The Mission Matters

There’s a positive misconception that people immigrating to the United States are more religious than the average American and may help stem the secular tide. But Dr. Ryan Burge, professor, author, and pastor, says the data doesn’t support that. What does the data say about immigrants, and how does that affect the future of the Great Commission? Ryan, Matthew, and Ted discuss the opportunities for...

Ralph Winter championed the paradigm shift of Unreached People Groups almost 50 years ago, urging the church to focus on the cultures that have the least access to the gospel. Several of the critiques that were offered in the 1970s have recently re-emerged under the banner of deconstructionism. Is missions inherently based in colonialism and white supremacy? Does immigration and globalization disp...

You might have heard someone declare that Business As Mission (BAM) is THE future of missions - but João Mordomo of BAM Global argues that isn't the heart of Business As Mission. Rather, BAM is driven by a desire to see the whole body of Christ participate in the mission of God. Matthew, Ted, and João discuss the biblical foundations of BAM, why BAM isn't the only biblical model, and scena...

Jeff Lewis joins Matthew Ellison and Ted Esler to talk about missions, revival, and what we can learn from the life of Nikolaus von Zinzendorf. Jeff dispels some of the common myths surrounding Zinzendorf and the Moravians, and shares what he has learned from studying early Moravian primary source materials. They discuss the role revivals play in advancing missions, and what true awakening looks l...

Business As Mission (BAM) is frequently being hailed as the new method of missions funding. Does that mean the era of support raising is over? Or is there space for multiple models of funding to meet the needs of different contexts? Matthew Ellison and Ted Esler talk with Mark Wilson of VIA Generosity (formerly Support Raising Solutions) as he shares his perspectives of how God is using support ra...

“Kingdom Collaboration” is a special episode for us, because we are co-hosting it with the National Association of Evangelicals podcast, Today’s Conversation. Ted Esler and Matthew Ellison teamed up with Walter Kim of the NAE to co-host a conversation with Michael Oh about Lausanne 4 next year in Seoul, South Korea, and the importance of creating movements of collaboration to advance the Gospel. L...

“Cultivating Resilience” is the last episode in our three-part miniseries “The Hardest Places on the Planet,” with Matthew Ellison and guest Josh Duncan of TRIAD. TRIAD exists to glorify the King by mobilizing, equipping, and deploying followers of Christ into the world’s hardest to reach places and people groups. Josh shares about how they prepare both goers and senders to cultivate resilien...

“When Dying Is Gain” is our second episode of three in our miniseries “The Hardest Places on the Planet,” with Matthew Ellison and guest co-host Bob Blincoe. Our guest is Mary Ho, who serves as the International Executive Leader of All Nations International , a training and sending agency that seeks to to ignite church planting movements among the neglected peoples of the earth. Mary shares what s...

Season 3 kicks off with the first of a three-part miniseries: The Hardest Places on the Planet. Bob Blincoe of Frontiers shares about his experiences as the first missionary team in Iraq, and how to build grit and resistance for workers called to the hardest places on the planet. This episode is sponsored by Support Raising Solutions - get the training and inspiration you need to be fully funded a...

Matthew Ellison recaps the podcast for 2022, looks ahead to a new season on going to the hardest to reach places in 2023, and offers a word of encouragement on trusting God, even in the midst of really difficult things. 

There can be differences between the "missions with a S" world and the "missional" world - but Michael Goheen suggests there's a lot of common ground. Matthew, Ted, and Mike discuss the mission of the biblical story, the role of the church, vocation, cultural partnerships, and narrative theology. Michael Goheen is director of Theological Education at Missional Training Center, scholar-in-residence...

Steve Richardson, president of Pioneers, talks with Matthew and Ted about his new book, Is the Commission Still Great? 8 Myths About Missions and What They Mean for the Church . Is missions necessary? Isn’t it obsolete, colonial, and harmful? Doesn’t it reduce the impact of the local church? Steve, Matthew, and Ted debunk a few of the myths and discuss the great privileges and benefits of particip...

Haije Bergstra of Missie 1:8 and Jiska Chin-A-Teh of Missie Nederland - the global partners of Sixteen:Fifteen - share about a missions campaign and network that is uniting churches and agencies across the Netherlands: The No Choice Network. They also share thoughts on how churches were affected by the pandemic and what church renewal in the Netherlands might look like.

There is an unprecedented opportunity to build relationships and love others by helping them resolve their financial burdens. Can this lead to spiritual transformation as well? Often, financial conditions are a window to a person’s spiritual situation. It is an open door for Great Commission influence. In this episode, hear how this strategy can transform lives. Our guest today, Candra Chahyadi, i...

This important podcast was suggested by one of our listeners:  One question that has come up in a number of conversations lately, especially with young people is: “Isn’t it colonial of us to send missionaries?” They’re not satisfied with a simple... “No, Jesus says go!” for an answer. We're grappling with this one though, considering the good done in mission history, but also the negative, an...

While Missio's Missions Leaders Conference was taking place in September 2021, we took advantage of having hundreds of missions leaders in one place and set up a podcast booth where we asked some critical questions. The conversations centered on two massively important themes: • Missions Mobilization in Uncertain Times • Senior Leader Engagement in Global Missions Tune in!...

Today we welcome Justin Mack, the Global Project Pastor at River Valley Church in Burnsville Minnesota to the podcast. If you are a missions pastor or serve on a missions team in a local church, you definitely won’t want to miss this epidsode! Ten years ago, River Valley Church decided to take this Great Commission more seriously and become much more intentional about it’s strategy to engage the c...

The invention of the printing press catalyzed Martin Luther's reformation; radios and televisions delivered Billy Graham's gospel proclamations to millions of households. Technological advancements have undoubtedly advanced kingdom work for centuries—but is the same true for the burgeoning technologies of today?  As virtual reality becomes increasingly prominent throughout society, churches m...

Now that military forces have withdrawn, security has evaporated and danger has escalated, should we no longer be sending missionaries? Is this the end of the send to Afghanistan or is now the time to call forth a new generation of missionaries to move towards danger  and not away from it for the sake of the Gospel’s advance? Join special guest, Bob Blincoe, President Emeritus of Frontiers an...

Can we be sure that when Jesus commissioned us to “make disciples of all nations," 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂 𝒕𝒂 𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒏𝒆 in the Greek, that He was talking about ethno-linguistic groupings and not just those who weren’t Jews?  On this episode of The Mission Matters we are joined by Missiology Catalyst, Dave Datema of Frontier Ventures. Join us as we discuss why this is such an important question and what happens whe...

The Christian community puts tremendous energy and momentum toward getting global workers on the field, but there’s often a lack of intentional effort to provide spiritual, emotional and physical support once workers are serving overseas. Thus, many women ministering around the world feel alone and are barely surviving. In this podcast, Lorrie Lindgren, CEO of Thrive, shares Biblical and practical...

Christians engaged in communicating the gospel navigate a challenging tension: 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘥'𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 - 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵. Tune in for this episode on 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 podcast as Matthew and Ted have a conversation with the authors of the new book 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭: 𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘔𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺. Chris Flanders and Werner Mi...

God has a "world-sized" role for every Christian in His global purpose. Tune in for this episode on 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 as Matthew and Ted have a conversation with their guest – James Mason, CEO for the Perspectives Study Program, as he shares about their past, present and future and how if you have a vision to live a life of purpose, there's a place for you.

“When it comes to missions in the church, the pastor either holds the key to the front door or holds the padlock.” While members of a congregation can be a catalyst for missions envisioning, without the engagement of church leaders, mobilizing a church is tough sledding.  Even missions pastors and missions teams that operate without buy-in from key church leaders often struggle to build momen...

It’s your money. Except that it isn’t. The worldview of your financial planner matters. Tune into this episode on The Mission Matters as Matthew and Ted have a conversation with Virgil Dugan – President of the National Christian Foundation Southwest and John Moore, Principal at John Moore and Associates where they will share insights on how to manage our portion of God's portfolio properly and how...