I dedicate this dissertation to the saints at Providence Baptist Church in Hayes, Virginia, who have allowed me the privilege of serving them for the past four years and have. To my father, Julian McMillan, who was a model of constant faithfulness in pastoral ministry, repeatedly confirmed my own priestly vocation and first introduced me to its importance. To my daughter, Carissa, who never complained about my computer time and was more merciful than I deserved.
To all my classmates in the Biblical Spirituality program who made class time interesting and who encouraged me outside of class in ways big and small. This project is the culmination of a lifetime of service in the trenches of the local church. Not only have my skills as a writer and researcher grown, but my own spiritual formation has been deeply influenced by the countless books I have read, lectures I have recorded, and conversations with classmates and professors.
I am extremely grateful to the faculty and staff of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, whose academic excellence, theological integrity, and genuine concern for their students not only equipped me for greater future fruitfulness in ministry, but also provided me with an unparalleled educational experience. Harrod, whose lecture on Christian classics inspired me to pursue a biblical spirituality program, and whose tireless patience and guidance throughout the writing process made me a better writer and researcher.
INTRODUCTION
In the case of the latter, only the pure could offer a gift on the altar. Hope is stated in the context of the coming glory that will be revealed at the eschaton. Consequently, the restoration of divine fellowship is the ground for great joy in the life of the believer.
In the wake of the Reformation, Anabaptists felt that reforming the church was not enough. Evangelicals can testify to the importance of prayer, however, its absence in the life of the church is evident. Richard Lovelace lists a number of dangers that threaten prayer in the life of the church.
Participants learned the definition of justification and the fundamental role this doctrine played in the history of the church. The theme for this week was the centrality of prayer in the individual and corporate life of the. 13 This summary of the gospel (God, man, Christ, response) is adapted from Greg Gilbert, What is the Gospel.
The theme of this week was the meaning of community in the life of the believer.
Discipleship Practices and Dispositions Assessment
Additionally, it is holistic in nature, addressing both the doctrinal (belief) and practical (behavior) elements of discipleship. Core Christian doctrines such as union with Christ, justification, sanctification, the role of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life, and authority in spiritual conflict are highlighted along with their attendant outcomes, which include an orientation toward mission, dependent prayer, fellowship, and theological integration. The goals of this project were developed in conjunction with its purpose and proved effective in implementing a discipleship strategy for Providence Baptist Church in Hayes, Virginia.
The project had three goals: (1) to assess current discipleship practices and dispositions among members in the PBC, (2) to develop a ten-week curriculum that would introduce members to elementary and middle school. However, due to various errors including missing or invalid numbers of personal identification and non-members completing the survey, twenty-five completed surveys were collected, which met the set goal for the number of participants. First, while respondents indicated a high value of Scripture, they did not meaningfully engage with Scripture on a regular basis.1 Furthermore, the survey found that.
While respondents valued Scripture highly, they generally did not memorize Scripture or have a systematic curriculum. This points to the need to find ways to help participants engage with the Bible in a meaningful way. It seems then that more practical instruction is required instead of theological instruction in Scripture.
Additionally, the lack of scriptural engagement may suggest that the lack of anxiety or concern experienced during the pandemic is the result of political rather than spiritual forces. This is particularly significant as much time and effort has been spent at PBC over the past year on preaching and teaching about the centrality of the local church in God's mission to the world, and the value of community among believers.
Curriculum Development
Modification of Discipleship Practices and Dispositions
To ensure the reliability of statistical data results, several methods were used. Each of the primary and secondary elements of spiritual renewal not only found its origin in Scripture, but they were the dominant themes of Scripture. The curriculum content, even down to the weekly action steps, was designed to motivate participants to meaningfully engage with the Bible.
Participants were also provided with numerous valuable resources such as books, articles and websites aimed at improving their understanding of the curriculum. The flexible nature of the curriculum, along with its rooting in Scripture, has the potential to sustain discipleship even in the face of leadership. While there were plenty of strengths to the project, there were also a number of weaknesses that detracted from the overall potential of the project.
The complications resulting from the conditions associated with the pandemic had a detrimental effect on certain aspects of the implementation of the project. Another weakness of the project was, interestingly enough, one of its greatest strengths, in that it was delivered in multiple formats. A third weakness of the project was that the forty-five minute sessions did not provide sufficient time to cover the curriculum content each week.
In addition, much time was spent in the second session on the doctrine of union with Christ, as many of the participants were ignorant of this critical topic. A contributing factor to this particular weakness of the project is undoubtedly my own tendency to focus too much time and attention on peripheral issues. But out of the twenty-five participants, only five were involved in any kind of management.
One of the challenges of being forced to roll out the discipleship campaign online was that such a platform does not allow certain emphases. A final weakness of the project was the failure of the instructor himself to consistently apply many of the principles taught in the curriculum. Nevertheless, my own failures, while I certainly felt hypocritical at certain points while teaching the curriculum, were no hindrance to the work of grace in the lives of the participants or mine.
Would Do Differently
Demographics
Discipleship Practices
Discipleship Dispositions
The meaning of the believer's union with Christ can be seen in that a form of "in" or "with". Refers to the cutting away of the sinful nature.8 The means of pruning is the word of God (v. 3). You may want to remember a key verse that describes a particular aspect of the Spirit's work.
79Bruce Riley Ashford, "The Gospel and Culture," in Theology and Practice of Mission: God, the Church, and the Nations, ed. Write a short biography of your personal story in the larger narrative of the Christian worldview.
