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1. Renewal and Transformation
(Original Content Only) (Kate Turabian Format) (footnotes are a must) (13 pages)
The student can choose either (1) a church Replant strategy of a dying congregation or a two church merger or (2) a revitalization strategy for church growth/multiplication. Both projects must focus on conversion growth rather than transitional growth and include the following: (1) vision and mission, (2) reaching the unreachable, (3) disciple-making, (4) community impact, (5) systems for growth, (6) demographic and psychographic research (see article link: Are You Using Psychographics?), and (7) the importance of Trinitarian (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) dependance and guidance. The student must cite the course resources and employ the use of at least three other sources (books, articles, peer reviewed journals, websites, etc.).
Option 1: Church Replant
The church replant strategy can focus on completely replanting a dying congregation or merging two church congregations to form one. Following the guidelines above, the student will develop a practical strategy. If the student chooses a church merger, indicate the number of people within the merging congregations, leadership development, financial outcomes, and any doctrinal compromises. Neither strategy requires implementation but should be designed as though implementation would occur.
Option 2: Church Revitalization
The church revitalization strategy should focus on spiritual renewal, processes involved for transformation, leadership development/investment, and cultural/community engagement. The strategy does not require implementation but should be designed as though implementation is possible.
The student paper should follow Turabian 9 formatting, double spaced, 1” margins, and Times New Roman 12-point font. I would expect the final project to be at least thirteen (13) pages to be adequate.
The paper should be presented as such:
Title Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
Demographics & Psychographics
Vision & Mission
Reaching the Unreachable
Disciple-Making
Community Impact
Church Systems Applied for Growth
Trinitarian Guidance
Conclusion
2. Christian Theology
Personal Reflection Paper
(Original Content Only) (1300 words) (Kate Turabian Format) (footnotes are a must)
Students will submit a 1300 word paper reflecting on the most significant things learned during this course.
Subjects learned in the course: Week 2: God in Three Persons – Theology Proper, Week 3: God’s Marvelous Creation and its Horrifying Corruption, Week 5: The Breath of God – Pneumatology, Week 6: Christ’s Redeeming Work – Soteriology
3. Christian Theology
(300-word summary of transcript below) (APA citation)
Okay, good evening class, I hope you all are doing good, I hope you all are doing well today and we’re thankful to God for the progress that we’ve made so far, we are just about to conclude this course, it’s been a wonderful, great experience journeying with you in this course and we are now in week seven and we pray that the grace that has led us to this point will be the same grace that will continue to lead us to the very end. Amen? Amen. Okay, let’s go ahead and open with a word of prayer and then we will begin with our session for today.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we love you. Yes.
We trust you. Yes. We believe in you, oh God.
Yes. We know that without you we can do nothing, but with you all things are possible. We know that unless you build, he who builds, builds in vain and so we trust you.
We pledge our allegiance to you, oh God. Just as the branches can do nothing without the vine, we profess that we can do nothing without you. So God, please help us.
Help each student in this class, thus far by your grace and onwards by your grace. I ask that you meet each student at the point of their need. You know the areas where they are struggling.
You know the challenges that they are currently facing. So I intercede for them, oh God, and I ask that you help them, for you are our help. You are our rock and our redeemer.
You are our ever-present help in times of trouble. We ask that you go before us in tonight’s session, so that everything that we will discuss tonight will be led by your spirit and that by the end of this Zoom session, your name will be glorified and our joy made complete. In Jesus’ mighty name we have prayed.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. All right. This is our last Collaborate session for this class and we will be looking at the doctrine of the last things.
We will look at eschatology. But again, in week seven, the module for week seven is ecclesiology and I encourage you to watch my video lecture on ecclesiology, if you’ve not already done so, as it covers some important points, important concepts about ecclesiology that you should be aware of. Subjects such as the characteristics of the church, the ordinances of the church, the ministries of the church, the government of the church, and so pay attention to that video as it will provide you with the essential information you need and knowledge and understanding about the doctrine of the church.
So what I want us to do today is, since next week is week eight and we will be looking at the doctrine of the last things or what is yet to come, I want our meeting to focus on that. So I want us to touch on some important points about eschatology to give you the perspective that you should have as we round up this class. So that’s the objective.
Now, among the topics of interest within Christian theology, the doctrine of the last things or eschatology is one of those very controversial and complex doctrines. And many scholars speculate and it’s been one of the major bones of contention among many theologians and many scholars given how the Bible treats it, that the way the Bible talks about eschatology, especially in the book of Revelation, it’s very complex and confusing, often not very clear. So it’s one of those areas where there’s a lot of personal convictions, personal or what we call pocket driven theology, so to speak.
Yet this subject of the last things is nonetheless a very important subject that when we study Christian theology, we cannot conclude Christian theology without at least covering some of the essential topics on the subject of the last things or eschatology. So what we’re going to do in this lecture, we’re going to focus on the following sub themes on the subject of eschatology. We’re going to look at humankind and death.
We will look at the great tribulation. We’ll touch on the return of Christ. We will look at the judgment, the millennium, and then we’re going to end with the doctrine why the doctrine of the last things is important, why you should take it seriously as you develop your theological convictions.
So this is what we want to look at for our collaborative session for tonight. Okay. So let’s begin with humankind and death.
Humankind and death. And the question we want to address here is what happens when a man dies? What happens to a man or what happens to a woman or let’s say what happens to a human being when he or she dies? Who would like to share their presupposition on this? Okay. Your presupposition are your convictions about a subject which you have developed whether consciously or unconsciously based on what you’ve read or what you’ve heard.
These are your presuppositions about a given topic. So who would like to share their presupposition on what happens to a human being when they die? Yes, Troy. The Bible doesn’t give us a great deal of detail, but Paul does say in 2 Corinthians that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
So in whatever case, I mean, I don’t think it’s like a purgatory thing. It’s a good, pleasant thing. But when a believer dies, they’re present with the Lord in some state.
Good. Very good point, Troy. I will hear from three others and then we’ll move on.
We’ll hear from Logan and James and then Darlene in that order. Okay. So the verse that comes to my mind is when Jesus was interacting with the thieves on the cross to his right and left, and he told the one that expressed repentance and recognized that he wasn’t, he was God, that he would be with him in paradise.
So I agree with my brother, Troy, there. Okay, good. James? Yes.
Yes, Professor. When a person dies, they go to the grave and they await judgment. Now, there’s some controversy on whether judgment day in the spiritual world, I don’t know if time passes like it does for us, but they await the judgment.
And so, and once they’re judged, then they’ll go to, when judgment day comes, then either they’ll go to be with God for eternity, or either they’ll be thrown into the lake of fire. Okay. Good, good, good point.
Well explained, James. Darlene? Yes. My understanding of death, because we are made up of body, soul, and spirit, my understanding is that the only thing that goes, gets buried in the grave is our flesh.
Our spirit goes back to God and our soul goes to wherever we have prepared it to go, whether it be heaven or hell. And we’re waiting for the judgment day and after we are judged, and then our final destination, whether it be heaven or hell, will be determined by God. Okay, good.
Good point. All right. Very good answers.
Very thoughtful responses to the question on what happens when a man dies. Now let’s delve a little bit deeper on this subject. Okay.
For us to really do justice on this question, it is important for us to be clear on the components of man. Okay. There are two major schools of thought on the components of man.
Now there is the view known as the dichotomous view. The dichotomous view posits that humankind is a composite of two distinct components, namely the body and the soul or the spirit. So the soul and spirit are used interchangeably to refer to one component, the abstract component of our human essence.
So according to dichotomies, humankind is made up of concrete component and an abstract component. The concrete component is the body. The abstract component is the soul or the spirit, which the Bible uses interchangeably to refer to the same thing.
That’s why it is known as the dichotomous view. Then we have the trichotomous view. This view posits that humankind is a composite of three distinct components, namely the body, the soul, and the spirit.
Three distinct components. So how you respond to the question what happens to a man when he dies will depend on your take. So if you argue that a man is a composite of three components, body, soul, and spirit, then you must be ready to explain what happens when a person dies.
Where does a soul go to? Where does a spirit go to? Where does the body go to? But if you take on the dichotomous view, which is the view that I take, which is my view and the view of many other reputable scholars, which posits that humankind is a composite of two components, the abstract and the concrete. So from this dichotomous point of view, what happens when a man dies is if the person is righteous, his or her body, that’s the concrete part or component, remains in the grave, as some of you have just explained now, while the abstract components, that is the spirit or the soul, go to be with God. Okay.
And that’s it. So that’s a simplistic explanation from a dichotomous perspective on what happens when a man dies. But if the deceased is an unrighteous person, his or her body remains in the grave while his or her soul goes to hell.
Okay. So only two components, the abstract or the concrete. The concrete remains in the grave.
The abstract either goes to heaven, as Troy mentioned, to be absent from the body is to be with Christ. That’s what we believe. Or if the deceased was not a believer, then their soul or their spirit goes to hell.
And these are some of the passages to support this dichotomous view on what happens to man. Second Corinthians chapter five, verse eight says, yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. And in Luke chapter 16, we learn about the rich man and Lazarus.
And these are all biblical passages to support what happens when we die. So again, there are two views concerning the components of man. Now, those who believe that man is a composite of three distinct components would have probably a different explanation of what happens when a man dies.
But from a strictly evangelical perspective, we believe that when a man dies, their spirit goes to be with God or their soul goes to be with God if they are believers, while their bodies remain in the grave awaiting the second coming of Christ, which we are going to look at momentarily. So any question about what happens to a man when they die, especially as explained from this dichotomous point of view. So let’s move on to the great tribulation.
Now, the great tribulation, the word tribulation in itself simply means suffering or a state of great suffering. So the great tribulation is as a theological concept, which the Bible talks about. And there are two main schools of thoughts on the subject of the great tribulation.
The first school of thought is known as the pre-tribulation rapture view, that is, rapture before the tribulation. So this view holds that believers will be secretly taken into heaven upon the return of Christ prior to the great tribulation. So according to the pre-tribulation rapture view, believers will not go through the tribulation before the tribulation begins, Christ would have taken them out of this world.
Then we have the post-tribulation rapture view, the view that the rapture will only occur after the tribulation. So this view posits that believers will go through the great tribulation and after they’ve gone through the great tribulation, they will be raptured into heaven upon the return of Christ. Now, there are many serious scholars who argue in favor of the pre-tribulation rapture view, and there are also other serious scholars who argue in favor of the post-tribulation rapture view.
And there are biblical passages to support these claims, especially the post-tribulation rapture view, which says believers will go through the tribulation and then at the second coming of Christ, Christ will rescue them out of the tribulation, and then they will spend eternity with him. But I will leave that up to you to decide on what view you lean towards. Perhaps let me ask one student who subscribes to the pre-tribulation rapture view and another student who subscribes to the post- tribulation rapture view, I want you to make your pitch.
Who would like to just share with us briefly why you think that the pre-tribulation rapture view is what is most biblical or Bible centered, or why the post-tribulation rapture view is the one that you think is Bible centered? James, do you want to speak to any of these? Yes, I want to speak on the post-tribulation rapture view. I just know the Bible says that God is going to have to shorten the time of the Antichrist because if not, he will fool the very elect. And it also says that when Jesus comes back after the rapture, or after the tribulation, that his people are going to reign with him for a thousand years.
I think that’s what I had to say real short. Right, okay, good, good. Thank you for sharing that, James.
Anyone who leans more towards the pre-tribulation rapture view? Yes, Angela? Actually, I wanted to speak on the post-tribulation. So the post-tribulation, I feel like is more centered to the Bible for the fact that when you go through the tribulation, you’re still pretty much living in the flesh. You don’t understand that much.
But after the tribulation, if you survived it and made it true, that is when you will find Christ. Before tribulation, you don’t know anything. But when you went through the tribulation, it takes you to exactly where God wants you.
That’s when you can find who you are or what really the kingdom of God is all about. You know, your flesh will be destroyed and you will find Christ. Okay, good, good point.
Tessie? I tend to lean a little bit more to pre because somewhere where I’ve read before where it says that the dead in Christ shall rise first, then they which remain shall be caught up. I believe that once we die, that like you were saying earlier, you know, however we feel where our soul will be, I believe that after he brings us out of the earth at that time, then that’s when the tribulation will start. So I’m a pre-tribulation person.
Okay, good. Now let’s have someone open to Acts chapter 14 verse 22 and read. And then someone open to Revelation chapter 1 verse 9. Let’s look at that quickly.
Anyone who finds any of the verses can read. Acts 14.22 says, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. Okay, so that text seemed to be suggesting that believers is through many tribulations that believers will enter the kingdom of God.
So it doesn’t seem to suggest that they will be exempt from tribulation. Revelation chapter 1 verse 9. I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation kingdom and perseverance in Jesus, was on the east land called Athmos because of God’s word and the testimony about Jesus. Good.
So Paul, John identified himself as what? A companion, a partner in tribulation. So he had, in other words, he’s saying, we believers, we are going through tribulation and I’m not different from you. I’m one of you.
We are all going through tribulation. Okay. Romans chapter 8 verse 35.
Let’s have someone read Romans 8.35. Romans 8.35. Okay, I’m reading in the NLT, but it says, can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity or are persecuted or hungry or destitute or in danger or threatened with death? Okay. Thank you. I love using the NLT for a simplified version, but I wanted to hear that word tribulation.
So can we have another translation of that on Romans? Right. Okay. He says, who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Okay.
You see, that’s it. Again, that talks about the suffering that believers will go through. And Paul is saying nothing will separate us from the love of God.
No trial or tribulations will separate us from love of God. So the Christians in the first century did not think that tribulation was something that was futuristic. They understood that they were going through tribulation.
Okay. When all of the apostles died horrible deaths, some were stoned to death, some were crucified upside down, some died of sword wounds, some faced difficult circumstances. Now they were not thinking that there was going to be another type of tribulation that was to come ahead.
They understood that they were going through the tribulation. So there is more merit in leaning towards the post-tribulation rapture view. So from that post-tribulation perspective, the argument there is that we are currently going through the tribulation in a sense, and we are looking forward to the second coming of Christ.
Okay. And when Christ comes, He’s going to take us away from this life of pain and suffering, and then we will spend eternity with Him. So there is arguments in favor of the pre-tribulation rapture view, which is why it is mentioned here.
But I would want to lean more in the post-tribulation rapture view. But this is something you could write a paper on, and you can critique both perspectives and make an argument on the one that is more Bible-centered. But I would say that the post-tribulation rapture view seemed to have more biblical backing, and it makes more sense.
And I will explain further as we go why the post-tribulation rapture view seemed to be more consistent with the general biblical narrative, as I’m going to point out just in a moment. All right. I see Troy.
Let’s hear from Troy, Darlene, and Alfred, and then we’ll move on. I was just going to say real quick, I was raised in the assemblies of God, so I was always taught pre-trib. But when I read Revelation as an adult, I noticed in Revelation 13 and Revelation 14, there are places where it says this calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints.
If the saints have been raptured, then why is there a need for endurance? Right. Exactly. And ultimately, Jesus said, no man will know you’re supposed to be ready today, so I’m a pan-tripper.
If you’re ready, it’ll pan out. Right. Exactly.
Exactly. So that’s the idea. So you see, when I spoke about systematic theology the other time, when you develop a doctrine, you need to consider all the other factors.
So the post-trip fits more in the general biblical narrative, because it has that element of waiting for Christ. You know, we are going through suffering, and we are waiting for when Christ is going to come and deliver us. Now that Troy mentions that, let’s open to Revelation chapter 7, verse 13 to 14.
Revelation 7, 13 to 14, and read that real quick. It talks about believers coming out of the tribulation. Then one of the elders addressed me saying, who are these clothed in white robes, and from where have they come? I said,
4. Cosmogony
(Original Content Only) (Discussion Board Post) (700 words) (APA citations) (in-text citations are a must)
Each student will create an initial post of 700 words based on one of the below topics.
Dual Revelation
Origins of the Cosmos
Origins of Life
Directions for initial post:
Point of View: Write from your point of view as a pastor/minister, future pastor/minister or Christian leader.
Audience: Assume that the post will be read by Christians, but you should write it in such a way that non-Christians will be able to read and interact with the post and be motivated to consider its ideas.
Content: Your post should develop one big idea. Blog posts should demonstrate that you are thinking through the lecture content and textbook readings assigned for weeks 1–3 (for Blog #1) and weeks 1–6 (for Blog #2). Use that content as a foundation, or inspiration, to write a provocative post that will peak others’ interest in the subject matter as well, especially non-Christians.
Resources: Use of multimedia (weblinks, audio links, video, images, etc.) are strongly encouraged. Each blogging interface has a tool bar to insert files and multimedia.
Hook: Create a motivation for people to read your post. It might be a meme you saw on social media, a current news events, or a Scripture verse/passage. This should be a strong enough hook that a non-Christian would be interested in the topic as well.
Summarize: Explain what you have learned about the subject you have chosen to address based on the required lecture or reading material. Be clear and concise in your approach.
References: Blog posts should not simply be a statement of your opinion. Rather, they should include appropriate references to a reputable, peer-reviewed journal article. This is a critical feature in order to help build a bridge with a STEMM-oriented reader.
Worldview: Connect the key idea you are discussing to the Christian worldview. What essential worldview questions are answered?
Tone: Keep in mind that unless you have a background in science, you are not an expert in science. So you will want to strive to keep your post factual, and carefully worded in as neutral and objective of way as possible.
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