Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Prophetic Lament: A Call For Justice In Troubled Times, David M. Johnstone

Publications from Student Life & Spiritual Life

Soong-Chan Rah ranks among the top American scholars who perceptively understand the contemporary Western church, speak prophetically into it, offer hope, and do not hesitate to probe the theological implications of scripture. I count his Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times as one of the most personally, and unexpectedly, impactful that I have read. It is currently shaping me in uncomfortable yet necessary ways.

Epiphany 2 Series A 2017, Phillip L. Brandt

Sunday's Sermon

No abstract provided.

Program: Featured Lecture, "Agape, Justice, And Law: Should Christian Love Shape Law?", Robert F. Cochran Jr.

Frank Pack Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Program

Program for the Thirteenth Annual Frank Pack Distinguished Christian Lecture Program with featured lecturer Dr. Robert F. Cochran Jr., Professor of Law at Pepperdine University's Caruso School of Law.

Baptism Of Our Lord One Year Series 2017, Phillip L. Brandt

Sunday's Sermon

No abstract provided.

Baptism Of Our Lord Series A 2017, Phillip L. Brandt

Sunday's Sermon

No abstract provided.

Voice Of God, Erin Olson

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"As David so clearly describes, the voice of the Lord isn’t always a whisper that can only be heard when we’re sitting quietly still."

Posting about hearing God's call 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-voice-of-god/

How To Pray For Your President, David Schelhaas

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"David’s prayer can serve as a model of how we should pray for our political leaders, especially our newly elected president."

Posting about praying for our government officials­­­­­­­­ 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/how-to-pray-for-your-president/

The Blessed Sacrament Of Potlucks, Howard Schaap

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Ad Fontes: Desiderius Erasmus’ Call For A Return To The Sources Of A Unified And Simple Christian Faith, Amanda Kieffer

The Kabod

Desiderius Erasmus’ humanism greatly shaped his view of Christianity. He developed a “philosophy of Christ” that led him to seek peaceful reforms from within the Church while attempting to maintain unity. He was a consummate scholar and inspiring figure of his time. Unfortunately, his interactions with Luther did not bring out the best in him, or in Luther for that matter, but there is still much to be learned by modern Christians from Erasmus’ views on reform that can be applied to the modern Church.

Multi-Denominational Belonging And Quakers In Evangelical Friends Church Southwest, Jennifer M. Buck

Quaker Religious Thought

Quakerism is a tradition rich for the intersection of conservative tradition and emergent positioning to the culture. Some understand this term as ‘convergent Friends,’ and in this context today, the convergent nature of some strands of Quakerism opens it up for hybridity and multi-belonging. Rather than assess Quakerism in regards to other faith traditions or religious communities, this paper seeks to look at a recent movement in Evangelical Friends in the Southwest region, that of multi-denominational belonging.

The Elephant In The Room:, Sarita D. Gallagher

Papers

No abstract provided.

Who Speaks For (Or Against) Rome? Acts In Relation To Empire, Matthew L. Skinner

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Participatory God For A Participatory Culture: Christian Theological Perspectives On Networks, Dwight J. Zscheile

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Miracles As Evidence For The Existence Of God, Alan G. Padgett

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Passover Sign: The People See The Prophet-King, Randal D. Reynolds

Master of Arts Theses

No abstract provided.

Opening To Revelation: Building Discernment Processes From Practices That Best Inform Communal Decision Making, Chris Alexander

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This sequential explanatory mixed methods research project investigates the spiritual discernment processes of a Christian congregation in the United Church of Christ. The study identifies most utilized and most helpful practices of spiritual discernment within the areas of prayer, conversation, community, and media. This research shows how engaging spiritual practices influences participation in decision making by Christian congregations.

Looking Back To Move Forward: Youth Ministry And Its Effect On The Faith And Christian Practices Of Today's Adults, Andrew A. Taylor

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This mixed methods explanatory research project investigated the effectiveness of youth ministry practices in shaping, or failing to shape, adult Christian faith. Fifty-nine former youth group members from three congregations were surveyed, and six were interviewed: two active Christians, two inactive Christians, and two non-Christians. Results revealed the active Christians had experienced a personal sense of God’s presence and witnessed God’s activity in the public sphere. This suggests that youth ministry would do well to utilize practices that encourage adolescents to experience and articulate a sense of God’s presence in both their personal lives and in the world around them.

A Congregation Engaging In Missional Dialogue: Strengthening Discernment Amid Diversity Through Healthy Congregational Dialogue, Jeffrey M. Wilson

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This transformative mixed-methods modified Participatory Action Research (PAR) project was used to investigate and affect healthy and faithful discernment and decision-making in a diverse congregation within the reality of being the body of Christ in mission. Data were collected utilizing baseline and end-line surveys, recorded and transcribed meetings and interviews, and memos. The data revealed that people who engaged in the research process grew in their perception of the congregation as being healthy and faithful in discernment and decision-making. This research shows that mutual responsibility, respect, trust, and interdependence between leaders and congregation members helps us focus on God’s mission …

Generous Leaders, Generous Congregations: A Study Of The Relationship Between The Financial Generosity Of Congregational Leaders And The Financial Generosity Of Their Congregations, Ryan D. Brodin

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This sequential explanatory mixed methods comparative case study research project explores personal financial generosity in pastors and Congregational Council members of five suburban mainline congregations to discover what influence their generosity has on the congregations they lead. This research involved a survey of all the leaders, interviews with each pastor, focus groups with Congregational Council members, and financial statistics for each congregation. Although there are many insights in this research project regarding financial generosity in leaders and congregations, the results do not show a direct influence of the personal financial generosity of the leaders on the financial generosity of the …

Walk Me To The Gate: Christian Practices Of Accompaniment With People Who Are Dying And Their Families, Yolanda Kali Denson-Byers

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This mixed-methods concurrent triangulation research project asks, “What practices should we incorporate into the hospice ministry of Fellowship Lutheran Church in order to help dying people and their families experience a peaceful death with love?” Utilizing two focus groups, four interviews, and a congregational census, this project finds that research participants are terrorized by death and are hungry for hospice and bereavement ministries provided by their community of faith. This exploratory project illuminates the specific practices which missional congregations may utilize to empower the priesthood of all believers to create a beloved community which points to the hope of resurrection.

Empathy As Sacred Ethic: A Chaplain's Perspective On Difficult End Of Life Cases, Peter L. Bauck

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

Because of our increasingly intercultural world, it can be difficult for patients, families, and medical teams to decide on what they should do for patients who are, in the medical team’s opinion, near the end of life. The family and medical team can hold disparate beliefs and values around what they should do for the patient. Ethics committees often get involved in these difficult end of life cases.These cases are also emotionally charged, especially for the family as they wrestle with the intensity of their loved one’s situation and try to decide what to do. Because of the emotional intensity …

Countertransference As Koinonia, Karin A. Craven

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

This thesis inquires after the lived-through experience of community in the congregation by the pastoral leader. It is predicated upon the multiple self whose plurality is understood through psychoanalytical and postcolonial theories as well as by developmental processes illumined by interpersonal neurobiology. The phenomenological inquiry into one pastor’s experience of community in the congregation yielded in vivo themes – movement, joy, and open; connect, conflict, and centering; table, hospitality, love, and diversity -- that were understood broadly from the wondering perspective of desire. Closer theoretical analysis of these in vivo themes from theological, psychological, and interpersonal neurobiological conceptual categories was …

The Impact Of Social Media On Adolescent Grief, Kathryn Knutson

Children, Youth, and Family (CYF) Papers

No abstract provided.

I Believe, Lord Help My Unbelief: The Thin Christology Of Austin Adolescents, Brianna Morris-Brock

Children, Youth, and Family (CYF) Papers

No abstract provided.

A Dialogue On Disaster: Antichrists In Jewish And Christian Apocalypses And Their Medieval Recensions, Natalie Latteri

Theology & Religious Studies

This paper examines textual and iconographic representations of antichrist personae in medieval Christian and Jewish manuscripts. Through a common language of polemics, Christians and Jews conflated antichrist personae to represent a more generalized category of apocalyptic antagonist that reflected the most significant temptations and threats to each respective religious community. As will be argued here, the greatest temptation and threat for Christians and Jews alike were those posed by members of the other religious group

2017 Perihelion - Oru Yearbook, Holy Spirit Research Center Oru Library

Perihelion: ORU Yearbooks

The Oral Roberts University Student Yearbook, the Perihelion, is produced by ORU Media and Communications department.

The images and files are copyrighted to Oral Roberts University and cannot be reproduced in any form without permission from ORU administration.

Study Guide For C. S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity", Kerry Irish

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

Dr. Kerry Irish’s study guide for C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity is unique in that it begins with an introduction that explains how Mere Christianity came into being, and also how Lewis became a Christian.

The guide consists of six discussions. It is suitable for use by book groups or Sunday schools as well as individual study. It is compatible with any edition of Mere Christianity, as it follows book and chapter designations rather than page numbers.

Thoughts On The Importance Of Attending Church, Kerry Irish

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

A short essay on the purpose and importance of church attendance.

Excerpt: "Today, many Christians have given up consistent attendance of worship services. This tendency is particularly pronounced among young adults. The reasons are numerous and varied. Among the complaints: the worship service is boring; it is impossible to find a church with both a style of worship and theology that is acceptable, and our lives are just too busy. There are surely more reasons for skipping church but these few will suffice to provide helpful and hopeful comment."

Keywords: worship, church, Hebrews 10:24-25, C. S. Lewis, Benedict of Nursia.

Ijcs News, Volume 5, The Institute Of Judaeo-Christian Studies

Newsletters

The 2017 issue of IJCS News, the Institute of Judaeo-Christian Studies' annual newsletter, Vol 5.

The Challenge Of Being In The Minority: Palestinian Christian Theology In Light Of Christian Zionism Post-1948, Medhat S. Yoakiem

Master of Theology Theses

No abstract provided.