Book reviews
Reviews of the books shaping mission thinking and practice. Page 1 of 40 · 942 in all.
Members onlyLiving Out Loud: Letting Your Love for God Flow into Your Everyday Language
Friendship evangelism has failed. Many believers have rationalized not sharing the gospel because of fear. The fear of prematurely sharing the gospel before earning the right to be heard ends up being replaced by fear of losing the friendship.
Members onlyConservative in Theology, Liberal in Spirit: Modernism and the American Presbyterian Mission in Thailand, 1891–1941
Reviewed by Christopher L. Flanders, PhD, professor of missions at Abilene Christian University and former missionary in Thailand.
Members onlyWhere Is God in a World with So Much Evil
In this brief book, Collin Hansen offers a Christian perspective on the difficult question of God’s presence in an evil world. The aim of the book is to help readers trust God, even when he remains silent in the face of evil (4).
Members onlyUnderstanding Evangelism: Biblical Foundations, Historical Developments, and Contemporary Issues
In Understanding Evangelism, J. D. Payne (author, pastor, and professor at Samford University) covers a very broad subject with a refreshingly tight focus in each section. He includes sections on introductory matters, theology, history, communication, and contemporary issues.
Members onlyTurning the World Upside Down: Lessons for the Church from Acts 1-8
In Turning the World Upside Down: Lessons for the Church from Acts 1–8, Iain M. Duguid offers an accessible and digestible exposition of Acts 1–8 that is directly relevant to the mission of Christ and the church. The book covers the first eight chapters of Acts through 13 concise chapters.
Members onlyTriune Relationality: A Trinitarian Response to Islamic Monotheism
Sherene Khouri, assistant professor of Arabic at Liberty University, wrote Triune Relationality as her doctoral dissertation. The book presents a needed deep-dive study into the primary debate between Islam and Christianity.
Members onlyThe Bible in Culture: Reading the Bible With All the World Using Ethnohermeneutics
Reading and interpreting the Bible in a global context (“the Bible in culture”) so that the Bible can be understood “with all the world” is a tall order. Larry Caldwell accepts this challenge. He argues that prioritizing any one Bible interpretation approach is not appropriate (chapter 2).
Members onlyRethinking Church in the 21st Century: Suffering and Persecution
In Rethinking Church in the 21st Century: Suffering and Persecution, volume editor Myrto Theocharous introduces a vast array of topics surrounding the global church’s experiences with suffering and persecution.
Members onlySoul Tending: Leadership for Strategic Human Flourishing
Why do some flourish where others fail? Virgil Tanner’s Soul Tending provides a framework to turn challenges and negative experiences into fertile soil where individuals can thrive! Staff turnover in cross-cultural mission contexts is one of the greatest challenges that Christian leaders face.
Members onlyServing Jesus without Burning Out: Faithful Ministry in the Long Haul
Ministry in any context is stressful, no matter if it is the local church, the mission field, a mission agency, a seminary, or other ministry setting. Sometimes, without the proper safeguards, that stress leaves ministers and missionaries open to burnout, moral failure, and suddenly leaving ministry.
Members onlySacred Courage. Thinking Biblically About Fear and Anxiety
Betsy Kirk writes insightfully and poignantly about fear from her childhood experiences, parenting challenges, and missionary service. Although she was prone to worry and fear, she experienced victory in her dreaded transition from Minnesota to Indonesia.
Members onlyReading James Missiologically: The Missionary Motives, Message, and Methods of James
The Epistles do not often feature in missiological conversations which instead tend to favor the Gospels. The edited volumes of Reading Hebrews Missiologically, Reading 1 Peter Missiologically, and Reading Revelation Missiologically aim to fill this gap.
Members onlyEthiopian Diaspora Churches on Mission: An Intergenerational Perspective on Ethiopian Churches in the United States
This product of Mehari Tedla Korcho’s dissertation, Ethiopian Diaspora Churches on Mission, aims to address three core concerns: Ethiopian diaspora churches in the United States, “missions from diaspora believers,” and the intergenerational context of these diaspora churches (3–4).
Members onlyBefore You Go: Wisdom from 10 Women Who Served Internationally
Obedience to God’s call for international missionary service is daunting and complex. Evangelism and discipleship across cultural, religious, and linguistic barriers are challenging tasks.
Members onlyTell Everyone: SIM Niger Stories (1924-2024)
Africans frequently use stories to construct oral histories of their people or tradition. Older generations pass on family names, religious knowledge, and specific memories to younger ones who will tell others also.
Members onlyA Brighter Vision: Rethinking the Way We See Missions, Movements, and Making Disciples
A Brighter Vision, by Jackson Strider, offers a friendly critique of the church-planting movement/disciple-making movement (CPM/DMM) paradigm. Drawing on his own experiences, he encourages readers toward a biblically sound and realistic vision for life and ministry that does not hinge on catalyzing a movement.
Members onlyGod Draws Near: Rethinking the Biblical Theology of Mission
The idea of “the promise” as a unifying theme of the Old Testament (Walter C. Kaiser, Toward an Old Testament Theology; Zondervan, 1978) was an early foundation of my mission theology. Arthur Glasser (Announcing the Kingdom; Baker, 2003) and Christopher J.H. Wright (The Mission of God, Baker, 2008) further shaped my…
Members onlyMarakwet: An Ethnographic Study of Religious and Cultural Identity in Africa
Ethnographies will be complicated, and Marakwet is no exception. Cultural complexity in the social world has rarely been understood as a barrier to proclaiming the gospel by missionaries and Christian communities.
Members onlyAccidental Diplomats: American Missionaries and the Cold War in Africa
In Accidental Diplomats, Philip Dow (PhD, Cambridge), Head of School at Black Forest Academy, provides three historical case studies about the broad and often unintentional influence that ordinary American evangelical missionaries had in US relations with Ethiopia, Congo, and Kenya during the Cold War.
Members onlyMissiology with Power: A Missing Dimension in Intercultural Ministry
Eminent missiologist Charles H. Kraft is a key author and proponent of employing spiritual power in the proclamation of the gospel. As a professor of intercultural studies at Fuller Seminary, Kraft partnered with men like John Wimber and Peter Wagner in teaching about power encounters.
Members onlyEvangelism in an Age of Despair: Hope Beyond the Failed Promise of Happiness
Andrew Root’s Evangelism in an Age of Despair presents a thought-provoking take on evangelism. It is not so much a book about evangelism as about the ministry of consolation, which he defines as sharing someone’s sorrow and worry.
Members onlyTaking You Under My Skin: A Novel About Love, War, and the Unreached
What happens when mission theory collides with fear, failure, and the limits of human control? Marvin Newell’s Taking You Under My Skin answers this question through narrative missiology.
Members onlyUnreadable: Another Book You Probably Won’t Read
When doing my dissertation research, I discovered that my non-reading friends learned best through trusted connections and through relational means – from people rather than print. Don Barger and Grant Lovejoy affirm the same in Unreadable: Another Book You Probably Won’t Read.
Members onlyBefore You Go: Wisdom from 10 Men on Serving Internationally
A young student, newly called to ministry, grabs a latte from the local coffee shop and sits across from a veteran missions leader. The two have a great discussion about family, church involvement, and future ministry aspirations.