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"Most of us love technology. Social media keeps us connected. New apps and technological advancements provide more opportunities for personal and business use. But did you ever stop to think about how technology may be the modern-day equivalent of the Roman roads during the early church growth? In this timely and ministry-boosting book, international evangelist and speaker Sammy Tippit will inspire you to embrace technology as the crossroad of man's invention with God's intent. Much like the Roman roads served as a tool for commerce and information, Tippit shows believers and churches how today's technology can be a powerful ministry tool to advance the kingdom of God. Highlighting how our thought processes about technology may need to be challenged, Tippit inspires believers and ministry leaders to prayerfully consider how they can best use technology to teach the Bible to youth in Afghanistan, disciple a group in Kenya, or simply engage someone in your neighborhood"--

The story -- Everyone has a story: worldview and flourishing -- Poor stories: worldview and poverty -- The transforming story: the story that brings flourishing -- The king -- God is a person: the universe is relational -- God is rational: the universe is intelligible -- God is good: the universe is moral -- His kingdom -- Creation's open system: expanding the boundaries -- Creation's laws: following the instructions -- His stewards -- Rebel servants: the nature of people -- One yet many: the nature of community -- The task -- Stewardship: creating and managing bounty -- Lifework: reconnecting vocation to the transforming story -- History makers: obeying all he has commanded

Reminiscent of Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, Jennifer McBride's Radical Discipleship utilizes the liturgical seasons as a framework for engaging the social evils of mass incarceration, capital punishment, and homelessness, arguing that to be faithful to the gospel, Christians must become disciples of, not simply believers in, Jesus. The book arises out of McBride's extensive experience teaching theology in a women's prison while participating in a residential Christian activist and worshipping community. Arguing that disciples must take responsibility for the social evils that bar "beloved community," Martin Luther King's term for a just social order, the promised kingdom of God, McBride calls for a dual commitment to the works of mercy and the struggle for justice. This work seeks to form readers into an understanding of the social and political character of the good news proclaimed in the Gospels. Organically connecting liturgy with activism and theological reflection, McBride argues that discipleship requires that privileged Christians place their bodies in spaces of social struggle and distress to reduce the distance between themselves and those who suffer injustice, and stand in solidarity with those whom society deems guilty, despises, and rejects--which makes discipleship radical as Christians take seriously the Jesus of the Gospels

"Before white churches can pursue diversity, we must first address the faulty discipleship that has led to our segregation in the first place. Pastor David Swanson proposes that we rethink our churches' habits, or liturgies, and imagine together holistic, communal discipleship practices that can reform us as members of Christ's diverse body"--

This ministry project aims to counter the masculine-related cultural dynamics that lead to human trafficking into the sex industry in Madrid, by developing a discipleship program that helps men to understand biblical masculine identity and their role in the Missio Dei, reducing demand through their approach to cultural and socio-economic structures. Although Madrid is a main center for sex trafficking, the evangelical churches often lack the ability to respond effectively. Government efforts to combat trafficking largely focus on prosecution and protection. Meanwhile, the issue of prevention and the development of a positive role for men have received less attention. However, efforts to reduce the demand globally address masculine sexual identity and behavior. The paper contains three parts. Part One examines the cultural and socio-economic environment proliferating sex trafficking. Specific attention is given to masculine culture and how this manifests in various social settings. It also raises some cultural and theological issues that limit local evangelical church engagement. Part Two establishes the theological foundations of this project. It begins with a review of five books, and leads to a reflection on the relationship between masculine identity, the dynamic of spiritual powers, and the role of men in the outworking of the Missio Dei. These theological tenets then inform discussions on the role of men in influencing the power dynamics implicit in the cultural and socio-economic structures of Madrid. Part Three provides a practical strategy for helping evangelical men develop the awareness and skills to participate in the prevention of sex trafficking through an understanding of biblical masculinity. The strategy focuses on the creation of a pilot project for future implementation in local churches, in the form of weekly teaching sessions, trust circle, prayer retreat, and the creation of ongoing project support groups. A plan for evaluation and implementation is also offered. Content Reader: Christa Foster Crawford, J.D.

The purpose of this project is to develop a strategy to assist the establishment of a new church that will share responsibility with Haidian Church of meeting the ever-increasing need of spiritual care in general, and of discipleship in particular. To achieve this purpose, a church-planting pilot project will be developed. A leadership-training program will follow. The first part provides an overview of Haidian District. Particular attention is given to the unique nature of the district, from its demographics and cultural stereotypes that permeate every aspect of life, including political and social turmoil that impact faith communities. This paper then explores the need for planting a new church in the Haidian District, and the obstacles and opportunities associated with new church ministry. Part Two engages critical theological and biblical literature for the foundation of planting a new church in Haidian District. While focusing on exploring the theological themes from which the church plant can gain momentum to start and develop a theology for enabling the formation of a missional church, this chapter seeks to demonstrate Paul's ultimate purpose for church planting and his way of actively planting new churches by presenting a case study. Part Three seeks to conclude the theological implications for planting a new church in Haidian District based on the theological probing of Chapter 3. While articulating a six-step, church-planting strategy and a six-step training for leadership development in their thoroughness, this section also seeks to present a process of implementing and assessing planting a new church in Haidian District. While stipulating a timeline for planting the new church and identifying a potential leader and supporting groups, a certain criteria and special training program are also discussed. Finally, this section provides a plan to apply tools of evaluation to assess the pilot project to refine it. Content Reader: Paul Pierson, PhD

This project cultivates an outward-focused ministry and culture that intends to help young adult believers revive the joy and passion of being Christ's followers. Jesus commands his followers to love God with all their hearts as well as to go out and be his witnesses. But the complex yet stressful economic and political circumstances of Hong Kong have had a negative impact on its residents, young people in particular, which has diminished their passion for reaching out. This project investigates the context and challenges faced by the young adult Christians at Kowloon Ling Liang Church in Hong Kong. Through interviews and personal dialogue, project leaders uncovered obstacles that hinder their missional engagement and spiritual growth. Then, through the steps of communication, interpretation, invitation, and implementation, the mission of God, the needs of the world, and the preferred future of the church were repeatedly presented. People were invited to dialogue and to creatively come up with their own missional experiments. Through vision casting, preaching and teaching, spiritual exercises, and retreat camps, some of the young people started to rediscover their passion for God and for serving others. They identified needs in the community and in their relationship network, and created a few outreach ventures, three of which are included in this project: a summer tutoring program for under-privileged children; a missional worship service for those who work in the retail sector and are unavailable for church services on Sundays; and an intensive discipleship group fostering character development. It was an encouraging start for this project, or more precisely, a cultural renewal. Building a holistic discipleship training system is also in order. However, young adults, and hopefully the whole church in the near future, will see that mission is no longer a ministry department, but the very being of the church itself. Theological Mentor: Kurt Fredrickson, PhD

This project will discuss ways to strengthen the Christian discipleship of Kachin youth. The Kachins became Christians through American missionaries during the British colonization of present-day Myanmar (Burma). Soon after independence, the Kachins were called the followers of a colonial religion and lost their opportunity for advancement in a mainly Buddhist country. In 1962, the Burmese version of a socialist government came to power and closed the country's door to the outside world. Conflict started due to unjust and unequal power sharing among ethnic people. When war began, the Kachins were still in the early stages of Christianity, modern education, and social development. After fifty years of suffering, Kachin youth and the future society of all Kachins are now threatened. There are three parts to this paper. To give a full picture of the current ministry context, the first part presents the historical, social, political, and religious background of Kachin society. The second part discusses a biblical and theological response to the current issues of Kachin youth and the role of the Kachin Baptist Convention in Kachin society. This part also examines how Kachin youth understand Christian spirituality and Christian discipleship in their struggle. Ultimately, it offers a practical contextual theology. Since 98 percent of Kachins are Christians, in order to build hope for the future of Kachin society it is important to strengthen the Christian discipleship of Kachin youth, so that they will be able to overcome current obstacles. For this reason, the third part offers practical youth ministry programs to transform and empower Kachin young people. To build hope, Kachin Baptist churches must start both a spiritual and social ministry to strengthen youth spiritually, educationally, and professionally for their stable and successful life in Christ. Content Reader: Chap Clark, PhD

The purpose of this project is to build resiliency—defined as the ability to hold a set of values and recover from challenges to that standard—in the Marines and Sailors of Second Battalion, Fifth Marines through a formation-based ethical training. A lived ethic produces resiliency in a way that theoretical ethics cannot. To support a practiced standard of ethics, a training that teaches the members of the unit how to interpret the messages they are hearing from the culture, to understand their value as honorable warriors, and to seek moral decision making for their own lives is presented. The instrumentality of this training is a series of presentations wherein cultural texts are used to explore the elements of personal ethical formation. The pilot project for the six-session exploration of ethics took place throughout the work-up and deployment in support of the Thirty-First Marine Expeditionary Unit. Marines and Sailors attended this training focusing on five practices that facilitate an ethical standard becoming a matter of habitual character. These habits create greater ethical consistency in actions. In turn, this consistency builds resiliency. An initial and post assessment are provided to gauge participants' engagement of these elements of personal transformation. This project concludes that those Marines and Sailors who attended the training increased their ability to interpret cultural messages, to evaluate their personal ethical standards, and to recognize the value of the transformational practices in shaping ethical responses to life stressors. However, further research is needed to validate these findings. The ministry initiative can be modified in the future, while still retaining the foundational theology and practice, in order to establish best possible practices. Content Reader: Alan Baker, DMin

Problem The Seventh-day Adventist Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research (ASTR) data in December 2019 showed that among the 1.4 billion population in the Mainland China, there were 467,516 Adventist members, and the population per Adventist member ratio was about 3,000:1. Furthermore, there are about 50 million Chinese people living overseas. As a result, there is a great need to efficiently and effectively spread the Gospel to nearly 1.45 billion Chinese people around the world. In July 2020, the online Chinese discipleship network, ACN, was established to create a global Chinese discipleship network by connecting and utilizing Spirit-filled human resources, and providing discipleship programs to Chinese-speaking people throughout the world. The ACN needs to build a core team through an online discipleship program that transcends the geographical, political, and the pandemic boundaries. Method A six-week small group discipleship program was designed and conducted via Zoom video conference from February to March 2021, and the aim was to build a core team for the ACN. Among 12 enrolled members, nine members completed all the sessions. For evaluation, they were given a 4-point Likert scale questionnaire during the first and the last sessions. In addition, each participant was interviewed with the same set of questions. The data were evaluated to determine if the core team had matured to the point where it was growing by discipling other Chinese speakers or serving the ACN. Results Nine core team members of the ACN were trained for small group discipleship activities. Through their relational Bible studies, prayers, and spiritual fellowship in a small group setting via Zoom video conference, they received a sense of divine calling and came to abide in Christ (abide in the Holy Spirit, abide in God's Word, and abide through prayer). The most significant change after the six-week discipleship training was the members actively participating in and leading the ACN small group activities alternatively each week. ...

Introduction : political theology in the spirit of populism : methods and metaphors / Ulrich Schmiedel -- Anger : a secularized theological concept / Vincent Lloyd -- "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you" : populism, political theology, and the culturally repugnant other / Thomas Lynch -- The politics of belonging in the nation state : reclaiming Christianity from populism / Mariëtta van der Tol -- America transcendent / Elizabeth Shakman Hurd -- Sacred scripts of populism : scripture-practices in the European far right / Hannah Strømmen -- Hermeneutics, politics, and liberalism in Islamic modernity : beyond populism / Fatima Tofighi -- "If I forget thee, o Jerusalem" : Zionism and the politics of collective memory / Brian Klugvi Contents -- Populism, Christianity, and the role of the theologian / Mattias Martinson -- From incarnation to identity : the theological background of national-populist politics in the western Balkans / Zoran Grozdanov -- Querying populism by queering Chantal Mouffe : understanding hetero-patriarchal populism / Ludger Viefhues-Bailey -- The persistence of white Christian patriarchy in a time of right-wing populism / Esther McIntosh -- The God of the Brexiteers / Lukas Meyer -- Discipling populism : a theopolitical alternative to denial or demonizing / Doug Gay -- A political theology of 'the people' : enlisting classical concepts for contemporary critique / Jonathan Chaplin -- Can Jewish ethics speak to sovereignty? / Julie E. Cooper -- Confessing Christ in 'Christian Europe' : the death of the church as a theological response to populism / Joseph Sverker -- The other in the ecclesial self : the church and the populist challenge / Sturla J. Stålsett -- The orthodox 'unorthodox' : from populism to pluralism / Ryszard Bobrowicz and Johanna Gustafsson Lundberg -- Conclusion : an invitation to comparative political theology / Joshua Ralston.