Digital Commons Network^™

On Voice And Spirit, Michael Costik

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

"This quote always struck me very powerfully. “The spirit nourishes within.” Is there a separation of voice from our spiritual being? Over the past several months I have given a lot of thought to the nature of music, singing, and voice. As a student of music, I frequently thought that my training did not solely pertain to singing, but I rarely reflected on this at. Now, I realize that I was being formed in virtues that are not separate from the desire for integrity. I believe that music itself …

A Strategy On Small Group Leadership Development For Transitioning Of Gaeumjung Church Into A Cell-Based Church, In Ho Jei

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to invent a strategy of small group leadership development to transition Gaeumjung Church to a cell-based church. This project was performed on the basis of field analysis, case study, and literature research. The case study was performed on nine churches with outstanding small group ministry. The author had been an associate pastor of Gaeumjung Church for one and half years and will be the senior pastor of the church in a few years. Therefore, this thesis is a result of his experience and expectation on the small group ministry of the church.

Prophet, Priest, And King : The Impact Of A Pastoral Theology Course On The Practice Of Pentecostal Pastors In The Philippines, Albert C. Clavo

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Islam And The Environment, Erin Knoerl

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

"The world today is under attack by a slow and steady enemy. The Earth’s health is getting more complicated as we speak. Over a course of a few years the average temperature of the earth has increased a couple of degrees. This is turn has created a snowball effect. The increase in temperature is causing glaciers to melt, which in turn has led to the ice to break off, stranding polar bears and penguins in the middle of the ocean. With the glaciers melting the sea level is changing …

Theology Of The Church As Ministry To Blind People, David Andrus

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Throughout history, people who are blind have been viewed by those in the sighted culture as limited and broken. This is true both in the church and in society in general. Our ecclesiology, however, should encourage, promote, or utilize blind people and their gifts to serve in the body of Christ. The church can, and should, accept, uplift, and utilize people who are blind and visually impaired as full members with a healthy and whole identity in Christ. To this end, our ecclesiology must not prohibit the ordination of a man who is blind solely on the basis of blindness …

Short-Term Family Missions : A Study Of Family Faith Development, Anthony Wayne Mccollum

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Reconstructing Justice In The Land : How Urban Evangelical Congregations In Cotonou And Porto-Novo Can Respond To The Escalating Phenomenon Of Antisocial Behaviors, Mathieu Segbegnon Gnonhossou

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Transformation Into Mission : A Case Study Of Forest Park United Methodist Church, Derek Edward Russell

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Worldviews Of Hinduism And The Christian Believer, Will Hedrick

Senior Honors Theses

In this thesis, the Vedanta branch of Hinduism will be studied in order to gain an understanding of this diverse religion. The Vedanta concept of God, the self, the problem of life, the cause of this problem, the solution, and means to reach this solution will be examined in detail. After explaining these concepts, they will be compared with Christianity in order to see what common ground exists. Along with this, apologetic thoughts will be presented so that the Christian can better evangelize the Hindu. Finally, the concepts will be reexamined with the goal of finding truths that may help …

Sit Like A Bell: Sound And The Body In Tibetan Buddhism, Christopher Elford

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Lobsag Khedup, a 32 year-old Tibetan Monk living in a single room at an art center in Zhongdian where he teaches the art of thangka painting, wakes in silence at 6 a.m. He pulls his bedding around him as if to make a nest out of it. It is cold and his action is somehow appropriate to the introversion of the hour. There is no light in the room, no room yet to speak of, just the dull indistinct sense of an interior. He sits up and starts to pray. But to pray isn’t enough, he must make his devotional …

What Every Christian Should Know About Amos And Hosea, Rolf A. Jacobson

Faculty Publications

To overcome the biblical illiteracy of the churches, leaders need to teach parishioners the basic content of the Bible. This essay offers a resource for that important task.

The Exchange At Halesi: A Sacred Place And A Societal Context, Ethan Gohen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Halesi is a small, but growing village located in the Khotang District of Eastern Nepal. In many ways it is rather normal. As is typical in this area of Nepal, its inhabitants are mainly Rai Hindus, although there is a substantial community of other Hindu castes as well. Less typically, there is a small, but very important Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in Halesi. The reason for this monastery is even less typical still. In the rocky terrain around Halesi there are many caves. But in the central rocky, tree covered hillock of Halesi bazaar there is one cave of particular importance. …

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum: April 2008, Lyle D. Bierma, Henry De Moor, Kathy Smith

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum (2002- )

Reflections on Being a Confessional Church
3 - Why Be a Confessional Church? by Lyle D. Bierma
5 - Theology That Sings: A Discussion on the Confessions Today
9 - With Integrity of Heart and Spirit by Henry De Moor
11 - Is It Time for a New Confession? by Kathy Smith

Departments
13 - Formation for Ministry
15 - News

A Journey Into The Land Of No Return: Death Attitudes And Perceptions Of Death And Afterlife In Ancient Near Eastern Literature, Leah Whitehead Craig

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Using Adrian Tomer and Grafton Eliason's Comprehensive Model of Death Anxiety, this paper analyzes literature of the Ancient Near East in order to discover death attitudes of the authors and the culture. This paper will examine works from four languages of the Ancient Near East, and therefore four cultures: Sumerian, Akkadian, Ugaritic, and Hebrew language groups. Texts are examined in English translation, with the exception of some passages in the Hebrew chapter. Images of death and afterlife, particularly regarding the underworld, are described. Tomer and Eliason's model is used to analyze the images to determine death attitudes of the authors …

"Following Jesus To Burning Man" Recovering The Church's Vocation, Kerry D. Mcroberts

Doctor of Ministry

My Doctor of Ministry in Leadership and Emerging Culture at George Fox Evangelical Seminary has been E-P-I-C! I have been personally transformed by the unique [E]xperience of this DMIN. My transformation has centered on my exchange of the center for the margins in my ministry focus. Vicki's (my wife) law enforcement career has daily situated her on culture's extreme margins and through her I have connected with people whom I was not [P]articipating in life with as a pastor. Vicki has been my inspiration for my life-transforming experience. God placed a desire in my heart to make "Burning Man" my …

The Decalogue Predates Mount Sinai: Indicators From The Book Of Genesis, Jo Ann Davidson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Pentacle Quest: Wiccan Religion In The Media, Paula Johnson

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

No abstract provided.

Projecting Or Perceiving Values? The Blackburn-Mcdowell Debate, David Judd

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Strategy For Evangelism With Samoans, Tauileata Moli

Doctor of Ministry

This paper will provide an evangelism plan designed to carry out this mandate among traditional Samoans in Samoa. The plan supports and utilizes the Samoan communal patriarchal family system. The thesis of this paper is that a Christian evangelistic model can be designed that is compatible with the Samoan communal, patriarchal family system. Chapter 1 of this dissertation describes conflicts caused by using individual evangelism style in the Samoan community, which is community oriented. Chapter 2 will provide historical information about the country of Samoa and its cultural background. Change and especially change that destroys the cultural system is very …

Chapter One: Beneath The Spanish Moss: The World Of The Root Doctor, Jack G. Montgomery Jr.

DLTS Faculty Publications

The spiritual practice of the Shaman is most likely the oldest spiritual tradition on Earth. Shamanism is a way in which humanity has sought a psychic connection to the world of healing, life and death, as well as a sense of social and individual balance. It is a complex psychological grammar that allows the Shaman to function in both the conventional and an alternative "spirit" view of reality. Shamanisn has been a part of American culture since the colonial settlement and continues today despite technology and modern scientific rationalism. This chapter is a brief social history of the African-American shamanic …

The Aesthetic Visage Of Nature: A Teleological Argument From Beauty In The Natural World, Derek Bartlow

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Memorials 2008, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Sanctified ‘Adultress’ And Her Circumstantial Clause: Bathsheba’S Bath And Self-Consecration In 2 Samuel 11, J. D'Ror Chankin-Gould, Derek Hutchinson, David H. Jackson, Tyler D. Mayfield, Leah Rediger Schulte, Tammi J. Schneider, E. Winkelman

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Bathsheba's actions in 2 Sam. 11.2-4 identify crucial aspects of her character. Past commentators interpret these words in connection with menstrual purification, stressing the certain paternity of David's adulterine child. This article demonstrates that the participles rōheset and mitqaddesšet and the noun mittum'ātāh do not denote menstrual cleansing. Bathsheba's washing is an innocent bath. She is the only individual human to self-sanctify, placing her in the company of the Israelite deity. The syntax of the verse necessitates that her action of self-sanctifying occurs simultaneously as David lies with her. The three focal terms highlight the important legitimacy of Bathsheba before …

Alberta's Oil Sands Boom: A Wake-Up Call For Christian Scholarship?, John Hiemstra

Pro Rege

This article is a reworked version of Dr. Hiemstra’s speech “Hypnosis, the Myth of Progress, and Our Christian Scholarly Calling,” presented during Justice Week at Dordt College Nov. 2, 2006.

What Hath Silicon Valley To Do With Jerusalem? Technological Innovation And Ancient Practice In Worship, Mark Roeda

Symposium on Worship Archive

Worship is something we do, not observe. Because technology supplies us with the capacity to program and record content which it will then present on demand, utilizing technology in worship can remove the sense of immediacy (in terms of both time and space) of worship, the sense that this is something we are doing now, together. In short, it risks reducing us to passive observers of the acts of worship.

When The Fires Die: Religious Critiques Of Revivalism In The Aftermath Of The Second Great Awakening, John D. Bratt, Lester Ruth

Symposium on Worship Archive

A document accompanying a talk on the aftereffects of the Second Great Awakening, including types of critics, common charges, common complaints, and proposed solutions.

Imagine... What Has Christ Done For Us?, Paul Ryan

Symposium on Worship Archive

How to plan with images in mind.

One way of planning the service of confession and assurance is to keep in mind an image of the atonement. These can be a catalyst for our words of confession and offer a means by which we might experience the assurance of salvation.

Wittgenstein And Worship: Investigations Of Liturgical Language-Games And Their Formative Role In Christian Identity, Michelle Kathleen Weber

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

I argue that the Christian community’s religious language games, particularly liturgical action (theologia prima) and theological reflection (theologia secunda), mutually shape and correct one another. I demonstrate this using Wittgenstein’s philosophical method, adapting his approach to philosophy for theological use. The first part of this essay explains and demonstrates Wittgenstein’s philosophical method. The second part is an application of his method (with my own adaptation of this method for theology) with Christian liturgy as its subject. The third part of this essay discusses ways in which Wittgenstein’s approach might be adapted further in a fruitful way …

Love, Nancy M. Martin, Joseph Runzo

Religious Studies Faculty Books and Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

What Is Leadership? (Chapter Two Of Leadership Alive: Changing Leadership Practices Within The Emerging 21st Century Culture), Christopher P. Meade

Faculty Publications - College of Business

Excerpt: "This newly emerging culture is upon us. This change in Western culture requires a new breed of leader to emerge. There are many usable definitions concerning leadership. Leadership may appear in many forms, come from many theories, and be derived from many sources, but all are likely to guide through actions, influence, or service. 80 The new emerging leader of the 21st century will understand the relationship between the four principle leadership models: (1) Servant Leadership, (2) Situational Leadership, (3) Leadership and the New Science, and ( 4) Christian Leadership.

In Chapter Three, I will introduce and explore the …