...Indian. In 1922 he graduated from Calvin College, in 1925 he graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary with a ThM, and in 1927 he received his PhD from Princeton University. He later taught at Westminster Theological Seminary for forty-three years and became a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church from the 1930s to his death in 1987. Van Til was instrumental in showing the Christian how not to give up ground to the unbeliever in apologetics....
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...leadership Textbook Summary (Verbatim/Seminar Summary/Textbook Summary/Ministry Project/Dissertation) Course Title: The Kingdom Focused Church Course Number: MEC570 Date Submitted: 04/1/13 The kingdom of God is the reign of God in today’s world. This is the truth that Jesus Christ rules over all things and the evidence by God’s super-natural work in the believer and through believers in local churches. When churches focus on the kingdom of God they will and can flourish. Chapter 1: In search of the perfect church. Many may have a vision of the perfect church, but the perfect churches share a number of characteristics. Some are filled with people on fire for Christ who put selfishness, politics, and personal agendas aside for the glory of God and His purpose. They treat their pastors with respect and pay them fairly. They give generously, evangelize tirelessly, and teach truthfully. They are a joy and blessing to every member and visitor, and they serve the communities faithfully. One more thing the perfect churches have in common they do not exist. Every church is imperfect because it is made up of imperfect people, and they will produce imperfect result. Paul reminded the Ephesians that the church was the bride of Christ, and they needed to watch their thinking. They had people in the church that would not lift a finger in the services; if you look at the churches today you can find the same problem occurring. ...
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...Christian School ______________________________ In Partial Fulfillment for the Course Systematic Theology Junior Bible ______________________________ By Courtney Padgett Spring 2012 According to the Webster’s Dictionary, elect means “to select; to determine on a course of action; chosen; selected from a number” (Webster 122). The doctrine of election directly concerns salvation. Although many Christians many immediately associate the term “election” with the teachings of John Calvin, this doctrine began long before Calvin crafted Institutes of the Christian Religion. The topic of election is in Bible, and can be found in the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, the book of Deuteronomy explains how Israel’s personal relationship with God began. For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Deut. 7:6-8). This Hebrew word in verse six for chosen, bachar, means “to choose, elect” or “decide for” (Strong’s 323). Paul explicitly speaks of God electing...
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...Conjugal versus Revisionist Marriage: The ongoing debate in the U.S. over what constitutes marriage. What is Marriage? Are there qualifiers for what relationships can be classified as marriages? This paper will examine the arguments for defining marriage through the lens of Western Moral Tradition. According to the U.S. Government marriage is define as, §7. Definition of “marriage” and “spouse” In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word “marriage” means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word “spouse” refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife. (Added Pub. L. 104–199, §3(a), Sept. 21, 1996, 110 Stat. 2419.) Where does the official United States Federal definition stem from? The answer to that question is not a single source but a series of teachings handed down from Western society stemming, arguably going back to ancient Greece and ancient Jerusalem. The legal use of marriage is not just for religious purposes but also for tax, property rights, and child rearing. Recently, a cultural divide has invigorated a debate on redefining marriage to include same sex or non-traditional unions as marriages. The debate is largely two sides each defining the specifics of what marriage entails. The first is referred to as conjugal view and the latter is revisionist view. Conjugal...
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...John 14:25-26 "These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Today we are going to start our study of what people often call spiritual gifts, what they are, why we have them, how to use them. People get so excited about spiritual gifts. You get these churches that can’t get enough of them and are Paul says that right now they are ignorant concerning (spirit things) pneumatikwn: a lot of ignorant teaching about spiritual gifts. Paul says be careful. He says, in verse 1, ”Now concerning these types of spiritual things, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed, or ignorant.” 1) Not All That Glitters is Gold: Not every thing that looks “spiritual” is in actuality from the Holy Spirit. We’re going to look at three important words today that I think are very misunderstood. The important word here is “Pneumatikon.” Spiritual things. This is was not Paul’s favorite word to talk about God’s giftings, but he uses it here because it was a favorite word of the Corinthian church. Paul uses the word more in his letter to the Corinthians than in the rest of the New Testament combined. The Corinthians liked to call themselves spiritual and they gloried in dramatic expressions of spiritually. But remember, there so-called spirituality was a self-deception. The picture here is Pyryte: fools Gold. Don’t...
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...and 15 state that spiritual gifts were given “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect [complete, mature] man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . speaking the truth in love, [that we] may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” After breaking down the meaning of spiritual gifts, my friend further asked, “Aren’t spiritual gifts the same as the Fruit of the Spirit?” I proceeded to explain that with 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 as a base, each service has a different gift all for the common good. The most significant difference between the two is that spiritual gifts were merely GIFTS that God gave to us so He can work through us. We did not earn them. Fruits of the spirit are what we earn from God by abiding in His word and obeying His every command. To better understand, one uses his or her gift to receive the fruits of the spirit. Another difference is that there are laws to spiritual gifts given by Paul in many verses such as Romans...
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...gospel that saves not baptism (CP Ro 1:16; 10:17; 1Cor 1:21; 4:15; 15:1-2; Jas 1:18, 21; 1Pe 1:23-25). Baptism signifies that one is saved (CP 1Pe 3:18-21). Paul merely said what he did about baptism because the Corinthian church was being split by factions arguing over their preference of spiritual leaders, and Paul did not intend to baptise a faction around himself (CP 1Cor 1:10-17). This is also a lesson for the contemporary church: Christians must always centre their loyalty, love and devotion upon God and His word, not on individual leaders. No individual leader is to be the focus of Christian fellowship, otherwise the cross of Christ is made void – it cannot accomplish its purpose. (See also comments on 1Cor 3:8-11, 3:16-17 (A), 3:16-17 (B), 3:18-20). 1:18 Are we already saved as the KJV implies here, or are we being saved, as other versions teach? The church at Corinth was founded by Paul during his second Apostolic mission journey recorded in Ac 15:40 – 18:22 (CP Ac 18:1-21). See also comments on Ac 18:22. (B) Where was Paul when he wrote this Epistle? Paul was in Ephesus. He wrote this Epistle at the close of his three years stay in Ephesus during his third Apostolic mission journey recorded in Acts 18:23 – 21:17 (CP Ac 20:31-38 with 1Cor 16:8-9, 19) See also comments on Ac 18:23. 1:8 What does the phrase “In the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” refer to here? (CP also V7; 5:5; 15:20-23; 2Cor 1:14; Php 1:6,10; 2:16; 1Th 2:19; 3:13; 5:23; 2Th 2:1; 2Ti 1:12; Jas 5:7;...
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...Dialogue between Faith and science assignment: What is the kind of relation between faith, and reason or science ? General: The discoveries we make through science make the people think and ask questions about his identity, sometimes they even change ones ideas about himself. We see for example that by Copernicus revolution about astronomy the people got to know that they are not living in a world that is not found at the centre of the universe, to the contrary to what was thought before but we live in a planet amongst many others. The theory of revolution of Charles Darwin taught people that we are a member of many different species of animals. These discoveries challenge us to think about the world in general, life and humans in a different way. Nowadays faith cannot forget reason and psychology has to be taken with the importance it needs. During this assignment as indicated by the title we are going to see the relationship between faith and psychology (reason). First we start by showing the type of relationship that can take place between them then we explain how and why they go hand in hand with religion. In the second chapter we see how reason challenges our faith, then conclude by giving some suggestions how reason can contribute with faith. The relation between faith and reason: You cannot actually talk about the relation between faith and reason because there are many psychological reasons like there are religions. Faith cannot be separated from the...
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...To reduce worship to singing is to dilute the biblical concept of worship in a way that is grossly irresponsible. It reduces the richness of biblical worship to one of its components. Yet when many Christians today commonly speak about worship, they mean nothing more than ‘singing’. |When you think or speak of worship, do you automatically associate it with ‘singing worship songs’? Is this the common usage| |in your church? If so, how do you think this fault crept into your vocabulary? | | | There are probably many ways this misconception has crept into our language and our thought. One key factor is that we have tended to label Christian music as ‘worship’, and we often call the person who leads the singing in our churches ‘the worship leader’. Unfortunately, this has caused us to equate worship with singing. A second misconception is that ‘worship is something we do on special occasions’. Worship is what we do when we gather with God’s people. The activities that make up our Sunday services, such as the preaching, singing, offering, and communion are worship. This too is a serious misconception. Although it adds a few extra activities to singing, it is an inadequate understanding of worship. The biblical view of worship cannot be reduced to a set of activities we do at certain times and places. ...
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...Making and the Will of God is a BIG book. Nevertheless, in the twenty-five years since it was released by Multnomah Press, over 250,000 copies have been purchased. Reader response has been enthusiastic, and many have taken pains to express their appreciation. But when your own mother tells you that the book you wrote is too long, it's probably time for a shorter version. We admit that Decision Making and the Will of God cannot be read in an evening. So we have put together this shorter version that can. As painful as it is, we have had to leave some things out. Like three parts of the four-part book. So, you will read nothing of "The Traditional View of Guidance" (Part 1) nor our critique of it (Part 2)--alas. We also had to omit the final section (Part 4) which applies biblical principles of decision making to major decisions such as: marriage, ministry, missions, vocation, giving, and issues where Christians differ. What is left? The heart of the book-a biblical approach to understanding the will of God as it pertains to decision-making. This version is a condensation of those chapters (Part 3) which set forth "The Way of Wisdom." It is a "no frills" presentation of four principles which apply to all of life's choices, whether great or small. It contains the reply we give when we have thirty minutes to answer the question: "What does your book say, anyway?" Actually, we've given quite a few of those half- hour introductions. So we know from experience that a summary presentation...
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...laws that govern our spiritual relationship with the one true God. Therefore we must know them and His word to be a faithful witness to the world in our lives. Summary I myself always seem to insert somewhere at the start in evangelizing, the Lord loves you very much and has a wonderful plan for your life, which also is the opening and Law one to this method and maybe why I like it so well. Law one is God’s love and plan. God’s love; “for God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son that who so ever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (KJV John 3:16). Gods plan; “I am come that they might have life, and that they have it more abundantly” (KJV John 10:10). Law two of this method explains why most people are not experiencing an abundant life. It shows how their sin, which is basically a self-centered life, has separated them from God and what the scripture says about this. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23 KJV). "The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Law three is how God says in His Word, the Holy Bible, that Jesus Christ-Yeshua Messiah is the only way...
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...scheme of things. We have birth relationships - father, mother, sisters, brothers. But in the course of maturing, we generally desire the companionship of additional people. We develop casual relationships through contacts we have in the various segments of society - our neighborhood, our school, our workplace, our church - to name a few. We often carry our casual relationships further as we experience positive and desirable interactions with others. Acquaintances become friendships. We endear ourselves to others with whom we find meaningful compatibilities. "Qualifying" Friendships Every person faces a vastly different challenge when it comes to forming meaningful relationships with others. Some people are extroverted, which means they are socially interactive. They are able to express themselves to others, or make conversation easily, which, over a period of time, creates a large pool of acquaintances from which friendships can be formed. As a rule, an extrovert is likely to have a larger number of prospects from which to choose a friend. On the other hand, an introvert generally lives a more isolated lifestyle, communicating with fewer people. It would stand to reason that the introvert might have fewer choices when it comes to selecting a friend. These personality differences do not necessarily indicate that the introvert is less interested in having friends, but only that friendships are not as easily cultivated. Many people do not have a thorough "Screening...
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...AUDIT 3 SERVANT LEADER AUDIT 4 CREDIBILITY AUDIT 5 SPIRITUAL GIFTS AUDIT 6 NATURAL GIFTS AUDIT 7 PASSION AUDIT 8 CHARACTER AUDIT 9 CONCLUSION 10 BIBLIOGRAPHY 11 INTRODUCTION When Jesus was on earth, He established by His own example that one of the characteristic that should be present in a good leader was this man or woman was a servant. As a servant, the leader is called to have a teachable spirit in order to become a good representative of his/her Master. In the case of Jesus, He is perfect. He didn’t have to improve any area of His life, but although He was perfect, chose to walk and live as a servant to set the parameters that anyone who holds a leadership position should look at. We, as Christian leaders, must improve different areas in our lives in order to become what God has called us to do in His work. A Christian leader also has a duty. “Christian leaders are servants with the credibility and capabilities to influence people in a particular context to pursue their God-given direction.” Credibility and capabilities do not grow on trees or can be purchased at the supermarket. They have to be developed. If we really want to influence others, and specifically lead people to do God’s will, we ought to purposely and diligently allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and mold it. One of the ways to accomplish this task is to be evaluated. The following assignment presents seven leadership audits (Christian leader, servant leader, credibility, spiritual gifts, natural...
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...Liberty University Hell Debate: The Classical view and The Annihilationist view of Hell RLGN 335 B08 Professor: Wesley Handy By Tami L Moore October 16, 2015 Jesus, suggest that hell is “outer darkness “beyond heaven because heaven is light “where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” He teaches that many will seek to enter heaven but be shut out (Luke 13:22-30), suggesting that there is no way to escape from hell once there. Throughout life, we have heard plenty of talk about Heaven and Hell. Heaven was for the people that believe in doing well unto God as Christian and lived their lives accordingly to God's Commandments. . And Hell was always known as the place where the devil reside and the place that sinners and evil people that resisted God and refuse to accept God into their hearts and lived in sin, and last judgement is served. Heaven and Hell was spoken of in church, but most Pastor spoke on hell lesser than they did heaven. Sinclair Ferguson expresses how the doctrine of hell should influence one’s preaching. “He says preachers should stress God’s righteousness, the sinfulness of sin, and God’s justice in condemning sin. He adds that expositors should affirm that hell is real, that hell is vividly described in the New Testament, and that hell, though prepared for the devil and his angels, is shared by human beings” (Morgan and Peterson). Many Pastors thought it was easier to reach the people if they talk more on Heaven and...
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...God. Sin has very serious consequences when it comes to relationships between the sinner and God. Sin also has severe consequences that affect the individual sinner, causing the individual to have social implications. It is evident from both the Old Testament and the New Testament descriptions of sin, that sin is universal. Both testaments describe the extent and intensiveness of sin. Obtaining a contemporary view of the magnitude of sin incorporates a biblical perspective and the best elements of traditional view. Philosophical Foundation or Presupposition When studying the doctrine of sin, one should examine the material through a biblical view. If someone does not believe in the bible, explaining sin may sound like nonsense. Holding a certain philosophical viewpoint can cause tension when theologically analyzing in this area. Specifically, secular psychology clashes with the idea of sin. Psychology often teaches individuals to blame others for their failures in life. They teach that pressure from society, spouses, parents, and environments are the reason for life difficulties. Sure, other people can contribute to our errors and tempt us, or mistreat up, but they are not the cause of the issue itself. No matter how other people act, you can still do what is right and that is exactly what God wants you do to. Psychology often urges people to accept themselves as they are without changing their sinful conduct. Psychologist Carl Rogers describes encounter groups saying, “Each...
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