Paper Category: Global Evangelicalism - Practical Theology

Preaching to the Nations: The joys and complexity of preaching in a multicultural context

With the rise of globalization has come numerous opportunities and challenges for pastoral ministry, not the least regarding preaching. How does one meaningfully communicate the exegetical and theological thrust of a passage of Scripture within a large multicultural context that is diverse ethnically, culturally, politically, and theologically? This paper will provide the theological reflections of … Read more

Welcoming the Evangelical Stranger: Showing Hospitality to Evangelical Immigrants

The field of diaspora missiology has erupted over the past twenty years as a legitimate subfield of missiology. Diaspora missiology studies occur at the intersection of missiology and migration theory with an emphasis on strategies to minister to and through the diaspora populations of the world. While the prevailing focus in diaspora missiology rightly centers … Read more

Preaching for Renewal: Edwards, Lloyd-Jones, and Keller

The greatest need for the church today is renewal, and to paraphrase the apostle Paul, how will there be renewal without preaching? Though typically considered for his theological work, Jonathan Edwards’ preaching is still a model of preaching for renewal. Building on the Puritan doctrine of experimental preaching, Edwards famously wrote that preaching to the … Read more

Ministry Under Hybridized Hyperdiversity: Insights from Subcontinental Migrants to Australia

Globalization has normalized the mixing of diverse ethnicities, cultures, and communities within a broader society in ways which public policy terms multiculturality and which Vertovec (2014) described as superdiversity or hyperdiversity. The consequent constant proximity of diverse forms of difference creates the opportunity and challenge of discovering or creating shared values which can adequately form … Read more

Exporting Exposition: Preaching for the Global Diffusion of Evangelicalism

In recent years, there has been an effort among some in American popular media to “define evangelicalism down.” This dumbing down of evangelicalism strips evangelicalism of any theological commitments while understanding it primarily in terms of political engagements, specifically those of the Republican Party. This redefines evangelicalism from a historical reality rooted in the gospel … Read more

Reading Scripture with the global evangelical community: a case for extra-modern hermeneutics

In the modern age, Western hermeneutics increasingly followed the historical-grammatical method. Allegorical, typological, spiritual, and theological readings of Scripture within Scripture were typically attributed to divine authority. As such, they were not commended to future, non-inspired readers of a closed canon. Such readings in pre-modern Christianity were often dismissed as the interpretive approach of a … Read more

A Biblical Case for the Office and Work of the Evangelist

Most protestant ecclesiologists consider the Church to possess two active offices: elder and deacon (Allison; Hammett). The elder, synonymous with pastor and overseer, is a position of leadership with ecclesiastical authority. The deacon is a servant and facilitator of ministry. However, the evangelist is often missing from the discussion of Church polity. If God calls … Read more

Iranian Christianity, Religious Liberty, and the Gospel

Religious liberty, a right guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and part of the foundation and fabric of American society, assures all Americans the right to practice their belief systems without undo governmental restriction. Ayatollah Mohammad Khatami, the former reformist president of Iran (1997-2005), praised the origin of the American system … Read more