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Bridging the Divide Consultation 2018
Last month over forty of us gathered to discuss various facets of “Freedom in Christ,” especially as it relates to those coming to faith in Him from a Muslim background. We had a substantial and informative time together, in some cases finding more agreement than we had expected. A summary report of our interaction can […]
Quality is Essential; But Any Size Can Count as a “Movement”?
An Interaction with Kevin Higgins’ “Measuring Insider Movements?” by L.D. Waterman Note: the first two parts of this discussion can be found in “When does a Movement Count? – Two Perspectives.” I appreciate Kevin Higgins’ willingness to interact with my question about size criteria for an Insider Movement to be counted as a movement. He proposes […]
A Conference Worth Considering
Many missiologists and field workers (myself included) consider Disciple Making Movements to be a blessing from the Lord – avoiding many weaknesses of both traditional (aggregate) church planting approaches and socio-religious “Insider” approaches. Disciple Making Movements are real…and are happening around the world today, especially among Muslims. If you’re interested to know more about Disciple […]
A Healthier Approach to Disagreement
The most recent issue of Christianity Today contains an article entitled “A Healthier Approach to Disagreement in the Church Begins With One Unusual Word” by James Calvin Davis. This excerpt from Davis’s book Forbearance: A Theological Ethic for a Disagreeable Church offers sound and biblically-based counsel. The whole article is worth reading, but here are a […]
Why Not Simple?
Before I moved to a Muslim-majority country (over two decades ago), I was on pastoral staff at a church in rural upstate New York. I knew a few families who did what they called “house church.” These families had attended our church for a while, then left. They had also left most or all of […]
Depolarizing our Views on Reaching the Unreached
Polarization plays a useful role in many fields. In physics, chemistry and biology, it describes functions essential to our everyday lives. But in human relationships, as in the fields of sociology, psychology and politics, polarization is not nearly as useful. In fact it’s often harmful. Polarization among God’s children, within the body of Christ, rarely […]
The Mistake of “One Size Fits All”
Fuller Seminary recently posted a blog I wrote, describing a mistake commonly made in outreach to Muslims: “Different Pools, Different Fish: the Mistake of ‘One Size Fits All’ Solutions to the Challenge of Effective Outreach among Muslims.” Overcoming it can greatly increase our fruitfulness.
UIM: Concluding Response to Waterman
UIM: Concluding Response to Waterman On November 5, “Waterman Response to Talman and Travis” was posted on the BtD blog. While interest in the discussion generated by his review of Understanding Insider Movements (UIM) may have waned, we felt some final clarifications on our part could be helpful. Footnote to a Footnote Waterman further clarified […]
Fostering Fruitful Dialogue In Contentious Relationships
This is a first-hand narrative of Bridging the Divide’s experience in handling disagreements among missionaries. In the 1980’s, a number of publications suggested new approaches to evangelism in the Muslim world, seeking to free the gospel message from added trappings of Western Christendom. Noteworthy among these were New Paths in Muslim Evangelism by Phil Parshall, Muslims and Christians On […]
UIM: Waterman Response to Talman & Travis
I appreciate Travis and Talman’s response to my review of Understanding Insider Movements. At a few points they used phrases like “It is not clear to us what Waterman has in mind” and “Waterman does not realize,” so I’d like to offer clarification and comment on just a few items mentioned in their response. Christianity […]
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