Methods matter in ministry. They matter in overseas ministry too. Consider this article to think through key issues.

• ‘We long for (good) results and are prone to succumb to mechanistic ways of thinking–If only we implement A and B, then the strategy will lead to C.’

• ‘Listening to God’s word chastens triumphalist or mechanistic thinking, reminding us that, in the work of missions (or parenting or pastoring, for that matter), the success of our labors depends not on our carefully honed methods but on the authority of him who calls.’

• ‘The effectiveness of their ministry does not depend on the latest strategy and how well they can implement it, nor does it depend on the winsomeness of their speech or the depth of their sociological research.’

• ‘When the going is slow, when the soil is hard, don’t look first for a new method to advance the gospel.’

• ‘No amount of human strategy or ingenuity can twist the arm of his sovereign strength.’

Read the whole thing here

(GSiV: Expecting Rapid?; Debate about methods of church planting and discipling; Unreached People Groups and Overemphasis on Speed; A Plea for Gospel Sanity in Missions; Dangerous Desire for Church Growth; Miller: Success, Failure, and Grace; Church Growth, Planning, and Multiplication; Starting Churches: Making Disciples; Analysis of T4T; Phương pháp ‘Môn Đồ Hóa Dựa Trên Sự Vâng Phục’ là chủ nghĩa luật pháp phải không?; Rapid; Missions: Success, faithfulness, rapid, deception)