|
to our web journal for serious
Christians who want
more—particularly,
qualitative depth and relational
significance of faith.
God has been revealed ultimately in
the incarnation of the Son with nothing less & no substitutes
than the whole of God. This
involves the gospel that,
unfortunately, often does not have
the qualitative depth and relational
significance for those who claim and
proclaim this good news. The more
we understand the who, what and how
of God's action composing the gospel
to make known the whole and holy
(uncommon) God for
relationship together, the deeper our
relational response can be to
involve ourselves with this God. Only on
this relational basis, and not
merely by doctrine, can we truly know
the triune God and live together
as the experiential reality of the
Trinity's family. For this relational process
to be of functional significance, it
must be without reduction—that
is, nothing less and no substitutes
of our whole person,
just as the whole of God
relationally responded to us
vulnerably in Jesus
Christ.
As defined in our statement of
purpose above, this journal is
established to get to the heart
of our whole person, to develop intimacy in our relationships
(first with God, then with others)
and to practice church as the
family of God among ourselves
and in the world. Discipleship, when
not reduced, brings all of these
together in the primacy of
relationship distinguishing God's whole.
This involvement necessitates
fully understanding what it means to
be true followers of Jesus Christ,
that is, specifically in the relational
context and process of the
relational progression in which
Jesus constitutes his
followers. Therefore,
distinguishing the
qualitative depth of our
person(s), in our relationships
and as his church are core
issues that will be addressed
ongoingly in this journal. And
whether you have a modernist mindset
and worldview or tend toward postmodernism, you will
be stirred by change as well as
challenged to change—namely, redemptive change in
which old matters need to be let go
and allowed to die before the new of
Christ can be raised up to
experience. Those of you who
seriously want more in your
relationship with Jesus and seek him
particularly for the experiential
elements of your faith and for
deeper relational significance in
your journey with the Trinity, both
individually and corporately, will
benefit from study in this
journal. Additionally, those seeking
further and deeper understanding of
how our faith needs to function in
the world will be challenged, if not
confronted, by the overlapping
studies available to engage not only
as an individual but together as the
body of Christ, that is, not simply
the church but the whole-ly
God's new creation
family.
Yet, keep clearly in mind:
To be
merely
informed about God
is the referential study of Scripture and
theology,
to
know, truly know, God in
the innermost
is
the vulnerable work of intimate
relationship --
just as Jesus clearly defined
for his followers (Jn 14:9,
cf. Jer 9:24).
Too much Christian practice has been
reduced to substitutes for the
vulnerable incarnation of Jesus
(especially between the manger and
the cross), or to settling for less
than God's intimate presence.
Whether intentional to minimalize
the intrusion of God's relational
involvement or unknowingly due to
our shaping of relationship
together, qualitative depth and
relational significance are lacking.
Under
these conditions Christian identity
becomes ambiguous or shallow, both
among ourselves and in the world. If
we are to get beyond "simulations"
in our relationship with God and
beneath "virtual realities" in our
practice to the root realities of
our faith, we have to engage God
directly in the vulnerable
self-revelation "in the face of
Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6) while
reading his
Word in order for face-to-face
connection. The following interrelated and
overlapping studies are provided to
help us more clearly perceive the
face of Jesus to be able to be
relationally involved with him
directly (without substitutes and
simulations) in order to truly know
him and to experience God's deepest
desires for his people (without
settling for less or virtual
realities).
While these studies overlap, each
has its own emphasis, whether
focused more on practice or
theology. Yet, all the theological
discussion is presented to function
in practice, namely, for whole
theology and practice. Whatever
study you undertake, we encourage
you to engage each of these studies
in sequence because the chapters are
progressive. Pray to anticipate
God's deeper presence in your life
and for the Spirit's further
transformation of your mind and
heart, that is, your whole person.
back to top
Human Condition Study
Click here
pdf of entire study
The
situations and circumstances in
human life present teachable moments
to learn different things from. Many
times this education gets misplaced,
so that the absence of learning, for
example, from one's mistakes,
prevents one to grow and mature.
The most critical education in human
life takes place in the school of
humanity, whose teachings get to the
heart of what humanity's persons and
persons together in collectives are
actually experiencing. These
radical lessons help its students
learn the nuances of this human
condition in its existential
variable spectrum; and they provide
the understanding necessary to see
the subtlety of the human
condition's negative presence and
the consequences of its advocating
and building. This education,
however, is often misinterpreted,
even by Christians, churches and the
theological academy; and since this
education readily becomes an
inconvenient truth, it then is
subjected to misinformation.
This study, Learning the A,B,C&Ds
of the Human Condition,
addresses that existential reality
and its influence shaping human
identity and function, including
Christians. Therefore, we will
be challenged to learn and
understand at the heart level, and
to respond vulnerably in order to
change the (our) human condition.
Warning: inconvenient truths ahead,
so be willing to be affected!
back to top
Jesus' Feelings Study
Click here
pdf of entire study
The portraits of Jesus that many
Christians have in their faith
folder would likely be challenged by
Jesus today, just as he shared his
sadness and frustration with the
twelve disciples near the end of
their physical time together: "Don't
you know me, even after I have been
involved with you such a long time."
Knowing "me" is the critical issue,
which underlies our portraits of
Jesus. For Jesus, "me" is
constituted only by his whole
person, who is also the only "me"
defined in "Follow me." Jesus' whole
person embodies his heart, whose
substance enacts the Word with all
his feelings for the integral
outcomes in his life.
This study involves The
Feelings of Jesus' Heart: His Whole
Person's Affective Narrative
in order to provide his full
profile (integrating his beginnings,
his trajectories and his outcomes),
so that we can understand his heart
and thereby truly know and fully
follow "me"—nothing less and no
substitutes! This measure will
determine who will help complete his
outcomes, or will compete with them
by using anything less or any
substitutes for "me."
back to top
Issues Study
click here
pdf of entire study
Certainly
the global community is faced with
unavoidable political, economic and
environmental issues, which are
accounted for with variable
responses as diverse as global
diversity. Less obvious but more
unequivocal, the Christian community
is faced with inescapable issues in
its theology and practice, which are
also accounted for with variable
responses that raise critical
questions about the diversity of
Christian identity, function and
witness in the world today—questions
related also to our working beliefs
and values. All Christians are faced
with the existing reality of their
existential faith and need to
account for its viability in their
everyday life. This study
illuminates Inescapable Issues
Accountable in All Christians
that are essential and thus
invariable, in order for their
Integral Theology and Practice
for Viable Faith in Everyday Life.
Therefore, Christians, churches and
the academy are equally challenged
at all their levels to converge on
this path facing us individually and
collectively. The Word communicates
emphatically for us to "Listen and
learn!" from inner out—with the
subtext to "Take heed!" to be on the
narrow path "where I am."
back to top
Diversity Study
click here
pdf of entire study
In the diversity of global
Christianity, we are at a critical
juncture about defining who
we are as God's people, accounting
for what we are doing as
Christians, and determining where
we are going as the church—issues
similar to what the state of
democracy is facing globally. We
cannot simply continue in our
current state, even in the
transition to postcolonial
Christianity, without challenging assumptions
about the existential condition of
Christian diversity. Thus, all
Christians and churches are faced
with examining the basis for their
faith and further scrutinizing the
diversity of their practice in
surrounding contexts. How much do
these diverse grassroots shape
Christian theology and practice in
their own images, whereby they counter
Christians and churches whose
identity and function are redeemed
to be in the image of God.
Moreover, when grassroots diversity
becomes the primary determinant for
our identity and function,
diversity's prism also colors the
gospel with divergent hues that
fragment the gospel's wholeness,
thereby distorting its significance
and obscuring its relevance for the
existential life of all persons,
peoples, tribes and nations. Where
does this leave the integrity of the
gospel claimed and proclaimed, as
well as its relational outcome of
the new creation church as family?
Therefore, The Diversity of
the Integral Gospel: Repurposing
Diversity to Re-image the
Global Church
directly addresses the hard choices
and redemptive changes necessary for
us to turn around at this critical
juncture in order to be in wholeness
together solely in likeness of the
Trinity, whom Jesus embodied
and enacted in the
relational terms of the whole gospel
that diversity is saved to.
back to top
Political Theology Study
click here
pdf of entire study
Political theology (or public
theology) embraces our way of life
in public. Such theology is not a
formal belief that most Christians
and churches confess in their belief
system. Yet, our political theology
is visible in the daily practice of
our way of life. In other words, our
way of life reflects a political
theology, whose explicit or implicit
theology encompasses daily life and
is at the heart of our life's human
order. Therefore, the purpose of
political theology is to integrate
our way of life in wholeness for
practice publicly, in order to
establish the human order as God
created (originally and new).
How integral this theology is for
practice also to be whole depends on
if its composition is in the primacy
of uncommon terms and not
fragmented by common terms.
When political theology is
integrally whole and uncommon
(whole-ly), it can integrate our
everyday way of life into whole-ly
practice. When our way of life
deviates from or even counters whole
practice, then our way of
life has been co-opted by
surrounding common influences. This
is critical for Christians and
churches to examine during current
polarizing conditions influencing
every aspect of daily life. Our
political theology is essential for
how we live in this polarized
climate, and what we then witness to
and for. But, any political theology
is essential only when whole-ly,
whole and uncommon; and theology so
distinguished will ongoingly
challenge and confront our way of
life to be whole-ly in likeness of
the whole-ly Trinity. The journey
ahead for The Human Order of
Creation & Its Political Theology
for the New Creation: Distinguishing
God's Integral Way of Life
will involve nothing less and no
substitutes.
back to top
Study on Music-like Theology
click
here
pdf of
entire study
Prelude to The Essential
Dimension & Quality for Theology &
Practice: Discovering the Function
of Music as Basic to Significance in
Life
This study is an in-depth
examination of how basic music is to
our everyday life. Our examination
will follow a heuristic process to
discover what is essential to God
and those created in God’s image and
likeness. Accordingly, the study is
designed for readers to actively
engage this ongoing examination, as
it unfolds chapter by chapter, with
the previous chapter a necessary
antecedent for readers to engage
before the next chapter can unfold.
In other words, this study engages
an interactive heuristic process
involving the whole person
vulnerably discovering the Word in
its whole significance, neither
reduced nor fragmented. Therefore,
by the nature of the Word nothing
less and no substitutes must
constitute our theology and practice
in order for them to be significant.
On this basis, readers
who are merely looking for
information are discouraged from
picking up this study. Likewise,
those who are satisfied with the
status quo and unwilling to consider
change in their theology and
practice, also disqualify themselves
from participating in this
examination. Moreover, those who
think they can participate in their
default mode (e.g. any reduction of
their person and relationships) will
soon be exposed for the limits and
constraints they impose
(unintentionally or intentionally)
on this qualitative relational
process amplified by the Word.
Therefore, this study is
not for everyone and should only be
undertaken by those willing to be
accountable for both the above
warning and openly verifying the
integrity of their person and
relationships. Anything less will
ensure an insignificant outcome.
back to top
Bible Hermeneutics Study
click here
pdf of entire study
There are many existing studies on
hermeneutics to inform you of what
your biblical interpretations should
look like. A major issue in many of
these studies is that they merely
inform us, that is, educate us to
interpret and understand the Bible
on the basis of its composition in
referential language. This may
indeed inform us about the words
of God in discursive terms, but
it does not connect us to the words
from God communicated only in
relational language with cursive
relational terms, communicated for
the relational purpose and outcome
to truly know and understand God. To
be relationally connected in our
interpretations and understanding of
the Bible, we have to enter the
Word's whole and uncommon realm of
connection. Yet, to be integrated in
the Word's whole-ly realm will
likely require shifts in our mindset
that shapes the trajectory of our
interpretations and the path of our
understanding. Interpretation
Integrated in 'the Whole-ly Way':
The Integral Education & Learning of
Knowing & Understanding God
seeks to involve (not to inform) us
in the Word's whole-ly Way, Truth
and Life, so that the existing
status quo will be transformed.
WARNING: to be involved with the
Word is uncommon and requires a
resolve to shift apart (but not
isolated) from the common in our
lives, which will cause discomfort
in our existing identity and
function as well as a threat to our
current theology and practice.
back to top
Gender Equation Study
click
here
pdf of entire
study
In its September 2018 issue,
Christianity Today reported that the
rate of sexual discrimination in
Christian colleges is higher than in
secular ones. This exposes a serious
issue with the prevailing gender
equation that Christians and
Christian institutions, including
churches, practice in everyday life.
Such a gender equation is not only
incompatible and incongruent with
the wholeness of females and males
created in the image and likeness of
the Trinity, but also reflects a
different gospel from the whole
gospel of Christ. The Gender
Equation in Human Identity and
Function: Examining Our Theology and
Practice, and Their Essential
Equation examines these
urgent consequential issues and
illuminates the wholeness embodied
by the Word from God that is
necessary to resolve the gender
equations from human shaping. Taking
us beyond the usual gender debates
among Christians today, this study
puts discrimination based on
sex/gender (and all other secondary
human differences) into the whole
perspective of God's deep desires
and purpose for all of us—the
Trinity's relational context and
process composing the primary
equation for relationship together
only on God's whole relational
terms.
back to top
Justice Study
click
here
pdf of entire
study
Many Christians usually don't think
about justice when they talk about
the gospel. But, Jesus demonstrated
clearly that his gospel "will
proclaim justice to all persons...until
he brings justice to victory" (Mt
12:17-21). What is unclear for many
other Christians is this: What
exactly this justice is that Jesus
brings, which then qualifies the
peace he gives that we presume to
understand. Our assumptions about
the gospel often vary from Jesus'
gospel. Thus, our assumptions about
justice often mislead us to counter
what Jesus brings, and our
assumptions about peace often
misguide us to contradict what he
gives. Jesus' Gospel of
Essential Justice addresses
these concerns, and hopefully it
will help clarify and correct the
essential issues that emerge from
creation and unfold through complete
salvation.
back to top
Whole-ly Disciples Study
click
here
pdf of entire
study
What assumptions do you make in
your theology and practice?
The Disciples of Whole Theology and
Practice will help you
clarify them and where needed to
correct them.
In the expansion of global
Christianity—with its majority now
centered in the Two-Thirds World—the
unfolding diversity has taken the
outcome from the Reformation to new
heights. This diverse condition,
however, has also presented an
incomplete profile of the triune God
and rendered ambiguous the full
profile of God's face embodied by
Jesus in our theology, and
increasingly has obscured the Light
of the gospel in our practice. The
consequence has been a fragmentary
condition of (1) diverse disciples
who have shaped in their terms how
to "Follow me," and (2) diversified
discipleship defining or re-forming
how to be "where I am" (Jn 12:26).
Contrary to Jesus' paradigm for
discipleship, this diversity exists
in a critical condition urgently
needing clarification and
correction, which Jesus made
explicit in his manifesto for all
disciples in order to be whole in
their theology and practice and
thereby have the true identity of
"his disciples."
This is the whole relational outcome
of the gospel composed only by the
whole and uncommon Jesus, whose
experiential truth and relational
reality challenges (if not
confronts) the diversity of
reformation and renewal today. This
study expands on his clarification
and correction for our relational
progression to wholeness in theology
and practice.
back to top
Trinity Study
click here
pdf of
entire study
If you have been keeping up with
modern theological development, you
are aware of the surge in discourse
centered on the Trinity. This
increased interest in the Trinity
may make you question whether we
need any further discourse on the
subject. That would raise a valid
issue, particularly if the recent
interest has been merely focused on
a theological subject instead of the
Subject, and thus with little
if any discussion on the
significance that the trinitarian
subjects have for the church and
its persons and relationships.
The most essential issue that those
of faith have to account for in
order for one's faith to have
significance involves integrally
knowing the extent of God's presence,
and understanding the depth of God's
involvement in the human context.
The full profile of the face of this
God is essential to compose the
whole necessary for our God and
life. Yet, the profile of God's face
has often not been distinguished
fully, thereby rendering God to
stereotypes both in theology and
practice. Trinitarian theology and
practice are challenged by this
study—The Face of the Trinity:
The Trinitarian Essential for the
Whole of God and Life—to come face to Face with the
whole-ly Trinity.
back to top
Global church study
click here
pdf of
entire study
The reality that the majority of
Christians today has shifted from
the West to the Majority World
raises some critical issues for the
church about its globalness.
Who and what converge to compose the
contemporary church, and how is the
church composed at its core?
Christians and the church in both
the global North and South need to
face the implications of this shift
in their theology and practice in
order to compose the experiential
truth and reality of the global
church. This will require that the
churches, persons and relationships
of the global church meet the
challenge to openly examine their
existing theology and practice, and
willfully change any areas necessary
to converge together in the
transformed relationships of the new
order global church family of
Christ.
Change involves the
redemptive change in which the old
dies so the new rises; this process
unavoidably includes addressing
sin as reductionism in our churches,
persons and relationships to go
further and deeper than the limits
and constraints of our human
condition that prevail in the church
today. The relational outcome is for
the global church to emerge
distinguished at the heart of its
global theology and to unfold
distinguished at the heart of its
global practice—the
experiential truth and reality of
which compose the integrity of the
whole and uncommon global church
family in likeness of its whole and
uncommon God. This study—The
Global Church Engages the Nature of
Sin and the Human Condition:
Reflecting, Reinforcing, Sustaining,
or Transforming—assumes
nothing less and no substitutes for
the church in both the global South
and North, and for the ages of all
its persons, the diversity of all
its peoples, the differences of all
its nations, and their relationships
together.
back to top
Transformation
Study
click
here pdf of
entire study
There are various assumptions we
make when the gospel is mentioned.
One assumption is that we all
essentially mean the same thing,
have the same basic understanding,
or at least don't generally
disagree. A more critical assumption
is that the gospel we claim and
proclaim is the very gospel that
Jesus embodied. These assumptions,
along with many others, need to be
examined, if not challenged, in
order for the experiential truth of
the gospel of Jesus Christ to become
our experiential reality.
If we can affirm that what is most
important to God is relationship,
then the primacy of relationship
together is the purpose determining
all of God's actions since creation—most
notably for the gospel and thus for
salvation. Accordingly, any
salvation that doesn't unfold in the
primacy of relationship together is
not that same gospel that God
enacted even before
the incarnation. Integral to
salvation is how we practice both
following Jesus (discipleship) and
church (ecclesiology), about which
we have made serious assumptions in
our theology and practice.
Much of what we have come to believe
about Jesus and practice in his name
needs to be examined—challenging
and holding accountable all our
assumptions. This defining task is
urgent for all Christians, most of
all for church leaders and those in
the academy, because some of our
beliefs and practices may require
deconstruction, transformation and
reconstruction in order for
wholeness to be a reality in our
theology and practice. In an
increasingly post-Christian climate,
we are challenged to be
distinguished with nothing less and
no substitutes. This study,
The Gospel of Transformation:
Distinguishing the Discipleship and
Ecclesiology Integral to Salvation, takes up
this challenge—without making the
further assumption of the Spirit's
relational work with us along the
way in reciprocal relationship
together.
back to top
Theological Anthropology study
click here
pdf of entire study
In terms of a
theological nature, theological
anthropology (TA) has had an incomplete
or fragmentary composition of its
discourse on the human person. We
should expect a more definitive
position from TA.
This study focuses on what we can
and need to count on in TA, and therefore on what
distinguishes the whole of
TA.
Accordingly, TA is responsible for
definitive discourse on the
uniqueness of the human person that
distinguishes the whole person
beyond any living species in the
human context. To meet this
responsibility, there are two main
and vital issues any TA must answer:
-
What does it mean to be the
human person God created?
-
What does God expect from this
person?
Assuming that all persons need, if
not want, to know ‘where we came
from, who we are, what we’re made of
and for’, this study engages not
only these questions but also these
persons and their
relationships—which certainly
includes all of us directly engaged
in TA
discourse. For this theological and
functional engagement to be
fulfilled, TA
must occupy the pivotal position and
provide the vital function for the
relational outcome that integrally
constitutes the person in complete
context.
Thus, the pressing challenge for TA is to take
up the responsibility of its pivotal
position and vital function by
conjointly (1) composing its
theological trajectory to be
compatible with the whole of God,
and (2) living its relational path
to be congruent with the whole of
Jesus.
The Person in Complete
Context: The Whole of Theological
Anthropology Distinguished takes up this
responsibility and engages the
primacy of the relational context
and process necessary to distinguish
integrally the person in complete
context and the whole of TA. Nothing less and no
substitutes.
back to top
Theology study
click here
pdf of
entire study
Theology has occupied human minds
from the beginning. Anyone, from old
to young, who seeks to sort out
their beliefs, gain their meaning or
put them into practice has been
engaged in the theological task.
Yet, theological engagement never
takes place in a vacuum, even when
isolated from the surrounding
context (e.g. as practiced in
monastic theology). Theology and the
theological task unfold inescapably
within a formidable context, that
is, in the age of reductionism. And
unless we understand this context in
which we all live—understand beyond
the issue of contextualization as
commonly considered—our theology and
task are subject to its shaping.
Until any and all theological
engagement directly address and
openly account for this unavoidable
context, the theological task and
its theology have been and continue
to be rendered to a critical
condition needing to be made whole.
Is this the current condition of
theology and theological education
that occupies, even preoccupies our
minds today?
This is an honest conversation
overdue—not to be engaged in
isolation or just among ourselves
but vulnerably with the whole of God
who has been ongoingly pursuing us
for this vital engagement in the age
of reductionism. “Where are you?”
back to top
Integration
Study
click here
pdf of
entire study
This study is the integration of
Jesus and Paul. Many scholars perceive Paul
as different from Jesus in various
ways, even on a different trajectory
with his own gospel and as the
founder of Christianity. Yet these
views are based on both an
incomplete Christology and a limited
understanding of Paul. Lacking whole
knowledge and understanding of Jesus
and Paul has resulted in either an
inadequate, even artificial,
synthesis or the prevention of their
synthesis. When Jesus and Paul each
speaks for himself, however, there
emerges a relational dynamic that
flows integrally to compose Jesus
into
Paul: Embodying the Theology and
Hermeneutic of the Whole Gospel.
And their integrated words challenge
intrusively the theology and function
of the church and academy today in
their innermost. Therefore, their
synthesis in this study is the
integration and extension of the
previous Christology and Paul
studies below.
back to top
Paul Study
click
here
pdf
of entire study
The study of Paul has been an
adventure for biblical and
theological studies since the
Pauline corpus emerged--an adventure
in which some have gotten lost in a
theological wilderness and many have
plodded in a textual maze.
Understanding Paul has been elusive,
if not an enigma, while grasping his
thought and theology has been a
trial-and-error process, if not an
exercise in endless speculation.
Yet, Paul's prominence in Scripture
and importance for the Christian
faith and church remain in our
thinking despite the gap in
understanding the whole significance
of Paul. The Whole of Paul and
the Whole in His Theology:
Theological Interpretation in
Relational Epistemic Process
involves the study compatible for
both addressing critical issues
necessary to help close this gap and
engaging the vital process needed to
open the hermeneutic door to the
whole of Paul and the whole in his
theology.
back to top
Christology
Study
click here
pdf of entire study
The portrait of Jesus we carry
around to give definition to our
Christian faith often does not
coincide with the whole of Jesus'
person in the Bible. Yet, we are
willing to make commitment to, build
churches with, go out on missions
for and proclaim a gospel about an
identity of Jesus, our perceptions
of whom tend to be incomplete,
perhaps even distorted and
ironically overly christocentric.
Such is the common consequence, for
example, when we detach his
teachings, examples, principles and
practice from the whole of his
person. This disembodies these
aspects of Jesus and thus fragments
their significance constituted to be
whole by the incarnation of the
whole of God and God's thematic
relational response to the human
condition.
Sanctified Christology: A
Theological & Functional Study of
the Whole of Jesus is a
theological and functional study
that seeks to fill or correct the
gaps in our understanding of Jesus
(both in churches and the academy)
to complete our Christology. This
study overlaps with our other
studies, yet it provides the central
theological basis necessary for all
of them and the necessary base for
coherence in the various aspects of
our theology. This is the
integrating nature of a complete
Christology, the grasp of which and
whom requires our involvement in
ongoing reciprocal cooperative
effort with the Spirit.
back to top
Wholeness
Study
click
here
pdf of entire study
The pursuit of wholeness, or at
least the interest in it, can be
observed in different movements of
the global community. How Christians
have perceived of wholeness and
practice being whole have been
problematic, notably due to the
influence of reductionism. The
Person, the Trinity, the Church: The
Call to be Whole and the Lure of
Reductionism
formulates a theology of wholeness
based on the whole of God
constituted in the Trinity and
signified by the triune God's
ongoing response to our condition to
be apart from the whole—the whole
of God in whose image our design and
purpose are created. God's
response was ultimately fulfilled in
the incarnation of Jesus, who is
the hermeneutical key
to the whole of God. In God's call
to us to be whole, Jesus is also
the functional key to intimately
bond with the Father as the whole of
God's family, which the Spirit is
bringing to completion in God's
eschatological plan. These roots
form the basis for any discipleship
and thus for all Christian
spirituality; yet, the lure of
reductionism has been a formidable
challenge to our practice to be the
whole of God.
Essay on Wholeness is also
now available
click here
back to top
Discipleship
study
click here
pdf of entire study
Discipleship is one of those
Christian words or concepts that has
been used loosely, defined in
various ways or simply ignored in
individual and corporate practice. The
Relational Progression: A Relational
Theology of Discipleship
formulates the relational imperative
for all followers of Jesus (both
individually and corporately) and
gives coherence to all the various
theological aspects of the
transcendent God vulnerably engaging
us for intimate relationship as his
very own in his eschatological
plan. Thus, discipleship integrates
spirituality and Christian community
in God's whole.
back to top
Spirituality
Study
click here
pdf of entire study
Authentic spirituality is only about
intimate relationship with the
triune God; intimacy is defined as
hearts open to each other and coming
together. Following Jesus,
Knowing Christ: Engaging the
Intimate Relational Process
focuses on developing this
relationship with Jesus whose life, person and
words,
particularly between the manger and
the cross, incarnate and thus
establish God's design and purpose
for us -- the relational context,
the relational process and
relational progression to the
Father. A Study Guide & Growth Plan
is also provided to assist your
involvement.
Essay on Spirituality is also
now available.
click
here
back to top
Uncommon
Worship Study
click here
pdf of
entire study
Historically, Christian worship has
been practiced in diverse ways and
forms. How worship practice has
unfolded to determine the diversity
of worship practices today is
defined by a particular theology
underlying each of those practices.
It is pivotal for all Christians
personally and collectively as
church to both know their worship
theology and understand whether
their worship practice should be
based on that theology. Even if we
don't, we all are faced with two
critical issues: (1) Are we
worshiping the whole of God or
essentially some common likeness?
and (2) Does our worship have
significance to our God? If so, what
is that significance?significance?
We have to account for this, and
hopefully this study—Worshiping
God in Likeness of the Trinity: Not
Determined 'in their way'—will help us be
accountable, that is, to worship the
whole and uncommon God.
back to top
Worship Study
click here
pdf of
entire study
Whenever
and wherever we gather to worship
God, many of us don't consider who
and what God "gets," both
individually and corporately, and we
make assumptions about our worship's
significance to God. This study,
Embodying New the Worship
Relationship: Whole Theology and
Practice Required, examines
those assumptions through the lens
of Jesus' words—that
is, his relational language, which
always gives primacy to intimate
relational connection together and
thus the primary of significance to
God. Our worship relationship,
inseparably from our discipleship
relationship, needs to mature beyond
the status quo of our primary focus
on secondary matter. Jesus, along
with Paul, Mary (Martha's sister)
and some shout-in
child-persons, illuminate for us the
inner-out change that is necessary
for the blessed outcome in worship
to be vulnerably involved with the
whole of God (the Trinity) for
face-to-face and heart-to-heart
relational connection together. This
blessed outcome embodies us new as
God's dwelling, that is, his new
creation family!
back to top
Worship Language Study
click
here
pdf
of entire study
A major assumption commonly made in
worship is that God receives what we
present; God may not necessarily
like all we present but still
receives it. This is a bad
assumption that assumes God receives
our good intentions. For Jesus,
worship is inseparable from
discipleship, and the most vital
aspect of discipleship is the
quality and depth of relational
connection with him. Yet, this
distinguished connection is not an
automatic outcome for us (cf. his
disciples, Jn 14:9), and notably is
lacking or absent in so much of our
corporate worship.
This study,
Hermeneutic of Worship Language:
Understanding Communion with
the Whole of God, focuses
specifically on God's relational
language in contrast to and even
conflict with referential language
(what prevails in human contexts).
The relational words from God's
heart unfolded whole-ly in the
embodied Word to be vulnerably
present and intimately involved in
reciprocal relationship together,
thereby composing the relational
terms for compatible involvement
together. Understanding God's words
and the Word in their relational
language involves all of us in the
critical issue of hermeneutics
(interpretation leading to
understanding). The tension,
apparent or not, between relational
language and referential language
has been an ongoing issue (cf. Jn
8:43), which needs to be addressed
if our relationship with God is to
have the significance of
distinguished connection embodied by
the Word to compose communion
together, not only in worship but in
ongoing relationship. Jesus clearly
illuminates what is involved for
this intimate communion together:
our compatible and reciprocal
relational response of worship
(individual and corporate) as the
whole God's new creation family.
Moreover, the depth and quality of
this communion together (only on
God's relational terms) is
sufficient to both transform our
worship to be 'whole', and for the
blessed relational outcome to
relationally know and understand the
whole and holy God.
Theology of Worship
click here
pdf of entire study
When Jesus disclosed that the Father
seeks those who will worship "in
spirit and truth," (Jn 4:23-24), he
defined what is primary to God for
worship—our reciprocal relational
response to and vulnerable
involvement with him. This is in
contrast and conflict with the
assumptions we make about our
person, God and worship, assumptions
from which we give him something
less and some substitutes of
secondary significance. Yet, Jesus
ongoingly challenges and pursues us
for deeper relational connection
together to compose his new creation
family as experiential reality, in
which we can 'sing' a new song to
the Lord. This study, A
Theology of Worship: 'Singing' a New
Song to the Lord, examines these issues for this
relational outcome.
back to top
Worship
Perspectives click
here
Worship is our fundamental
relational response to God and thus
is our essential involvement with
God in all we are and do. The
following perspectives and songs can
be helpful to you to go deeper into
the relational context and process
of worship--not as an activity-end
in itself but rather as more
intimate response directly to God
with relational clarity and
relational significance.
|
We want to hear from you!
Please feel free to
contact us,
share your thoughts,
questions, feelings. Let us
know if we can support you
further. We hope, we pray
that all contained here will
serve to edify, challenge
and encourage Jesus'
disciples, in order to build
up Christ's body, God's
family, the church. We are,
after all, sisters and
brothers in Christ, but
these truths need to become
functional for our practice. |
©2021 back to top
Hosted by
The GraceNet
|