Writing Assignment 1

6. Many drug safety research studies are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies that would financially benefit if the results of the study are favorable. Is this an example of a potential confounding factor?

But for another example a pizza shop in competition wit a fried chicken shop would be indirect because the products are not the same but they are still competing for sales.

Question #1 is worth 5 points – all others are worth 1 point each. Either type your answers directly onto THIS sheet OR create a new file and number your answers 1, 2, 3, etc.

My model for spiritual formation in the local church would include spiritual, relational, and missional aspects such as personal devotions, spiritual friendships, participating in corporate worship, and serving God’s Kingdom.

As I sit and ponder what the cost is to follow Jesus, I know that while every disciple is a believer, not every believer is a disciple. I believe many people think the term disciple refers only to the early followers of Jesus Christ. I know they were loving, praying, worshipping, giving, and evangelizing group of people who refused to keep the truth of the gospel to themselves. Yet, God still desires disciples today – ordinary people like me whom God can use to do extraordinary things. The first century church may seem radical to many in the church today, but to those early church believers, it was normal Christianity. These early church men and women, empowered by the Holy Ghost, turned their world upside-down for the sake of Christ.

Over the years, many models have been developed and implemented to endeavor to make disciples. Some of the models have been effective and others have not. Among some of the most biblical and efficient models are the ones that involve small groups. Within the small groups models, they can be broken down into further detail, such as pastoral involvement, the church’s goal, missions mindedness, etc. In this paper, I will explain my philosophy of small groups in a church and the importance of the relational group in authentic disciple making. I will also explain how missional groups can help the body of Christ move out into the community. Finally, I will summarize my status in regards to living in community with other believers and being missional with that community.

Just what is theology? This question can have a wide variety of answers, from irrelevant facts about God thought up by men centuries ago, to complicated theories discussed by scholars. Typically, the average 21st century man does not consider theology as relevant. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Theology by definition has the characteristics of both expounding the truth, and impacting the believer with that truth (Himes, 2011). Therefore, theology and the church are intricately combined, in that the church embodies the revelation of God, and is reality, not theory (Himes, 2011). A personal practical theology must begin with revelation, not the individual (Himes, 2011), and proclaim

“A maturing believer taking an immature believer and walking along in maturity together. Once the immature believer has reached a certain point of maturity, they will take on an immature believer and disciple them.”

It was not until Saddleback Church, Pastor Rick Warren, published “The Purpose Driven Life”, that the idea of discipleship reached every member of a congregation. No longer was disciple-making limited to the leadership of the church. My church participated in the Purpose Driven Life 40-Day Campaign and had 35 cell groups in the surrounding neighborhood.

The church is in need of major renovation when it comes to making disciples. The concept of making disciples to follow the Lord Jesus Christ seems completely foreign to the church today. In order to achieve the desired goal of making disciples for Christ, training others to go out and proclaim gospel, and helping others to train people to disciple one another, one needs to go back to foundation of the Word of God. It is in God’s Word where multiple examples are found of how to make disciples to follow Jesus Christ. It is my desire to see more people in the church have a passion for discipleship. Therefore, this paper will examine in detail how to make disciples in a ministry context. This will be accomplished by examining the 5 V’s of discipleship—vision, values, views, vehicles, and verifiers. It is my purpose to examine each area in order to have a detailed plan of discipleship that will be used in my own ministry context to make disciples for Christ. I hope that this plan can and will be used to train others in the church to make disciples, and disciple one another, for the glory of God.

The Invitation and Challenge Matrix introduced me to the challenges that churches and Christians have when it comes to making disciples. A study was conducted to determine what were the most concerning issues for Christian leaders. Interestingly enough, the study found that one of the concerns that no one wanted to talk about was how to make disciples. In pondering this questions, the author shares from years of experience, one of the ways he and others have made disciples over twenty plus years.

Discipleship is one of the highest aspirations of many of the different followers and sections of Christianity, but as Luke 14:25-35 shows, it is not something that is handed to each and every follower as it must be earned and truly worked towards in order to be allowed to experience the full effect and ownership of being a disciple. The idea of discipleship is something that is not necessarily tangible as is more of a state of belief rather than something that you can go and take or purchase. Discipleship is found best described as, “a ‘follower’, ‘adherent’ or ‘student’ of a great master, religious leader or teacher.” This definition shows the basic nature of a disciple during the time that Jesus walked the earth, yet this barely scratches the surface of the true requirements needed to be a true follower of Christ and not a person that simply follows because they are being led to do so. This section of verses found in chapter 14 of Luke show that there are stringent requirements needed to be a true disciple of Christ and as he demonstrates in the text through example and shortened parables, there is no way to become a true follower if it is being done halfheartedly and with a lax nature.

Discipleship is more than leading someone from unbelief to belief, then from new believer to disciple maker. It requires leaders or “parents” to become fully involved in the discipleship process. Many leaders are too ill-equipped or are limited in their ability to disciple others. Putman shares “Since they have never been disciplined themselves, these leaders find that they have a limited grasp on how to make disciples.” To be effective in discipleship leaders must produce a structure that incorporates relationship.

Discipleship: The belief that all have sinned and fall short and everyone needs redemption from sin. Therefore the discipleship call to conversion is central as

John M. Bracke and Karen B. Tye in Teaching the Bible in the Church provides insight about, “How do we teach the Bible in ways that form and transform persons and the Church?” Authors, assert there is an increasing number of people that are Bible illiterate. They state many Seminary students have diminutive familiarity of biblical stories of the text. The authors contend that the purpose of the church and the core of Christian Discipleship is based upon scripture. The authors allude to the notion that in order to fulfill the great commission as well as raise up future generations to be more Bible literate as well as ethically sound, the Bible must be taught in the Church. Bracke and Tye reminds and cautions readers that many assumptions are made when teaching the Bible. After gaining facts in scripture, teachers must delve further, so students are transformed. Authors argue that it is not sufficient in just providing information, but that an “encounter with God” should be experienced. Writers caution teachers to not assume when Scripture is taught, something new is to be uncovered. Bracke and Tye correspondingly introduce the notion of culture and the affect it has on learners in the matter in which they receive and process information. Authors encourage teachers of the Bible to utilize Biblical Scholarship when teaching. They argue that teachers have a responsibility when making sense of text and when used appropriately, scholarship is a great