Description:
Is our gospel witness too small? Should the gospel be proclaimed in words only? Or should we preach the gospel in deeds--and when necessary use words? Or are we missing something in playing the witness of words against deeds? If you are concerned about evangelizing the post-Christian West or the world beyond, you have probably debated this issue. And evangelical instincts drive us to Scripture. In Recovering the Full Mission of God, Dean Flemming joins biblical scholarship with missionary experience as he surveys the Old Testament and then looks closely at the New Testament and the early church. Flemming shows how the three strands of telling, doing and being relate in the mission of God and his people.Here is a book in touch with the missional realities of our time and grounded in the missional vision of biblical revelation. It gives us a clear vision of the rich and multifaceted nature of "gospeling" the kingdom of God.
Brief description:
Dean Flemming (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is professor emeritus of New Testament and missions at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kansas. He has spent more than twenty years as a missionary educator in Asia and Europe. His books includeRecovering the Full Mission of God, Contextualization in the New Testament, and the New Beacon Bible Commentary on Philippians. He is an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene and has pastored churches in Ohio and Japan.
Review Quotes:
"'What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.' How frustrating it is that so much evangelical thinking about mission continues to do exactly that, splitting up word and deed, evangelism and social engagement, and then struggling to reconcile them when we should never have divorced them in the first place. This superb book by Dean Flemming leads us on a richly biblical journey that takes us back to the 'one flesh' that God intended--the integration of being, doing and speaking in the mission of God's people. It is deeply nourishing and satisfying, ranging through biblical texts from Genesis to Revelation, yet never losing the reader in technicalities or detail and consistently easy to read and practical in application. The portraits of Jesus and Paul are particularly balanced and convincing, while the lessons we learn from the early church and the book of Revelation are truly eye-opening. Pastors, missions pastors and committees, mission boards and executives--please readthis book! Preach through it. Work through it with your people. It will revitalize and rebalance your understanding and practice of mission."
Christopher J. H. Wright, International Ministries Director, Langham Partnership