The document discusses various perspectives on theology and the gospel. It addresses shifting understandings of theology from being a systematic outline of truth to being a creative model-making enterprise. It also discusses different views of the gospel, including emphasizing the kingdom of God narrative over theories of atonement or moralistic messages. The document advocates for theology that is coherent, contextual, conversational, and comprehensive.
This is a study of Jesus being preached and Paul rejoicing. Many were preaching Jesus with false motives, but Paul rejoiced anyway because Christ was being preached. He was happy even if others were false preachers, for Jesus was being made known.
The Forum Online Event: The Incoherent Notion of “Tolerant” Indifference Appl...Third Column Ministries
Guest Bruce Boeckel with Evidence for Christ
The demand for “tolerance” in today’s society is an item in an ideological programme rather than an actual commitment to accept or at least consider new and different ideas. In addition, the demand for “tolerance” makes little sense when that demand is made of a monotheistic religion committed to the truth of an exclusive divine revelation. In other words, for historic and orthodox Christians, the demand that we be “tolerant” reveals that those making the demand either understand nothing about Christianity or that they do understand and demand that we stop being Bible-believing Christians. This is the incoherence of contemporary “tolerance”: I demand that you stop believing what you believe, that you stop acting according to your beliefs, then I congratulate myself on how “tolerant” I am of those whose beliefs differ from mine. We will look at this incoherent demand for “tolerance” both in present-day academia (including religious studies) and in the European Enlightenment of the 18th century, the period in which demands for “tolerance” first emerged in Western society and when “ideology” first appeared as a word and as a socio-political programme. As a result of this presentation, you will know more about the history and dynamics of “tolerance” than do 95% of those who throw the word around — most of whom know nothing of this history and haven’t spent a single minute thinking critically about a concept that they pretend to understand.
From Greenbelt 2011. This is material from my next book - tentatively entitled, "Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Walk Into a Bar: Christian Faith in a Multi-Faith World," to be released September 2012.
Part 4-3 in the series. Stewardship of the mind: practical guidance, worldview & apologetics.
According to Jesus, the greatest commandment in the Old Testament is: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37-38). How are we to fulfill this commandment, especially the part about loving God with all our mind? Jesus implied that what we think and what we believe is extremely important to God, and being a thinking Christian is a major part of our loving God. Using Dr. J.P. Moreland's book, Love Your God With All Your Mind, this class will explore how we can use our minds to love and glorify God.
This is a study of Jesus being preached and Paul rejoicing. Many were preaching Jesus with false motives, but Paul rejoiced anyway because Christ was being preached. He was happy even if others were false preachers, for Jesus was being made known.
The Forum Online Event: The Incoherent Notion of “Tolerant” Indifference Appl...Third Column Ministries
Guest Bruce Boeckel with Evidence for Christ
The demand for “tolerance” in today’s society is an item in an ideological programme rather than an actual commitment to accept or at least consider new and different ideas. In addition, the demand for “tolerance” makes little sense when that demand is made of a monotheistic religion committed to the truth of an exclusive divine revelation. In other words, for historic and orthodox Christians, the demand that we be “tolerant” reveals that those making the demand either understand nothing about Christianity or that they do understand and demand that we stop being Bible-believing Christians. This is the incoherence of contemporary “tolerance”: I demand that you stop believing what you believe, that you stop acting according to your beliefs, then I congratulate myself on how “tolerant” I am of those whose beliefs differ from mine. We will look at this incoherent demand for “tolerance” both in present-day academia (including religious studies) and in the European Enlightenment of the 18th century, the period in which demands for “tolerance” first emerged in Western society and when “ideology” first appeared as a word and as a socio-political programme. As a result of this presentation, you will know more about the history and dynamics of “tolerance” than do 95% of those who throw the word around — most of whom know nothing of this history and haven’t spent a single minute thinking critically about a concept that they pretend to understand.
From Greenbelt 2011. This is material from my next book - tentatively entitled, "Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Walk Into a Bar: Christian Faith in a Multi-Faith World," to be released September 2012.
Part 4-3 in the series. Stewardship of the mind: practical guidance, worldview & apologetics.
According to Jesus, the greatest commandment in the Old Testament is: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37-38). How are we to fulfill this commandment, especially the part about loving God with all our mind? Jesus implied that what we think and what we believe is extremely important to God, and being a thinking Christian is a major part of our loving God. Using Dr. J.P. Moreland's book, Love Your God With All Your Mind, this class will explore how we can use our minds to love and glorify God.
Lesson 3 of a multipart series. Everyone has a Weltanschauung and most don’t know it. Defining a Worldview. What is prime reality – the really real? (i.e. God) What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us? What is a human being? What happens to a person at death? Why is it possible to know anything at all? How do we know what is right and wrong? What is the meaning of human history?
This is a study of how Jesus is the greatest runner by doing all that the Bible tells runners to do. He is the great example of never giving up but pressing on to the goal.
Apologetics Presentation for First Trinity, Part 1Kaitlyn Nowak
These are the slides for the first of a two-part talk given by Kaitlyn Nowak at First Trinity Lutheran Church in Pittsburgh, PA on her experience and what she learned at the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism, and Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. It gives background on the Academy, what apologetics is, and why it's necessary. In doing so it lays the foundation for part two's focus on the historicity of Christianity and the reliability of the Gospels.
CONTENTS
I. THE SOUL'S QUEST AFTER GOD ... I
II. GOD IN NATURE ....... 39
III. GOD IN HUMANITY 89
IV. GOD IN JESUS CHRIST II3
V. GOD A SAVIOUR FROM SIN . . . .127
Marcus Aurelius was truly the philosopher-king that Plato dreamed of, he was both one of the good Roman Emperors and a Stoic Philosopher who ruled out of a sense of duty while living the modest stoic life.
The paradox of Marcus Aurelius is that as Roman Emperor he likely oversaw the brutal persecution of Christians, but as a Stoic philosopher his main work, the Meditations, offers a Stoic philosophy that reflects many Christian values and teachings. This paradox led some ancient Christians to hope that he indeed was a friend to Christians, including Tertullian and St Justin the Martyr, who was himself martyred under the reign of Marcus Aurelius. This paradox was explored by the ancient church historian Eusebius in his work Church History or Ecclesiastical History.
We review the history behind Marcus Aurelius, how he was the adopted son of his predecessor, Antonius Pius, who had been adopted by Hadrian. We learn how his marriage to the daughter of Antonius Pius, Faustina, led to the birth of Commodus, who succeeded him as emperor and began the decline of the Roman Empire due to his neglect of his responsibilities, he preferred performing as a gladiator to serving as a stoic Roman Emperor.
We review the history of the persecutions from Nero to Diocletian, and the series of letters between Pliny and Trajan discussing how Christians should be properly persecuted.
We review how modern historians view this paradox, including Henry Chadwick, Walter Kaufman, Matthew Arnold, Copleston, and McGuckin.
YouTube video:
https://youtu.be/-uQxq1O9xSY
Our blog: https://wp.me/pachSU-aC
Please support our channel, purchase these from Amazon, we earn a small affiliate commission:
Meditations (Dover Thrift Editions), by Marcus Aurelius
https://amzn.to/2W3nxqt
Practical Philosophy: The Greco-Roman Moralists
https://amzn.to/3rmSlOx
Famous Romans, Audiobook, by J. Rufus Fears, The Great Courses
https://amzn.to/3D6mMgE
The Meditations of Marcus Auerlius: Selections Annotated & Explained (SkyLight Illuminations)
https://amzn.to/3BsYgWR
A History of Philosophy, Vol. 1: Greece and Rome From the Pre-Socratics to Plotinus, by Frederick Copleston
https://amzn.to/2Wuh6wX
The History of the Church: From Christ to Constantine, by Eusebius (263-339), Penguin Classic, introduction by Andrew Louth
https://amzn.to/3eRbZgK
The Path of Christianity: The First Thousand Years Hardcover, by John Anthony McGuckin
https://amzn.to/2UHXMeW
The Early Church, by Henry Chadwick
https://amzn.to/36W9OUB
Mystery of The Ages Contained In The Secret Doctrines of All ReligionsChuck Thompson
Mystery of The Ages Contained In The Secret Doctrines of All Religions. From the mystery schools. Secret teachings of Lucifer as given to humans for human consumption. Enjoy.
** And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a
conscience void of offence toward God, and toward
men."— Acta 24: 16.
THE Bible stands unique among all the
other so-called sacred books of the East
in that it reveals the fact of the con-
science and addresses itself to the conscience.
The Koran has not even a word to express the
idea, and the idea itself is strangely absent
from Moslem thought. Doctor Duff, if we are
not mistaken, was the first to make the state-
ment that the primary work of a missionary
is to create a conscience; and this has been
repeated often since by other thinkers and ob-
servers in India and the East.
Lesson 3 of a multipart series. Everyone has a Weltanschauung and most don’t know it. Defining a Worldview. What is prime reality – the really real? (i.e. God) What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us? What is a human being? What happens to a person at death? Why is it possible to know anything at all? How do we know what is right and wrong? What is the meaning of human history?
This is a study of how Jesus is the greatest runner by doing all that the Bible tells runners to do. He is the great example of never giving up but pressing on to the goal.
Apologetics Presentation for First Trinity, Part 1Kaitlyn Nowak
These are the slides for the first of a two-part talk given by Kaitlyn Nowak at First Trinity Lutheran Church in Pittsburgh, PA on her experience and what she learned at the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism, and Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. It gives background on the Academy, what apologetics is, and why it's necessary. In doing so it lays the foundation for part two's focus on the historicity of Christianity and the reliability of the Gospels.
CONTENTS
I. THE SOUL'S QUEST AFTER GOD ... I
II. GOD IN NATURE ....... 39
III. GOD IN HUMANITY 89
IV. GOD IN JESUS CHRIST II3
V. GOD A SAVIOUR FROM SIN . . . .127
Marcus Aurelius was truly the philosopher-king that Plato dreamed of, he was both one of the good Roman Emperors and a Stoic Philosopher who ruled out of a sense of duty while living the modest stoic life.
The paradox of Marcus Aurelius is that as Roman Emperor he likely oversaw the brutal persecution of Christians, but as a Stoic philosopher his main work, the Meditations, offers a Stoic philosophy that reflects many Christian values and teachings. This paradox led some ancient Christians to hope that he indeed was a friend to Christians, including Tertullian and St Justin the Martyr, who was himself martyred under the reign of Marcus Aurelius. This paradox was explored by the ancient church historian Eusebius in his work Church History or Ecclesiastical History.
We review the history behind Marcus Aurelius, how he was the adopted son of his predecessor, Antonius Pius, who had been adopted by Hadrian. We learn how his marriage to the daughter of Antonius Pius, Faustina, led to the birth of Commodus, who succeeded him as emperor and began the decline of the Roman Empire due to his neglect of his responsibilities, he preferred performing as a gladiator to serving as a stoic Roman Emperor.
We review the history of the persecutions from Nero to Diocletian, and the series of letters between Pliny and Trajan discussing how Christians should be properly persecuted.
We review how modern historians view this paradox, including Henry Chadwick, Walter Kaufman, Matthew Arnold, Copleston, and McGuckin.
YouTube video:
https://youtu.be/-uQxq1O9xSY
Our blog: https://wp.me/pachSU-aC
Please support our channel, purchase these from Amazon, we earn a small affiliate commission:
Meditations (Dover Thrift Editions), by Marcus Aurelius
https://amzn.to/2W3nxqt
Practical Philosophy: The Greco-Roman Moralists
https://amzn.to/3rmSlOx
Famous Romans, Audiobook, by J. Rufus Fears, The Great Courses
https://amzn.to/3D6mMgE
The Meditations of Marcus Auerlius: Selections Annotated & Explained (SkyLight Illuminations)
https://amzn.to/3BsYgWR
A History of Philosophy, Vol. 1: Greece and Rome From the Pre-Socratics to Plotinus, by Frederick Copleston
https://amzn.to/2Wuh6wX
The History of the Church: From Christ to Constantine, by Eusebius (263-339), Penguin Classic, introduction by Andrew Louth
https://amzn.to/3eRbZgK
The Path of Christianity: The First Thousand Years Hardcover, by John Anthony McGuckin
https://amzn.to/2UHXMeW
The Early Church, by Henry Chadwick
https://amzn.to/36W9OUB
Mystery of The Ages Contained In The Secret Doctrines of All ReligionsChuck Thompson
Mystery of The Ages Contained In The Secret Doctrines of All Religions. From the mystery schools. Secret teachings of Lucifer as given to humans for human consumption. Enjoy.
** And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a
conscience void of offence toward God, and toward
men."— Acta 24: 16.
THE Bible stands unique among all the
other so-called sacred books of the East
in that it reveals the fact of the con-
science and addresses itself to the conscience.
The Koran has not even a word to express the
idea, and the idea itself is strangely absent
from Moslem thought. Doctor Duff, if we are
not mistaken, was the first to make the state-
ment that the primary work of a missionary
is to create a conscience; and this has been
repeated often since by other thinkers and ob-
servers in India and the East.
I. A Great Leader,
II. Death, the Interpreter,
III. The Necessity of Progress,
IV. The Law of Progress, .
V. Grapes of Gall,
VI. The Religion of Humanity,
VII. The AGNosTiasM of Paul, .
VIII. The Dogmatism of Paul,
IX. The Church's One Foundation,
X. The Power of the Keys,
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way.pptxCelso Napoleon
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way
SBs – Sunday Bible School
Adult Bible Lessons 2nd quarter 2024 CPAD
MAGAZINE: THE CAREER THAT IS PROPOSED TO US: The Path of Salvation, Holiness and Perseverance to Reach Heaven
Commentator: Pastor Osiel Gomes
Presentation: Missionary Celso Napoleon
Renewed in Grace
In Jude 17-23 Jude shifts from piling up examples of false teachers from the Old Testament to a series of practical exhortations that flow from apostolic instruction. He preserves for us what may well have been part of the apostolic catechism for the first generation of Christ-followers. In these instructions Jude exhorts the believer to deal with 3 different groups of people: scoffers who are "devoid of the Spirit", believers who have come under the influence of scoffers and believers who are so entrenched in false teaching that they need rescue and pose some real spiritual risk for the rescuer. In all of this Jude emphasizes Jesus' call to rescue straying sheep, leaving the 99 safely behind and pursuing the 1.
The PBHP DYC ~ Reflections on The Dhamma (English).pptxOH TEIK BIN
A PowerPoint Presentation based on the Dhamma Reflections for the PBHP DYC for the years 1993 – 2012. To motivate and inspire DYC members to keep on practicing the Dhamma and to do the meritorious deed of Dhammaduta work.
The texts are in English.
For the Video with audio narration, comments and texts in English, please check out the Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF2g_43NEa0
The Good News, newsletter for June 2024 is hereNoHo FUMC
Our monthly newsletter is available to read online. We hope you will join us each Sunday in person for our worship service. Make sure to subscribe and follow us on YouTube and social media.
What Should be the Christian View of Anime?Joe Muraguri
We will learn what Anime is and see what a Christian should consider before watching anime movies? We will also learn a little bit of Shintoism religion and hentai (the craze of internet pornography today).
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian exile.
Homily: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Sunday 2024.docxJames Knipper
Countless volumes have been written trying to explain the mystery of three persons in one true God, leaving us to resort to metaphors such as the three-leaf clover to try to comprehend the Divinity. Many of us grew up with the quintessential pyramidal Trinity structure of God at the top and Son and Spirit in opposite corners. But what if we looked at this ‘mystery’ from a different perspective? What if we shifted our language of God as a being towards the concept of God as love? What if we focused more on the relationship within the Trinity versus the persons of the Trinity? What if stopped looking at God as a noun…and instead considered God as a verb? Check it out…
The Chakra System in our body - A Portal to Interdimensional Consciousness.pptxBharat Technology
each chakra is studied in greater detail, several steps have been included to
strengthen your personal intention to open each chakra more fully. These are designed
to draw forth the highest benefit for your spiritual growth.
2. Consider that we live in at least three worlds. Pre-modern world Non-modern world Modern world Emerging world Now
3. Consider that we live in at least three worlds. Pre-modern world Non-modern world Modern world Emerging world Now The Table The Sword The Book The Gun The Screen The Bomb
4. Modern Crisis Medieval church Conservative way Liberal way from Nancey Murphy, “Beyond Liberalism and Fundamentalism”
5. Modern Crisis Medieval church from Nancey Murphy, “Beyond Liberalism and Fundamentalism” “ evangelical” “ mainline”
16. 4. Change means stress, and under stress people often behave badly. So - change provides an opportunity to practice virtue. Being “right” in the wrong way may be more dangerous than being wrong in the right way. 5. It is better to adequately understand something before attacking or opposing it. 6. The Holy Spirit is with us giving us discernment, AND our own psychology is with us, providing static. 7. Dangers seldom come in one’s, so we must not lean on our own understanding, but rather we must trust the Lord….
17. A humorous interlude: Why beer is better than religion … 8. How can we avoid the kind of excessive seriousness that can lead to viciousness and violence? Humility, humor, humus (down-to-earth-ness) …
18. Why Beer is Better than Religion 1. No one will kill you for not drinking Beer. 2. Beer doesn't tell you how to have sex. 3. Beer has never caused a major war. 4. They don't force Beer on minors who can't think for themselves. 5. When you have a Beer, you don't knock on people's doors trying to give it away. 6. Nobody's ever been burned at the stake, hanged, or tortured over his brand of Beer. 7. You don't have to wait 2000+ years for a second Beer. 8. There are laws saying Beer labels can't lie to you. 9. You can prove you have a Beer. 10. If you've devoted your life to Beer, there are groups to help you stop.
19. Note: Theological (and philosophical) turnings are important. But so are sociological turnings … political turnings … economic turnings … technological turnings. In your context, the latter turnings may be more important than the former, or inseparable from it.
21. Turning 1: What is theology? A systematic outline of truth, in the form of propositions extracted from the Biblical text through technique, to create a timeless “Biblical world view.”
22.
23.
24.
25. From Church Dogmatics Vol 1, book 1, page 76-7 (1932…at the dawning of a decade of terror for which the church’s theology and theologians, including pastors, were woefully unprepared): “ How disastrously the Church must misunderstand itself if it can imagine that theology is the business of a few theoreticians who are specially appointed for the task . . . . Again, how disastrously the Church must misunderstand itself if it can imagine that theological reflection is a matter for quiet situations and periods that suit and invite contemplation, a kind of peace-time luxury . . . .
26. As though the venture of proclamation did not mean that the Church permanently finds itself in an emergency! As though theology could be done properly without reference to this constant emergency! Let there be no mistake. Because of these distorted ideas about theology, and dogmatics in particular, there arises and persists in the life of the Church a lasting and growing deficit for which we cannot expect those particularly active in this function to supply the needed balance. The whole Church must seriously want a serious theology it if is to have a serious theology.”
27. (from Dogmatics in Outline , 1946, lectures given in the ruins after the war in Bonn, at 7am, “always after we had sung a psalm or a a hymn to cheer us up.” “ Dogmatics is the science in which the Church, in accordance with the state of its knowledge at different times, takes account of the content of its proclamation critically, that is, by the standard of Holy Scripture and under the guidance of its Confessions.”
28. Discipleship is not limited to what you can understand - it must transcend all comprehension. Plunge into the deep waters beyond your own understanding.... Bewilderment is the true comprehension. Not to know where you are going is the true knowledge. In this way Abraham went forth from his father, not knowing where he was going. You cannot find it in yourself, so you must let [God] lead you as though you were a blind man. Not the work which you choose, not the suffering you devise, but the road which is contrary to all that you choose or contrive or desire - that is the road you must take. - Martin Luther, quoted in The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
29. FOOTNOTE TO ALL PRAYERS" He whom I bow to only knows to whom I bow When I attempt the ineffable Name, murmuring Thou, And dream of Pheidian fancies and embrace in heart Symbols (I know) which cannot be the thing Thou art. Thus always, taken at their word, all prayers blaspheme, Worshipping with frail images a folk-lore dream, And all men in their praying, self-deceived, address The coinage of their own unquiet thoughts, unless Thou in magnetic mercy to Thyself divert Our arrows, aimed unskilfully, beyond desert;
30. And all men are idolators, crying unheard To a deaf idol, if Thou take them at their word. Take not, oh Lord, our literal sense. Lord, in Thy great, Unbroken speech our limping metaphor translate. --C.S.Lewis
31.
32. From the place where we are right Flowers will never grow In the spring. The place where we are right Is hard and trampled Like a yard. But doubts and loves Dig up the world Like a mole, a plow. And a whisper will be heard in the place Where the ruined House once stood. Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai
42. What’s at the center of the gospel - 4 spiritual laws? A solution to the problem of original sin? A message of the kingdom of God? The need to say something called “the sinner’s prayer?” Evasion of justice or seeking of justice? Being nice?
43. One dominant American version of the gospel is centered in a theory of atonement developed in the 11th and 12th centuries. It is heavily Calvinist (even for Wesleyans) … Another dominant American version is institutional, and often boils down to … go to church and be good.
44.
45. If a theory of atonement isn’t central, what is? Perhaps we don’t need a single center? Recentering or decentering or multicentering?
46. Could the gospel of the kingdom be the center of the gospel - or better yet, the storyline of the gospel?
47.
48. SOCIAL WITHOUT PERSONAL = IDEOLOGY PERSONAL WITHOUT SOCIAL = ESCAPISM WE NEED A REAL KINGDOM (social/public/historical) AND THE “INTERIOR CASTLE” (personal)
54. Turning 3: Eschatology What should we expect? In light of our expectation, what is our duty?
55. Turning 3: What should we expect? Do we only have hope beyond history? Or only within history? Or both within and beyond?
56. Turning 3: What should we expect? The old Eschatological Question: how do we get individual souls into heaven after they die? 1. Salvation of individuals or the church or the world? 2. Salvation of the church for or in spite of the world? (Election) 3. Salvation from hell, from sin, from this present evil age? 4. Salvation of history or from history? 5. What is salvation anyway? 6. Will things get better, worse, or both?
57. Turning 3: Eschatology? “ Eschatological Realism” and the theology of hope Reversing the polarity of the universe?
58.
59.
60. Turning 3: Eschatology? Somewhere between 0% and 100% of New Testament “apocalyptic” passages refer to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of an age centered in temple, sacrifice, priesthood, and holy city.
61. Turning 3: Eschatology? Are we a community of despair, escape and abandonment … or a community of engagement, transformation, and hope? Do justice and reconciliation ultimately lose in God’s creation?
68. The “liberal” foundation: Assumptions of the modern (Enlightenment) mindset, with methodology of the modern mindset too. The Scriptures must be screened and fit into the existing mindset. What doesn’t fit (e.g. the miraculous) is discarded or minimized. Ethics and aesthetics remain - religion becomes either reduced (limited to the realm of analysisor politics) or romanticized (segmented into the realm of feeling).
69. The “conservative” foundation: Methodology of the modern (Enlightenment) mindset. Assumptions of the ancient (premodern) mindset. Abstract universal statements must be extracted from the Scriptures and organized into an absolutized ancient worldview. What doesn’t fit (scientific discoveries, multi-vocality or tension in the text) is discarded or minimized. Evangelism remains. Religion either abandons public square or seeks to dominate it.
71. If the place where we look for ultimate truth is in a story and if (as is the case) we are still in the middle of the story, then it follows that we walk by faith and not by sight. If ultimate truth is sought in an idea, a formula, or a set of timeless laws or principles, then we do not have to recognize the possibility that something totally unexpected may happen… Future and past are governed by the same laws, the same principles, and the same realities. But if we find ultimate truth in a story that has not yet been finished, we do not have that kind of certainty. The certainty we have rests on the faithfulness of the one whose story it is. We walk by faith. (Newbigin, Proper Confidence, 14)
72.
73. Turning 4: Scripture’s new value New Metaphors: Webs, Rafts, Flotillas, Fabrics, Case Studies, Trajectory
74. Concern: Certainty (absolutism) as cancer of colonialism … Uncertainty (relativism) as chemotherapy Opportunistic infection of global nuclear theocapitalist militarism In search of a proper confidence …
77. Read the Bible … Narratively - Big picture, ongoing conversation Missionally - call of Abraham Literarily - genre, contexts Communally - past, present, marginalized Politically - God in human affairs Ethically - Interpretation as moral act Recursively - Each reading enriched by previous Expectantly/Humbly - to encounter the Living God
78. What brings our congregation together? “ Rightness” of our interpretation of Bible Personality of pastor Heritage, graveyard Relationships - including families Mission Denominational identity (including radio-orthodoxy) Practices, ways of relating Habit Financial commitments Worship/music style
79. The elephant in the room … Religious Broadcasting as the most powerful (stealth) denomination and seminary.
80. Turning 5: What kind of God? Omnipotent Omnipresent Omniscient Immutable Impassible
81. Turning 5: What kind of God? Omnipotent - and/or Vulnerable and Self-Giving Omniscient - and/or an open future? Immutable - and/or relational/dynamic? Impassible - and/or incarnated, compassionate, passionate?
82. Turning 5: What kind of God? The “New Trinitarianism” -and the new science, where ultimate reality is relationship. -and narrative theology, where God not only is alive, but has a life, a story. -and perichoresis, the eternal circle dance of God….
83. Turning 5: What kind of God? Practical implications: Does God inflict torture? Does God endorse genocide? Does God hate some people and love others? Who? Why? How does God act toward enemies? Does God care more about x than y?
84. Five Theological Turnings: What is theology? What is the gospel? What do we expect, and what is our duty in light of our expectation? How does Scripture serve the church and its mission? What is God like? (Jewish, or Greek?)
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of a violent collision of two distant galaxies which triggered massive amounts of star formations in a spectacular fireworks show. (Accessed on November 15, 2004 from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/stars_galaxies/sg_images/hubble_pic_browse.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/stars_galaxies/stargazing/stargazing_image.html&h=286&w=400&sz=13&tbnid=aS9vjMk1n4QJ:&tbnh=85&tbnw=118&start=4&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dplanetary%2Bcollision%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D) Let’s draw a parallel. When 2 worlds collide in space, it creates a galactic fireworks show. When 2 worldviews collide, the effects are similar in the social, cultural, and spiritual realms. On the lower left you see the leadership paradigm belonging to modernity. On the upper right you see the leadership paradigm belonging to postmodernity. Notice these are such distinct models that there is no overlap. Modernity was characterized by organizations that were centralized, hierarchical, vertical, mechanistic, executive-oriented, bureaucratic, rigid and transactional. Postmodern organizations are decentralized, flattened, horizontal, team-based, organic, fluid, flexible and transformational. The only connector is the fact that we are in transition from one to another. And it is this period of history, the transition, that we currently find ourselves in. And it’s bound to be a painful journey for leaders who care to make the trek. But as Ronald Heifitz of Howard University’s Leadership Education Project asserted, “There are lots of things in life that are worth the pain. Leadership is one of them.” That statement could never be more true than when applied to this most challenging period of worldview transition.
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of a violent collision of two distant galaxies which triggered massive amounts of star formations in a spectacular fireworks show. (Accessed on November 15, 2004 from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/stars_galaxies/sg_images/hubble_pic_browse.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/stars_galaxies/stargazing/stargazing_image.html&h=286&w=400&sz=13&tbnid=aS9vjMk1n4QJ:&tbnh=85&tbnw=118&start=4&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dplanetary%2Bcollision%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D) Let’s draw a parallel. When 2 worlds collide in space, it creates a galactic fireworks show. When 2 worldviews collide, the effects are similar in the social, cultural, and spiritual realms. On the lower left you see the leadership paradigm belonging to modernity. On the upper right you see the leadership paradigm belonging to postmodernity. Notice these are such distinct models that there is no overlap. Modernity was characterized by organizations that were centralized, hierarchical, vertical, mechanistic, executive-oriented, bureaucratic, rigid and transactional. Postmodern organizations are decentralized, flattened, horizontal, team-based, organic, fluid, flexible and transformational. The only connector is the fact that we are in transition from one to another. And it is this period of history, the transition, that we currently find ourselves in. And it’s bound to be a painful journey for leaders who care to make the trek. But as Ronald Heifitz of Howard University’s Leadership Education Project asserted, “There are lots of things in life that are worth the pain. Leadership is one of them.” That statement could never be more true than when applied to this most challenging period of worldview transition.
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of a violent collision of two distant galaxies which triggered massive amounts of star formations in a spectacular fireworks show. (Accessed on November 15, 2004 from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/stars_galaxies/sg_images/hubble_pic_browse.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/stars_galaxies/stargazing/stargazing_image.html&h=286&w=400&sz=13&tbnid=aS9vjMk1n4QJ:&tbnh=85&tbnw=118&start=4&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dplanetary%2Bcollision%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D) Let’s draw a parallel. When 2 worlds collide in space, it creates a galactic fireworks show. When 2 worldviews collide, the effects are similar in the social, cultural, and spiritual realms. On the lower left you see the leadership paradigm belonging to modernity. On the upper right you see the leadership paradigm belonging to postmodernity. Notice these are such distinct models that there is no overlap. Modernity was characterized by organizations that were centralized, hierarchical, vertical, mechanistic, executive-oriented, bureaucratic, rigid and transactional. Postmodern organizations are decentralized, flattened, horizontal, team-based, organic, fluid, flexible and transformational. The only connector is the fact that we are in transition from one to another. And it is this period of history, the transition, that we currently find ourselves in. And it’s bound to be a painful journey for leaders who care to make the trek. But as Ronald Heifitz of Howard University’s Leadership Education Project asserted, “There are lots of things in life that are worth the pain. Leadership is one of them.” That statement could never be more true than when applied to this most challenging period of worldview transition.