The Master’s Seminary has officially launched the Tyndale Center for Bible Translation in order to train pastor-translators for the vital ministry of Bible translation. The new center provides training in Bible translation at TMS within the context of the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program. Students will be able to combine theology, biblical languages, and translation … Read More
Adjusting Your Missions Program
Thus far, we’ve looked at the motivations and biblical principles for missions, as well as how to build a leadership team, communicate, and evaluate your church’s missions program. In the final post of our series on developing an effective missions program, we take a look at how to adjust your missions program to better align … Read More
Missionary Outreach in Closed Countries
There is much missionary interest into countries considered to be unreached. In fact, if you trace Missions History as related to such countries you will realize there was tremendous overseas missionary involvement in the past 4 Centuries. Subsequent to nationalistic awakenings several countries closed their doors on foreign missionaries. Beginning with China, other nations too began … Read More
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Your Missions Program
Over several posts, we’ve been looking at how to develop an effective missions program. In today’s post, we move from developing and documenting your new missions strategy, to how your current missions program should be evaluated to determine how closely it matches up with the new strategy. This will enable your leadership to determine if … Read More
Communicating an Effective Missions Strategy
It should be noted at this point that implementing a new or redefined missions strategy requires great wisdom in leadership. Though a team of qualified leaders may develop a biblically principled missions strategy, the entire congregation must embrace it. A shepherd who walks too far ahead of his sheep will soon find himself without a … Read More
Developing a Strategy for an Effective Missions Program
In previous posts, we’ve traced the biblical motivation for missions and some of the broad principles that should govern a church’s missions activities. This post is intended to help you devise your church’s strategy within that biblical framework. To do this, we recommend constructing a Missions Strategy and Policy document (MSP). This is a simple … Read More
Developing Leaders for Your Missions Program
The elders and pastors of a local church bear responsibility for the accomplishment of the Great Commission. That does not mean that those leaders have to do everything that is required. They should, however, make sure that the task is planned and resourced in such a way to maximize effectiveness. They should be among the … Read More
Biblical Principles for an Effective Missions Program
Having seen that Scripture informs us why we should be involved in missions, the next questions are what should be done and how we should go about it. Thankfully, God’s word has very clear principles to guide us in these questions. The primary prescriptive passages are the Great Commission texts, which serve to define the … Read More
Understanding the Motivation for Missions
When discussing the specifics of church missions programs, it is critical to begin by understanding the motivation behind missions. A proper understanding of “God’s Mission” will result in a more deeply rooted missions program, and ultimately in a more effective gospel witness. From the beginning of time God purposed to bring glory to his name … Read More
Together for the Bible
Together for the Gospel? Yes and Amen! What about the Bible? Faith comes by hearing the gospel, right (Rom. 10)? So we plant churches. But how do we plant churches without the Word of God? We can start by evangelizing, which is oral proclamation of the gospel, but as people come to faith and yearn … Read More
