This is the centenary of John Stott's birth (April 27, 1921). Stott left a rich legacy of global-gospel engagement and I find myself more and more drawn to and appreciative of him. His book The Cross of Christ was a big part of my early theological development. Besides the value of the content, Stott showed …
Author: Tyler Horton
A World History of Christianity, Adrian Hastings (Editor)
The short version: an excellent and rich resource which fills in the global gaps left by the main stream of Church History writing. It is a lot to tackle because of its size and scope, but should likely be included as foundational for any person (or church) setting up a theological library. This book is …
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Septuagint Day 2021: Armin Schmitt
I am putting my oar in to help celebrate Septuagint Day. Rather than explaining what the Septuagint is and why it is worth celebrating, or looking at why Septuagint Day is February 8th, I am giving you a paragraph from Armin Schmitt. I have two reasons for this. First, Schmitt was a German scholar and …
Change, Translation, & Reinvention…
For Adrian Hastings, the history of the Christian church is a story of renovation. In his introduction to A World History of Christianity, he gives this summary of the last 2,000 years: “It is a history of change and translation, of the regular reinvention of itself in new languages and regions.” So what has the church …
World Christian Consciousness
The majority of the world's Christians are Africans, Asians and Latin Americans. It is immediately obvious that this matters but it takes more work to pin down exactly how. What does it mean for us that the church is bigger and broader than we often think? One of the most helpful voices in answering this …
To Pray Longer…Pray Shorter
A consistent factor in the Christian biographies that I have read is a habit of regular, extended times of prayer. But this does not come easily. Most of us wish we lived closer to this ideal but more often find ourselves falling short of lofty goals. In The Christian in Complete Armour, William Gurnall (1616-1679) …
Sing to God, For my Sake
I spent of lot of Sundays in 2019 preaching from Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (ESV) Christiane and I were visiting churches with the Global Church workshop …
Why the Septuagint Matters for Missions
“Don’t you think, Dr. McGilvary, that you spoke too directly or inflexibly to your audience? But again, your audience might not have been listening to your words, but watching your magnificent long white beard!” These words are from a letter from a living to a dead missionary. Kosuke Koyama had been in Northern Thailand for six years …
Recommended Resource: Global Transmission, Global Mission (Booklet)
Jason Mandryk of Operation World just published a 53 page booklet exploring the Impact and Implications of the CoVid-19 Pandemic. You can download it for free here and I think it is well worth your time. Here I give three reasons why I think you should take the time to read it, introduce the material, …
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You Are Not Erased
At the beginning of Willa Cather’s wonderful novel My Antonia, the young Jim Burden is pulled away from the life he has always known. His parents have both died and we join him on a train from Virginia to live with his grandparents in Nebraska. As Jim watches out the window, he finds that the “only …
Too Small A Thing 