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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Intentional Discipleship: Implementing A Theology Of Discipleship For Spiritual Growth, Sheina L. Rivera
Intentional Discipleship: Implementing A Theology Of Discipleship For Spiritual Growth, Sheina L. Rivera
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
One of the greatest needs for the church today is to equip believers to become biblically informed, fully developed disciples so that they are prepared to carry out the mission of Christ. Without fully understanding mature discipleship practices, believers cannot fulfill the Great Commission to “go, teach and baptize” to make other disciples. The failure to understand and teach these practices has led to complacency, lack of interest, and the inability to become disciples among long-term church laity. This dissertation implemented biblical discipleship teachings and practices in a local church through a Sunday School curriculum and was evaluated through participant …
The Impact Of Virtual Technology On Discipleship Training In A Small Group Context, Austin Stephen Mansfield
The Impact Of Virtual Technology On Discipleship Training In A Small Group Context, Austin Stephen Mansfield
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Many contemporary churches face the difficulty of implementing the Great Commission’s mandate for making disciples (Matt 28:19-20). Occasional church attendance and a lack of participation in fellowship and ministries beyond the Sunday worship service reflect this difficulty. Discipleship has become even more challenging in the current climate of social distancing that has resulted from COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Being separated physically from others exacerbates a growing predisposition to spiritual isolation, which in turn hinders development of discipleship; physical interaction has always been the main model for making disciples. The Great Commission’s description of discipleship (making disciples through going, baptizing, and teaching) …
Investigating The Impact Of Spiritual Gifts On Church Growth, Johnnie James Finkley
Investigating The Impact Of Spiritual Gifts On Church Growth, Johnnie James Finkley
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This thesis project uses spiritual gifts found in scripture as teachable models for church growth to address a decline in church attendance at Friendly Missionary Baptist Church. The research assumes that if church members are aware of their spiritual gifts, they will use them to build a healthy church. Therefore, the question that this thesis project asks is, “Will an understanding and development of spiritual gifts grow Friendly Missionary Baptist Church?” The Bible is the primary literary resource for God’s provision in transforming believers into His image. It is the foundation for church members’ spiritual growth. The book of Acts …
Spiritual And Religious Interventions For Medically High-Risk Adults: A Systematic Review, Nathanael J. Strissel
Spiritual And Religious Interventions For Medically High-Risk Adults: A Systematic Review, Nathanael J. Strissel
Senior Honors Theses
This systematic review is an update and expansion to the population and methods of a previous systematic review concerning spiritual and religious interventions for the well-being of terminally ill adults. After expanding the criteria to incorporate a more diverse population and including non-randomized experimental studies that contained relatively few concerns of bias, the results of the review are inconclusive due to insufficient data. The lack of usable data in the field highlights the ethical and theoretical issues with the use of experimental trials in analyzing the efficacy of spiritual and religious interventions. The development of spirituality in healthcare will remain …
A Strategy For A Successful Church Plant In An Un-Churched, Yet Spiritual Culture, Ernest Smith
A Strategy For A Successful Church Plant In An Un-Churched, Yet Spiritual Culture, Ernest Smith
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Planting a church is difficult, especially when the church is planted in a post-Christian culture. Denver, Colorado is this type of culture and has commonly been called “A Church Planter’s Graveyard” by various church planters, church planting network leaders and senior pastors in Denver. According to the North American Mission Board and other reports, Denver is 88-95% un-churched. This writer moved to Denver in the summer of 2013 to plant a church. The goal is to create a different strategy to reach a community of people who are not Christ-followers. This strategy will research former and current Denver church planters. …
7 Essential Keys To Success: Developing The Spiritual Discipline In The Leader, Bernard Winchester
7 Essential Keys To Success: Developing The Spiritual Discipline In The Leader, Bernard Winchester
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
To deny that some leaders have problems, and others do not, is to deny Scripture, history, and experience. All leaders may not have as many problems as some, but all leaders do have problems. These problems are not always produced by the grass-roots membership. Leaders are often the cause of the very problems they see and deplore in the church. It is apparent that this is true when a leader has dishonored the moral standards or departed from sound doctrine. It is more often true when the leader has been indolent, failed to plan his work or work the plan, …
Developing A Discipleship-Training Model For Equipping The Laity With Both Emotional And Spiritual Maturity In Korean Churches, Jongsik Hwang
Developing A Discipleship-Training Model For Equipping The Laity With Both Emotional And Spiritual Maturity In Korean Churches, Jongsik Hwang
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
There are a lot of discipleship training programs in South Korea, but there is no discipleship-training program that focuses on both emotional maturity and spiritual maturity at the same time for mature believers. By focusing so much on spiritual maturity, churches have neglected the parts of emotional maturity since the churches were planted in South Korea. Emotionally unhealthy believers cause conflicts in church and struggle with serious individual troubles. Therefore, Korean churches should have a discipleship program which focuses on the emotional aspects as Jesus came to the earth as a perfect human and an incontestable God. The purpose of …
A Strategic Spiritual Formation Study Based On The Book Of Malachi, Rand Muender
A Strategic Spiritual Formation Study Based On The Book Of Malachi, Rand Muender
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
A review of current literature on spiritual disciplines demonstrates the need for a pastor to successfully implement an exegetical preaching methodology toward spiritual formation. The goal of this project is to answer: “What impact would a strategic spiritual formation study based upon the Book of Malachi implemented by a pastor have on a local church that is below 200 in attendance?” Incorporating the results of surveys sent to pastors within The Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia having below 200 in attendance, this project will review theological, historical, and exegetical, perspectives and principles for a biblical methodology for spiritual formation.
The Battle Is Real: Spiritual Warfare, Discipleship, And The Christian “Soldier”, Frank Hain
The Battle Is Real: Spiritual Warfare, Discipleship, And The Christian “Soldier”, Frank Hain
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
A review of current literature demonstrates a plethora of material focused on various deliverance techniques, yet very little material is available to assist pastors with developing a spiritual warfare “basic training” plan. The purpose of this project is to illuminate a ministry’s desperate need to adopt a spiritual warfare worldview, to present the basic elements essential to a spiritual warfare basic training plan, and to create an effective strategy for implementing such a plan. Based on surveys and questionnaires sent to pastors and other ministry leaders, the project reveals the need for a spiritual warfare basic training plan for any …
Spiritual Innovation: A Faith-Based Model To Equip Men To Become The Spiritual Leaders For The American Family In Crisis, Leonard Kitchens
Spiritual Innovation: A Faith-Based Model To Equip Men To Become The Spiritual Leaders For The American Family In Crisis, Leonard Kitchens
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The American culture is experiencing the degradation of the family. James Dobson describes this as “America in peril.” This is not solely because of lack of spiritual leadership in the household, but the lack of which is a prominent factor for the American family in crisis. Through qualitative and quantitative analyses of 203 Christian men, this doctoral project identifies shortfalls, provides evidence of biblical responsibility, and develops a model to assist Christian men to lead their families spiritually, which is the mandate of God. Proposing a faith-based approach to preserving the Christian family, this thesis underlines the importance of the …
Spiritual Nurture In Developing The Faith Of Christian High School Students: A Phenomenological Study, Marsha Boyd-Mitchell
Spiritual Nurture In Developing The Faith Of Christian High School Students: A Phenomenological Study, Marsha Boyd-Mitchell
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Many Christian schools provide solid academic environments for adolescents. The programming promises to deliver an education to nurture the human soul. This qualitative, transcendental, phenomenological study was for the purpose of discovering how spiritual nurture in Christian high schools aided and encouraged faith development. Christian high school is the lived experience of adolescents going to school with spiritual nurture at the heart of their programming. The participants were 15 adolescents who attended a Christian high school that implemented spiritual nurture by use of prayer, worship, biblically-integrated curriculum, Bible study, teacher-student relationships, holistic correction, and peer relationships. The epoche was the …
Developing An Embedded Process Of Spiritual Healing/Growth For South Korean Presbyterian Churches, Sung In Chang
Developing An Embedded Process Of Spiritual Healing/Growth For South Korean Presbyterian Churches, Sung In Chang
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this project is to provide a biblical discipleship manual that restores believers to an intimate and obedient relationship with God through an embedded process of spiritual healing. Many disciples within South Korean Presbyterian churches are hindered from leading biblical lives of obedience by unresolved pain and scars that stem from their sins and misunderstandings about God. This is a direct result of dysfunctional discipleship processes within churches that do not empower the disciples to fully trust and obey Jesus Christ. The research will be conducted by surveying 100 Korean Presbyterian Church members. This thesis project will attempt …
Perceived Parental Factors As Predictors Of Spiritual Maturity In Emerging Adults, Lizabeth L. Matthews
Perceived Parental Factors As Predictors Of Spiritual Maturity In Emerging Adults, Lizabeth L. Matthews
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Scant research has focused on possible parental factors behind increasing rates of disengagement by millennial emerging adults (18- to 25-years-old) in church attendance and other traditional Christian practices. Cluster, quota, and convenience samples of emerging adults (N = 266) who had identified with Christian practices in high school were recruited from social media, Web sites for religious doubt, and various universities and churches across America. Independent sample t tests and regression analyses were performed to explore the effect of selected parent variables (as perceived by the emerging adult child) on the child’s self-reported spiritual maturity (measured by a spiritual assessment …
A Lonely Faith: Lessons In Spiritual Resiliency Learned From The Isolated, Captive, And Rescued, Jeff Schlenz
A Lonely Faith: Lessons In Spiritual Resiliency Learned From The Isolated, Captive, And Rescued, Jeff Schlenz
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Americans have always traveled abroad whether as merchants, military service members, missionaries, reporters, or simply, "tourists." Most return safely, but some have been taken captive by foreign governments, terrorists and criminal organizations. Though many have studied their struggles, no wide-scale attempt has been made to understand the role religious faith played in enduring their captivities. If understood, such information could be used in training those who may be exposed to similar circumstances in the future, and may have devotional value for others enduring crises. In this study, one hundred seventy-eight international travelers are surveyed, assessing their expectations of and preparation …
Marriage As A Spiritual Discipline: Principles And Benefits, Richmond Laney
Marriage As A Spiritual Discipline: Principles And Benefits, Richmond Laney
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Christians use spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, and journaling as methods to enhance their relationship with God. However, Christian rates of divorce are not different than the United States average where more than one in three first marriages ends in divorce. This is despite a Christian belief that marriage is a special relationship. The rate of divorce among Christians should be reduced. Marriage can be practiced as a spiritual discipline that will benefit the relationship as well as yielding sought after spirituality. Marriage as a spiritual discipline would help couples increase marital satisfaction, thus driving down the divorce rate. …
Serving God In The Midst Of Multiple Sclerosis: A Holistic And Spiritual Model For Physical Sustainment, Timothy Harville
Serving God In The Midst Of Multiple Sclerosis: A Holistic And Spiritual Model For Physical Sustainment, Timothy Harville
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Multiple Sclerosis is a devastating disease that affects not only the one who suffers with MS, but also their family and relationships leaving the patient feeling depressed and without hope. If the disease is disclosed, many churches and the International Mission Board will reject the person's application because of the potential cost and medical care needed. This author was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis in 2008. This writer has experienced the obstacles described above. This model will serve as a motivational tool to help all of us who suffer with MS to use the disability for …
Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough (Chinese), Elmer Towns
Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough (Chinese), Elmer Towns
Towns Foreign Language Book Collection
No abstract provided.
Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough (Russian), Elmer Towns
Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough (Russian), Elmer Towns
Towns Foreign Language Book Collection
No abstract provided.
Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough (Spanish), Elmer Towns
Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough (Spanish), Elmer Towns
Towns Foreign Language Book Collection
No abstract provided.
Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough (Arabic), Elmer Towns
Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough (Arabic), Elmer Towns
Towns Foreign Language Book Collection
No abstract provided.
Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough (Indonesian), Elmer Towns
Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough (Indonesian), Elmer Towns
Towns Foreign Language Book Collection
No abstract provided.
Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough (Korean), Elmer Towns
Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough (Korean), Elmer Towns
Towns Foreign Language Book Collection
No abstract provided.