Review: Leading Across Cultures: Effective Ministry and Mission in the Global Church

Leading Across Cultures: Effective Ministry and Mission in the Global Church by James Plueddemann
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Although Plueddemann's CV would lead one to infer his great depth of experience, it somehow does not translate to how he writes. I felt that if Plueddemann could have injected a large dose of brevity into the book, it could potentially provide an engaging read. However, many substantives were repeated more than necessary, and the second chapter about his own lengthy leadership journey would not appeal to or interest readers who do not know him.

Having different contributors at the end of each chapter to provide their own commentary on the topic was a nice touch, but not enough to save the rather mediocre content of the book. The many case studies and personal accounts shared in the book were simply not as intense/gripping or insightful as those in the other excellent books I've reviewed on cross-cultural missions (namely Sherwood Lingenfelter's Ministering Cross-Culturally and Duane Elmer's Cross-Cultural Servanthood).

View all my reviews

Review: The Intimate Mystery

Intimate Mystery by Dan B. Allender
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The two authors are a dynamic duo - Allender provides the engaging narrative while Longman III oversees the content to be shaped by sound theology. The pacing of the book was fantastic, allowing for quick absorption and thoughtful reflection/application (with reference to the reader's own marriage life). The content and illustrations are highly relatable for the married couple, every one of which is bound to have marriage issues/problems.

No excess ink was spilt; the brevity of the material keeps it accessible to novice readers. In reading the opening chapter, I however was worried that this book appeared to deviate from Allender’s and Longman III’s popular-level pitching to the layman (the vocabulary used was more suited to intermediate to advanced readers). Thankfully, the usually easy-to-follow content soon resumed in the subsequent chapters.

It is a pity that the title did not provide a clue on how useful the opening chapters would be for a pre-marriage couple (though the closing chapters on sex are more appropriate after the wedding). How I wished that we had read this book to get some insight on how to deal with the intense stress, anger and quarrels of managing the demands of the in-laws from both sides of the family (who all wanted to insist on this and that for the wedding). And woefully this book sat on my bookshelf until a year and a half after the nightmarish battles; if I could turn back time, I'd have definitely tried to read this title together with my wife-to-be, to provide us with a theological and practical approach to the challenges ahead.

This is an excellent book and I heartily recommend it! I bought a handful of copies to give as wedding gifts to my newly-wedded friends whose weddings I would attend shortly! Perhaps this personal endorsement would make up for my desire not to spoil any of the content in this review!

View all my reviews

Review: Ministering Cross-Culturally: An Incarnational Model for Personal Relationships

Ministering Cross-Culturally: An Incarnational Model for Personal Relationships by Sherwood G. Lingenfelter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's been a long time since I enjoyed a read so thoroughly! This is an easy 6 star rating from me. The author (and editor) provided an exciting and extremely informative read. It is amazing how concise the material is - I did not feel that more ink was spilt than necessary, and also I did not feel that the substantives were insufficiently developed - the length of the book is just right. This feels like a distilled gift to us from a lifetime of cross-cultural work in the mission field. Novice and advanced readers alike will find it a worthwhile read and I appreciated how the fields of cultural anthropology and theology formed the backbone of the material.

Although written primarily to a North American audience, even as a Singaporean living in an Asian culture interacts with a western worldview, there was much to learn from Ligenfelter. I had not been aware of how different the eastern and western cultures (or individualistic and collectivist societies) are, and how the people in each perceive the world and interact with each other! Although the real-life illustrations in the book are slightly dated (most are pre-1986), the issues addressed and the principles discussed are timeless. Perhaps the ultimate compliment I could pay to the authors is to reveal that as a bible school student who is not very much interested in missions, I found that I started to develop an attraction toward the topic and felt the desire to read more titles on it!

I heartily recommend this masterpiece of a book! A great companion to be read alongside this title would be Elmer's Cross-Cultural Servanthood (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2477980169).

View all my reviews

Going home to participate in world missions

I have considered it rather fascinating - the notion of encouraging foreigners in our midst to go home for the sake of the gospel. I appreciate how Packer iterates the points clearly and succinctly. Practically, there would be less of a cultural barrier (and language barrier) and there would be less suspicion of colonial-type of forceful influence by a foreigner coming to impose a foreign religion upon the indigenous people. Whereas the foreign person would have to find a reason to obtain a long-term visa, be it education or work, the local missionary could be seeking genuine employment (until the church plant has grown large enough to sustain a full-time pastor). I am apprehensive about the efficacy of short-term missions with durations below 2-3 years, and the indigenous missionary would be able to make long-term plans and participate even indefinitely. Monetary-wise, especially if the area of the mission field is a developing country, the same amount of money would go further funding a native citizen as compared to funding a Westerner.


From J I Packer's article on the Lausanne Movement page:

The Work of the Holy Spirit in Conviction and Conversion - Lausanne Movement

POWER AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT I I live in Vancouver, Canada, where the wind rarely rises beyond a gentle breeze. But in Britain, where I lived before, gales would strip branches from trees, roofs from sheds, and make it...Read more ›

"We also need to recognize the intrinsic superiority of nationals evangelizing within their own or similar cultures. This is more effective than having others bear the brunt of evangelizing cross-culturally where the receiving culture differs from their own in a radical way.

National evangelism is superior to cross-cultural evangelism because: (a) nationals have freedom [of] movement, living in lands whereas by A.D. 2000, 83 percent of world's population are expected to to be living in lands to which church-planting Western missionaries will not be admitted; (b) throughout Asia, and in other parts of the Two-Thirds World, anti-Western prejudice is strong; (c) in Asia and Africa, missionary money from the West goes much further when supporting nationals rather than Westerners; (d) pioneering by Western missionaries perpetuates the myth that Christianity is the religion of the West as Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam are religions of the East, in other words, that Christianity is an ethnic rather than a universal religion; and (e) the efforts of Western missionaries in the East so easily look and feel like neo-colonialism and denominational imperialism. But the deepest reason is that appreciating the full humanity of a person who culturally is not felt to be “one of us” is harder than when a person is felt to be a part of that culture. This makes it more difficult for cross-cultural communication to be perceived as incarnational and, therefore, as convincingly true. It is as simple, and as far-reaching, as that. In lands where there are no churches, cross-cultural missionary work remains the only way to begin."

Review: The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict

The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict by Ken Sande
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sande has dedicated his life to the ministry of resolving conflict. However, his passion is at times is lost in the excessively long introductions and round-about elaboration. Future revisions hopefully would come with more diagrams, art and highlights of key quotations. A large dose of brevity would also do it much good; I believe that if Sande (or his editor) would shrink the excess material and cut the number of pages from 300 to 150-200, this would be a masterpiece without compare. After 6 reprints since 1991, perhaps it is time for a heavy treatment of a seasoned editor's pen to resonate with today's readers from the digital age.

I wonder how many people undergoing conflict in their lives would have the discipline to force themselves to keep reading to the end - given the unexciting factual material that perhaps is better consumed over a multi-day workshop (I completed the read only because it was a requirement for a course). His target audience would probably not have the emotional state of mind to get to the useful parts of the book (which come around the middle to end).

Furthermore, while most of the dramatised illustrative narratives were in point in introducing the abstract topics, I found “Gently Restore” (p139-41) to be cringe-worthy in that the magical change in the character of the antagonist (and happy ending) made it hard to believe. If Sande could get in touch with the Dan Allender, perhaps the illustrations could have a touch of believability and realism added.

View all my reviews

Review: How to Read Proverbs

How to Read Proverbs by Tremper Longman III
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While this book provided a decent read, it is not as outstanding as some others in this series when John Walton is onboard as a co-author (How to read Genesis is an outstanding example). Perhaps having an extra pair of eyes and mind to bounce ideas of makes for a more refined final product, and thus for this title whereby Longman III is the sole author, the clarity and engagement is noticeably less than the above mentioned collaborative work.

Nevertheless, it still provides insight into how we could better understand the book of Proverbs. I appreciate how Longman III draws reference to similar (and contrasting) themes in other biblical books (Kings, Ecclesiastes and Jeremiah for example), as well as to other Semitic wise sayings. Chapter 8 (Proverbial wisdom in narratives of Joseph and Daniel’s lives) is exceptionally insightful in the self-titled chapter. Also useful would be the recommended commentaries (with comments) for further reading, which is found towards the end of the book.

View all my reviews

Review: The Spiritual Gifts Handbook: Using Your Gifts to Build the Kingdom

The Spiritual Gifts Handbook: Using Your Gifts to Build the Kingdom by Randy Clark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The book is no magic pill for one to suddenly acquire the spiritual gifts; if I were it would head straight for the dustbin. The numerous real-life accounts provide readers with a glimpse of how others operate in the gifts and hopefully it encourages you as it did me of the diversity in how the Holy Spirit works in the lives of Christians.

As an expositorily-leaning, gospel-centered Charismatic who calls a reformed church home, I appreciate how this book represents the unity of the body of Christ. If I were to use 'Christianese' jargon to describe what Randy Clark, a Charismatic Protestant, and Mary Healy, a Charismatic Catholic have collaborated and gifted to us, it is a tangible display of ecumenical solidarity.

We Charismatics are usually prone to having an interest in church history or bible theology, and this book would be incredibly helpful to the peers whom I love so very dearly. I was pleasantly surprised that I did not have to approach this book as cautiously as I did to guard against proof-texted assertions (since I do not naturally associate Randy Clark in the same camp as the expositionally faithful reformed preachers/scholars), for substantives provided are introduced and supported with quotations and illustrations/accounts from saints of past and present, with of course brief Scriptural expositions and comments.

If I could highlight something in the book, it would be the opening chapter - the overview of the spiritual gifts provided, by itself, is worth the price of the book. I appreciated how Clark and Healy concisely summarised the differing interpretations about the spiritual gifts and represented opposing views faithfully and graciously. The brevity of the theological and church history framework thereafter presented provided an exciting read, a hallmark possibly of skilful editing.

I received this book from Baker Publishing Group's Chosen Divison's Blogger Review Program for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

View all my reviews