Has modern evangelicalism forgotten about key aspects of who God is?

In this episode of The Missions Podcast, Alex and Scott welcome Dr. Peter Sammons, Associate Director of Academic Development at Founders Seminary, to discuss the "forgotten attributes" of God—those less-discussed incommunicable aspects of God's nature. Sammons argues that modern Christians tend to focus on God's relational and communicable attributes (like love and kindness) because they are easier to grasp and more emotionally resonant. Sammons stresses that a proper understanding of God's essence and metaphysical attributes is crucial for true worship and doctrinal precision.

The discussion also explores why understanding God's immutable nature is essential, especially in missions. Many pagan and world religions depict gods as moody and human-like, but the Christian God stands apart as wholly other, unaffected by human emotion or manipulation. This, Sammons emphasizes, highlights the necessity of theological depth for missionaries. Without it, missionaries risk portraying God as just another tribal deity.

• Forgotten Attributes: Focus on God's immutability, impassibility, and aseity, which are often overshadowed by more "relatable" attributes.
• Essence of God: Importance of understanding God's essence versus merely his relational attributes.
• Modern Challenges: Cultural and intellectual laziness has led to theological illiteracy and avoidance of difficult doctrines.
• Missional Importance: Proper theological understanding is critical for distinguishing the Christian God from false deities in missions work.
• Training Solutions: Founders Seminary offers a Master of Arts in Cultural Apologetics and Missions to deepen theological literacy for missionaries, even remotely.

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The Missions Podcast is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.

Are we thinking about persecuted Christians incorrectly? What should our and the church's response be?

In this episode of The Missions Podcast, Alex and Scott talk with Andy Coleman, president of the Christian Emergency Alliance and author of the new book In Days of Darkness: A Manual for Ordinary Christians Facing Unusual Times. The discussion explores the realities of Christian persecution worldwide, especially in regions like Syria and Nigeria, and how Western believers should respond both spiritually and practically. Coleman, who has years of on-the-ground experience in conflict zones, offers a measured, informed perspective that resists both sensationalism and apathy.

Coleman emphasizes the need for “connective tissue” in the global Church—awareness, prayer, and meaningful support between believers in safer contexts and those in peril. He discusses the nuanced and often hidden complexities of persecution, where violence is often localized, and government complicity or neglect plays a key role. The conversation also introduces his book, which seeks to equip everyday Christians to stand firm and act faithfully amid increasing pressures, both abroad and closer to home.

• Understanding Persecution Without Sensationalism
• What’s Happening to Christians in Syria
• Analyzing the Intense Persecution Crisis in Nigeria
• The Role of the Church with Persecuted Brothers and Sisters
• Book Highlight: In Days of Darkness: A Manual for Ordinary Christians Facing Unusual Times

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The Missions Podcast is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.

How can missionaries use the prevailing cultural narratives and longings of the heart to awaken others to the gospel without sacrificing the truth?

In this episode of The Missions Podcast, Alex and Scott continue their conversation with Dr. E.D. Burns, focusing on cultural apologetics and its application in missionary work. E.D. shares insights into different approaches to apologetics, including cultural, presuppositional, classical, and evidential apologetics. He emphasizes the importance of appealing to the imagination and “longings of the soul” to awaken a deeper interest in Christianity. Finally, E.D. details how the Celtic Sun Cross is a great historical perspective of cultural apologetics.

Key Points:

1. Distinctives of apologetic approaches
2. The importance of asking good questions to uncover worldview inconsistencies
3. The universal longings of the soul for home, belonging, and truth
4. Historical examples of cultural apologetics with the celtic cross
5. Application of cultural apologetics for missionaries

When was the last time your church did a missions conference, and how did it go? ABWE wants to help your church do a missions conference that will challenge your congregation to send. It's called Send Sunday. Click here to download your free resources including: sermon notes, small group discussion questions, song selections, children's activity pages, and more! Join with ABWE and other churches on Pentacost Sunday to pray and ask God to send someone from your church.

With over 3 billion people in the world who have never heard of Jesus, the global need is tremendous for workers to go into the harvest fields (Matthew 9:37-38). Is God calling you to missions? We'd love to have a conversation with you on how you can use your gifts and talents to advance the Great Commission at home and abroad. Visit abwe.org/SendMe for more information and to take your next step in missions.

Do you love The Missions Podcast? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber!

Premium Subscribers get access to:

• Exclusive bonus content
• A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts
• Invite-only webinars
• A free gift!

Support The Missions Podcast and sign up to be a Premium Subscriber at missionspodcast.com/premium

The Missions Podcast is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.

How can missionaries and apologists connect the gospel to the longings of the human heart—without watering it down?

In this episode of The Missions Podcast, Alex Kocman and Scott Dunford sit down with Dr. E.D. Burns—missionary, author, and professor—to unpack the concept of cultural apologetics. Drawing from the legacy of C.S. Lewis, Dr. Burns explains how cultural apologetics appeals not merely to logic but to the imagination and desires of the soul.

He contrasts this approach with evidential, presuppositional, and classical apologetics, emphasizing how cultural apologetics helps us engage the heart without compromising biblical truth. Sharing stories from his years on the field in Thailand, Dr. Burns shows how this method resonates in honor-shame contexts and how missionaries can faithfully and compellingly contextualize the gospel message.

This conversation explores the importance of storytelling, the beauty of the gospel in every culture, and the role of imagination in helping others see the glory of Christ.

Key topics:

• What sets cultural apologetics apart
• How C.S. Lewis shaped modern apologetics
• Practical strategies for contextualization in missions
• Why storytelling and beauty matter in gospel proclamation
• Avoiding syncretism while engaging the heart

God has already called many people to the mission field, but they need your support to get there. Help someone in Prefield get to where God is calling them by prayerfully supporting their ministry at abwe.org/Prefield.

What doctrinal disagreements are driving wedges into your ministry? In this week's episode of The Missions Podcast, Alex and Scott sit down with Dr. Joshua Howard to discuss how to handle theological conflict among Christians. They hit on topics of theological triage, hierarchies of theological concepts, and how the theology of the end times (eschatology), can both unify believers and divide them.

Josh Howard is Pastor at New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Monroeville, PA. He's the host of Eschatology Matters podcast and author of "A Primer for Conflict: Drawing a Line in the Sand". Get a free digital copy of the book at missionspodcast.com/conflict .

What more of the conversation? Join our Premium Podcast Subscribers and get access to the Overtime episode as Alex, Scott, and Joshua discuss how we live in light of eschatological disagreements. Sign up at missionspodcast.com/premium.

With over 3 billion people in the world who have never heard of Jesus, the global need is tremendous for workers to go into the harvest fields (Matthew 9:37-38). Is God calling you to missions? We'd love to have a conversation with you on how you can use your gifts and talents to advance the Great Commission at home and abroad. Visit abwe.org/SendMe for more information and to take your next step in missions.

Do you love The Missions Podcast? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber!

Premium Subscribers get access to:

• Exclusive bonus content
• A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts
• Invite-only webinars
• A free gift!

Support The Missions Podcast and sign up to be a Premium Subscriber at missionspodcast.com/premium

The Missions Podcast is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.

What is going on in the Asian church? In this week's episode of The Missions Podcast, Alex and Scott sit down with an ABWE missionary to East Asia. He details the translation work he did during his time on the field as well as the current needs and struggles of the Chinese church.

This ABWE missionary has helped develop the Bible Study Toolbox, a website of theological resources translated into Chinese to equip national pastors. Visit yanjingbooks.com to view that resource.

With over 3 billion people in the world who have never heard of Jesus, the global need is tremendous for workers to go into the harvest fields (Matthew 9:37-38). Is God calling you to missions? We'd love to have a conversation with you on how you can use your gifts and talents to advance the Great Commission at home and abroad. Visit abwe.org/SendMe for more information and to take your next step in missions.

Do you love The Missions Podcast? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber!

Premium Subscribers get access to:

• Exclusive bonus content
• A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts
• Invite-only webinars
• A free gift!

Support The Missions Podcast and sign up to be a Premium Subscriber at missionspodcast.com/premium

The Missions Podcast is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.

What does missionary life look like in a hard place like East Asia? In this week's episode, Alex and Scott sit down with two ABWE missionaries to East Asia. Together they talk about what ministry looked like during their time in Asia, the benefits and struggles of living on the field with kids, and how family is used in holistic ministry.

Want more of the conversation? Become a Missions Podcast Premium Subscriber to get early access to an additional conversation with this ABWE missionary about specifics of his ministry in Asia and the struggles of Chinese pastors. Get access to that episode and more at missionspodcast.com/premium.

God has already called many people to the mission field, but they need your support to get there. Help someone in Prefield get to where God is calling them by prayerfully supporting their ministry at abwe.org/Prefield.

Do you love The Missions Podcast? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber!

Premium Subscribers get access to:

• Exclusive bonus content
• A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts
• Invite-only webinars
• A free gift!

Support The Missions Podcast and sign up to be a Premium Subscriber at missionspodcast.com/premium

The Missions Podcast is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionspodcast.com.

Big News for Apple Podcasts Listeners!

We’ve been talking about it for months—and it’s finally here. You can now support The Missions Podcast and access the Overtime bonus show directly in Apple Podcasts with a $9.99/month premium subscription. No extra logins. No separate websites. Just more missions content, right in your feed.

Prefer the full experience—including group chats, live streams, and a free gift? That’s still available at missionspodcast.com.

Thanks for being part of our global listening community. Let’s go make disciples.