Radius Reports Archive
The Courage to Reevaluate – Methods Do Matter
It is hard to state how difficult it is to do such a reevaluation. The fanfare of departure, the excitement of supporting churches and individuals…
The Accumulation of Small Sufferings
When I was in my third year of church plant consulting overseas, I visited a missionary team on a remote island 80 miles offshore to help with their church planting kickoff. On our way to the island, the seas picked up and I found myself in one of the scariest...
Money and Missions
Much has been written in the past few years on the negative effect of North American funding of overseas Christian endeavors. I personally observed the slow unraveling of a Papua New Guinea (PNG) national training program due to North American monies channeling...
Where Are The Men?
The topic of young men is much on my mind these days. In less than a month, my wife Nina and I will send our son off to university and the opportunities and perils that it brings. In anticipation of this milestone, we recently finished reading together the short and...
A Cold Shower From India
Throughout their 10 months of training, Radius students get to hear firsthand from a steady stream of visiting practitioners, including representatives from sending agencies and workers who serve in a variety of countries. This access to a breadth of input and...
Technology Comfort and The Ongoing Role of Missionaries
This past week I had the privilege of being back among the Yembiyembi people in Papua New Guinea, where my wife and I served for thirteen years. It was a bit of a shock to return to the 107-degree temperatures (at 90% humidity), the rats nibbling on our...
Jesus Is One of My Favorite Gods
Paul Borthwick wrote[1]of being registered for a conference in New Delhi, India by a clerk who had her desk covered in pictures of Jesus. Upon asking her if she was a follower of Jesus, the title of this letter was her reply. Of course, to someone who understands...
Some Wrong Assumptions in the Missions World
While on a recent trip (Baton Rouge, Orlando, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis), I was talking to an intelligent young lady who made the statement “I believe God can use His Word alone to bring men to Himself.” I told her that I agreed with her completely. God COULD do...
Three Hills Worth Dying On
Last month I was speaking at a missions conference in California and the pastoral staff were explaining some difficulties they were having within the missions department. Recently they had become convinced that their overseas church planters (missionaries) needed to...
The Lure of Later
This time of year Beth and I do a lot of traveling and connecting with students who are in or just out of college. Whether North Carolina, Des Moines, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Rochester MN., Chicago, or Anchorage, some of the common...
