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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Unique History, Unique Opportunity: Evangelicalism In Austria Since 1945, John D. Doss M.Div. Dec 2015

Unique History, Unique Opportunity: Evangelicalism In Austria Since 1945, John D. Doss M.Div.

Eleutheria: John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Academic Journal

The article deals with the history of evangelicalism in Austria, a subject on which there is hardly any scholarly research. In focus is the development of the newly recognized baptist, charismatic, mainline evangelical, mennonite and pentecostal denominations since 1945. The role of immigration in the growth of evangelicalism is examined, especially during two periods: the decade after WWII (1945-55) as well as the massive immigration from Eastern Europe (particularly from Romania) after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. The article also presents examples of indigenous church movements among the Austrian people themselves, especially during the 1970's and 1980's. …


Walking With God Or The Devil,...Which? And The King's Gold Mine, Bud Robinson Nov 2015

Walking With God Or The Devil,...Which? And The King's Gold Mine, Bud Robinson

Heritage Material

No abstract provided.


Getting To Acquainted: How A Pastor Can Get To Know His Congregation, Alan J. Ehler Nov 2015

Getting To Acquainted: How A Pastor Can Get To Know His Congregation, Alan J. Ehler

Selected Faculty Publications

This article was published in Ministry Today and lays out principles for new pastors to build relationships and credibility in their new churches.


The Jewish Nature Of The First Century Church, Barry D. Fike Sep 2015

The Jewish Nature Of The First Century Church, Barry D. Fike

Barry D. Fike

“When men realized that the teaching of God was no heritage that one accepts passively but rather a heritage that has to be won, they began to see this relationship to the Bible as a religious obligation. It became a supreme commandment to “study”, to explore the Scriptures. To explore means to consider the Bible as a challenge rather than a gift…..The duty to “explore” requires further rethinking: each end becomes a new beginning and each solution a new problem…Once Today’s Church is fully aware of the vast importance of learning, it too will realize that it cannot afford to …


Proper 12 • Ephesians 3:14–21 • July 26, 2015, Benjamin Haupt Sep 2015

Proper 12 • Ephesians 3:14–21 • July 26, 2015, Benjamin Haupt

Concordia Journal

Paul is praying that the Ephesian Christians will be able to see the blueprints, so to speak, for the new church construction project, that is the building project of the church of God, the body of Christ.


The Church, Scripture, And Adaptations: Resolute In Essentials, Considerate In Peripherals - Part 2 Of 2, Nicholas P. Miller Sep 2015

The Church, Scripture, And Adaptations: Resolute In Essentials, Considerate In Peripherals - Part 2 Of 2, Nicholas P. Miller

Faculty Publications

In part 1 of this article (June 2015), we explored the role of the church in interpreting, applying, and even adapting certain scriptural instructions to the community of God. We reviewed the authority that Christ gave to the church in handling the “keys” of the kingdom (Scripture) and “binding” and “loosing” its teachings to its members (interpreting and applying scriptural standards to the Christian community and its members) and how this authority is exhibited in the statements of belief, standards of conduct, and redemptive discipline the church implements for the benefit of its community.


Perfect Harmony: An Examination Of The Necessity Of Interdependency Between First And Second Generation Korean Congregations, Hank H. Shin Aug 2015

Perfect Harmony: An Examination Of The Necessity Of Interdependency Between First And Second Generation Korean Congregations, Hank H. Shin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The English speaking second-generation Korean Americans coexisting with the first-generation Koreans topic identifies the issues associated in a typical Korean immigrant church. Based on the resources, the English Ministry has a tendency to stay under the authority of the Korean Ministry leadership, coexist independently with a separate administration, or depart to set up a separate church. This project is separated in three parts. The first section reviews the history of the early Korean American churches in the United States. The second section addresses the problems between English Ministry and Korean Ministry. The third section identifies a strategy to provide harmony …


The Nominations And Personnel Committee As A Tool For Laity Activation Within United Methodist Congregations Of The Alabama-West Florida Conference, Charles Ray Smith Jun 2015

The Nominations And Personnel Committee As A Tool For Laity Activation Within United Methodist Congregations Of The Alabama-West Florida Conference, Charles Ray Smith

Charles Kay Smith

No abstract provided.


'Sing Unto The Lord A New Song--Just Not That One!' A Case Study Of Music Censorship In Free Will Baptist Colleges, Jon Edward Bullock Jun 2015

'Sing Unto The Lord A New Song--Just Not That One!' A Case Study Of Music Censorship In Free Will Baptist Colleges, Jon Edward Bullock

Masters Theses

Like so many of the world’s other religious institutions, the Christian church has a long and well-documented history of using music to enhance and enliven the spiritual experiences of believers. Many of the church’s greatest champions throughout history have spoken about the inherent power of music, but as history always seems to demonstrate, along with power comes the need for control. As long as church leaders have used music to attain spiritual progress, they have also censored music that threatens to impede that progress. Even today, many church leaders still rely on music censorship to protect the future and identity …


The Church, Scripture, And Adaptation: Resoluteness In Essentials, Adaptation In Peripherals - Part 1 Of 2, Nicholas P. Miller Jun 2015

The Church, Scripture, And Adaptation: Resoluteness In Essentials, Adaptation In Peripherals - Part 1 Of 2, Nicholas P. Miller

Faculty Publications

The role the church plays in interpreting, applying, and adapting scriptural teaching is fraught with concern, at least for Protestants. The sixteenth-century Reformation was based, in a good part, on the principle that the Bible, and not the church, was the ultimate authority in matters of doctrine and practice. The Protestant Reformers contended that the church had erred from scriptural truths because human authority and tradition had been placed over Scripture. One of the ways in which this had happened was allowing the papacy to be the ultimate interpreter of biblical truth.


Identity Lost And Found, Adrienne Jones May 2015

Identity Lost And Found, Adrienne Jones

Consensus

No abstract provided.


Responsible Ones: Young People, Faith, And Letting Go, Jason Lief May 2015

Responsible Ones: Young People, Faith, And Letting Go, Jason Lief

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"More thoughts on the Pew Research Center’s findings on the decline of youth in the church: “We need to remember that the life and existence of the church doesn’t depend on us. The church is not something we have to anxiously preserve; the church is created and sustained by God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our task is to BE the church, to live as the new humanity in and for the world.”

Posting about young people and the church from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, …


Vanishing (Reformed) Youth, Donald Roth May 2015

Vanishing (Reformed) Youth, Donald Roth

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The Pew Research Center released some of the first data from its 2014 research on the religious affiliations of the populace of the United States. With the comparisons made to a similar 2007 study, there are a lot of interesting tidbits floating in the data, but there are also some concerning trends"

Posting about doing a better job instilling a vibrant faithfulness in our children from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/the-vanishing-reformed-youth/


The Decline Of Christianity In Modern Europe, David C. Taylor Jr May 2015

The Decline Of Christianity In Modern Europe, David C. Taylor Jr

David C Taylor Jr

Europe was once considered the epicenter of the Christian religion. For centuries Christianity was not only the main religion of Europe it was also a main political power. The Roman Catholic church, and in turn the Christian faith, enjoyed great power at various times throughout history in the European countries and influenced the culture in many ways. However, today there has been a moral and spiritual decline in Europe of staggering numbers. This short essay will explore possible reasons for Christianity’s decline in Europe in the last century and whether or not there is a possibility that the church could …


Trauma Of The Heart: Augmenting The Family Paradigm To Stem The Spread Of Hiv/Aids And To Facilitate Healing And Recovery In The Wake Of Hiv/Aids, Gibson Danjuma May 2015

Trauma Of The Heart: Augmenting The Family Paradigm To Stem The Spread Of Hiv/Aids And To Facilitate Healing And Recovery In The Wake Of Hiv/Aids, Gibson Danjuma

CTS Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

This article briefly reflects on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the African American community. The article suggests an alternative paradigm that views the high-risk behaviors that contribute to the spread of the virus as a reaction to ‘trauma of the heart’ as opposed to viewing the epidemic solely in terms of a lack of HIV and sexually transmitted disease awareness. It further suggests a pastoral intervention of expanding the paradigm of family beyond the classical nuclear construct to family as a system of individuals committed to embracing and ‘adopting’ individuals who have experienced trauma of the heart. This augmented understanding of …


Church Turnaround : A Study Of Formerly Declining Churches That Are Growing, J. Bradley Martin May 2015

Church Turnaround : A Study Of Formerly Declining Churches That Are Growing, J. Bradley Martin

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Planting, Transitioning, And Growing Multiethnic Churches, Gloria Young-Eun Kim Fowler May 2015

Planting, Transitioning, And Growing Multiethnic Churches, Gloria Young-Eun Kim Fowler

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


From Diaspora To Disciple : Training Mainland Chinese Christians To Live A Christlike Life, Esther Law May 2015

From Diaspora To Disciple : Training Mainland Chinese Christians To Live A Christlike Life, Esther Law

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Developing Alternative Leadership Training Model For Evangelical Church Leaders In Ethiopia : An Evaluative Study In The Hiwot Berhan Church, Endale Gebremeskel Ousman May 2015

Developing Alternative Leadership Training Model For Evangelical Church Leaders In Ethiopia : An Evaluative Study In The Hiwot Berhan Church, Endale Gebremeskel Ousman

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


God's Dynamic Presence In The Preaching Event, John T. Clark May 2015

God's Dynamic Presence In The Preaching Event, John T. Clark

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Exploring A Model For Equipping Colombian Pastors And Lay Leaders In The Skill Of Narrative Preaching, Juan Carlos Mejia May 2015

Exploring A Model For Equipping Colombian Pastors And Lay Leaders In The Skill Of Narrative Preaching, Juan Carlos Mejia

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Inner-City Evangelism: A Model For Reaching Gangs For Christ, Eric Ladell Boone May 2015

Inner-City Evangelism: A Model For Reaching Gangs For Christ, Eric Ladell Boone

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis will focus on the crimes and violence that have corrupted and invaded the world, in a life-threatening, devastating, and unprecedented way. Criminal gangs have made their presence in communities all around the world, which has resulted in mental corruption and spiritual and physical destruction. Regardless of how gang members are looked upon and viewed by society due to their daily ungodly activities, the author will address the importance of the church becoming dedicated to reach gangs with the gospel, which holds the power to transform the life of whoever hears it regardless of their past or present. The …


A Case Study Of The Causes Of Dependency Among The Churches Of Christian Evangelistic Assemblies And Possible Strategies For Overcoming Dependency, Abraham Kurian May 2015

A Case Study Of The Causes Of Dependency Among The Churches Of Christian Evangelistic Assemblies And Possible Strategies For Overcoming Dependency, Abraham Kurian

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Vitality In The Local Church : Spiritual Formation And Lay Leadership, Thomas C. Mabry May 2015

Vitality In The Local Church : Spiritual Formation And Lay Leadership, Thomas C. Mabry

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


So The World Will Believe : Discovering The Invitational Nature Of God, Frank Sterling Harris Iii May 2015

So The World Will Believe : Discovering The Invitational Nature Of God, Frank Sterling Harris Iii

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Preemptive Restorying As A Means Of Mitigating Costly Conflict : The Case Of The Anglican Mission In American And The Anglican Church Of Rwanda, Robert Joshua Magoola May 2015

Preemptive Restorying As A Means Of Mitigating Costly Conflict : The Case Of The Anglican Mission In American And The Anglican Church Of Rwanda, Robert Joshua Magoola

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Assessing Changes In Beliefs And Practices Of Christlike Living At The Southwest Campus Of The Darby Creek Church Of The Nazarene, Steven Charles Suttles Sr. May 2015

Assessing Changes In Beliefs And Practices Of Christlike Living At The Southwest Campus Of The Darby Creek Church Of The Nazarene, Steven Charles Suttles Sr.

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


An Appraisal Of L3 Leadership Incubator Model Of Leadership Development As A Process For Forming And Mobilizing Church Planters For Communities In The Vicinity And City Of Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India, Srinivass Rao Chepa May 2015

An Appraisal Of L3 Leadership Incubator Model Of Leadership Development As A Process For Forming And Mobilizing Church Planters For Communities In The Vicinity And City Of Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India, Srinivass Rao Chepa

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Surviving The Other War: Group Intervention For Military Sexual Trauma In The Local Church, Ed Ellis Barker May 2015

Surviving The Other War: Group Intervention For Military Sexual Trauma In The Local Church, Ed Ellis Barker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Military Sexual Trauma (MST) is, together with the current military suicide epidemic, arguably the greatest danger to soldiers serving at home or abroad, and sadly the former is a contributing factor for the latter. MST involves the sexual assault or sexual harassment of an individual by one or several fellow service members. An important avenue of assistance is through the local church; however, "the quality of mental health providers does not include a sufficient number of faith-based counselors (especially Christian) to serve the predominantly Christian demographic in the U.S. Armed Forces." To assist in this, a psycho-educational support group has …


A Biblical Guide To Maximizing Great Commission Emphasis By Transforming Your Church Government, Marcus W. Bridges May 2015

A Biblical Guide To Maximizing Great Commission Emphasis By Transforming Your Church Government, Marcus W. Bridges

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

After learning 3500-4000 churches close their doors each year, Ed Stetzer believes, "the church will not change until the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of change." This project will compare Congregation-led churches to Elder or Board-led churches to explore the need for changing the practical operation of the church in attempts to fulfill the Great Commission. The thoughts presented will provide a guide for church leaders, pastors, and church planters to adopt the style of governing policies that best results in for Jesus Christ. There will be fifty pastors polled from Congregation and Elder-led churches …