Ed Stetzer is a great friend to many movements.  I do not think that there is anyone who preachers today to a broader range of evangelicalism. One thing that makes that possible is that he is ever eager to understand what movements actually do stand for.  It was such a blessing having him preach at Jubilee Church London a while back.  It was a flying visit (though we did get to go round the Churchill museum with our wives!) and I think it was his first introduction to a Newfrontiers meeting. Now he has had a chance to worship with some of our American brothers, here are some of his thoughts:

I think it is fascinating to find a movement that is charismatic and Calvinist. Some Reformed movements say they are charismatic, but at Newfrontiers, they are not just “aspirational charismatics.” (I would say that many “new Calvinists” like to use the term “charistmatic” to refer to themselves, but they would not really fit the widely used description– they “aspire” to be, but are not really.) . . .

As I mentioned, these folks say they are charismatics and they worship and live as such. If you are interested in learning more, Terry Virgo has written a helpful book that will give you a picture of the the values of their churches. The Spirit Filled Church gives a fascinating picture of a family of churches that values Reformed theology, expository preaching, and charismatic theology. (My endorsement calls it a “must read” to understand this movement).

READ MORE AT Ed Stetzer – New Frontiers USA– Some Reflections on Calvinists and Charismatics.

If, like me, you are fascinated by the work that has gone into Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer’s latest book Transformational Church then the following video will give you a relaxed, longish presentation on just what they have been getting up to:

Having spoken just yesterday about the fine line between self-promotion and hiding one’s light under a bushel, it might surprise you that I would share a video at the begining of this post in which  Terry Virgo (who incidentally has recently joined Facebook) begins his slot recommending books at the Brighton conference by commending mine. There are a number of reasons why I feel very comfortable doing this, however.

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, Terry’s book review segments have been a major part of my conference life for three decades. No one who has ever heard him passionately commend a book could ever forget the very helpful way he does this. After all, this is the man who single-handedly sold the entire first UK print run of Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology with one announcement. Pastors would do well to watch this video and learn how to really persuade your people to get a hold of a book. One leader who seems to have learned from Terry’s skill in this matter is my own pastor Tope Koleoso, who sold 100 copies of Raised With Christ in 10 minutes! I want to permanently house a video of Terry at his memorable best.  This is a man who’s love for Jesus spills over into a love for books.

During such recommendation slots in the past Terry has routinely mentioned his own and his wife’s books. He does it always in a disarming way, for example saying “and this is a book by my wife’s husband…”   He does it humbly but boldly because nobody invests the ridiculous amout of time it takes to actually write a book unless they believe passionately in its message.  I make no apologies for suggesting that you buy my book.  I know that many of my regular readers have yet to get a copy (though the publisher is happy with the sales).  I know that considering the resurrection and all it’s implications can do you great good in your Christian walk.  The only reason I can think of that you should not get ahold of a copy is if you are already reading another book about the resurrection. 2010 has a few months to run yet, so please consider making sure this is the year that you read a book on the glorious victory of Christ and what it has accomplished for us.

If cost is an issue, then right now there is a great deal of 25% off at Amazon.com or over 40% off at Amazon.co.uk At those prices, why not get some copies for your church bookstore, or as gifts for friends.  Just think, you could get some Christmas shopping done early this year!  Before you say it, remember, this is not a book just for Easter time, any more than great books on the cross should only be read at such a time of year.

Finally, Terry also commends some other fine books that you should consider getting. The first is  Tom Schreiner, Magnifying God in Christ which Terry says gave him great confidence in a rickety airplane.

Next is a book called Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer, who according to Terry has “five personalities pumped into one body.” Ed is well worth listening to and reading and serves us all well.

Finally my good friend Phil Moore’s books are all commended from his Straight to the heart of series. Available so far are Matthew, Acts, and Revelation

All of the above books along with many other helpful resources are available at the Newfrontiers online store

A friend of mine recently turned the tables on me and interviewed me in a post entitled Ed Stetzer – My Interview with Adrian Warnock: Why We Need Non-Paid Christian Leaders. If I am quite honest, until recently I never really thought of myself as a Christian leader at all. Ed seems to be talking here about leadership as influence. And so, understanding that I really do not have any of the responsibility and accountability of leadership (except to a limited extent in my local congregation), by virtue of the fact a number of people read this I have come to appreciate that there is some influence that God has entrusted to me. The main effect this realisation has on me is making me concerned to wield that influence for broadly good aims. One of the best ways I can do this is to point you to helpful leaders and material. Go read Ed Stetzer’s blog right now if you havent already, and get ahold of one of his books right away!  Here is the brief video we filmed together:

Watch on Vimeo.

The following sermon is by Ed Stetzer preaching at Jubilee Church. The video follows my brief notes.

Engaging the culture: What does it mean for us to be on mission ?

In Acts 17 Paul finds a space within the culture to proclaim the gospel. He uses this as a bridge to share Jesus. We want to avoid being stained by the world. We must not do certain things and go certain places. But it is also true that holiness is not about being separated from people. We must engage.

Paul acknowledged their spiritual questions. Just like today the world was believing in everything. Paul understands their views and then bring Jesus. He also did this in Acts 13. Here he was speaking with the Jews and he starts in a very different place, but ends in exactly the same way. The pattern is building a bridge from culture to a bloody cross and an empty tomb. Clear and uncompromising proclamation. See Acts 14:11 in Lystra he speaks of seasons and this tied in with their religion. All people ask why are we here and what must we do? Paul did not adopt their religious beliefs or say they were ok, however. He calls them to repentance. What people find in their quest is not good. Paul was troubled. Jesus is better than the idols. Context matters. The how of ministry is in some ways determined by the who when and where of people. Look to understand the actual questions people are asking. Be ready to give an answer.

Paul understood Athens. Culture is their air we breathe. We cannot preach against culture. It’s just where we live. We don’t adopt everything. There are some things in every culture that are positive and we should adopt. Eg family. Other things we can adapt, eg clothing and music. We can live different and look similar to the world. And there are parts of every culture we must reject. Jude 3 tells us to contend for our faith. Eg what Jesus does for us. 1 Corinthians 9:22. Says become all things to all people. So we don’t compromise but we do contextualize. Some people all they do is contend. Others only contextualize and change beliefs so they seem more tolerant and less judgmental. We should cry out give me London or I die.

Acknowledged the positive and rebuked the negative things. We inhabit culture so we can be agents of reconciliation. Many go to far and never stand for the truth. But we mustn’t go the other way and not go far enough. We don’t own the gospel so we can’t change it. We can change our music style or clothing, but the message is unchanging. Paul proclaims to them. He quotes a poet. It would be like us quoting a song or film. Later he says they are ignorant. He affirms them first, but says the things people don’t want to hear. The world will never like the gospel. The world has no problem if we believe in Jesus it has a problem that we think they should to. But Jesus says no one comes to God except through him. Cross is a stumbling point. Every religion says Keller is “I obey therefore I am accepted,” but we say “I am accepted therefore I obey.” Many apparent Christians have accepted moralism not Jesus. God commands everyone to repent. People are far from God but hungry for him. People consistently create gods for themselves. We live in a world that is deeply idolatrous. They will always hate our gospel but we must proclaim it anyway.

We must inhabit and engage the gospel with Jesus. Join Jesus in his mission to seek and save the lost. Can we live sent? Go to our neighbours learn who they are and what they believe and tell them Jesus loves then and died for them and wants a relationship with then?

Downloads: Audio LoDef DVD HiDef

These are my notes from the final session of Dwell London. Ed Stetzer was the speaker.

He wanted us to focus on Why not how. Tools not rules. We are in a time of transition. Many churches are frustrated. Looking for new ways, new models. We need to think biblically and culturally about how do church.

Ecclesiology is the study of the church. If our ecclesiology is driven by mission, this should lead to contextually appropriate churches. Culture does matter. We all live in culture. Evey church Is relevant to a culture. The question is does that culture still exist?

So few books on the biblical doctrine of the church. Growing interest. The church is not the center of Gods plan, Jesus is but it is central to gods plan.

Eph 3:21.

Sometimes the church as we see it is not the church as God defines it. When people reject the church they soon reject the gospel. Church has always had seasons when people are dissatisfied with it. Eg Augustine said “the Church is a whore but she is still my mother.” Mustn’t shape the church to completely fit the culture. Nor must we pretend that we can build a church that is not effected by culture.

Then Scripture shapes our understanding of the church. It’s a bride. It’s the body of Christ. It’s God’s agenda and tool for the world. God is a sender by nature so then church is missional as a result. Church needs to know who she is and where she is.

Church is Biblically faithful, culturally relevant, counter culture, and a community of the kingdom.

There are some essential issues. See Romans 14. Biblical marks of the a church that can found in all cultures at all times. Desire of many Christians is two make one thing that we like must be present at all times af places.

Biblical marks.

1. Scriptural authority

2. Biblical leadership

3. Preaching and teaching.

4. Ordinances. Supper and baptism.

5. Covenant community.

6. Mission.

Then thee will be convictions about how they are applied. These will cause us to be in different churches than our brothers and sisters.  Some people say everything is essential.

Good theology leads to missiology.  The how of ministry us in some ways determined by the who when and were of culture. We must start where people are and bring them to the bloody cross and the empty tomb.

Christiology= study of Christ Who is Jesus and what has he sent us to do. What is a NT church going go look like in our culture?

Missiology. What strategies will we use to reach out?

We tend to go to what we inherited rather than who we are sent to.  What is the nature pf the gospel and how is it best lived out where we are? Biblically faithful in the context we are living in. We must engage culture. But if we go to far er loose the gospel. If we don’t do that at all, the gospel will not impact people.

Many churches look different from the culture but the truth is they live the same. We are meant to look similar but live radically different.  Representing Jesus as ambassadors in the world God has placed us in.

These notes reflect my own impressions of what Ed Stetzer had to say at the recent Dwell London event. He was doing a seminar for cross-cultural workers to help them understand the current evangelical movement.  There are many of my own comments entwined with what Ed actually had to say. So blame me, rather than him for anything you disagree with, and credit him and not me for anything useful! Anytime I use the word “I” in these notes, this definitely reflects my opinion, not Ed’s necessarily. And, since this was an hour long seminar, you can tell I only grabbed parts of what he said.

Stetzer showed a remarkable grasp of the modern evangelical movement, among which he moves remarkably freely as a friend of many from remarkably different streams. Ed speaks to a broader Christian constituency than anyone else I can think of. I should also mention also that in private conversation this past weekend, Ed stressed to me the importance of each of these groups continuing to feel passionately about their distinctives. Ed argued that if we all try and minimize the things that mark us out as different to other groups we will loose traction as movements. Ultimately the lowest common denominator approach to unity is a road to compromise and liberalism in my view. So I agree with Ed that our best approach to the many and varied movements in evangelicalism is to be united where we can, learn what we can, but still hold strongly onto our own values, always being clear that as Bible people, we are open to being persuaded away from our perspectives.

Ed began by explaining that there has been a collapse of the methodological consensus. Over the last few decades it is no longer the case that an Anglican church looks like an Anglican or Baptist like a Baptist. Now you have moderators. Eg “Pupurse driven,” “moderately reformed,” or “missional.” It is now the case that a Lutheran church that is Purpose Driven will be more similar to a Pentecostal Purpose Driven church than another Lutheran. Thus, a lot of affinity is atheological, rather it is about what ministry you receive.

Ed then spoke briefly about a number of movements that affect the Church today. The pentecostal movement began in early 1900s. Fastest growing movement in the history of Church if you include the charismatic movement also which is not as distinct from it as some imagine. Some of that growth is the movement within Christianity ie non Pentecostals becoming pentecostal. The charismatic is in some ways distinguished from the broader pentecostal group in that they believe in a separate experience of Spirit baptism but emphasizes all the gifts, and tongues is not quite as essential. The charismatic movement was born late 60s early 70s. Then 80s there was the “third wave“. This tends to be continuationist but most do not believe in a second experience of grace. The whole of global Christianity is now influenced by this broader continuationist charismatic/pentecostal movement. Pentecostals and charismatics won the worship war but lost the organizational one. So raising hands and clapping would be mainstream now but rejected before, whilst many would see the movement itself as past its sell by date, at least in America.  The milder expressions of charismatic worship would be mainstream in what would become contemporary churches.

Just to be absolutely clear, this next whole paragraph is an addition to what Stetzer said: As a charismatic, I myself would argue that we have much more to contribute than body language and music style.  I do not recognize worship as charismatic simply on that basis. So it is a shame if some people now think “we are all charismatics now.” The truth is, Spirit-filled worship can occur while hymns are sung and people are in a state of subdued awe, whilst loud modern music can be accompanied by an un-engaged congregation.  I would argue that the far more important emphasis we can help to restore to the wider church is the personal relationship with the risen Jesus, which is something I speak a lot about in my book.  I personally also strongly suggest that the charismatic movement is far from over, even in America.  The USA itself is ready primed for a fresh wave of church planting, especially by those who would are reformed and yet aggressively pursue spiritual encounter with God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Grudem appears to have almost won the theological war with many now at least accepting the theoretical availability of the gifts.  But many of those theological converts to a continuationist position have not themselves seen true gifts operating within a biblical framework. It is time for many more models of a sane charismatic church to be founded.  On that note, it might be interesting to watch Chandler and Grudem on the gifts if you haven’t already.

Now there are different wings of the church currently. Traditional, non traditional or pragmatic, 3rd wave and Pentecostal/charismatic.  Of course one reality which no talk like this can really be expected to fully address is that many churches will try and take good aspects from each of these movements. In my own view this is why books that speak about models for the church are so popular. We are each eager to learn what we can from each other, convinced none of us have all the answers for how to do church in a modern world.

Ed spoke about what he called the pragmatic evangelical movement (using the terminology of Robert Webber in The Younger Evangelicals. Ed nicknamed it the Willowback movement- Rick Warren and Bill Hybels. Big global influence. Saddleback is probably the most influential church in the world. They tend to look like a Calvary Chapel or a Vineyard, are continuationist, informal, but mostly leaving behind the ecstatic expressions in a worship service. There is a drive to de-emphasise anything people would find strange. Many think pragmatic is a bad word. But it just means determining what works. In this sense, I believe that there is much that we can learn from these churches, even if we do not want to fully adopt all their methods.

Traditional evangelicals (also from Webber) would have conferences about for example creationism vs evolution. Must prove these things to be true. For example how should we defend the verse that the rabbit chews the cud when science says it is not quite the same way of cud chewing. Rick Warren is a very conservative evangelical on almost all issues but he says “what people really want to know is how God can change their life or marriage”. Many traditional evangelicals rushed into pragmatic evangelicalism as they were so fed up of dry dead theology.

A decade ago, Purpose Driven was the most influential Christian movement in the world. Very broad reaching. In the the USA, these movements are still influential, but not like they were ten years ago. I have not had much to do with Bill, but I find Rick’s tweets very helpful indeed, and strongly supported John Piper’s decision to invite him to speak. Willow Creek originally spoke about being seeker driven. Stage driven. Take into account the local expressions of music and drama. Willow Creek was also influential but less globally. The seeker paradigm of ministry has declined in influence, and Willow itself has changed their own paradigm. When they realized they needed to change their way to disciple, and announced that they were changing, many people went after them in a nasty way, especially online.

Younger evangelicals (again, Webber’s term) are building on or charting new directions. Younger evangelicals can be found among a number of different groups: 1. Hyper-contemporary . Desire for “in your face,” eg series on sex with aggressive titles that get complaints. Gets media attention and they like it. Eg one church laid out a Seven day sex challenge to their congregation to have sex every day for a week. Newspring Church, a rapidly growing church in South Carolina, had an ACDC song “You’re on a highway to hell” at their Easter service. The idea is that in the modern world it is harder to get peoples attention. So the desire is to cut through the noise and get people to notice. In an all consuming passion to reach the unchurched they often offend the Christians. In a way they are a continuation of the seeker movement but “louder.”

2. Emerging Church.  These should be considered as several different groups: Relevants A lot of this is just about being relevant. Appropriate to the culture. Same understanding of the gospel but engage in a different way.  Reconstructionists want to change the way we do church. They believe in the gospel. Believe in conversion. But believe that much of what had been done in church harms the gospel. So we see, House Church, Missional,  incarnational models. The reality is indeed that many churches do need to change.  Revisionists like Maclaren want to rethink the gospel want a bigger gospel, more societal. Some want to ditch the idea of gospel as a transaction altogether.

3 New reformed. These respond to society by wanting to go deeper. Time magazine thinks that this idea is one of the most influential ideas (including secular ones)  in modern America. Different varieties eg charismatic reformed. John Macarthur and Driscoll are very different for example. A lot of younger reformed evangelicals became reformed in response to more vague churches they grew up in.  There is much to rejoice about, but much to be anxious about also. There is a level of anger in some that is so concerning that they are nick-named the “TR” =truly reformed. Fortunately there are also the “WR” =winsomely reformed. Many in more traditional forms criticize. Actually the new reformed have something in common with the emerging in that they want to correct the common gospel, in this case they want a bloodier one with more emphasis on cross and resurrection. There is a growing evidence of dissatisfaction with evangelicalism. People feel that they are not seeing the results that they thought they would. There is much experimentation that is going on, and coming up with new expressions of church. Stetzer calls this Evangelical angst. People are seeking a model. Unsure about who they are. There is a drive to reclaim the centre, because the edges are fuzzy. We live in a time of Tumult. Many are dissatisfied with the results so far, unsure what the future holds. I argue in my book that one of the reasons for all this agnst is our neglect of Jesus’ resurrection:

“Could our neglect of the resurrection be both cause and effect of the alarming state we are in? Certainly the success of liberal theology in taking hold of many churches after the First World War led to an increase in the number of those who denied the resurrection of Jesus and was also associated with the beginning of the decline in church attendance recorded since then. As a direct result of this, Christians have become marginalized by society and feel uncertain about how to share their beliefs with others in a hostile world. The vigor of our faith has waned, and church attendance is believed by many to be in a terminal decline. The general level of biblical knowledge among Christians is appalling. In a world where more study material is available in books, software, and online than previous generations could ever have dreamed, the Bible has never been less understood by members of the church, and even by our preachers.

Presumably as a direct result for many who attend church today, there seems to be little observable difference from the world in terms of personal lifestyles, values, and beliefs. The old accusation that the Western church is a mile wide and an inch deep has never been more true. . .

There is still a silent majority in the general population who claim to believe in God. At the same time, there is widespread ignorance about the Christian message. . . Many are proposing solutions for the challenges that the Western church faces today.  Some lack confidence in the message of the gospel, arguing that we should speak less about our beliefs in the hope that the world will be less offended. Others go further and quietly deny core Christian values. Some look to marketing techniques, changes in worship style, or modern management strategies. An industry has arisen offering solutions to struggling pastors in the form of leadership books and programs. We should learn everything we can without compromising the Bible, but no single solution will cure the multiple ailments of the church. In spite of this general decline, there are many encouraging signs. This book is written in the hope that if we will faithfully proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus and work out the implications of that message in vibrant, grace-filled churches, the tide will turn.”

Read more in RAISED WITH CHRIST.

Are you a pastor? Have you got a plan for what to do if your church ever attracts a protest?  Think that it would never happen to you? Think again, because in the West we are living in a society that increasingly hates Christians.  Many see us as little different to the Taliban.  If you are drafting an action plan for what your response to being picketted would be, you would do well to take a note from the church Ed Stetzer has been an interim pastor of:

One of our staff members recruited several deacons to serve at a Baptist breakfast table: coffee and donuts. It was positioned near the protesters, counter protesters, and media. Anyone was welcome to come to the breakfast table.

via Ed Stetzer – God Loves Protestors Too.

Terry Virgo founded Newfrontiers back in the mid 1970s. He was church planting before it was cool. He formed a missional network before the phrase was coined. There are now over 700 Newfrontiers churches spread out on every continent. Most of these began as house churches. But many of them have grown to become warehouse churches. Each of these churches and the movement as a whole is founded on prayer. It is a movement that has aimed to reconstruct a New Testament model of church, convinced from the outset that the old wineskins of formal church life simply will not do any more.

Newfrontiers embodied some of the values of the emerging church, such as being very relational, decades before Emergent began. It is charismatic, without a seatbelt, but with the brake of Biblical conviction. Yet it’s leaders were young restless and reformed in the last century, and an army of doctrine-loving, spirit-filled, missional pioneers have been arising in waves ever since. A godly pragmaticism has led to a discerning welcoming of influences from the alpha course, and the church growth movement among others.  Cell groups, missional communities, lively worship, seeker-aware meetings, and old-school mission crusades have all found their place. Newfrontiers embraces the input of many external ministries, but identifies exclusively with none of them. Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology is the doctrine textbook of choice for the movement, and Piper, Lloyd-Jones and Carson have also all been frequently read over the years.

Newfrontiers is not perfect. It has it’s weaknesses. But it is the group that I am so glad to call my home, and the family of churches that my church, Jubilee, is a part of. Terry’s sermon on prayer remains the most popular video on my blog by a country mile. It is no wonder that many American’s are keen to find our more about a movement which in the UK has shaped the meaning of the word “charismatic.”

Ed managed to crystallize this interest in a short pithy interview that is a fantastic introduction to Terry.  See also Ed’s post from which this video came for some more links:

Watch on Vimeo.

Ed lays out well the missional challenge that London represents. Could God be calling YOU to come over and help us? The world lives in this great city of mine. If you want to reach people from all over the world with the gospel of Jesus you can come here to to do it!

Watch on vimeo

A quick read of Ed Stetzer’s schedule shows that he probably has the broadest ranging audience of any Christian speaker today.  He is one of the most respected missiologists in the world. Translated, that means he is an expert at helping us learn how to build churches that will reach the world for Christ.

I am therefore thrilled to let you know that he will be preaching for us at Jubilee Church, London on Sunday May 30th.  If you would like to visit us at Enfield Cineworld at 10 AM you would be very welcome.  Ed is also preaching at Westminster Chapel on May 23rd and at the Dwell Conference on May 22nd. For more information about Ed see his blog or my interview with him.

I do love it when a scientific study shows us what we all thought likely to be the case.  When will society take note that this massive market is degrading to women and men alike?

# Pornography is addictive, and neuroscientists are beginning to map the biological substrate of this addiction.

# Users tend to become desensitized to the type of pornorgraphy they use, become bored with it, and then seek more perverse forms of pornography.

# Married men who are involved in pornography feel less satisfied with their conjugal relations and less emotionally attached to their wives. Wives notice and are upset by the difference.

# Pornography use is a pathway to infidelity and divorce, and is frequently a major factor in these family disasters.

via The Effects of Pornography – EdStetzer.com.

“Adrian Warnock presents a beautiful picture of why the resurrection matters to each of us. In Raised with Christ, the resurrection of Jesus is unleashed to its exalted place where it supplies our new birth, surrounds our new life, and empowers our new mission. With great clarity, Adrian teaches how the resurrection of Christ matters every day.”
—Ed Stetzer, President, LifeWay Research

Ed has been a good friend to me and is one of the leading Evangelical thinkers and networkers of our time. If you don’t already you can follow him on twitter or facebook. Few people are invited to speak as widely as Ed with good reason since he brings his passionate missional approach everywhere he goes. I have a previous video interview with Ed over the internet and look forward to hopefully meeting him face to face sometime in 2010.

Ed Stetzer has a great post discussing the concept of apostolic work today. He has some great links many of which would on first glance describe a view very similar to that which I hold. There almost seems to be a consensus emerging that recognises the need for some kind of apostolic role today (though many would disagree with the use of the actual word). I have a lot more posts on apostles today here on my blog.

In this final segment of my interview with Ed Stetzer, we speak about contextualization of the gospel and how to build truly multicultural churches.

The previous parts of this interview can be viewed here:

• Ed Stetzer—Warnie Award and Interview: What Does Missional Mean?

• Ed Stetzer on Church Planting
• Ed Stetzer Interview: Is Missional and Apostolic the Same Thing?
• Ed Stetzer Interview: How Can We All Be Missional?
• Ed Stetzer Interview: The Atonement and the Church Today
• Ed Stetzer Interview: Churches We Can Learn From
• Ed Stetzer Interview: Missional Preaching

In this section of our interview I begin by asking Ed if he thinks there is a particular type of preaching that is missional.

Today we turn to look at why some churches are successful and what we can learn from them. Ed also mentions an old post of mine called “I Want It All” and said he agreed with at least some of that sentiment.

Today, we move on to speak about the atonement controversy and the state of the Church today.

In this segment of our interview we speak about how we can all become missional. This is a subject Ed takes up further in his new book, Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living.

As we continue, I cheekily asked Ed if he thinks missional and apostolic are synonymous. Interestingly, the word missionary is the Latin word used in the vulgate Bible to translate apostle from the Greek.