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Exploring Intercessory Prayer As It Relates To Spiritual Warfare Preaching At Mount Zion Christian Church, Vernon Langley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The focus of this thesis is exploring the influence of intercessory prayer; from the standpoint of spiritual warfare preaching. Present day homiletics concentrates on the method of sermons by applying information within the message to a great story and powerful scriptural passages which is imperative to make the sermon thought provoking and applicable to contemporary congregations. However, there is another element to preaching the gospel, which has gotten considerably less attention in modern day study. How the evaluations of Divine powers of intercessory prayer operate behind the discourse, and spiritual powers of darkness that endeavor to obstruct the reception of …

Developing A Model For Church-Based Disaster Relief, Brady Rose

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to provide a manual for the local church to implement in preparation for and during times of disaster. The author will specifically focus on the region of Amherst County, Virginia for this project. The author will approach this project by first defining what a disaster is and the role the church should play during times of great need. Attention will be given specifically to how the church should respond during times of disaster in foreign nations, in the United States, in nearby counties, and in the community of the church’s backyard. This project will …

College-Bound Students: A Study Of The Relationship Between Religiosity/Spirituality, And Achievement, William Wright

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The achievement gap between private and public school college-bound students has continued to widen each year since 1972. The researcher studied the relationship of Christian school college-bound students’ religiosity/spirituality using a validated survey instrument and their achievement as measured on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The literature implies a relationship, but there is a gap in studying homogeneous religious groups. Therefore, the researcher selected a homogeneous grouping, Texas Christian high school college-bound seniors, as the sample for this study. The researcher obtained permission to use the Religiosity and Spirituality Scale for Youth (RASSY) survey instrument and included demographic and score data …

Five Principles To Empower The Worship Leader, Stacey Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The role of the worship leader exists in most churches. These leaders serve in roles from volunteer choir directors to the directors of large worship staffs. They are the standard-bearers of worship for their teams and their congregations. To successfully serve, they must possess knowledge of worship practices and leadership skills. While students of worship may have a firm foundation of biblical, historical, and philosophical principles, many current leaders do not have strong leadership backgrounds and, therefore, lack basic foundational skills for leadership. Through a study of current literature and a survey of leaders of worship in churches of various …

The Ecological Crisis: Questioning Christianity’S Contribution, Jessica Bolak

Verbum

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

"Introduction

Distinguished academic, Lynn White, claims that the Judeo-Christian religions are to blame for the ecological crisis and uses interpretations from the Bible to support his argument. He believes these religions have a harmful impact on the relationship between humans and nature. In this paper I will examine White’s claims specifically against Christianity, and refute them by providing multiple perspectives from varying scholars to substantiate my argument."

Not Saul's Armor : Introversion And Effective Pastoral Leadership, David E. York

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Exploration Into Small, Rural, Declining, Near End Of Life-Cycle Church Turnaround In The Wesleyan And United Methodist Church, Marcel Allen Lamb

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Iron Sharpens Iron : How Experiential Work Groups Promote Transformational Discipleship Among Men, Eric A. Flood

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Interim Ministry : An Intentional Support For Managing Pastoral Transitions Among English-Speaking Congregations In The Central District Council Of The Assemblies Of God Of Malaysia, Chee Keong Cheong

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

From Shame To Shalom : Postures & Practices That Help Heal Men's Hearts, Amos B.L. Ang

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

2016 Otterbein University Academic Honors Convocation Program, Otterbein University

Honors Convocation

No abstract provided.

Hope College Abstracts: 15th Annual Celebration Of Undergraduate Research And Creative Performance, Hope College

15th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Performance (2016)

The 15th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Performance was held on April 15, 2016 in the Richard and Helen DeVos Fieldhouse at Hope College and featured student-faculty collaborative research projects. This program is a record reflective of those projects between the 2015-2016 academic year.

Reconciliation As Holistic Redemptive Transformation, Mike Langford

Winifred E. Weter Lectures

"Reconciliation" is a word often used in Christian circles, but almost as often, it is not defined. Sometimes it is used to indicate intimacy with God, sometimes it means merely being nice to other people, and sometimes it refers to an ambiguous concept of justice. To avoid this conceptual reductionism, we can look to the work of 20th-century theologian Karl Barth, who wrote exhaustively on the concept of reconciliation as an ecology of multi-dimensional salvation -- personal, communal, and societal. For Barth, reconciliation means restored relationship in a theological and holistic sense, such that all reality is redemptively transformed by …

The Role Of Composition And Orchestration In The Contemporary Church: A Practical Model Of God-Honoring Creativity In Modern Worship, Lauren Bentley

Senior Honors Theses

The role of composition and orchestration in the contemporary church is sometimes overlooked because of the simplicity of today’s worship songs. There is an obvious tension between excellence and authenticity when approaching modern worship. Through following examples of church arrangers as well as secular composers, the writer has composed and orchestrated an original piece for use in a contemporary worship context.

A philosophy and methodology for creating this composition are both outlined, with three components addressed in each: increasing the musical complexity, ensuring theologically correct lyrics, and purifying the intention of the heart in order to glorify God through the …

Hospitality Ethos With Justice And Dignity: Catholic, Vincentian, And Jesuit Perspectives On Global Migration, Marco Tavanti Ph.D.

Vincentian Studies

Marco Tavanti examines the causes, consequences, and problems of global migration, and particularly forced migration, as human rights issues. We owe caritas, “human-divine love,” to migrants and must therefore treat them with a hospitality founded on justice and dignity. In the Abrahamic religions, hospitality is “generosity and graciousness” extended to friends and potentially dangerous strangers alike as a “service to God and humanity.” Such hospitality is “based on the needs of the guest, not the benefit of the host.” Hospitality was central to early Christianity and remains an imperative for today’s Church. Social justice’s role in hospitality is explored, …

You Were Told To Love The Immigrant, But What If The Story Never Happened? Hospitality And United States Immigration Law, Craig B. Mousin

Vincentian Studies

The biblical narrative served as an inspiration in creating the government of the United States and grounds Christian ethics. People of faith must decide how to interpret and live out the narrative in the present day. The Bible, which is full of stories about exile, should therefore shape our response to immigration. Craig Mousin examines what the Bible says about the treatment of immigrants and applies current immigration law to imagined cases of biblical figures. All of them, including Jesus, would have been denied entry, deported, or forced to live as undocumented immigrants. Mousin then situates immigration within the context …

Book Review: Jesus Christ: The New Face Of Social Progress, Paul Flaman

Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture

Peter J. Casarella, ed., Jesus Christ: The New Face of Social Progress. Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2015. Pp. 370, $68.98.

Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement And Healing In Japan’S Religious Culture, Reginald Alva

Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture

Japan is a land of many contrasts. It is modern yet rooted in tradition. In general, Japanese do not have much interest in religions, yet religions are overflowing in Japan. Christianity is a minority religion in Japan, and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement started there in 1972. In this paper, the author examines the influence of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement on the Japanese, especially through its ministry of healing. Further, he examines the challenges to this work arising from various new religious movements, shamans, spiritual therapists, and sects that promise healing, wealth, and prosperity.

Revisiting Chiara Lubich’S Paradise’49 In Light Of The Letter To The Ephesians: Divine Adoption And Divine Design, Gérard Rossé

Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture

This article is the second in a four-part study comparing the Letter to the Ephesians with some of Chiara Lubich’s notes on her contemplative experience in 1949. The author first explores the initial blessing of divine adoption as children of God in Christ as expressed in the letter and in Chiara’s Trinitarian experience of adoption in the design of God. Then he discusses how the divine design is fulfilled according to a Trinitarian dynamic in both the letter and Chiara’s experience. Finally, he looks more deeply into the source of this design, namely, the glory of God from which everything …

Revisiting Chiara Lubich’S Paradise ’49 In Light Of The Letter To The Ephesians, Gérard Rossé

Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture

This article is the first in a four-part study. It begins with the idea that genuine Christian mysticism and the thought it produces is never separated from faith. Rather, it produces a faith lived with greater clarity and intensity. This forms the basis for a study comparing the Letter to the Ephesians with some of Chiara Lubich’s notes on her contemplative experience in 1949. Her experience, the author emphasizes, was born from an experience of communion, of church. Chiara lived in a personal way the reality of the church in its profound identity with the Body of Christ. This reality …

The Cresset (Vol. Lxxix, No. 4, Easter), Valparaiso University

The Cresset (archived issues)

No abstract provided.

Planning For 2017: Reformation Resources For Your Library, Mark A. Granquist

Faculty Publications

This survey of recent and forthcoming books relating to the Reformation seeks to help readers to navigate the deep waters of this literature and to find useful volumes from which to “drink.”

Overshadowed By The Spirit: Mary, Mother Of Our Lord, Prototype Of Spirit-Baptized Humanity, Sally J. Shelton

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

A major issue over which many Evangelicals differ from Roman Catholics is the status of Mary, Jesus’ mother. Evangelicals critique some of the Marian dogmas and practices as excesses that challenge with Christ’s sole mediation and eclipse the Spirit, while Catholics see Protestant neglect of Mary as potentially leading to failure to fully acknowledge Christ’s humanity and divinity.

This dissertation attempts to bridge the gap between the Catholic and Evangelical Marys by proposing a Pentecostal Mary. After outlining the underlying pneumatic, ecumenical hermeneutic in the first chapter, in the next three I focus on the Scriptures related to Mary, including …

The Image Of Leadership: Man’S View Of God As Reflected In His Leadership Style, Leslie Pope

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis project will demonstrate the connection between a pastor’s practical perceived theology of the inner workings of the Trinity and his desired leadership style. Because “God’s people are stamped with the tag of ‘gods’,”1 they will seek to rule in a similar manner. These perceived relationships will drive the pastor toward a desired style of leadership. In turn, examining horizontal styles of leadership will reveal true vertical beliefs. These levels of leadership interaction will be researched through literature and interviews with eight church leaders. As the leader defines the leadership structures and recognizes hidden similarities and disparities between practical …

The Pastor As Leader: Assessment, Change, And Growth In Pastoral Leadership Style And Ability, David C. Crawford

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

D.Min. dissertation, Asbury Theological Seminary, 2014.

Full Text of the Dissertation

This study explored the leadership perceptions of a sampling of Nazarene pastors who were predominantly newer in ministry in terms of years of service in the Southwest Ohio District. This qualitative analysis sought to measure their self-reported leadership style and self-described leadership ability both prior to and following a leadership seminar devoted to the development of pastoral leaders.

A Holistic Process For Leading Organizational Change, Robert John Eschlemann

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

Ed.D. dissertation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Full Text of the Dissertation

With over two million resources available for organizational change, and an emphasis on church revitalization by organizations as such as NaMB, is it possible the disconnected variations of organizational change have created so much confusion that it prevents a simple, comprehensive, and comprehensible understanding? In order to explore this question, and to advance a preferred method, case studies of organizational change within the Bible were conducted, and secular organizational change studies were evaluated. context analysis was used to review current change theory literature. Six functions of change were …

All Things New: A Holistic Theology Of Major Depression And Pastoral Care, T. S. Giovanetto

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

Dissertation Notice:

M.A. Thesis, Trinity International University, 2015.

Full Text of the Thesis available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global

This study approaches the topic of mental illness within the church, integrating biblical theology and clinical psychology to propose a model of pastoral care for the severely depressed. Examining the history of distrust between the church and the social sciences, and criticizing prominent models of pastoral care built upon the chastisement of mentally ill individuals, the thesis proposes a model of care built upon the acceptance and validation of persons facing psychological distress. In this model, ministers teach sufferers to …

Primeval History According To Paul: "In Adam" And "In Christ" In Romans, Timothy A. Gabrielson

Dissertations (1934 -)

Paul’s comparison of Adam and Christ in Rom 5:12–21 is among the most influential doctrines in the Bible and Christian theology. Often it has been used to summarize God’s purposes in creation and redemption, from humanity’s “fall” in Adam to its restoration in Christ. In the past several decades, however, it has increasingly been seen as provisional and functional because the Jewish writings used to support it have now been dated after the apostle’s lifetime. This study retrieves the traditional position, but does so by appeal to different corpora of Jewish texts, those that are prior or contemporary to Paul. …

Scripture In History: A Systematic Theology Of The Christian Bible, Joseph K. Gordon

Dissertations (1934 -)

This work utilizes advances in philosophical hermeneutics, the historical study of Christian Scripture, and traditional theological resources to articulate a systematic theology of the Christian Bible. Chapter one introduces the challenges of the contemporary ecclesial and academic situations of Christian Scripture and invokes and explains a functional notion of systematic theology as a resource for meeting those challenges. Chapter two examines the use of the rule of faith by Irenaeus, Origen, and Augustine to locate the emergence of Christian Scripture within the faith of early Christian churches. It shows that structured, intelligible Christian belief and thought are developing and operative …

Vincentian Heritage 33:1

Vincentian Studies

No abstract provided.