Digital Commons Network^™

A Journey In Preaching As A Spiritual Discipline, Leonard R. Luchetti

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Viewpoint: Reforming Christians Or Converting Non-Christians?, Gordon R. Doss

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Racial And Ethnic Identity: Social Scientific And Biblical Perspectives In Dialogue, Ruth Anne Reese, Steven Ybarrola

The Asbury Journal

The first part of the paper lays out our understanding of ethnicity and race in light of current research from sociology and anthropology. The paper then turns to the New Testament material, and it examines "the Jews" as one ethnic group in the first century. This material is used to demonstrate that Christians also took on the language of ethnicity. The paper raises the question, "is there a Christian identity that both supersedes and subsumes ethnic identity?" It proposes that the answer to that question is, ''Yes, there is a Christian identity and ethos that supersedes ethnic identity." And, this …

Christ's Heavenly Sanctuary Ministry, Roy Gane

Perspective Digest

No abstract provided.

The Decalogue Before Mount Sinai, Jo Ann Davidson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Presuppositional Realm Of Biblical-Theological Methodology: Part 3: Application And Comparison, Oliver Glanz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Presuppositional Realm Of Biblical-Theological Methodology: Part 4: Critique And Transformation, Oliver Glanz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Who Is Speaking? Who Is Addressed? A Critical Study Into The Conditions Of Exegetical Method And Its Consequences For The Interpretation Of Participant Reference-Shifts In The Book Of Jeremiah, Oliver Glanz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Harmony Way: Integrating Indigenous Values Within Native North American Theology And Mission, Randy Stephen Woodley

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Cosmic Conflict As A Hermeneutical Framework For Mission Theology In The Old Testament, Cristian Dumitrescu

Dissertations

This research aims to rediscover mission as taught by the Old Testament and to show how that mission is consistent with God's loving and just character as reflected in the whole Bible. Toward this end, the research surveys assumptions that influence Old Testament mission theology and evaluates ways in which current theologies of mission and theological currents relate to the unity and continuity of the Bible. With this background, the study then proposes a comprehensive theological framework that preserves the unity of God's character and his mission.

Chapter 1 shows how the traditional understanding of centrifugal and centripetal mission is …

Haima In Hebrews, Hermann V. Kuma

Dissertations

Problem. The focus of the dissertation is the significance of the term αἷμα (“blood”) in the Epistle to the Hebrews and how the author of Hebrews uses the term to formulate the argument and message of the Epistle. The dissertation traces the scholarly blood debate involving blood as life or death which began in the last decade of the nineteenth century and eventually fizzled out in the mid-1950s. Recognition of the ambivalence of blood, symbolizing both life and death, is necessary to understand the message of Hebrews.

Method. The dissertation provides a discussion of the concept of blood in the …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Kingdom Of God In The Writings Of George Eldon Ladd And Ellen G. White, Changyoung Lee

Dissertations

Abstract. Since Seventh-day Adventist eschatology is often perceived as seriously deviating from other Evangelical eschatological views, it would be desirable and fitting to discover whether significant agreement or disagreement exists between Evangelical eschatological views in regard to the Kingdom of God. The purpose of this study was to make an analytical comparison of the concept of the Kingdom of God in the writings of two representative Evangelical voices, George Eldon Ladd, a well-known Baptist theologian, and Ellen G. White, a significant Adventist writer, in order to understand the similarities and differences that exist between the concepts of the Kingdom of …

An Evaluation Of The 2009 Mindanao Training Event For Camacop Evangelists Involved In Public Proclamation For Church Planting : Its Impact On The Attitudes, Knowledge, And Practices Of The Participants, Isaias F. Catorce

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Band Of Brothers : A Study In Forming Spiritual Leadership Characteristics In Men, Ian George Wills

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Aboriginal Missiology Of Identity Reclamation: Towards Revitalization For Canada's Indigenous Peoples Through Healing Of Identity, Wendy Peterson

The Asbury Journal

This essay concerns the failure by Canada's Indigenous people to fully apprehend and embrace the Christian doctrine of imago Dei. The concern is founded upon the negative self-perception and perceived inferiority of Aboriginal peoples as less-than the Caucasian majority. Is this a failure of transmission on the part of missionaries, or is it a failure of reception on the part of Aboriginals? The premise is that both the theology of mission and the practice of mission with Aboriginal people must take into account the issue of self-perception and the problem of identity formation. The question is asked, Is there a …

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.

Revisiting The Desert Sublime: Billy's Ecotheological Journey In Cormac Mccarthy's The Crossing, Michael J. Riding

Theses and Dissertations

While McCarthy studies have emphasized elements of the sacred in his writing, this thesis adds a new historical perspective and synthesis to reading paradigms of Cormac McCarthy. The Crossing combines the patterns of the ancient pre-Hebraic genre of the desert sublime with the basic formula of the American Western genre to interrogate McCarthy's question of whether in the postmodern moment one can still divest oneself in the desert and find access to the sublime. In an era of an invisible or absent God where post-humanist thought erases the anthropocentric supremacy of human over animal and the earth itself, the one …

Isaiah’S Promise Of The Restoration Of Zion And Its Canonical Development, Gary E. Yates

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (1973-2015)

For nearly three millennia, Isaiah’s prophecies of a peaceful kingdom centered in Zion have captured the human imagination and expressed the longings of the human heart. 1 These prophecies have also had a major influence in shaping the Christian vision of the kingdom reign of Jesus as Messiah and Lord.2 The purpose of this study is to examine the significance of Isaiah’s prophecies concerning the transformation of Zion from a canonical perspective. This study will set forth the meaning of Isaiah’s Zion prophecies in their historical context with sensitivity to the conventions of prophetic language and will then explore how …

That They May Be One: Spiritual Formation And Its Locus In Community, Phillip G. Carnes

Doctor of Ministry

American Christians, as a whole, lack a spiritual maturity that infuses the whole of their lives with Christlikeness. Additionally, Americans suffer from an epidemic of loneliness. These two problems are related. We will demonstrate that American Christians lack spiritual maturity, in part, because they have privatized their faith and made spiritual formation an individual endeavor. Furthermore, we will show that spiritual formation is best located and grounded within a community context. Humans are social creatures. It is becoming ever more widely recognized that social isolation and loneliness are root causes of much psychosocial dysfunction. Humans do not function well if …

The Need For Teaching The Eschatological Gospel Of Both Comings Of Jesus Christ In The Twenty-First Century, Especially As We See The Day Of His Parousia Approaching, David K. Hebert

College of Theology and Ministry Faculty Research and Scholarship

This thesis is designed to outline the systematic-theological and theological-historical basis for the Eschatological Gospel of Both Comings of Jesus Christ (Yeshua Ha Mashiach). This cohesively combines Jesus’ First Coming (for redemption, reconciliation and restoration) with His Second Coming (for the Rapture/Resurrection of the Church/Body of Christ and judgment at the Day of the Lord/Yahweh) into the complete salvation of the Church. The historical writings of the Patristic, Ante- and Post-Nicene Fathers are examined to ensure the continuity of this Eschatological Gospel message being communicated through their writings to the Early Church. The remainder of Church …

Christian Faith, Nonviolence, And Ukraine's Orange Revolution: A Case Study Of The Embassy Of God Church, Svetlana Filiatreau

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of The Compatibility Of The Church Growth Movement With A Calvinistic Soteriology, Michael Waldrop

Great Commission Research Journal

The purpose of this article is to establish that the strategic, missiological thinking of the Church Growth Movement is compatible with a Calvinistic soteriology. The method for accomplishing this purpose involves, first, a clarification of terms. Both “Church Growth Movement” and “Calvinism” have been defined in myriad ways, and these are not all equally valid. Thus, specific descriptions are included here. Next is a necessary discussion of the tensions that are perceived to exist between Church Growth and Calvinism. This is followed by a survey of kindred concerns and an exhibition of the common doctrinal ground shown to be held …

Bridges Of God: The Mission Legacy Of Donald Anderson Mcgavran, Charles Van Engen

Great Commission Research Journal

This short essay is about Donald McGavran and his ground-breaking book, Bridges of God, that became the cornerstone of Church Growth theory and the foundation of what is now called the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Missiological thinking and missionary practice was transformed by the energy, vitality, insight, and stubborn tenacity of Donald McGavran. Whether they agreed with McGavran or not, after the publication of The Bridges of God, mission professors, mission executives, and mission practitioners could no longer do business as usual, nor their usual business.

How A Hearer Listens To A Sermon: Setting The Presuppositions Of The "Second Text", Jeffery D. Nehrt

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

The purpose of the project was to answer the question: Can preachers influence how a hearer listens to a sermon? To answer that question, 70 pastors of the Southern Illinois District, Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod were asked if they every used a pre-sermon Bible study to help the hearer listen to the sermon. A seven week pre-sermon Bible study was developed and taught based on four filters of hearing. Those filters were Logos, Ethos, Pathos, and community. A post sermon survey was given and separated into two categories, those who attended the pre-sermon Bible study and those who did …

Fishing For Men While Fishing With Men- Relationships Built Through Recreational Experiences As A Tool For Effective Evangelism In Contemporary American Culture, Jonathan Rockey

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Rockey, Jonathan R. "Fishing for Men while Fishing with Men: Relationships Built through Recreational Experiences as a Tool for Effective Evangelism in Contemporary American Culture." D.Min Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary-St. Louis, 2008.316 pp. with Appendices.

The stated goal of this project is "to evaluate a program for the equipping of volunteers for sharing the good news of God's love in Jesus in a recreational setting, and to evaluate the results of that equipping in the lives of these participants by looking at their willingness to witness and the effects they describe that arose from the experience and the process …

Totally Devoted: Developing A Holistic Spiritual Formation Course For Western Christian College, Stanley N. Helton

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports research results from a learning community composed of faculty, support staff, ministry leaders, and students who collaborated in a professor’s development of a new course proposal in Christian spiritual formation at Western Christian College in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The professor used qualitative research methods in the analysis and evaluation of the data produced by the group. The outcome of the project was ethnographic data that informed the creation of the course proposal that included new course application, course syllabus with course schedule, planned activities, bibliography, initial classroom assignments, and initial assessment tools.

Sacred Improv : Narrative Preaching That Offers Entrance Into The Gospel Of Jesus Christ, Daniel Wayne Meek

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Theme And Structure In Isaiah 28-33 A Unified And Coherent Reading Centered On Chapter 30, G. Vincent Medina

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Medina, G. Vincent “Theme and Structure in Isaiah 28–33: A Unified and Coherent Reading Centered on Ch. 30.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2009. 260 pp.

This dissertation represents an attempt to demonstrate that Isaiah 28–33 is a compositional unity with structural and thematic coherence. Beginning with the widely recognized structuring function of the six hôy-oracles found in this section of Isaiah (Isa 28:1; 29:1; 29:15; 30:1; 31:1; 33:1), the dissertation seeks to discover a deeper and more comprehensive structuring principle. It argues that Isaiah 30 is the center of Isaiah 28–33, and that 30:15–18 is the central passage. This thesis …

Equipping Parents To Be Spiritual Leaders In The Home, Douglas J. Schoelles

ATS Dissertations

The goal of this project was to effect a positive cognitive, affective, and behavioral response in parents from two Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations to lead their households in spiritual disciplines. The project consisted of four consecutive Sundays of preaching on faith forming in the home coupled with encouragement of the practice of a specific faith habit. These sermons were preached in tandem with four teaching sessions that reiterated the role of parents as spiritual leaders and concentrated on training families to engage in four faith habits in the home. Teaching tools were distributed to facilitate implantation of faith …

A Study Of Pastoral Burnout Among Korean-American Pastors, Young Sun Jin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a resource of prevention and overcoming from pastoral burnout to Korean-American pastors. This project is born out of the author's five year journey in ministry as a senior pastor of Korean-American church. This study is performed from literature research, survey observation, and personal experience. Especially, the case study was based on research targeting the pastors who belong to the Capital Presbytery of KAPC, and conducted through analysis of the statistical data obtained from a questionnaire survey. In that view, this dissertation presents the definition, various factors and symptoms of burnout among the …