Introducing Metanoia: How God Radically Transforms People, Churches, and Organizations from the Inside Out (Hirsch and Kelly 2023)

Morpheus, Gandalf, Yoda, Professor X, Alan Hirsch. Iconic mentor figures who provide guidance, wisdom, and mystical aid to the protagonists in their respective stories. Acting as a compass and a source of inspiration, they help the characters (us!) overcome obstacles and achieve their goals…

My endorsement for Alan’s new book, Metanoia: How God Radically Transforms People, Churches, and Organizations from the Inside Out:

Decades of the “missional” conversation have not led to church-as-movement. Why? Perhaps because we cannot go from unlearning our inherited paradigm to learning anew without wholeheartedly embracing Jesus’ call to metanoia. This book describes that indispensable, painful, and beautiful process of biblical transformation so that we can see and be the church Jesus promised to build: multiplying networks of disciples in communal relationships who exist in and beyond the gathered expression. Take the red pill, and brace yourself for a paradigm-shifting journey.

See more here: https://www.themxplatform.com/onlineshop/p/metanoia-appendices-ebook

Pray4Movement and BibleProject

Ramadan begins March 22 and ends with Eid al-Fitr on April 21. You can sign up to pray for a Muslim city, country, or people group here: https://pray4movement.org/ramadan-2023/

PrayerCast also has excellent resources: https://www.prayercast.com/love-muslims-landing.html

Finally, if you haven’t heard of the BibleProject, you are definitely missing out. Much of the world operates from a “digitoral” (digital + oral) learning preference now (after the Gutenberg Parenthesis), and the resources they are creating capture this phenomenon in theologically robust and faithful ways. The Tree of Life (4:51) and the Visual Commentary on Genesis 1 (7:42) are two of my favorite videos.

I also like their videos on the book of Acts. How many times can you hear them say “movement” in the video on Acts 8-12 (6:00)? :-)

The Maverick Podcast Season 2

https://www.themaverickpodcast.com

I have been listening to Season 2 of the Maverick Podcast and I have to say, it is truly well done. The series delves into movements within Muslim contexts (in different regions of the world) and the challenges they face. Each episode presents a nuanced and balanced portrayal of the individuals and groups involved. I recommend this podcast to anyone looking for an introduction to church planting movements in the Muslim world.

‘The Religious Other’ a CT Book Award Finalist

Christianity Today’s 2022 Book Awards named The Religious Other: A Biblical Understanding of Islam, the Qur'an and Muhammad a finalist in the “Missions & Global Church” category. I had three chapters in the book, and you can preview them here:

1. Discerning Spiritual Realities in Islamic Contexts: Missional Reflections of a Boring Charismatic
2. Hermeneutical Hinges: How Different Views of Religion and Culture Impact Interpretations of Islam
3. Adaptive Missiological Engagement with Islamic Contexts (was originally in Margins of Islam)

Purchase The Religious Other at Langham or on Amazon. Check out the other award winners here.

Motus Dei Book Launch Event Oct 20

The first research output from our Motus Dei Network is available now for pre-order, Motus Dei: The Movement of God to Disciple the Nations. It releases on October 19.

You’re invited to the Virtual Book Launch on October 20, 9:00-9:45am Central Time US. Register here https://bit.ly/MotusDei and attend for a chance to win a free hard copy and a discount code for purchases. Here is the event schedule:

• Endorsement by JD Payne, professor of Christian Ministry, Samford University
• Endorsement by Harry Brown, president of New Generations
• Book Preview
• Breakout Sessions with Contributors
• Chance to win a free book and a discount code for attendees

Feel free to share this with your networks.

Misc Links: Palestine and Power, ‘Isa and Jesus, Mosque Planting and America

A quick post to share three brief articles worth reading.

First, Caleb Hutcherson shares a moving piece on the relationship between power, oppression, and Zionism. Missiological responses to the subject/conflict due well to consider this perspective: Palestine, Evangelicalism, and the Problem of Power

Second, ministry to Muslims in Arab contexts involves the inevitable issue of the translation for “Jesus.” Should it be ‘Isa (the Qur’anic term) or Yesua’ as Christians typically say? In my experience, Arab MBBs get used to using both names without much difficulty- ‘Isa in Muslim contexts and Yesua’ in Christian contexts. There are some compelling and commonsensical reasons for using ‘Isa in Arabic translations of the Bible for a Muslim audience. See Martin Accad, What’s in a Name?: A Case for Using ‘Isa in Arabic Translations of the Bible.

Finally, Jayson Casper has a very interesting article in Christianity Today on American Muslim patterns of “mosque planting” and “unmosqued youth” that resemble Christian semantics on similar issues, especially related to secularism: The American Mosque: More Suburban, Less Conversion.

American Evangelicals and US Foreign Policy in the ME: Exposing and Overcoming Missional Blind Spots | MJ Bryant

Here is an important study on political theology for American evangelicals engaged in the Middle East. Posted at the website of Nabeel Jabbour https://www.nabeeljabbour.com/american-evangelicals:

American Evangelical Christians often express a desire for Muslims in the Middle East to hear and believe the gospel of Jesus. Many will financially support missionaries who travel to the region to share the gospel with Muslims, while simultaneously giving their support to violent military actions and destabilizing political policies in that very same region. Perhaps it does not occur to them that the political policies they support are often counterproductive to the mission of God in the region.

Download the full document here: PDF | EPUB | KINDLE

Facing West: American Evangelicals in an Age of World Christianity (Swartz 2020)

“If Arab Muslims are the least-reached people in the world, then American Evangelicals are the least-transformed people in the world,” retorted my Arab colleague as I was making my case for the priority of ministry among unreached people groups.

As an American Evangelical with a passion for disciple-making among the unreached, this stunned me. But then again, given all the ugliness that has been unveiled about American evangelicalism in (at least) the past five years, I have to admit, it might be painfully true.

In Facing West: American Evangelicals in an Age of World Christianity, David Swartz, professor of history at Asbury University, takes the reader on tour de force understanding of what can also sometimes be understood as “Christian Americanism” abroad. In so doing, Swartz shows how global evangelicalism does not sit comfortably in American clothes, and that American “missions” often has the dual effect of affecting the church in the United States as well. As he deals with people like McGavran, Wagner, Winter, and even Hiebert, I was most impressed with his grasp of the missiological side of the conversation. The description of the book says it best:

In 1974 nearly 3,000 evangelicals from 150 nations met at the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. Amidst this cosmopolitan setting and in front of the most important white evangelical leaders of the United States, members of the Latin American Theological Fraternity spoke out against the American Church. Fiery speeches by Ecuadorian René Padilla and Peruvian Samuel Escobar revealed a global weariness with what they described as an American style of coldly efficient mission wedded to a myopic, right-leaning politics. Their bold critiques electrified Christians from around the world.

The dramatic growth of Christianity around the world in the last century has shifted the balance of power within the faith away from traditional strongholds in Europe and the United States. To be sure, evangelical populists who voted for Donald Trump have resisted certain global pressures, and Western missionaries have carried Christian Americanism abroad. But the line of influence has also run the other way. David R. Swartz demonstrates that evangelicals in the Global South spoke back to American evangelicals on matters of race, imperialism, theology, sexuality, and social justice. From the left, they pushed for racial egalitarianism, ecumenism, and more substantial development efforts. From the right, they advocated for a conservative sexual ethic grounded in postcolonial logic. As Christian immigration to the United States burgeoned in the wake of the Immigration Act of 1965, global evangelicals forced many American Christians to think more critically about their own assumptions.

The United States is just one node of a sprawling global network that includes Korea, India, Switzerland, the Philippines, Guatemala, Uganda, and Thailand. Telling stories of resistance, accommodation, and cooperation, Swartz shows that evangelical networks not only go out to, but also come from, the ends of the earth.

This book will help missionaries from America see how they are viewed by evangelicals in the Majority World, but it also adds an important piece of postcolonial logic in the globalizing understanding of frontier missiology. Highly recommended.

Recent Movements and UPG Resources

If you aren’t already, you should be aware of Steve Addison’s Movements Podcast and website https://www.movements.net.

Recently, Steve interviewed Dave Coles on the episode “Telling the Story of Movements.” He has also interviewed Victor John on the episode, “Pioneering Movements in North India.” With 234 episodes and counting, you can tell Steve has done his research!

Together, Victor and Dave authored Bhojpuri Breakthrough: A Movement that Keeps Multiplying. This case study will also be featured in the upcoming Motus Dei volume.

Additionally, the Global Assembly of Pastors for Finishing the Task (GAP4FTT) held a virtual conference in October to build collaboration toward engaging unreached people groups with movements. There are about 50 plenary and workshop videos pre-recorded. You will recognize some of the names and faces from our Movements Research Symposium. This library of resources is available here for the next month. The content is also available on GAP4FTT's YouTube channel.

Excursus: Yep, I did just use the term “unreached people groups” in the above paragraph. That term and concept has fallen into disrepute in some corners of missiology. However, the recent edition of EMQ was dedicated to Rethinking People Group Missiology and has redeemed the concept for me. Easily one of the best issues of EMQ ever. I feel comfortable using the term again.

If you only have time for one article in that issue, I recommend Reimagining & Re-envisioning People Groups by Leonard N. Bartlotti (subscription required). From his section titled “Church Growth Where There is No Church”:

We need to re-envision the connection between the frontier missions and the church growth. Amidst the global flow of goods, ideas, and people, mega-, multiethnic, and urban/regional house church networks are thriving from Argentina and Chile, to Nigeria, India, and Indonesia, as well as the West. Despite common roots and exceptions, the two streams are largely disconnected professionally and missionally. Reestablishing synergy and sharing resources would advance an “all peoples” vision.

UPG enthusiasts need to deconstruct categories and recognize that church movements need not be monoethnic to engage and penetrate UPGs. Gospel freedom allows and celebrates, but does not demand, homogeneous ethnic churches. Some church movements involve ethnic blends, with homogeneity in evangelism, and heterogeneity in discipleship. Others facilitate homogeneity in smaller relational circles, and heterogeneity in larger ones. Homogeneity may suit first generation immigrants, but heterogeneity, the children of immigrants (e.g. pan-Asian and pan-Latino churches). Other churches have an ethnically dominant group plus mixed cultural groups (e.g. Persian, Arab). Mobilizing urban conglomerate churches, house church networks, and proximate believers, and purposefully connecting diaspora disciple making with other frontier initiatives, would help revitalize movement toward UPGs.

Read the whole thing.

Islam and the Geo Politics of the Middle East | Free Online Course by Dr. Nabeel Jabbour

As an incredibly generous gift to the church and the missions community, Dr. Nabeel Jabbour has recently released his training course available for free as a set of 47 lectures and pdf resources, about 45 hours of content. Much more than the title suggests, the course is full of missiology and practical advice for ministry to Muslims, not just simply on politics and Islam. But Jabbour’s handling of politics demonstrates just how necessary and beneficial it is to incorporate political theology into missiology – this is often a glaring blindspot for workers in general and Americans in particular.

Jabbour is also author of The Crescent through the Eyes of the Cross: Insights from an Arab Christian.

From the website for the course https://www.drjabbourcourse.com/courses/islam-and-the-geo-politics-of-the-middle-east/:

The course has been recorded and there are 47 sessions to view at your leisure. They vary in length and each session’s length is stated in brackets after the title. Each session is based on the sessions that came before it. Start with Session 1, and after you finish viewing it, click the button “Mark Complete ✔” and that allows you to go to Session 2 and on and on.

The list of materials alone is worth checking out. Thank you Nabeel!

Review of Ephesiology: A Study of the Ephesian Movement (Cooper 2020)

I’m excited to introduce you to a new book, Ephesiology: A Study of the Ephesian Movement. See also the corresponding website https://ephesiology.com with a course, blog, and podcast.

Author Michael Cooper will be presenting at Motus Dei: Movements Research Symposium later this year. His talk is tentatively titled, “Missiological Theology of Movements focused on the Study of the Gospel of John.”

Ephesiology is a study of the origins of the Christian church planting movement that began in Ephesus. It presents a way to read the Bible through the glasses of first-century movement leaders which will lead you to a “missiologically theocentric” pursuit of movements today for God’s glory.

Cooper offers a robust, holistic missiological theology of church planting movements (CPM) by looking primarily at Acts 19, Ephesians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Revelation 2-3. He exegetes these passages through what I would call a “movemental hermeneutic” of Scripture. Throughout, Cooper’s missiology engages with church history, religious studies, sociology, and current CPMs.

A unique aspect of Ephesiology is that it doesn't use strategy buzzwords such as people of peace, T4T, Insiders, DMM, generational mapping, or contextualization (although 4 Fields is used in the appendix). It is really just a biblical look at CPM, and Cooper does some creative and nuanced work to make the biblical text relevant for practitioners today.

Those who are more theologically inclined will like Ephesiology, while others might find the theology lengthy at times. Ephesiology is especially good for those who might be turned off by aspects of the DMM/T4T/CPM industry but who are still interested in movements (and New Testament theology).

Cooper might not like me using these words (perhaps for good reason), but his approach is both contextual and holistic. He engages deeply with religion and culture and also cares about social justice and transformation. Because it is filled with biblical principles, Ephesiology is meant to be applied in both the Global North and the Global South.

Here is Cooper’s missiological-theological framework of the Ephesian movement (pgs. 180-181):

1. The early missionaries launched a movement that is missiologically theocentric, with the heart to connect God’s story with the story of culture… A proper missiological theologian will allow the identity of a movement to evolve from within a culture.
2. Paul grounded the movement with the vision to fulfill God’s will of uniting all things in Christ.
3. Paul and Timothy led the movement as a community of brothers and sisters determined to equip the saints for ministry.
4. The disciples multiplied a movement by empowering leaders to use their gifts, inspiring them to join in suffering, entrusting them to teach others, and reminding them to preach the Word.
5. The church in Ephesus sustained the movement by reengaging the works of her first love.

Overall, Ephesiology is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to learn:

1. how all who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord while Paul was in Ephesus for two years (Acts 19:10),
2. the incredible movements that transformed peoples from India to Iberia in the first 250 years of the church, and
3. how we can glorify God by joining with him to unite all things in Christ today (Eph. 1:10).

As Cooper says, “This is the story of Paul’s missiological theology situated in the grand narrative of God’s mission. It rocked the world of his time, and it can rock our world as well” (pg. 34).

Buy the book, register for the online course, or have Cooper run a workshop for your group.

Our Interview on Strike the Match Podcast

From Understanding the Muslim Mosaic:

Gene Daniels and Warrick Farah are my guests on this episode of the podcast. Many of us are familiar with the Five Pillars of Islam and the faith’s generalities learned in our comparative religion classes. However, our world is comprised of a Muslim mosaic not a monolithic Islam. My guests and I talk about understanding this reality as we engage the Muslim world with the gospel.

Daniels and Farah are the editors of Margins of Islam: Ministry in Diverse Muslim Contexts. This excellent book takes readers on a global journey revealing multiple expressions of the Islamic faith. Their work–and our discussion–challenges us to know our contexts and allow such insight to shape contextualized strategies and methods.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Sacred Misinterpretation | Accad 2019

Sacred Misinterpretation: Reaching across the Christian-Muslim Divide, by Martin Accad (Eerdmans 2019). From Amazon:

Promotes gracious interfaith dialogue on sensitive theological issues

Theological issues are crucial to how Christians and Muslims understand and perceive each other. In Sacred Misinterpretation Martin Accad guides readers through key theological questions that fuel conflict and misunderstanding between Muslims and Christians. A sure-footed guide, he weaves personal stories together with deep discussion of theological beliefs.

Accad identifies trends, recognizes historical realities, and brings to light significant points of contention that often lead to break-down in Christian-Muslim dialogue. He also outlines positive and creative trends that could lead to a more hopeful future. Fairly and seriously presenting both Muslim theology and a Muslim interpretation of Christian theology, Sacred Misinterpretation is an essential guide for fostering dialogue and understanding among readers from both faiths.

Full Table of Contents for the First Three and Final Chapters:

1. Introduction
1. Christian-Muslim Interaction
1. The Context of My Writing
2. What Does Theology Have to Do with Conflict and War?
2. The Kerygmatic Approach to Christian-Muslim Interaction
3. The Islamic Phenomenon
1. Islam’s Prophet in the Kerygmatic Approach
2. The Qurʾan in the Kerygmatic Approach
3. Muslims in the Kerygmatic Approach
4. Purpose of Relationship with Islam and Muslims
5. Methods Used in the Kerygmatic Approach to Islam and Muslims
6. Expectable Outcomes
7. A Legitimate Insider’s Knowledge of Islam
4. The Suprareligious Approach and the “Two-Buildings” Analogy
5. A Book Respectful Enough of Islam for Muslims to Read It
6. A Biblical Theme: God’s Agenda
1. Understanding the Importance of Mercy
2. Adopting an Attitude of Humility
3. Seeking Ways to Act Justly
4. Mercy, Humility, and Justice in the Context of Lebanon
5. Political Conflict and the Role of Religious Dialogue
2. ​Hermeneutics and Dialogue
1. Christian Misrepresentation: Reading Christian Thinking into the Qurʾan
2. Christian Misrepresentation: Giving Primary Attention to Literary Context
3. Muslim Misrepresentation: Reading the Bible Muhammado-centrically
4. Comparative Observations on Textual Interpretation
5. The Legitimate Interpretation of the Qurʾan
1. Language and Grammar
2. Occasions of the Revelation
3. Interpretation Proper
4. Stories of the Prophets and the Biography of Muhammad
5. Identification of the Obscure
6. The Theory of Abrogation
7. An Argument against the Claim of Medinan Abrogation
8. Tradition versus Opinion
6. Legitimate Christian Interpretation of the Qurʾan
1. The Importance of Context
2. Interpretation and the Emergence of Doctrine
3. Historical Context
7. Sacred Misinterpretation and the Emergence of Religious Monologue
8. Establishing a Hermeneutical Method for Christian-Muslim Theological Dialogue
1. The Promise of Hermeneutics in Christian-Muslim Dialogue
2. Study the Internal Muslim Understanding
3. Study the Historical Dialogue
4. Identify Historical Deadlocks
5. Search for Hermeneutical Keys to Break the Deadlock
9. Globalizing the Theological Conversation
10. Closing Considerations: Continuity Rather than Discontinuity
3. ​God in Christian-Muslim Dialogue
1. Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?
1. Timothy George
2. Miroslav Volf
3. Imad Shehadeh
4. Summarizing Reflection
2. Islam and the One God
1. The Qurʾan’s Vindication of Jesus
2. “I Would Never Say What Is Not Rightfully Mine to Say!”
3. Jesus Affirmed That “There Is No God But God”
4. Jesus Affirmed and Practiced the Worship of God Alone
3. God in Islam
1. Islam’s Doctrine of Absolute Monotheism
2. The Qurʾan’s Rebuttal of the Christian View of God
3. The Qurʾan’s Rebuttal of Christ’s Divinity
4. Summarizing the Metadialogue on the Doctrine of God
5. Hermeneutical Keys in Building Bridges beyond Conflict
6. Using Deadlocks as Assets
7. Concluding Thoughts
8. Further Reading and Research
4. Who Jesus Is Not according to Muslims
5. Who Jesus Is according to Muslims
6. Muslim Strategies in Approaching the Bible
7. Taḥrīf and the Corruption of Scripture
8. Islam’s Muhammado-Centric Reading of the Bible
9. Muhammad as Paraclete
10. ​Beyond Conflict
1. Legitimate Ways for Christians to View Islam
2. A Simple Definition of Islam
1. Two Stages of Muhammad’s Life
2. The Meccan and Medinan Qurʾans
3. Meccan and Medinan Muslims Historically and Today
3. Muhammad and Early Islamic History as Paradigm
4. A Case for Meccan Islam
5. Muhammad in the Context of Dialogue
1. Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad
2. The Two-Times Theory
6. The Status of Muhammad for a Christian
1. Muhammad—a Bridge to Christ?
2. A Call to Awakening for People of Faith in the Twenty-First Century
3. Imagining a New Future
4. A Call to Social Action
5. A Call to Political Activism, Peacebuilding, and Courage
6. A Call to Worship

In the introduction, Accad says that “the general Christian reader who does not wish to engage with the more technical and historical sections of the seven core chapters (3-9) can still benefit from the book by reading the opening and closing pages of each chapter.”

This important book provides a hermeneutically robust, historical-theological understanding of Islam. Highly recommended.

Introducing our New Book | Margins of Islam: Ministry in Diverse Muslim Contexts

On behalf of Gene Daniels, I’m excited to introduce our new book Margins of Islam: Ministry in Diverse Muslim Contexts. Here is the book description:

What do you do when “Islam” does not adequately describe the Muslims you know? Margins of Islam brings together a stellar collection of experienced missionary scholar-practitioners who explain their own approaches to a diversity of Muslims across the world. Each chapter grapples with a context that is significantly different from the way Islam is traditionally presented in mission texts. These crucial differences may be theological, socio-political, ethnic, or a specific variation of Islam in a context—but they all shape the way we do mission. This book will help you discover Islam as a lived experience in various settings and equip you to engage Muslims in any context, including your own.

One of the most succinct and descriptive endorsements comes from Timothy Tennent, President of Asbury Theological Seminary:

In a marvelous tour de force, Margins of Islam exposes the widely held, but false assumption that the house of Islam is a monolithic religious entity which either resists or responds to missiological strategies. Collectively, these authors offer up case studies and rich and textured “on the field” experience which reflects the true variegated diversity of Islam. This book is contextual missiology at its finest.

The project was the brainchild of Gene Daniels. I vividly remember sitting next to him on a bus discussing it with him on our way to a conference center from a hotel a couple years ago. His big idea was to gather missionary scholar-practitioners serving in various Muslim settings to explain how they take context seriously and how they deal with the phenomenon that we call “Islam.” I was genuinely surprised and honored when he asked me to be his coeditor!

We immediately started networking and looking for contributors. Gene already had several people in mind. My job was to help edit each chapter and then to produce a concluding chapter that explained the themes of the book. It was a rich learning experience. As I researched for the book, I found myself often disagreeing and pushing back on evangelical treatments of Islam.

My criticism began to take shape and eventually became an introductory chapter—most evangelical missiological treatments of Islam are reductionistic with what I call a “top-down” approach, meaning that Islam (and subsequently, Muslims) can be adequately understood by addressing the Qur’an, hadith, and history of Islam. From this textual understanding, it is assumed that Muslims believe what Islam teaches, and thus there is a “Muslim worldview” and strategies on how to engage it. In this framework, Muslims are often simplified as cultural and spiritual clones of one another.

Many workers have read books based on this top-down approach, but when they begin to engage Muslims in their context, they quickly discover that the Muslims they are working with believe very different things from what “Islam” teaches. While the top-down approach is incredibly valuable, it can also distort our understanding of Muslims if it is our only lens. We also need a “bottom-up” approach that explains the historical evolution of the Islamic phenomenon and the sociological perspectives that accounts for the diversity of Islam today. Ergo my chapter two: How Muslims Shape and Use Islam: Towards a Missiological Understanding.

As I was editing the chapters (which do a wonderful job of combining the top-down and bottom-up perspectives) and after I wrote the introductory chapter, I started to reflect on how recent developments in postcolonial theory, anthropology, and religious studies have influenced mission to Muslims. Gene and I later decided that I would write a theory piece again for a concluding chapter which I titled Adaptive Missiological Engagement in Islamic Contexts. Gene then did a masterful job tying the themes of the book together in the final chapter, “Conclusion: Learning from the Margins.”

Here are the contents of the book:

Foreword, David Garrison

Introduction, Gene Daniels

PART 1: CONCEPTUALIZING ISLAM

1 Who Represents Islam?, Evelyne A. Reisacher

2 How Muslims Shape and Use Islam: Towards a Missiological Understanding, Warrick Farah

PART 2: ENGAGING MUSLIMS

3 The Donkey and the Straw: Reaching South Asian Sufis with the Gospel, Kevin Higgins

4 Secular Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ted Esler

5 Egalité, Fraternité, and Cous-cous: Ministry to Muslims in the Context of a Resurgent Islam and French Laïcité, Rick Kronk

6 Biblical Approaches to the Nurcu Gülen Movement in Turkey, Yakup Korkmaz

7 Magical Mystical Muslims: Sufi-oriented Islam and African Traditional Religion, Robin Dale Hadaway

8 Ordinary Muslims in Pakistan and the Gospel, Warren Larson

9 Ministry to Hui Muslims in China: An Approach to Dual-layered Cultural Settings, Enoch Jinsik Kim

10 Context as Flypaper: The Island of Java in Indonesia, Michael A. Kilgore

11 Liberating Liminality: Mission in the North African Berber Context, Patrick Brittenden

12 Russified Muslims of the Former Soviet Union, Gene Daniels

13 The Queen’s Muslims? Muslim Identities in the UK, Phil Rawlings

14 In the Shadow of a Buddhist Temple: Muslims in Thailand, Alan Johnson

15 Uyghurs of the Tarim Basin: Muslims in Northwestern China, CG Gordon

16 Muslim Youth in a Glocal World, Arthur Brown

PART 3: REFRAMING MISSIOLOGY

17 Adaptive Missiological Engagement with Islamic Contexts, Warrick Farah

18 Conclusion: Learning from the Margins, Gene Daniels

As our endorsements were rolling in, one from JD Payne stood out in particular that helped us identity the biggest potential takeaway from this book:

Margins of Islam takes readers on a global journey revealing the multiple expressions of the Islamic faith… We no longer have any excuse to train others to reach all Muslims in the same way.

I want to thank Gene for this incredible opportunity, and also for our excellent group of contributors who have taught me so much about the variety of Muslims and the varieties of biblical mission in the world today. Go ahead and buy the book on Amazon, and please help us spread the word—you can easily share this from the button on the bottom of the post on the blog. Thank you for considering! We feel this volume represents a significant encouragement for the mission of the church.

“Definitive” “Dazzling” “Extensive” “Groundbreaking” “Impressive” “Game Changing”

From Terry Muck at IBMR:

This is a big book with big ideas. Early readers have already called it “definitive” (Frances Adeney), “dazzling” (Stephen Bevans), “extensive” (William Dyrness), “groundbreaking” (John Flett), and “impressive” (Stanley Skreslet). Let me add “game changing” (or perhaps “theology changing”) and suggest that its future lies in becoming the fundamental text in courses in introductory missiology, theology, and world
Christianity.

Part 1 in the Missiological Engagements series, Intercultural Theology: Intercultural Hermeneutics:

Christianity is not only a global but also an intercultural phenomenon. The diversity of world Christianity is evident not merely outside our borders but even within our own neighborhoods.

Over the past half century theologians and missiologists have addressed this reality by developing local and contextual theologies and by exploring issues like contextualization, inculturation, and translation. In recent years these various trajectories have coalesced into a new field called intercultural theology. Bringing together missiology, religious studies, social science research, and Christian theology, the field of intercultural theology is a fresh attempt to rethink the discipline of theology in light of the diversity and pluriformity of Christianity today.

Henning Wrogemann, one of the leading missiologists and scholars of religion in Europe, has written the most comprehensive textbook on the subject of Christianity and culture today. In three volumes his Intercultural Theology provides an exhaustive account of the history, theory, and practice of Christian mission. Volume one introduces the concepts of culture and context, volume two surveys theologies of mission both past and present, and volume three explores theologies of religion and interreligious relationships.

In this first volume on intercultural hermeneutics, Wrogemann introduces the term "intercultural theology" and investigates what it means to understand another cultural context. In addition to surveying different hermeneutical theories and concepts of culture, he assesses how intercultural understanding has taken place throughout the history of Christian mission. Wrogemann also provides an extensive discussion of contextual theologies with a special focus on African theologies.

Intercultural Theology is an indispensable resource for all people―especially students, pastors, and scholars―that explores the defining issues of Christian identity and practice in the context of an increasingly intercultural and interreligious world.

2017 Christianity Today Book Awards

From Christianity Today in December 2016, “Our picks for the books most likely to shape evangelical life, thought, and culture.” From the Missions / Global Church category, the #1 book is…

Joyful Witness in the Muslim World: Sharing the Gospel in Everyday Encounters

Evelyne Reisacher (Baker Academic)

“Perhaps understandably, much of our attention to the Muslim world—on the news, and in the church—revolves around war, terrorism, and other pervasive challenges. But Reisacher shows us the story we’re missing. From a lifetime of missionary service, she reflects on how God’s image is beautifully reflected in the Muslim men and women she’s befriended. And she calls us to share our faith not out of fear or anger, but out of joy rooted in the hope of Christ.” —Christopher Horst, vice president of development, HOPE International

---

Award of Merit

Insider Jesus: Theological Reflections on New Christian Movements

William Dyrness (IVP Academic)

“The word insider in the title is accurate but also misleading, because the joy of reading this book is learning more about how God acts and moves in people’s lives outside of where and how we might expect. Dyrness takes us through the Bible, theology, history, culture, and case studies to open our eyes to different ways Jesus is being followed today. As a result, our eyes are opened to God’s redemptive grace moving creatively in the world. And we’re better prepared for thoughtful missions work that participates in God’s story without imposing unnecessary cultural baggage.” —Kent Annan, author of Slow Kingdom Coming

My Favorite Introduction to Islam

Muslim Identities: An Introduction to Islam, by Aaron W. Hughes.

Hughes approaches Islam from the religious studies perspective (not necessarily from Islamics) and tries to steer a middle way between a theological introduction and a polemic against Islam. He shows the diversity of islams today and draws many important contrasts between traditional Islamic teachings (often exposing historical inaccuracies in Islam’s account of its origins) and how Muslims in different places diverge from those understandings. For Hughes, a ‘Muslim’ identity is something more created than it is inherited. I appreciate his ability to portray the complexity of Islam in a way that is not complicated, rather than simply homogenize Islam, which has been so common in books on Islam since 9/11.

I also like The Emergence of Islam: Classical Tradition in Contemporary Perspective by Gabriel Said Reynolds, and A New Introduction to Islam by Daniel Brown.

What is your favorite Intro to Islam, and why?

Understanding IMs now on Kindle

Understanding Insider Movements: Disciples of Jesus within Diverse Religious Communities

See also:

• My Response to the Gospel Coalition’s Review of “Understanding Insider Movements”
• Michael Pocock | Review of Understanding Insider Movements

My Response to the Gospel Coalition’s Review of “Understanding Insider Movements”

In case you missed it, Understanding Insider Movements (William Carey 2015) was released a few months ago. For better or worse, now the term “IM” is guaranteed to stick around for a while.

Ayman Ibrahim posted a review of UIM at The Gospel Coalition blog and I responded to him in the comments. I really hope we can move beyond the political nature of the IM discussion and at least not describe it as a monolithic entity as I felt the review did (plus the review described an extreme end of the spectrum which I also felt was inaccurate and unfair). My comment ended being a bit of a book review itself. In any case, I hope not to be drawn into a fruitless blog debate about the merits of IM. :–)

UIM is an important and impressive book. By my count, about 75% of it was previously published. But the sheer volume of the book (64 articles + appendix) is a testimony to the fact that evangelical missiology has made some positive steps forward in the last couple decades. You don’t have agree with everything in UIM (I don’t) to benefit from it. But you can read more of my thoughts here.

CT Book of the Year for Missions/Global Church

From Christianity Today’s 2015 book awards:

Christian. Muslim. Friend. Twelve Paths to Real Relationship

David W. Shenk (Herald Press)

"At a time when relations between Christians and Muslims are more complex than ever, Shenk has given us a wonderfully thoughtful account of how to build real relationships. Without giving formulas or reducing Muslims to a single type, Shenk draws on his vast experience in many parts of the world to provide an encouraging way forward for anyone seeking to share the hope of the gospel with their Muslim neighbors." —Brian Howell, professor of anthropology, Wheaton College