Christian Focus

Tenacious. That word kept coming to mind as I read this book. I met Burns when we were students together. He was the one leading spontaneous prayer meetings for the nations and speaking about the glory of God. Neither would let him go. This work represents that happy union of theology and mission after two decades in the meat smoker of study and experience. Here is a book on the church and her mission and a theology of both; a book that holds onto the doctrine of sola scriptura and to the practice of global missions as though everything depends on it. Let this book convince you—or re–convince you—that indeed everything is at stake.

Trent Hunter, Pastor for Preaching and Teaching, Heritage Bible Church, Greer, South Carolina

The Missionary–Theologian cuts like a surgeon’s scalpel, graciously excising the disease and bringing wholeness to form a theology and philosophy of missions that is emphatically biblical.  As a pastor in the local church, this work brings great hope to my soul for the future of missions and its enduring legacy, rooted in fidelity to sound doctrine. For too long, we in the West have minimized the heart of gospel ministry as being profoundly and primarily theological. Instead we have substituted biblical truth with the temporary, pseudo–spiritual remedies of man–centered experience and emotion. Dr. Burns has written with clarity, boldness, and accuracy to call all who value the glory of God among the nations to reconsider and retool for a ministry founded upon the power of the Word of God. His writing here cannot be missed or overlooked in our churches, our seminaries, or on the field. Read it and apply!

Brian Fairchild, Pastor, Colonial Bible Church, Midland, Texas