Missions: Biblical Foundations and Contemporary Strategies, 2nd ed.

by Gailyn Van Rheenen

Publisher:

Zondervan

, 2014

Overview

“In a rapidly changing world,… the central missionary vision of the church must be constantly renewed, lest its foundations become lost in the confusion of change or its practices trapped in missionary models of the past.”

In this second edition of Missions, long-time missionary Gailyn Van Rheenen revises and updates his classic text on Christian missions, laying sound theological and strategic foundations for the missionary of today and tomorrow.

Van Rheenen helps renew the missionary vision by discussing areas such as:

The history of Christian mission, and how it affects where we are today

Spiritual formation for God’s mission

The missionary cycle

Cross-cultural communication

The character and calling of missionaries

Types of missionaries

Church maturation

Selecting mission fields

The role of money in missions

Four levels of involvement in missions

But Missions is more than blackboard theory. Written by a long-time missionary, it carries the conviction and insights of one who has lived his subject. Accessible to students, practitioners, and laypeople alike, Missions provides a primary go-to resource for understanding and becoming involved in the dynamic activity of world missions.

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Key Features

• Helps renew the missionary vision
• Revises and updates the author’s classic text on Christian missions
• Lays sound theological and strategic foundations for the missionary of today and tomorrow

Contents

• The Biblical Narrative of Mission: Entering God’s Story
• Spiritual Awakenings for Mission: Reflecting God’s Glory
• Theological Foundations of Missions: Developing a Theology of Mission
• The Church: God’s Embodiment of Mission
• Motives for Missions: Reasons for Participating in God’s Mission
• Types of Missionaries: The Many Faces of Missionary Ministry
• The Missionary Cycle: Predeparture through Reentry
• Epochs of the World Christian Movement: The Survival and Growth of Authentic Christianity through Mission
• Becoming Incarnational: Illustrations of Incarnational Ministry
• Entering a New Culture: Learning to Be Learners Where Worldviews and Customs Are Different
• Becoming Multicultural: Overcoming Feelings of Superiority
• The Nature of Cross-Cultural Communication: Encoding and Decoding God’s Eternal Message
• The Missional Helix: Developing Practices for God’s Mission
• Creative Strategies for Planting, Nurturing, and Training: Practical Ways of Implementing God’s Purposes
• Planting, Nurturing, and Training: An Incarnational Model for Tribal Africa
• Planting, Nurturing, and Training: An Incarnational Model for North America
• Using Money in Missions: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
• The Benefits and Challenges of Short-Term Missions: How Short-Term Ministry Can Have Long-Term Impact
• Selecting Areas for Cross-Cultural Mission: Intertwining Factors

Praise for Missions

Owing to his broad spectrum of mission experiences - from the plains of Kenya to the halls of academia to the city streets of domestic church planting - Dr. Van Rheenen is uniquely qualified to prepare a work of this scope. He equips the reader with the tools necessary to navigate the waters of mission, guiding one from theological reflection to everyday praxis and back. The first edition of Missions was seminal in my early thinking about participating in God’s mission-the kind of book that often gets dusted off and consulted. This revised edition promises rarely to gather much dust!

—Andy Johnson, Missionary among the Dagara of Burkina Faso

I have been indebted to Gailyn Van Rheenen for years-teaching his Missional Helix in seminary classes and using it in my own reflection. Now, in this updated volume, he does not disappoint-combining the heart of a practitioner with the mind of a scholar, Van Rheenen takes us to the text of Scripture and the context of culture, providing the guid- ance that practitioners and students alike will find invaluable.

—Ed Stetzer, www.edstetzer.com

Too often, theology and mission practices are separated as if one does not inform the other. Dr. Van Rheenen brings theology and practice back together in clear and passionate prose. He knows that all mission practices say something theologically and that all good theology is good because it can be practiced. This book is a must read for everyone who finds themselves on mission with God!

—Ben Langford, Director of the Center for Global Mission at Oklahoma Christian University

Product Details

• Title: Missions: Biblical Foundations and Contemporary Strategies (2nd Edition)
• Author: Gailyn Van Rheenen
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Print Publication Date: 2014
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Pages: 512
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Missions › Theory; Christianity and culture
• ISBNs: 9780310014706, 0310014700
• Resource ID: LLS:MSSNSBBLCLF2NDD
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-01-15T21:55:43Z

About Gailyn Van Rheenen

Gailyn Van Rheenen ( PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is the facilitator of Church Planting and Renewal at Mission Alive (www.missionalive.org), adjunct professor of missions at Abilene Christian University, and former missionary to East Africa. His website is www.missiology.org.