If you would like to order a print copy of this issue of Missio Apostolica, go to our Facebook Page Book Store (https://www.facebook.com/ LutheranSocietyforMissiology) or e-mail [email protected]. MISSIO APOSTOLICA Lutheran Mission Matters Journal of the Lutheran Society for Missiology Volume XXII, No. 1 (Issue 43) May 2014 www.lsfmissiology.org MISSIO APOSTOLICA —Journal of the Lutheran Society for Missiology, Inc.— ISSN 1068-3151 EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: Rev. Dr. Victor Raj, Editor & Chairman Rev. Dr. Daniel Mattson Rev. Dr. Robert Kolb, Editor Mr. David Berger Rev. Dr. Joel Okamoto, Book Editor Rev. Dr. Douglas Rutt Rev. Jeff Thormodson Mr. Mark Kempff ALL CORRESPONDENCE SHOULD BE SENT TO THE OFFICE OF THE EDITOR: MISSIO APOSTOLICA TEL: (314) 505-7115 801 Seminary Place FAX: (314) 505-7393 St. Louis, MO 63105, USA BOOKS FOR REVIEW SHOULD BE SENT TO THE BOOK EDITOR: Joel Okamoto TEL: (314) 505-7152 801 Seminary Place E-mail: [email protected] St. Louis, MO 63105, USA EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Stacey Parker c/o Dr. Victor Raj 801 Seminary Place E-mail: [email protected] St. Louis, MO 63105, USA Missio Apostolica is published twice a year in the spring and fall by the Lutheran Society for Missiology, Inc. (LSFM). Missio Apostolica serves as an international Lutheran forum for the exchange of ideas and discussion of issues related to proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ globally. The views expressed by the individual writers, however, are not necessarily the views of the editors, Editorial Committee, or the Board of Directors of LSFM. The journal is an open-access publication and is available online at http://lsfmissiology.org/. Subscriptions to an identical paper copy are available at a modest cost per year as well. The journal is indexed in the ATLA Religion Database (online journal index of the American Theological Library Association) and its related online full-text component, ATLAS (American Theological Library Association Serials). ATLAS may be accessed at no charge by alumni of many seminaries upon request to the library of their alma mater including Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, USA. Copyright 2014, The Lutheran Society for Missiology, Inc., St. Louis. Cover design by Justin Kumfer MISSIO APOSTOLICA Journal of the Lutheran Society for Missiology, Inc. Volume XXII, No. 1 (43) May 2014 CONTENTS About the Cover ...................................................................................................... 3 Inside this Issue ....................................................................................................... 4 Editorial .................................................................................................................. 6 ARTICLES Response to “A Theological Statement for Mission in the 21st Century” Robert Newton ..................................................................................... 10 Evangelism in “an Age of Normal Nihilism” Joel P. Okamoto ................................................................................... 33 Dreaming of Bithynia Bob Scudieri ........................................................................................ 44 Barriers to the Gospel: Approaching Contextualization from a Confessional Lutheran Perspective Mike Rodewald .................................................................................... 54 Properly Dividing: Distinguishing the Variables of Culture from the Constants of Theology or It’s Not How You Look, It’s How You Think You Look Jack M. Schultz .................................................................................... 63 Wilhelm Loehe and the Chippewa Outreach at Frankenmuth James M. Kaiser................................................................................... 73 “A Bishop’s House Church–Luther’s Thoughts” Some Mission Truths Regarding Missional Communities James D. Buckman............................................................................... 83 Why Jesus Is Not an Avatar: A Critique of the Indian Hindu and Christian Incarnation Idea of Jesus as ‘Avatar’ on the Basis of Nicene Affirmation for Future Missions Subin Raj ............................................................................................. 94 Holy Spirit, Church, and the Outsiders: A Brief Study of the Relation between Baptism and Holy Spirit in Acts 8:14–17 Alexandre Vieira ................................................................................ 109 Thrive Community Church: A Mission of the LCMS John D. Roth ...................................................................................... 118 A Church Planting Journey Andy Audette .................................................................................... 125 Isaiah 42: The Mission of the Servant Celiane Vieira .................................................................................... 131 The Book of Generations Victor Raj .......................................................................................... 137 MISSION OBSERVERS Outreach to Atheists Herbert Hoefer ................................................................................... 149 Drunk in His Own Wine: Overcoming the Obstacles Necessary to Do Ethnic Ministry Giacomo Cassese ............................................................................... 151 BOOK REVIEWS .............................................................................................. 154 LUTHERAN SOCIETY FOR MISSIOLOGY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: Rev. Dr. Daniel Mattson, Chairman Rev. Dr. Victor Raj, Editor & Chairman Professor Phil Johnson, Vice-chairman Rev. Dr. Robert Kolb, Editor Rev. James Pressnell, Secretary Rev. Dr. Joel Okamoto, Book Editor Mrs. Ruth Mattson, Treasurer Rev. Jeffrey Thormodson Rev. Jeff Thormodson, Executive Director Rev. Dr. Daniel Mattson Rev. Dr. Victor Raj, Editor Mr. David Berger Rev. Dr. Eugene Bunkowske (ex-officio) Rev. Dr. Douglas Rutt Mr. Mark Kempff About The Cover: You Can Judge This Journal By Its Cover “Lutheran mission matters.” Yes, it does; and yes, Lutheran mission matters are what you read about in Missio Apostolica, now in its twenty-second year of publication. Ambiguity, double meaning—call it what you will. The journal’s subtitle packs much meaning into few words. Lutheran mission matters because it is based on God’s gracious gifts: His Word and His Sacraments. The Spirit plants faith in hearts as He wills, and so Lutherans ground their work of God’s mission in the tools that His Spirit supplies: His saving Word and Sacraments. The Lutheran mission matters in Missio Apostolica reflect the thinking and practice of Lutherans in many walks of life: theologians at seminaries, missionaries in the field and retired missionaries, pastors in the parish, teachers in classrooms, laypeople who bring God’s Word to their neighbors. The new cover illustration, the subject of extended discussion by the editorial committee, is intended not to supersede the LSFM logo of a cross on an open Bible against a background of the globe. Rather, it is to expand on it—to display graphically that mission is about people, people of all cultures and colors. The stylized gathering on the cover depicts a representative sampling of all those who spread the Word and those who hear it. That the people stand in the southern hemisphere is no accident. It reminds us of the growing vibrancy of Christ’s church in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, even as Christians in the “old” countries of Christendom, and even the “new world,” in the north struggle to maintain a vital presence. Mission is not a one-way street from north to south or from west to east. The arrows point in all directions, and the cross remains at the center of it all. God’s mission is everywhere, just as it always has been. David O. Berger Inside this Issue Missio Apostolica, now in its twenty-second year, is headed consistently in the right direction. As the journal of the Lutheran Society for Missiology, it strives to make the love of God in Christ known throughout the Church and world by presenting on paper and in cyberspace the most up-to-date challenges and opportunities for the proclamation of the Gospel locally and globally. It builds on the core value that the Word of the Lord never returns void—that people heed the Word and respond to it in their own respective ways as the Spirit leads them, in His good time, to mature faith. Furthering the vision cast by the journal’s pioneers, Missio Apostolica contains a commendable representation of contributors and readership from all over the world. The writers address theological issues of contemporary relevance, their thoughts and reflections rooted solidly in Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. This issue is replete with contributions of pastors, missionaries, church planters at the seminary, and scholars, many of whom are serving the church internationally. Their expertise and experience inform readers about how Christians confess Christ both within and outside their own cultural and linguistic comfort zone. They, with humility and devotion, acknowledge that it is Christology that matters most as they witness to what God has accomplished for all people in Jesus Christ, as Savior from sin and death. The essays here presented are but a sampling of how people and people groups come to faith in Christ and confess Him as Savior and Lord. The contributions address how fundamentally theological matters function in specific, practical ways to transform people’s