Ed - In the age of 9/11 American Christians have never had more difficulty understanding and loving the millions of Muslims that God has brought to their doorstep. How do you teach your American Christian friends to bridge that gap and love their Muslim neighbors? Joey Allen, a missionary serving among Muslims has learned to love them, and has a unique insight into how we can all see our Muslim cousins differently.

I was born a Bulldog, a Georgia Bulldog fan. I never came to a point in my life where I asked UGA to come into my heart. I never had a conversion experience where I repented and turned to the Bulldogs. I was taught Bulldog-lore from infancy. All my relatives loved the Dogs (except for one cousin who everyone thought was strange for going to Georgia Tech). Everyone I knew bled red and black. In the fall, we would gather around the television altar, turn down the volume, and turn on the radio to listen to the oratory of the high-priest of the Bulldog nation, Larry Munson, the Voice of the Dogs.

My favorite t-shirt growing up was a red shirt that had “How ‘bout them DAWGS” scrawled on the front. I remember thinking Hershel Walker was cooler than Luke Skywalker, and at one point, I had all the words to “Who Let the Dogs Out?” memorized.

It's great to be a Georgia Bulldog!

When I applied to college, I only applied to one school: The University of Georgia. When I received the acceptance letter, my family and I all danced around chanting, “It's great to be a Georgia Bulldog!”

All my friends went to school at UGA. Some of my best memories are from going to football games, basketball games, baseball games, gymnastics, intra-murals, art shows, concerts, walk-a-thons, scavenger hunts, and other events.

Between May 11 and 14 some 1500 mission leaders and representatives from nearly every continent (Antarctica excepted) gathered in Tokyo, Japan to commemorate the centennial of the 1910 Edinburgh World Missionary Conference. The meeting was striking for several reasons:

Dr. Curtis Sergeant is the Vice President for International Strategies for e3 Partners Ministries, and a veteran CPM practitioner. You can download a pdf version of Dr. Sergeant's article here.

Introduction

The principles in this article are gleaned from experience in planting rapidly reproducing churches in China. They were then tested through training, coaching and mentoring church planters serving in over one hundred nations, mostly working among unreached people groups. Over the years I have concluded it is difficult to make generalizations

The principles in this article…were tested in over one hundred nations, mostly among unreached people groups.

about evangelism, but it is more appropriate to make generalizations about discipleship and church planting. Evangelism is quite context-specific because half of the process is determined by what an individual believes and understands truth to be. Once someone has given themselves fully to the Lord, the discipleship and church planting processes become almost entirely about what God is calling us to. That deals with the culture of the Kingdom of God rather than the cultures from which we come.

INTENTIONALITY, GOD’S GLORY, AND THE CHURCH

If you have not read Part I or II yet, it is recommended you do so prior to reading this article.  Click here to go to Part I of this series or here to go to Part II of this series.

While there has been some positive correction in the church, we still need to be more intentional about God’s glory.  Our churches must be actively and intentionally making God’s presence manifest throughout the world.  When God’s glory is our litmus test, we will see the following healthy church characteristics: