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timjdavy Bible and Mission

Global Missiology online journal

I came across another free, online journal that featuress some articles on Bible and mission themes. Global Missiology describes itself as “a quarterly publication of contributions from international researchers, practitioners and scholars who have a global perspective.”

Here are some of the articles that may be of interest:

Reading Romans Missiologically – William B. Barcley 
The Biblical Approach to Other Religions – Roger Hedlund 
Missional Theology – Tite Tiénou, Paul G. Hiebert 
Possessio and Syncretism in Biblical Perspective – Peter Beyerhaus 
Jeremiah 29:4-7 and Immigrant Ministry – William Ki 
Mentoring for Life in Abundance: Learning from Paul’s Example – Linford Stutzman 
Missional Narrative and Missional Hermeneutic for the 21st Century – Enoch Wan, Paul Heibert 
“Partnership” – A Relational Study of the Trinity in the Epistle to the Philippians – Enoch Wan, Johnny Yee-chong Wan 
A Missio-Relational Reading of Romans: A Complementary Study to Current Approaches – Enoch Wan 

Go to Global Missiology

timjdavy Bible and Mission

Joy, thankfulness, psalms and mission

What motivates your participation in the mission of God? It seems to me there are various things that might focus our minds on being and sharing the good news of Jesus: obedience (Matt. 28:18-20) is one; love and conviction are others (2 Cor. 5:14-15). But what about joy and thankfulness?

I was speaking at Hillview Evangelical Church in Gloucester on Sunday on Psalm 100. Such a great Psalm:

A psalm. For giving thanks.
 1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
 2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
       come before him with joyful songs.
 3 Know that the LORD is God.
       It is he who made us, and we are his [a] ; [Or and not we ourselves]
       we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
       and his courts with praise;
       give thanks to him and praise his name.
 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
       his faithfulness continues through all generations. (NIV)

The preceeding psalms have been full of the assertion and celebration of God’s kingship, packed with praise and joy but also with an eye on the nations and all creation (see Ps. 96:3-4, 10-13; 97:1; 98:1-9).

Perhaps thankfulness motivates us in two ways:

1. We reckon with who God is and what he has done and is doing, in contrast with who we are and what we deserve. And so we want to share this message of hope with others.

2. We get caught up in a vision of the nations (100:1 ‘all the earth’) also rejoicing in the works of the Lord and this inspires us to be part of God’s purposes for seeing that multiculural thankful and worshipping community come about.

What practical steps can we take to cultivate a ‘missional thankfulness’?

timjdavy Bible and Mission

Journal of Bible and Mission

Is it time for a journal specifically dedicated to Bible and mission? So far I’ve edited individual editions of Redcliffe’s Encounters journal on the theme of Bible and Mission:

Mission and the Old Testament – April 2007

The Bible and Mission – June 2009

The Psalms and Mission – June 2010 (due out early next month)

But is this enough for such a vast and growing area of scholarly and practical interest? There are many biblical studies journals and numerous periodicals addressing mission thinking and praxis. But, as far as I am aware, there is nothing that offers a regular, sustained treatment of mission in the Bible and the Bible in mission.

What would you want to see a ‘Journal of Bible and Mission’ do?

timjdavy Bible and Mission

NT Wright on the missional nature of the early church

A great quote from Tom Wright’s The New Testament and the People of God,

Why then did early Christianity spread? Because early Christians believed that what they had found to be true was true for the whole world. The impetus to mission sprang from the very heart of early Christian conviction. If we know anything about early Christian praxis, at a non- or sub-literary level, it is that the early Christians engaged in mission, both to Jews and to Gentiles. ‘The irresistible expansion of Christian faith in the Mediterranean world during the first 150 years is the scarlet thread running through any history of primitive Christianity. [quoting Hengel] This missionary activity was not an addendum to a faith that was basically ‘about’ something else (e.g. a new existential self-awareness). ‘Christianity was never more itself than in the launching of the world mission.’ [quoting Meyer]

Put simply, mission is part of the DNA of the people of God. Does my life reflect this? Does yours? How about your church? To stretch a metaphor, is mission the skin we are in or a fashion accessory we put on from time to time?

timjdavy Bible and Mission

Andreas Köstenberger on Bible and mission

Andreas Köstenberger is Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in the States. He has written on the Bible (particularly the New Testament) and mission in several books and articles. His website has a page highlighting these with some links as well so you can read some of them. Of particular note is his 1999 article in Missiology, ‘The Place of Mission in New Testament Theology: An Attempt to Determine the Significance of Mission within the Scope of the New Testament’s Message as a Whole’.

Here’s a link to the page: Andreas Köstenberger on Bible and mission

timjdavy Bible and Mission

Bible translation and chocolate video

Eddie has posted a video of an excellent children’s talk on the distribution of Bible translations around the world.

As with all good children’s talks, it’s short, simple and gets across a powerful message that will also make adults sit up and think…

timjdavy Bible and Mission

Redcliffe College launches the Centre for the Study of Bible and Mission

On Wednesday evening, Redcliffe College hosted the 2010 Annual Lecture in Bible and Mission, which incorporated the official launch of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Mission. The event was put on in partnership with Wycliffe Bible Translators, Bible Society and Keswick Ministries. We also streamed it live on ustreamtv, which seemed to work well.

The lecture hall at Redcliffe was full, which was great to see. After a brief welcome I gave a presentation about the ethos and activities of the Centre. David Spriggs from Bible Society then came to the front and prayed a wonderful prayer, dedicating the Centre to God.

I then introduced Gordon Wenham who gave a lecture on the theme of ‘The Nations in the Psalms’. It was an excellent case study in tracing a theme canonically through the whole Psalter. I then gave a ten-minute ‘missional response’ in which I reflected particularly on ‘the Psalms in the Nations’; i.e., the Psalms as a tool of mission. We then had some time left over for an involved Q&A session.

When organising this event we have half an eye on how it might be used as a resource afterwards. Here’s what we are planning:

  • Encounters Issue 33 (June 2010 – due out in the first week of June) is on The Psalms and Mission and will feature the full text of Gordon’s paper along with my intro to the Centre and missional response. There will also be a number of other papers on issues relating to the Psalms and mission from a variety of perspectives.
  • We will be editing a video of the lecture and posting it on the web in the near future.
  • We will also make an audio version of the lecture available.

More on these in due course.

To finish this post, here’s an excerpt from a news item on Redcliffe’s website

The official launch of Redcliffe College’s new Centre for the Study of Bible and Mission took place on Wednesday 12 May at the College. This exciting initiative aims to serve the Church by engaging in research, teaching, writing and speaking on mission in the Bible and the Bible in mission.Web and digital media will be used extensively to make the news and activities of the centre widely accessible. There will be an annual public lecture and bi-annual consultation on an aspect of Bible and Mission, and the Centre will have visiting scholars from the two-thirds world who will input into the teaching programme and community life at Redcliffe.  The College is also working together with key agencies such as Wycliffe Bible Translators and Bible Society to develop the activities of the Centre, and is looking forward to being involved in events and initiatives such as the Keswick Convention and Biblefresh. 

Rob Hay, Principal of Redcliffe College commented: “At Redcliffe we are committed to ensuring our preparation of men and women for Christian service around the world is rooted in the Scriptures. Mission is the central theme of the Bible – and people involved in mission need to be equipped to demonstrate and proclaim the stories, images and truths of the Bible in their specific context. Redcliffe’s Centre for the Study of Bible and Mission makes a unique contribution to this area.”  

Speaking after the launch, Tim Davy, Director of the Centre, and Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Redcliffe said: “The evening summed up what is so exciting about the Centre. The lecture hall was packed with church members and leaders, biblical scholars and missiologists, mission agency personnel and students preparing for cross-cultural service. This reflects both the felt need and enthusiasm for what we are doing, and the importance of partnership, which lies at the heart of the whole initiative.” 
timjdavy Bible and Mission

Vacancy for Head of Mission Studies at Redcliffe College

My friend and colleague Dr Kang-San Tan is moving on this Summer so Redcliffe is now advertising for a new Head of Mission Studies. For full details please visit Redcliffe’s website. Otherwise, here is the text from the main advert:

Shaping world changers:
Vacancy for Head of Mission Studies at Redcliffe College

Something special is happening at Redcliffe College… We have a new Principal, a new strategic vision and a motivated and experienced team. Now we are recruiting for a new Head of Mission Studies. If you want to join this dynamic, forward thinking, professional College, and have the skills and experience to match, we want to hear from you.

Redcliffe has spent over 100 years training women and men from all over the world to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ effectively across cultural differences in church, mission and development ministries around the world. But we are far from old fashioned! Our courses are innovative and wholistic and our college community exceeds 30 nationalities each year and prepares people of all ages.

We are looking for a new Head of Mission Studies to lead the Mission Studies department and contribute to the development of missiological thinking beyond Redcliffe. The teaching is at undergraduate and postgraduate level across a range of specialist courses.

The role requires a mission scholar who can combine effective communication skills in both lecture hall and conference venue with the ability to mentor students in a wholistic learning process. Ideally with a PhD but certainly with a strong academic background and a commitment to ongoing learning, you need to have had firsthand experience of cross-cultural mission and ministry.

If you would like an information pack and application form please go to www.redcliffe.org/homjob.

Closing date for applications: 17:00 GMT on Monday 14 June 2010.

timjdavy Bible and Mission

Centre for the Study of Bible and Mission Facebook page

One of the ways of engaging with the Centre’s activities is to join the Centre for the Study of Bible and Mission page on Facebook.

There is a growing community of people (over 200 at the moment) wanting to think and talk about mission in the Bible and the Bible in mission.

As well as links to this blog we also post news, events, quotes, questions and helpful links to resources.

So come and join in the conversation!

timjdavy Bible and Mission

The process of Bible engagement

Harriet Hill, co-author of Translating the Bible into Action: How the Bible can be Relevant in all Languages and Cultures has posted a very helpful document on the Lausanne Global Conversation and Scripture Engagement websites.

It talks about Bible/Scripture engagement as a process covering:

  • Bible Availability – Do people have access to the Bible in a language and media that they are able to use?
  • Bible Awareness – Are people aware of the Bibles that are available? Are they exposed to them?
  • Bible Use – Do people choose to read or listen to the Bible?
  • Bible Understanding – Do people understand what they read?
  • Bible Engagement – Through interaction with the written word, do people encounter the Living Word (Christ)?

You can read the whole document here. She has invited feedback so why not have a look and then add your comments to one of the sites mentioned above?