Lord willing, my next book will be released this July. Pressure Points: Twelve Global Issues Shaping the Face of the Church (Thomas Nelson) addresses twelve of the most significant global issues influencing our mission. I wrote this work to call attention to these matters and make some general suggestions regarding how we should respond as we glorify God by making disciples of all nations.
I do hope you get a copy of this book and allow it to guide your thoughts, prayers, and movement to the nations. Pastors, I want to encourage you to get a copy to use in educating your people about the global realities affecting your short-, mid-, and long-term missionary labors–across the street and across the world. If you are a professor looking for a book on contemporary issues, then I want to direct you to this work. Mission agency leaders will find this work beneficial in keeping the macro-level matters before their people and assisting with organizational change and strategy development.
The book may be pre-ordered through Amazon HERE and Thomas Nelson HERE.
Pressure is a unique and powerful force. While it can be damaging, it is also a beneficial force. Without an appropriate blood pressure, the human body cannot function. Many adolescents are subjected to braces to straighten their teeth. Through the use of brackets, wires, and rubber bands, their orthodontists are able to apply the appropriate amount of pressure to move their teeth into the desired location. Every jeweler knows that when carbon is placed under the appropriate amount of heat and pressure, a diamond can result. Water pressure has been called one of the deadliest forces in the universe; however, we would not have running water in our homes without it.
I decided to use the metaphor of pressure in the title of this book for the reason that pressure can be both damaging as well as beneficial. The matter for the Church to consider today is, how now should She live in such an age with a multitude of issues applying pressure?
While the Church does not have control over the macro-level contextual realities of each generation, Her response to them is a matter of Kingdom stewardship. She can either allow the pressure from these global issues to push Her off of Her biblical moorings and into a place of irrelevancy, or, like a flywheel that continues to pick up momentum as pressure is applied to it, She can discern the pressures and prayerfully consider a response while remaining faithful to Her Lord. This message is not intended to cause fear or fill the Church with a sense of depression and gloom. While each of today’s critical issues poses numerous challenges to the advancement of the gospel, I write this work with a positive tone, believing that some of the greatest days for Kingdom advancement are still to come.
Here is a list of the contents:
Introduction: The Church and the Pressures of the Age
Chapter 1: Unreached People Groups
Chapter 2: The West as a Mission Field
Chapter 3: Growth of the Majority World Church
Chapter 4: Pluralism and the Plurality of Faiths
Chapter 5: International Migration
Chapter 6: Globalization
Chapter 7: Poverty
Chapter 8: Growth of the Cities
Chapter 9: Children and Youth
Chapter 10: Health Care
Chapter 11: Oral Learners
Chapter 12: Pornification of Societies
Conclusion: Global Engagement in a World of Pressure Points
Some very gracious brothers have provided words of endorsement for this book. David Platt, with whom I have the honor of serving The Church at Brook Hills, wrote the Foreword. Here are some of the kind words others have written about this work:
“Unreached People Groups”; “The West as a Mission Field”; “Globalization”—for all the world it sounds as though this book is just one more textbook for the classroom. Believe me, it isn’t! It is for the classroom, of course. Missionaries and mission students will profit greatly by reading, studying and discussing these twelve “pressure points” in Christian missions today and tomorrow. But J. D. Payne has a way of taking topics off the classroom desk and putting them on the kitchen cupboard. And that’s good—really good—because those of us who serve in the classroom and on the field desperately need the understanding, prayers, and support of those who “serve in the kitchen.” World missions would benefit greatly if all mission-minded Christians would look into—and pray over—Pressure Points.
—David J. Hesselgrave, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Mission, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Informative. Insightful. Inspiring. Convicting. Challenging. These are the words that come to mind as I reflect upon this important work by J. D. Payne. The world in which the church seeks to fulfill the Great Commission is changing more rapidly than we can adapt. The ability to think strategically and missiologically has never been more essential. Pressure Points will help us accomplish both of these necessary goals.
— Daniel L. Akin, president, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
In Pressure Points, J. D. Payne offers a compelling reflection on some of today’s most pressing challenges to the advance of the gospel around the world. Understanding the issues with which missionaries on the ground are struggling, he helps lead the reader toward biblically- guided responses that advance Christ’s Kingdom. I recommend Pressure Points to all those seeking to faithfully serve among the peoples of the world.
—M. David Sills, D.Miss., Ph.D., associate dean of Christian Missions, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, author of The Missionary Call and Reaching and Teaching
The twelve issues that J. D. Payne presents in Pressure Points serve as a wake-up call for the church. Ignoring these strategic trends could plunge Western Christianity into the abyss of irrelevancy. Recognizing and responding to these realities, however, will allow the message of Christ to resound gloriously throughout the nations.
—Bill Jones, president, Columbia International University
In Pressure Points, J. D. Payne has given us a rare combination of timely, well researched, readable, and practical content on some of the key issues facing the body of Christ. If we are to accelerate the fulfillment of the Great Commission in our generation, we cannot ignore these issues.
—Steve Moore, president, Missio Nexus, author of Seize the Vuja dé: A Fresh Look at Challenges and Opportunities in North American Missions
J. D. tackles issues of globalization and how they are impacting the church with the mind of an academic and the heart of an evangelist. This is a current, relevant, solid book that should be read and digested by anyone who is serious about reaching the world for Christ and understanding the challenges in front of us. Missiology and global studies are combined in this book not to give answers but raise the questions and clarify what engagement may or may not look like. If I were to recommend one missiology book today, this is it.
—Bob Roberts Jr., senior pastor, NorthWood Church, author of Bold as Love
Global Christians face constant pressures as we serve in the Kingdom, but we often fail to understand the sources of these pressures clearly. J. D. Payne’s book powerfully illustrates some of today’s most urgent pressure points and challenges us to act boldly as we respond biblically.
—Jon Hirst, CEO of Global Mapping International, co-editor of Innovation in Mission
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