Tag: mission
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Christmas in The Shadows
During Christmas, we remember believers in “creative access nations” where faith can lead to persecution. Ordinary believers share their faith through personal connections, transforming whispers into a powerful Gospel movement.
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Reimagining Church: From Consumer Christians to Catalytic Called-Ones
The Asian Roughrider reflects on his 15 years abroad before reconnecting with U.S. churches, questioning their need for transformation. He highlights the critiques from Soong-Chan Rah on consumer Christianity and JR Woodward’s focus on active discipleship. Ultimately, he encourages a return to Scripture and genuine community engagement to fulfill God’s mission.
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Deeply Rooted Churches
The New Testament church, or “ekklesia,” embodies God’s people called to reflect His image. The church’s purpose is to gather worshippers of all nations, living out the Kingdom of God. To fulfill this, churches must prioritize loving people, making disciples, and participating in the mission of God. Deep roots are needed for churches to flourish…
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Jesus’ Answer to Racial Injustice
1. Perspective: If all you see is race, then you’re looking through a broken lens. Jesus didn’t see race…he saw people. People with names, stories, cultures, languages, and histories. Jesus saw and knew George Floyd before you and I ever did. Jesus knows every person who has ever experienced injustice and pain…and he cares more…
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How to Love White Evangelicals
Racial and cultural tension in the western church is at an all-time high. With all sides speaking into the issue without, it seems, a way forward. Minority voices in the church are beginning to rise above the supremacy of white evangelicalism, which historically has been in a place of power, prestige, and privilege. Love, respect,…
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Hunger (Spoken Word)
Spoken Word is meant to be SPOKEN. Reading it silently doesn’t do it justice. You can’t feel the words, hear the rhymes, listen to the inflections and see the emotions. I’ve revised and now reposting this piece from a while back. I didn’t write this according to any type of poetic rules (cause I don’t…
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10 Reasons Why Mission Matters in a Post Missional World
Last week I was with persecuted Christians. A young mother was taken away in handcuffs and placed in leg shackles and put in a dingy wooden village jail, treated like a common criminal. Her only crime…refusing to sign a paper that would effectively deny her faith in Jesus. This week I’m with privileged Christians. After…
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3 Reasons Why God Doesn’t Need Pioneers in the U.S.A.
I love my America. But not in the xenophobic, nationalistic, make America great kinda way. I love it because Asian refugees like my parents are free to pursue hope. Mom and Dad risked their lives to escape a Southeast Asian country bombed to hell by war so that I could have opportunities. Through that journey…
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3 Reasons Why Social Justice Will Not Change the World
For those of us who followed the news in 2014 it was a depressing year. Images of violence, racism, government coups, injustice and world-wide evil have wracked our brains and broken our hearts. As we look at our lost nations, communities and target people groups we have to ask ourselves an important question. What is…
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A Church for the Rejects
We are always talking about reaching the unchurched, unreached and unengaged. That’s a good thing. The problem is we have no plan to reach the rejects of society because we aren’t willing to become rejects ourselves. We are always separating “us” and “them”. We put them in a different category as if we have something…
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Nameless & Shoeless for God’s Glory
The true heroes of the faith are the ones without faces. They are the ones who don’t own a single pair of shoes but walk miles to proclaim the Gospel. They are the ones who have never written a book but have seen the dead raised to life and the oppressed set free. They are…
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Dear Tobias…What’s the Worst & Best Thing about Being a Missionary?
November 23, 2014 Hi Tobias, We’ve never met before but I’ve heard a lot about you from some mutual friends. My wife and I spent this past weekend with some missional families stateside and I know God has broken our hearts for the lost, especially for those in the 1040 window. I just wanted to…
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The Lack of Cultural Diversity in the Missional Movement: Where All My Colored People At?
I was a ghetto Asian-American juvenile delinquent, fresh in the faith, when I first walked into a southern California mega-church with a group of other knuckleheads wearing saggy Dickies and oversized t-shirts. This church was located in the heart of one of the most ethnically diverse cities in America and we were excited about connecting…
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You Are Not Asian: Using Culture As A Ministry Crutch
You are not Asian. You are not any color. Your identity is not based in your cultural roots. What you are, is a beacon of God’s image. You are meant to shine His glory in dark places. You are meant to be God’s living story and go wherever He tells you to go. The problem…
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The Motivation for Mission
There are many honorable and noble reasons to engage the lost in a cross-cultural setting but there is only one that will truly sustain you for the long haul. Missions is not about alleviating poverty, eradicating world hunger, stopping human trafficking, and listen carefully…it’s not even about saving souls. Missions is about spreading the fame…
The Asian Rough Rider 