Book reviews
Reviews of the books shaping mission thinking and practice. Page 2 of 40 · 954 in all.
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.
Members onlyA Short Guide to Spiritual Formation: Finding Life in Truth, Goodness, Beauty and Community
A Short Guide to Spiritual Formation is a winsome introduction to spiritual formation. While the book does not dive into spiritual practices in detail, it provides an encouraging posture on this important subject. This book is recommended for disciple-makers who long for more than just programs and desire to connect…
Members onlyHope for Creation: Missional Responses to Environmental and Human Calamities
It is difficult to visit a news website or browse any social media without seeing some reference to climate change or natural disaster.
Members onlyCan a Christian Be Cursed? An African Evangelical Response to the Problem of Curses
In a viral video, a young African woman walks into her home wearing a surgical mask, evidently to conceal a rash. Her mother-in-law immediately arises from her sofa and launches into a “back-to-sender” curse-removal prayer punctuated by clapping and staccato invocations of the name “Jesus.”
Members onlyTheopoetics in Color: Embodied Approaches in Theological Discourse
How do we theologically reflect and talk about God in our lived realities: our bodies, identities, experiences, geographic locations, and particular contexts? This is a crucial question for pastors, teachers, and missionaries who are engaged in incarnational ministry.
Members onlyProlegomena to the Study of Islam
Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, and since 9/11 many mission organizations have refined their focus on Christian witness among Muslims. This renewed interest in missions to Muslims has produced fresh appreciation for classic missiologists and scholars of Islam like Samuel Zwemer and Kenneth Cragg.
Members onlyThe Impact of Short-Term Missions on Long-Term Missional Development
The adrenaline has stopped pumping, the mission trip is over, and the busyness of everyday life presses the mission trip participants back into their former routines. For too many, a mission trip is simply a temporary diversion from ordinary life.
Members onlyEssentials for People Care and Development: A Collection of Best Practices, Research, Reflections, and Strategies
In their insightful book, Geoff Whiteman and Heather Pubols make a significant contribution to the field of member care by leveraging practical theology to address the unique needs of the mission community.
Members onlyGreat Commission Spirituality: Abiding in Christ, Serving in Obscurity
As servants of Jesus Christ, we missionaries do not just work for him. We also are called to the same loving, family relationship with Jesus to which we invite others. Great Commission Spirituality aims to help us keep sight of that reality amid our labor.
Members onlyYou Will Be My Witnesses: Theology for God’s Church Serving in God’s Mission
Brian DeVries is an American Reformed minister working in South Africa since 2005. He has led three multiethnic church plants, pastors Grace Reformed Church in Pretoria, is the principal of Mukhanyo Theological College, and teaches at Reformed seminaries in the United States.
Members onlyFulfilling the Great Commission: Essays in Honor of Daniel L. Akin
“Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” This well-known quote from John Piper echoes throughout this book of essays in honor of Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
Members onlyJingjiao: The Earliest Christian Church in China
This book should be read by anyone who is interested in the history of Christianity in China. It explains how Christianity originally came to China from the Middle East via the Silk Road.
Members onlyPeople Vision: Reimagining Mission to Least Reached Peoples
The central concept of the text, “people vision,” refers to “an eschatological vision of persons from ‘every tribe and language and people and nation’ gathered in worship around the throne of the Lamb” from Revelation 5:9 (271).