The Missions Show

God is moving in incredible ways across the globe. But that doesn’t mean that every statistics that glitters is gold. This week, “Brad” the missionary shares his firsthand perspective investigating reports of explosive growth in the Islamic world. Want to watch the Radius Missiology Conference—and our exclusive panel discussion? Register at missionsshow.com/radius for 33% off.

We don’t normally think of Galatians as a “missions book.” Paul is confronting heretics, defending doctrine, and getting really, really detailed about circumcision. Yet according to Tim Bertolet, Ph. D., Galatians is all about God’s mission to the world. It exposes how we idolize contextualization, shows the healthy way to bring the gospel into new contexts, and gives missionaries powerful warning...

Have we made an idol out of contextualization? In this week’s upcoming interview, Dr. Tim Bertolet of ABWE dives into Galatians and why we need to beware the allure of the “new.” Enter our giveaway for to see us live at the Radius Missiology Conference in Minneapolis this June! Get more information and enter the drawing  here . Subscribe now.

“In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” This phrase has often been used, quotes, misused, and misquoted among Christians. How should Christians handle doctrinal disagreements and controversy? This question is even more complicated on the field. How can missionary teammates know the difference between an essential, gospel-level issue and a non-essential? What is the...

Should doctrinal disagreements on non-salvation issues—like baptism—matter on the mission field? This week, Scott Dunford gets personal as he and Alex Kocman discuss theological triage and the missionary. Enter our giveaway for to see us live at the Radius Missiology Conference in Minneapolis this June! Get more information and enter the drawing  here . Subscribe now.

Not every Christian is a missionary, and not everything that parades itself as missional activity is. This sounds controversial—but should it? We ask Matthew Ellison and Denny Spitters, who discuss these issues in their latest book, Conversations on When Everything Is Missions , the follow-up to book to When Everything Is Missions . Hear our previous interview with Spitters and Ellison here . Ente...

Much of “missions” is missing a key ingredient: the gospel. Denny Spitters and Matthew Ellison, authors of When Everything Is Missions , explain in this week’s upcoming interview. Enter our giveaway for to see us live at the Radius Missiology Conference in Minneapolis this June! Get more information and enter the drawing here . Subscribe now.

Evangelism is hard. How can Christians share the gospel with Muslims during Ramadan? Should missionaries in Islamic lands adopt the spiritual practices of their neighbors? Matt Bennett , author and professor, shares his experience from ministering in the Middle East. Dr. Matthew Bennett joined the faculty at  Cedarville University  in fall 2017 after serving and living in North Africa an...

Within the Islamic worldview, earning one’s right standing before God—especially during Ramadan—makes sense if God is not a holy God who draws near to dwell among sinners. New episode on Ramadan featuring Matt Bennett premieres Sunday night at 7 p.m. EDT. Subscribe now.

According to CNN in 2015, about 15.1% of the world population is Hindu, including nearly 80% of India. And when we talk about the unreached, in many cases, we’re talking about Hindus. How can Christians share the gospel with Hindus and build lasting relationships leading to discipleship? We explore that topic this week with Velu Kadirvel, a Hindu-background believer, as he shares his story of...

Sharing the gospel with Hindus can be daunting. What leads a person out of Hinduism to faith in Christ? Velu Kadirvel shares his story in this week’s episode on evangelism. Subscribe now.

How can parents say goodbye to their children who pursue missions? How can grandparents part with their grandchildren in the name of ministry? And what happens when parents are aren’t believers or don’t support their kids’ involvement in cross-cultural ministry? This week, we have a sit-down, heart-to-heart chat with the Dunford family about what it was like to send their kids and grandkids to a c...

Missionary life is costly for the whole family. What is it like for parents who say goodbye to their children? In the next episode, Bruce and Debbie Dunford share their experience sending their kids and grandkids to the mission field. Subscribe now.

Spiritual activity in Africa—whether one calls it African traditional religion, spiritism, tribal religion, or animism—is real. Christians are called not only to gospel witness but also to spiritual warfare. This week, Dr. Tom Kendall , medical missionary and chief of surgery at Hôpital Baptiste Biblique (HBB) in Tsiko, Togo , explains how missions-minded believers can fight on their knees—even in...

In the West, we’re all naturalists. Not so in West Africa. In this episode, Dr. Tom Kendall , medical missionary to Togo, offers some insights into the spiritual makeup of the Togolese and why prayer is so important for the gospel worker. Subscribe now.

African Christians are coming to the US as missionaries—or are they? Many are saying that “reverse missions”—from the Majority World to the West—is on the rise. But the whole picture isn’t that simple, as the world and the Western church still have a lot to learn from each other. Alex Kocman and Scott Dunford explore in this special episode with limited commercial interruption. Referenced in this...

What is “reverse missions”? Is it the Western world that actually needs missionaries sent from Africa, Asia, and elsewhere? This Sunday night at 7 p.m., Scott and Alex discuss what conservative evangelicals in the US have to learn from believers in the Majority World. Subscribe now.

Everyone is debating social justice. But what happened to mercy ministry? Have we forgotten compassion in the midst of our gospel preaching? Dr. George Grant explains how mercy and justice flow from gospel proclamation, sharing his insights from working with homeless, advocating for the unborn, and even helping plant classical Christian schools in the Middle East. Dr. George Grant is the Pastor of...

With all the controversy surrounding justice, have we forgotten our call to mercy ministry? Dr. George Grant explains how the gospel addresses the physical and spiritual dimensions of life. Catch the full episode as soon as it premieres. Subscribe now.

More and more missiologists are tired of talking about the gospel only in terms of guilt and innocence. This growing school of thought claims these concepts are “Western.” Writers like Roland Muller, Jayson Georges, and Jackson Wu say that honor and shame—not guilt and innocence—hold the keys to evangelism in Majority World cultures. Are they right? Does an honor-shame reading of Scripture undermi...

Does the current missiological conversation around honor and shame undermine the penal substitution view of the atonement? Dr. Chris Flanders of Abilene Christian University, author of Honor, Shame, and the Gospel , shares his perspective in this week’s upcoming episode. It’s a don’t-miss. Subscribe now.

We all know that having a vision is important. But is vision-casting biblical, and if so, does it really matter for the ordinary missionary or pastor? In this interview, Scott and Alex ask some tough questions about leadership of Bob Bixby, pastor of Redeemer Church in Fremont, California, and president of Bayseed. Want to ask a question or suggest a topic?  Email alex@missionsshow.com . The...

Is “vision” for everyone in ministry, or is it just a grandiose term thrown about by leadership experts? Tune in to our next episode to hear Bob Bixby, pastor of Redeemer Church in Fremont, California and Bayseed and president of Bayseed, explain what visioning means for the ordinary pastor or missionary. Subscribe now.

One year into the pandemic, it looks like the future of education is, in many respects, virtual . What does that mean for theological and biblical training for the 85% of evangelical pastors worldwide who lack any formal education? Al Cuthbert and Rob Hayden of Horizon Education Network join the show this week to explain how their dynamic organization is already ahead of the curve (if you will). W...

Fact: 85% of the world’s pastoral workforce has no formal theological training. But there’s a cost to doing theological education the wrong way. Rob Hayden of Horizon Education Network explains. Subscribe now.