podcast as we complete five years of weekly episodes (without missing or repeating!). We are grateful to God, to our listeners, and my associate, Joel Hollins, for making it possible to produce this podcast.
We ask that you, our listeners, help with getting the word out to share this great content to missions-min
MoP259 Training for the Sending Church 10 of 10 - Elevation 3 of 3
In this step of elevation, we expand the learning and exposure of local church-centric missions to the entire congregation. This is a crucial step, both in humble learning and in accelerated growth in the area of missions for your church. We share specific resources and types of resources to increase ownership and participation throughout the entire congregation.
MoP258 Training for the Sending Church 9 of 10 - Elevation 2 of 3
Practical and widespread communication and teaching of your church's paradigm to become a Sending Church will be key to your entire body of members embracing the biblical vision of a sending church. It will take some energy and enthusiasm to help your church grow to be committed to whole-church mobilization for missions. Lord willing, it will result in well-qualified missionaries sent to fulfill
MoP257 Training for the Sending Church 8 of 10 - Elevation 1 of 3
Now we get to the Elevation Phase. Elevation is where the church and missions leaders begin to bring the whole church along into this new biblical awareness of what it takes to be a sending church. The leaders may be running down the track, excited about where they are going. The church members are probably still in the starting blocks, waiting for the gun to go off. Teaching is a big part of it:
MoP256 Training for the Sending Church 7 of 10 - Education 3 of 3
Yes, it will take some effort and study to become a good sending church. There are deficits in learning this biblical role, and you'll need to exercise discernment. Even some excellent sources of information and inspiration may be influenced by their own biases and historical context. So listen to our recommendations to help you get started.
MoP255 Training for the Sending Church 6 of 10 - Education 2 of 3
A huge part of educating your church to grow in becoming a Sending Church is taking the initiative to ask for help! Key life lessons apply here:
Don't be in a hurry
Commit to self-assessment using metrics outside of yourself
Learn from other churches that have been in your position
Realize that God can use any "need" as an opportunity for growth, change, and positive movement in the right direct
MoP254 Training for the Sending Church 5 of 10 - Education 1 0f 3
With a body of information from the Evaluation stage, we enter the Education stage. We will revisit some fundamental biblical truths as a priority to gain unity and clarity among the leadership. The episode highlights the most basic elements and draws some contrasts with fuzzy truths known, promoted, or accepted in our present day. We'll discuss a few key principles for funding missions, including
MoP253 Training for the Sending Church 4 of 10 - Evaluation 4
The completion of our consideration of evaluating your church's potential as a good sending church includes thoughts that will ultimately help your church rise to that challenge. Start with prayer. End with prayer. Pray throughout the process. Ask lots of probing questions. Understand that you must win the participation and ownership of your church leaders. Seek to find the right resources and par
MoP252 Training for the Sending Church 3 of 10 - Evaluation 3
This episode of Training for the Sending Church focuses on a very important and often neglected part of our evaluation. It zeroes in on discovering our present missions commitments and helps us understand the past and present status of those missions commitments and aim toward the future.
The questions here will guide you and your church missions leadership in creating the backdrop for development
MoP251 Training for the Sending Church 2 of 10 - Evaluation 2
Assessment or evaluation of the local church's sending church potential is essential. This episode discusses some dynamics facing the person or entity doing the evaluation. We cover key questions that will reveal doctrine, desires, and design affecting the evaluation. This can be very helpful in discovering strengths and weaknesses. The process accelerates direction and solutions toward seeing the
MoP250 Training for the Sending Church, 1 of 10 - Evaluation 1
Whether you have a missionary candidate urgently asking to be sent out ASAP or are just growing your church's missions vision, this series will help you. We'll walk through the evaluation, education, and elevation steps to equip you and your church in sending. This episode closes with some key resources to follow up.
MoP249 The Church and the Parachurch - Personal Ministry
It's not your job, but it's also not what the church does. Christians are free to participate in any number of interchurch activities. We are better together than alone. But there must be a clear movement of the ministry toward the centrality of the church for every believer. Why is the priority of the church so important and how can we maintain that?
MoP248 The Church and the Parachurch - Vocation
A Christian's job can also be thought of as a parachurch ministry. It's important to make a distinction between what the church does and what a Christian does, and a distinction between what the gospel is and what the implications of the gospel are. Thus Christians live out their faith in the workplace and around the world while maintaining the primary importance of the work of the church and chur
MoP247 The Church and the Parachurch - Church Support
Churches have two kinds of ministries they operate: essential and support ministries. In this episode, we talk about how to make a distinction between the two and why that is important, along with some potential dangers and some helpful implications. Did you ever consider that your church operates parachurch ministries from within? Perhaps what your church has considered really important should be
MoP246 The Church and the Parachurch - Parachurch
Once we understand what the essentials of the church are, then we are able to define a parachurch ministry. The definition proposed in this episode will help us to keep the priority of ministry on the local church. It will help us understand why missions is important for churches as we compare and contrast all churches everywhere. And hopefully, you will be motivated in your own ministry to not ex
MoP245 The Church and the Parachurch - Essentials
Getting the church right sets the foundation for understanding all Christian ministry. The church is God's institution for his purpose of global glory. The church is essential and when we see how important the church is, then everything else we do as Christians will fall into place. What is essential for a church?
MoP244 The Church and the Parachurch - Introduction
Christians do a lot of things, most of it on their own as an act of faith that God has given them a ministry. Yet, Jesus warns us that many will claim having done many things in Jesus' name, but Jesus will reject them because he never knew them. How can we sort through what is a Christian ministry and what is not? Before we can answer that question, we must first understand what ministry the churc
MoP243 Preaching About Missions - Wisdom
Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. Old Testament wisdom points us to Christ and to the work of the church to go into all the world confounding the wisdom of this world. The wisdom literature gives us guidance for life, teaching us through the schoolhouse of the Old Testament to walk by the Spirit in faith, and not according to the letter of the law. Wisdom is for missions, and missions is only pos
MoP242 Preaching About Missions - Ezra Nehemiah Esther
The final history books of the OT, lead us to think about the hard work of building God's temple and kingdom. Clearly the old temple's glory would not be restored, but God's glory is worth our efforts because we look forward to a better temple. The book of Esther too teaches us about the limitations of man. Yet, we are responsible to do what we can, and God may use our works if he pleases. God wil
MoP Preaching About Missions - Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
The post-exile prophets have a unique message for the church today. Hope in the coming Messiah and the wealth of the nations being brought into the temple of God. Yet with a new temple that doesn't compare to Solomon's, we are taught to look for a glory greater than Solomon's. Today missionaries are God's messengers going to all the world, preaching the law and the gospel, preparing for the final
MoP240 Preaching About Missions - Jonah Joel Obadiah
These three prophets each have a unique contribution to the biblical message. And, with as believers today rightly interpret and apply these books, they are led to be mobilized for global missions. God shows us his compassion for the nations. He fills us with his Spirit so that we can preach the good news to all nations. And He promises to defeat every enemy raised against him, especially those wh
MoP239 Preaching About Missions - Nahum Zephaniah Habakkuk
Even though Judah was not like the apostate nation of Israel in the north, they had wandered from God. They too needed to be warned of impending judgment. But through this we learn about the prophetic hope in the judgment of God against every evil, which oppresses all mankind. The day of the Lord will be terrible, for God's wrath is not to be taken lightly. But in wrath, God remembers mercy, so it
MoP238 Preaching About Missions - Amos Hosea Micah
The prophets give us a message and themselves as messengers to teach the church about its role in confronting the nations in a prophetic way with the gospel. Amos preaches about the Day of the Lord, a day of gloom and darkness for Israel, but a day of hope for the Gentiles. Hosea preaches about a faithful husband and father who adopts children who were once not his own and gives them mercy. And Mi
MoP237 Preaching About Missions - Daniel
We know the stories of fiery furnaces, lion's dens, and the handwriting on the wall. We may the apocalyptic imagery too of beasts and horns. And it may all seem strange and far off from us. But Daniel has something to teach us that this world is not our home while a spiritual battle rages on. And surprisingly we learn about God's global mission to rescue those trapped in the kingdoms of darkness,
MoP236 Preaching About Missions - Ezekiel
Ezekiel received a bittersweet word from the Lord, a difficult burden to bear as a prophet. Yet he gives us a glimpse into the future glory of the Lord. Missionaries need to keep their hope in that glory, because suffering will come like it did for Israel and Ezekiel. The temple is destroyed, but in the resurrection of Jesus it is rebuilt along with God's army. God's word and God's Spirit give peo
MoP235 Preaching About Missions - Jeremiah Lamentations
The weeping prophet leads us to the steadfast love of the Lord, and the Old Covenant contrasting with the New Covenant opens the door wide for global missions. Jeremiah envisions judgment and hope for every nation to find future restoration in the coming Messiah. The prophet himself is an example for preachers and missionaries today who have been called by God to proclaim God's word to audiences w
MoP234 Preaching About Missions - Isaiah
Isaiah, the evangelical prophet, probably more explicitly than anywhere else in the Old Testament predicts the Suffering Servant who would die for the sins of the world. Yet, this gospel hope is directed toward the nations of the world. Salvation for all nations comes through the exile of God's chosen servant. The missionary's call is quite similar to Isaiah's, yet listen to this episode to find o
MoP233 Preaching About Missions - Samuel Kings Chronicles
Right missions methodology is highly dependent on how we understand the kingdom of God inaugurated with Jesus as King. How do we relate to the kingdoms of this world? How is Jesus the king leading his kingdom of priests in this world now? The history books of the Old Testament offer to us a helpful contrast between the failed kingdom of Israel and God's design for the church in the new covenant.
MoP232 Preaching About Missions - Joshua, Judges, Ruth
God's story to redeem mankind is a story that spans all of history. If the church hopes to understand its place in obeying the Great Commission now, then we need the history books of the Bible to rightly situate us in time. God is gaining for himself an inheritance of the nations, and the Old Testament faithful did not received what was promised to them because God was insuring that the Gentiles w
MoP231 Preaching About Missions - Deuteronomy
The law of God is essential for missions. Rather than simply a cultic and ritual code of conduct for the nation of Israel, Deuteronomy shows us the Spirit of the law, which has been made universally applicable for Gentiles through Jesus Christ who fulfills the law for us. Each of the ten commandments leads us to a need to preach these laws to all people everywhere. It is a worthy effort to conside
MoP230 Preaching About Missions - Numbers
The Israelites are on a journey from Sinai to the Promised Land. Rather than a book about genealogies, this book gives us the story of the gospel, and the pattern of all of time, where a second generation replaces the first. There is hope in God's mercy and covenant faithfulness. Listen to this episode and learn about four motivations for missions from the book of Numbers.
MoP229 Preaching About Missions - Leviticus
Leviticus is the central book of the Pentateuch, and at its center it teaches us an important lesson - a lesson which motivates us for global missions - the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. Man is not justified by following the law, his uncleanness is too great. But God's unilateral grace toward fallen man makes us holy. As the nation of Israel once gathered at the one place where sacrif
MoP228 PReaching About Missions - Exodus
God's people are called out of their slavery to their sinful cravings, and called to be holy, separated as the people of God, strangers and aliens on this earth. Yet, like Moses, we are called to go into the world and rescue the lost. The book of Exodus lays a blueprint of God's dwelling with mankind, and the church now is the temple of God, preaching God's word to God's people, calling believers
MoP227 Preaching About Missions - Genesis
The book of Genesis begins God's story of his global glory. Jesus Christ completes that story. And now through the church, we get to tell all nations how they fit into that story. Beginning with God's intentions in creation, his plan for a second Adam to rule to world, and for Jesus to be everyone's hope of undoing the curse and reversing the division at Babel. The hope for all nations of one offs
MoP226 Preaching About Mission - How To
There are dangers when preaching about missions, because we want to avoid reading into the text something that is not there. But how can we preach about it rightly. This episodes offers one primary way we can do that: biblical theology. From this recognition, we explore ten topics that are commonly found throughout scripture, and we see how they are naturally and easily connected to thinking about
MoP 225 Preaching About Missions - In Every Sermon
Is it possible to preach about mission in every sermon? Does every text of scripture lead us to this topic? Certainly you have preached or heard biblically faithful sermons where missions wasn't even mentioned. But once you start to see missions in the entire Bible, you can't help but to see it more. Consider this with us and we explore four ways to think about preaching and teaching missions from
MoP224 From HERE to THERE - Missionary Training - Conclusion - Last Thoughts
As you get ready to leave for your missions field, here is a conclusion of last thoughts. There are some things that will prove very useful to you and your church, which are contained as Appendices in the print book:
A. Practical guidelines for security concerns
B. A Sample partnership agreement between your sending church and the sending missions agency
C. Questions for missionary candidates, usu
MoP223 From HERE to THERE - Missionary Training - Get Humble
You may have come to a different conclusion of your plans to go to the missions field. Maybe you've worked hard for quite a while and found that you cannot go to the field. The doors have closed, at least for now. Then what will you do? Don't despair! God is still sovereign! He has plans to use you whether you make it to the field or not, whether you stay on the field or not. Get humble! Ask God w
MoP222 From HERE to THERE - Missionary Training - Get Launched
The capstone of your preparation and qualifications is the grand send-off service or weekend. Traditionally, this is called the commissioning service. You are recognized by the church as having completed all the requirements to go to the field. You are officially SENT from your sending church. It is a wonderful opportunity to praise God, thank all those who have helped in the process, and mark thi
MoP221 From HERE to THERE - Missionary Training - Get a Support Team
This is one of the hardest topics to deal with. Yet, historically, God has been pleased to use the process of raising personalized support, and the consequent partnership is material and spiritual, which has been the predominant means of missions ministry for hundreds of years. This now becomes an integral part of your ministry. It is not "other" than your ministry. It is a priority part of your m
MoP220 From HERE to THERE - Missionary Training - Get Fully Qualified
You've already done a lot to grow in life, knowledge, and skills to become a missionary. Now, let's give attention to the last things, the final brushstrokes on the canvas of your training and qualifications. You want to be fully commended and affirmed by both your home sending church and your missions agency before you are free to leave for your field of ministry. Today's episode will help you ma
MoP219 From HERE to THERE - Missionary Training - Get a Sending Agency Partner - Part B
There are many necessary questions to ask when researching a mission-sending agency partner. Remember, though, that your local sending church needs to be involved in the decision. The process of becoming a member of a missions agency is a big step. It will frame the context of your ministry into the foreseeable future, perhaps for a lifetime. So, your diligence now will bring large dividends and e
MoP218 From HERE to THERE - Missionary Training - Get a Sending Agency Partner - Part A
Winning the support, relationship, and equipping of your local sending church is important. Now, you turn your attention to selecting the best fit for a sending agency in concert with your church's leadership. It is a very important relationship. You need to have a good sending agency that respects the role of your church in your life and ministry and has expertise and experience in your target fi
MoP217 From HERE to THERE - Missionary Training - Get Cross-Cultural and Church Planting Exposure
Church planting among the least-reached people groups of the world is a priority. Very few workers sent to do that ministry have had guided or curated exposure that equips them to do it. You want to be one of those few. Begin your cross-cultural training HERE, before your feet hit the ground "over THERE." Do the work to discover ways to understand culture, particularly your target culture. Get co
MoP216 From HERE to THERE - Missionary Training - Get Local Church Ministry Experience
A startling hole in most missionary training is a broad foundation of personal ministry in the local church content. Church planters desperately need to understand the dynamics, the highs and lows, the disappointments and joys, of ministry with and to real people in their sending church. The rewards are great! Relationships, skills, and growing in grace found in this context are foundational to lo
MoP215 From HERE to THERE - Missionary Training - Get a Mentor
Somewhat surprisingly, the role of a missionary mentor in your training process as a missionary candidate is almost never acknowledged. For you to have a trusted friend and counselor (or several) as you wrestle through all the various aspects of personal change and growth is invaluable. Pray and ask and seek that God would give you a great mentor from within your sending congregation. This episode
MoP214 From HERE to THERE - Missionary Training - Get a Sending Church
One of the early crucial steps you can take toward the mission field is to become deeply connected and involved in a healthy sending church. College and university students rarely see this as a priority. If you want to be a faithful and effective missionary, you must! This episode describes qualities to look for and how to help yourself, your case as a missionary candidate, and your chosen church.
MoP213 From HERE to THERE - Missionary Training - Get Started
After the mountain-top euphoria of commitment to becoming a missionary candidate, the candidate needs a road map to help navigate the unfamiliar path ahead. The mentor helps you, the candidate, take stock of your special calling and position. There are a lot of new commitments that go along with becoming a missionary. Then, there is the careful and wise communication of your new commitment to thos
MoP212 HERE to THERE - Missionary Training - Introduction
Whether you want to be a missionary or are a friend, family, or fellow church member of a missionary candidate, this series of podcasts is for you. We will walk through the typical qualifying process to get from HERE (your home place) to THERE (your desired missions field). It's a daunting task to become a well-equipped missionary! It takes patience, time, and vision for personal growth and skill-
Mop211 Church Planting - Seeds of the Future
There are many streams of influence that affect the big picture of global church planting. We won't be able to address them all and certainly not in great depth. This episode deals with a few key thoughts about church planting around the world. We'll talk about effectiveness, the negative effect of American-influenced pragmatism, and hope for future changes coming.
A key foundation for biblical
MoP210 Church Planting - Foreign Culture Concerns
Church planting in a foreign culture has to consider all the concerns of every other type of church planting and adding both language and culture to the mix. Missionary church planting is the most exciting and most exacting of all church planting. Thankfully, missionaries may be more aware of their challenges than church planters who don't have the obvious stark contrasts. We talk about special co
MoP209 Church Planting - Near Cross-Culture Concerns
There is a huge need and opportunity for healthy biblical churches to consider planting a church in their "Samaria." We continue to see large communities of ethnic people around us. They, with all their extraordinary needs and often tragic personal history, need the Lord Jesus Christ presented to them understandably and lovingly. They need a local church that exalts Christ and expounds the Scriptu
MoP208 Church Planting - Near Culture Concerns
Acting on a commitment to plant a church in a nearby location within a very similar culture can feel daunting. Common concerns for the near-culture church plant need to be considered and addressed. Thinking through a number of diametrically opposite dynamics can help you avoid future problems. We address eleven concerns. By God's grace, working through the issues will forge your church planting te
MoP207 Church Planting - Modern Schemes
New church planting "keys" or "schemes," models or frameworks, come around regularly. Pragmatism overshadows hermeneutics to produce the next rapid results methodology that will surely be effective this time. Careful, solid preparation of the church planter should enable discernment and careful implementation based on genuine biblical consistency. Adapt what may be good; reject man-centered defini
MoP206 Church Planting - Universal Issues to Answer
Let's clear the fog and demystify more about church planting. These issues should not seem new because every vibrant church should have some experience or be working toward getting experience in church planting. In this episode, we'll talk about universal issues every church plant faces: meeting place, model, marketing, money, and melding of the church plant team.
Don't miss next week's controvers
MoP205 Church Planting - Universal Challenges
In this series, we want to lift the veil of mystery and sometimes misunderstanding about church planting. If church planting is a sign of a healthy church, every church member should be aware of some of the issues and challenges church planters face, some of the joys and sorrows, and the needed plans and particulars of the church plant. This episode touches on seven universal challenges beginning
