Rethinking Missio Dei among Evangelical Churches in an Eastern European Orthodox Context


Book Description

Following a paradigm shift in his own personal understanding of mission, Vladimir Ubeivolc proposes the adoption of mission principles based on missio Dei to meet the social and spiritual needs of people in Moldova. Biblically grounded and insightful, the lessons to be learned from this book apply far beyond Eastern Europe. Dr Ubeivolc uses his knowledge from six years of research, twenty years of pastoral ministry and a lifetime of experience to summarize the landscape of the Moldovan Evangelical and Orthodox churches and their historical approaches to mission. His evaluation emphasizes the need for a biblical foundation to mission for Eastern European Evangelical churches. This book’s message is a timely, scholarly reminder of the need to pursue holistic mission if the church of Jesus Christ is to be an authentic and effective vessel to bring transformation to people’s lives and society.




Rethinking Missio Dei among Evangelical Churches in an Eastern European Orthodox Context


Book Description

Following a paradigm shift in his own personal understanding of mission, Vladimir Ubeivolc proposes the adoption of mission principles based on missio Dei to meet the social and spiritual needs of people in Moldova. Biblically grounded and insightful, the lessons to be learned from this book apply far beyond Eastern Europe. Dr Ubeivolc uses his knowledge from six years of research, twenty years of pastoral ministry and a lifetime of experience to summarize the landscape of the Moldovan Evangelical and Orthodox churches and their historical approaches to mission. His evaluation emphasizes the need for a biblical foundation to mission for Eastern European Evangelical churches. This book’s message is a timely, scholarly reminder of the need to pursue holistic mission if the church of Jesus Christ is to be an authentic and effective vessel to bring transformation to people’s lives and society.




Context and Contextuality


Book Description

Since 1988, hundreds of thousands of evangelical Christians have migrated to the United States of America from former Soviet Union countries, establishing many Russian-speaking immigrant congregations across the country. This study analyzes how these immigrant churches function in their new cultural, social, and religious context. Dr Vyacheslav Tsvirinko, a Russian who lived in the USA for over twenty-five years, examines the holism, authenticity and contextuality of the mission work done by churches in the Pacific Coast Slavic Baptist Association (PCSBA) in America. He defines authentic mission in light of three major Christian groups – the World Council of Churches, the Lausanne Movement, and Anabaptists – and uncovers startling insights on how PCSBA churches engage in mission, both back in their homeland and in the USA. The findings and conclusions of this work are invaluable to diasporic Christian communities who wish to address their authenticity in the way they do mission, both internationally and in their local context, creating a path to more fruitful gospel and kingdom work.




Missio Dei and the Means of Grace


Book Description

The missio Dei concept has shifted missiological thinking from an anthropocentric view of mission to the understanding that the church and persons are participants in the missio Dei. A Wesleyan perspective of grace and the means of grace inform the development of a theology of participation in the missio Dei that overcomes the repetitive articulations of mission as simply being human action or divine action. Through the means of grace, Christian disciples participate in the missio Dei as those transformed by God’s love and those through whom that love embraces and transforms the world. Missio Dei and the Means of Grace: A Theology of Participation offers a profoundly simple approach and understanding to twenty-first-century missiology that is applicable for all persons, all ages, and all ecclesial expressions of the Christian church, as participation in the missio Dei through the means of grace is understood to be a holistic way of life where spiritual formation is understood as inseparable from justice ministries.




Reflecting on and Equipping for Christian Mission


Book Description

This volume looks at mission formation for all Christians and missionary formation for mission workers, agencies, and churches in a changing situation for mission. The focus is on educating the whole people of God. The title of this volume, Reflecting on and Equipping for Christian Mission, grows out of the understanding that theological education in the broad sense participates in the task of equipping people for God's mission in today's world, even as all theological education is contextual, and no particular context should exercise dominant influence.




Confronting Poverty


Book Description

Confronting Poverty is a text that addresses four fundamental questions about economic hardship in the U.S: (1) What is the nature, prevalence, and characteristics of poverty; (2) Why does poverty exist; (3) What are the effects and consequences of poverty upon individuals and the wider society; and (4) How can poverty be reduced and alleviated?




Witnessing to Christ Today


Book Description

The Centenary of the World Missionary Conference, held in Edinburgh in 1910, is a suggestive moment for many people seeking direction for Christian mission in the twenty-first century. Since 2005 an international group has worked collaboratively to develop an intercontinental and multidenominational project, now known as Edinburgh 2010, and based at New College, University of Edinburgh.




The Witness of God


Book Description

The Witness of God is a constructive revision of Trinitarian missio Dei theology. In it John G. Flett argues that the neglect of mission as a theological locus has harmful consequences both for understanding the nature of God s connection with world and the corresponding nature of the Christian community.




World Fascism


Book Description

Publisher description




Three Views on Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism


Book Description

Are Eastern Orthodoxy and evangelicalism at all compatible? To some Western evangelicals, the practices of Eastern Orthodoxy seem mysterious and perhaps even unbiblical. From an Orthodox perspective, evangelicals lack the spiritual roots provided by centuries-old church traditions. Are the differences between these two branches of Christianity as sharp as they seem? Or is there room for agreement? This book allows five leading authorities to present their different views in a respectful manner, have them critiqued by their fellow authors, and then respond to those critiques. Writing from an Orthodox perspective with a strong appreciation for evangelicalism, Bradley Nassif makes a case for compatibility. Michael Horton and Vladimir Berzonsky take the opposite stance from their respective evangelical and Orthodox backgrounds. And George Hancock-Stefan (evangelical) and Edward Rommen (Orthodox) each offer a qualified "perhaps." The interactive Counterpoints forum is ideal for comparing and contrasting the different positions to understand the strengths and weaknesses of these two important branches of Christianity and to form a personal conclusion regarding their compatibility.