Sunday, February 21, 2016

Michael Pocock | Review of Understanding Insider Movements

Michael Pocock reviews UIM in the new issue of IJFM. Here is the conclusion:

By the end of the book the reader will admit that insider movements involve many thousands who are discovering and being dramatically changed by Jesus, yet who have been misunderstood by many across the global church today. Let’s remember that Jonathan Edwards, who was a great preacher and exponent of the Great Awakening in America, had his detractors. In spite of the transformation in the religious landscape of the colonies, Edwards, Whitfield and the Wesleys had skeptics who questioned the validity or genuineness of their movement. Edwards had to explain and defend this awakening in two famous publications, A Treatise on Religious Affections and The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God. He was still addressing this concern in his commencement address at Yale University, Sept. 10, 1741. In these works, Edwards showed that a genuine movement of God will manifest many surprising things which in themselves do not discredit the movement. If they are not of God, they will pass away. But he warned his readers and listeners not to commit the unpardonable sin of attributing this work of the Spirit to the Devil. He asked if it is not pride, or the lack of spiritual vitality, that causes the critics to assail this movement. In the same vein, any of us who are quick to criticize these emerging insider movements, or these Jesus followers in such different contexts, would do well to think on Edward’s words. And I commend this book to you in the same spirit.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Missio Nexus Webinar | The W-Spectrum: Exploring Paradigms of Ministry in Islamic Contexts

webinarsOn March 10th 2pm EST I’ll be doing a webinar with Missio Nexus on The W-Spectrum. See info below.

http://missionexus.org/the-w-spectrum/:

March 10, 2016     2:00pm to 3:15pm Eastern time
Warrick Farah • Missiologist • International Teams

Anyone involved in missions today knows that evangelical workers have numerous and sometimes conflicting approaches to Muslim ministry. The W-Spectrum (EMQ October 2015) describes four of these approaches which correlate with the workers’ view of “Islam” (note: The W paradigms do not correlate with the C Spectrum). In order to evaluate this framework, the W-Spectrum was tested via an online survey by more than two hundred workers around the world.  By presenting the research analysis in this webinar, we will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the W-Spectrum and explore various paradigms of ministry among Muslims.

Register