Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

A Return To Our Roots: 1st Century Church Growth In The 21st Century, Robert E. Logan

Great Commission Research Journal

This paper reviews the history of the church growth movement with the underlying question: Can such happen in the 21st Century? The origination of the church growth movement is explored with a challenge to recontextualize the posture of church growth initiatives. A key to this process is the development of leaders through both missional and relational processes. Returning to our missional roots and becoming more and more incarnational as we walk alongside the next generation of leaders will have historic impact not only for church, but for the world, for the marketplace, and for all the new ways God may …

Church Growth: A Holiness Perspective, Christopher Mark Baldwin

Great Commission Research Journal

The purpose of this article is to outline the Holiness Perspective on Church Growth. Some may be tempted to think of Church Growth and Holiness as mutually exclusive ideas. This article attempts to bring these concepts together. This is accomplished through biblical, theological, and historical foundations. The biblical foundation is based on the church of Antioch and the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth. The theological foundation focuses on three aspects: missio Dei, Incarnation, and kingdom of God. The historical foundations outline a number of church planting strategies used throughout the history of the church.

Emerging Church Growth Oxymoron: Mcgavran And Newbigin In Dialog, David Drury

Great Commission Research Journal

The Emerging church and the Church Growth movement are presented in the article in comparison and contrast, with special attention paid to the fathers of both movements, Lesslie Newbigin and Donald McGavran, respectively. An overview of problematic critiques and unhelpful practices in the treatments of each movement is given. Current trends are noted involving shifts in both movements, leaving open a possibility for more constructive dialog and partnership. A final synergy is suggested to envision a future way forward.

Viacordis: A Case Study Of The First Year Of A House Church Network, Robert E. Logan

Great Commission Research Journal

This paper is a synopsis of Logan’s journey in the development of a multi-ethnic network of house churches in the Los Angeles area and beyond. It is in this missional expression of faith communities that the necessary blending of the Great Commandment with the Great Commission are lived out. This multiplying network of churches is ViaCordis (Latin for “way of the heart”). A variety of church models are explored as to their methodology of living out Christ in their community. The 12 Life Commitments of leadership are shared along with 12 lessons learned to date in this process of ViaCordis …

Book Review: Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around And Yours Can, Too By Ed Stetzer And Mike Dodson, Keith Stone

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Churchmorph: How Megatrends Are Reshaping Christian Communities By Eddie Gibbs, Tom Harper

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

About The Great Commission Research Network, Alan Mcmahan

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Reclaiming And Cultivating The Christian Contemplative Tradition, Phileena Heuertz

ATS Chapel Services

No abstract provided.

Introduction To America's Four Gods: What We Say About God And What That Says About Us, Paul Froese, Christoper Bader

Sociology Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Despite all the hype surrounding the "New Atheism," the United States remains one of the most religious nations on Earth. In fact, 95% of Americans believe in God--a level of agreement rarely seen in American life. The greatest divisions in America are not between atheists and believers, or even between people of different faiths. What divides us, this groundbreaking book shows, is how we conceive of God and the role He plays in our daily lives.

America's Four Gods draws on the most wide-ranging, comprehensive, and illuminating survey of American's religious beliefs ever conducted to offer a systematic exploration of …

The Doctrine Of The Holy Spirit In The Major Reformed Confessions And Catechisms Of The Sixteenth And Seventeenth Centuries, Yuzo Adhinarta

CTS PhD Doctoral Dissertations

With the rise of Pentecostalism in the early twentieth century and the charismatic movement from the middle of the century until recently, a resurgence of interest in the Holy Spirit and Christian spirituality in both theology and the church's life has become evident. Along with the increase of interest in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the twentieth century, there are criticisms of the treatment of the doctrine in church history, including in the Reformed tradition, for having neglected the Holy Spirit in both theology and the church's life. These criticisms have helped to incite a burgeoning interest in …

Baptist Sacramental Theology: A Covenantal Framework For Believer Baptism, Brandon C. Jones

CTS PhD Doctoral Dissertations

A recent resurgence of Baptist works that defend sacramental theology has revived the mid-twentieth-century debate among Baptists over the meaning of baptism. Just as the mid-twentieth-century generation of Baptist sacramentalists struggled to get other Baptists to accept their views, the problem remains today that most Baptists do not and will not seriously consider Baptist sacramental theology. The purpose of this dissertation is to help solve this problem by presenting a historically informed systematic theological defense of covenantal sacramentalism, which uses covenant theology to enhance a sacramental theology of baptism. This dissertation argues that the covenantal view of Baptist baptismal sacramentalism …

Emil Brunner's Theological Contribution To The Concept Of Divine Action., James Norman Mayer

CTS PhD Doctoral Dissertations

Through a careful examination of Emil Brunner's theology, this dissertation shows that when the concept of divine action is be examined in the context of the nature and work God the idea that God acts can better understood. After a brief introductory chapter, chapter 2 argues that contemporary discussions surprisingly fail to consider what God does and what God is like as possible resources for making sense of problems associated with the concept of God's activity. This chapter also suggests that a model of divine action should take into account the means, manner, effect, purpose, extent, and degree God's activity. …

Things Hold Together John Howard Yoder's Trinitarian Theology Of Culture, Branson L. Parler

CTS PhD Doctoral Dissertations

Theologies of culture often focus on either Christ or creation as their primary source, to the exclusion of the other. At best, this approach is incomplete because it does not account for the continuity between creation and redemption. At worst, it posits a divide not simply between Christ and creation, but between persons of the Trinity, presuming contradictory moral and cultural norms issuing from different persons of the Trinity. John Howard Yoder is often depicted as a representative of a Christocentric and creation-deficient approach to culture. Against that faulty representation, this dissertation argues that Yoder advocates a Trinitarian theology of …