Disciple-Making in Yur Cultural Cntexts DM801 DMIN Curse Syllabus August 6 10, 2018 Instructr Bruce McRae (DMin), Adjunct Prfessr f Applied Thelgy at Cvenant Seminary and Senir Pastr f Ingleside Presbyterian Church, Lawrenceville, GA. Email: bruce.mcrae@cvenantseminary.edu Bruce is rdained in the Presbyterian Church in America. He has labred in pastral ministry in several different churches in the area f renewal and revitalizatin, and he has a special passin fr gspel-centered discipleship in the lcal church. Educatinal Backgrund: BA frm Washingtn University in St. Luis, MDiv frm Westminster Thelgical Seminary, DMin frm Fuller Thelgical Seminary, MBA frm Gergia State University. Class Dates/Times Mnday, August 6, 12 5 p.m. Tuesday, August 7 Thursday, August 9, 8:30 a.m. 5 p.m. (with lunch break) Friday, August 10, 8 am. nn Curse Descriptin The lectures and interactin will fcus n the prcess f disciple-making in the lcal church. The bulk f the curse will fcus n the thelgy and practice f disciple-making, fcusing n the timeless biblical truths f this endeavr. But we will als pay attentin t the cultural cntext in which this must be dne, since every cultural cntext is different. The gal will be fr each f yu t think very deeply abut hw t apply the thelgy and practice f disciple-making t yur wn cultural cntext. Basic Emphases f the Curse Develp a brief thelgy and practice f church renewal and church health. Why? Because an unhealthy church is cmpletely INCAPABLE f making disciples! Many f yu will have t wrk at getting yur wn church huse in rder first, if yu are ever ging t make disciples! Understand a cmpletely Christ-centered and grace-driven thelgy f making disciples. Since hliness is nly attained thrugh unin with Christ by grace thrugh faith, each f yu must thrughly understand this thelgy f sanctificatin its fundatin and implicatins. And understand hw t be walking in unin with Christ yurself! Understand the implicatins f discipling men and wmen frm a thelgy f grace and a framewrk f unin with Christ. What des this lk like? What are the implicatins fr what yu d in disciple-making in yur church? Equally imprtant, what are the implicatins fr what yu d NOT d in disciple-making yur church? We will fcus n the practice f, and resurces fr, making disciples in the fllwing areas: Teaching peple hw t live by grace, in faith and repentance, in unin with Christ.
Training peple hw t use the means f grace which prmte this life f faith and repentance: the Wrd, prayer, fasting, spiritual mentrs, wrship, cmmunity, Baptism, and the Lrd s Table. Equipping peple t knw and use their unique giftedness and divine design t serve the wrld and the bdy f Christ. This will invlve develping ways t teach peple abut their spiritual gifts, talents, persnal values, ministry passins, and persnality. T help peple grw in their knwledge f Christ t knw his wrd, t knw basic thelgical matters, and t give peple a Christian wrldview that transfrms their entire way f thinking We will als fcus n hw t build a whle CULTURE f grace in yur church, a culture in which the very air peple breath is filled with the thelgy f grace and unin with Christ. Als, hw yu structure and build a whle ministry that carries ut disciple-making pririties: Hw yu make disciples The critical place f small grups and ther structures in the disciple-making prcess We will discuss hw this culture f disciple-making is the fundatin fr leadership develpment in the church. And hw t develp leaders in a grace-driven cntext. We will delve int cultural cntexts i.e., hw these timeless pririties are carried ut in different ways in different cntexts and with different generatins. Hwever, the fcus n cultural cntext will largely rest with each f yu. Each f yu will be encuraged t think hard, and share, hw the timeless truth f unin with Christ can be built int yur specific ministry cntext all f which cntexts will be very different. I will be using my wn church as a case study in cultural cntext in class. It is 117-year-ld church that relcated frm the city t the affluent suburbs 20 years ag. The gspel has nt been preached in the church fr 25 years. The church is stuck in the past. T make matters wrse, the church is being cmpletely rebuilt in the wake f a massive leadership scandal that drve ff 75% f the membership. The leadership scandal invlved crruptin and ineptness amng leaders n the lcal level, at the presbytery level, and the denminatinal level a cmpletely dysfunctinal system. There are tw generatins f peple in the church: lder peple wh want the ld church ministry structures, and yunger peple wh d nt attend any f the ld church ministry structures. Curse Bk Reading List All bks are available electrnically n Kindle unless therwise specified. 1. Bnar, Hratius. Gd s Way f Hliness. Available fr free in e-bk f PDF frmat at https://www.mnergism.cm/gds-way-hliness-ebk. 76 pages. A very simple ld classic n unin with Christ as the basis fr sanctificatin. Yurs fr free! 2. Ddsn, Jnathan. Gspel-Centered Discipleship. Crssway, 2012. 176 pages. A mre recent bk n the thelgical and practical implicatins f discipling in the lcal church frm a gspel-centered perspective. 3. Geiger, Eric, Michael Kelley, and Philip Natin. Transfrmatinal Discipleship: Hw Peple Really Grw. B&H Publishing, 2012. 242 pages. This is nice verall framewrk f hw t visualize and implement a cmprehensive disciple-making strategy in yur church. 4. Keller, Timthy. Center Church. Zndervan, 2012. 400 pages. This is a cmprehensive thelgy f ministry cntextualized t a lcal situatin. Keller is a master f gspel renewal, and yu will see hw he applies it t the city cntext. This is an example f applying the gspel t a cultural cntext. Yur cultural cntext is nt
the same as Keller s, but watch hw he lays the fundatin f gspel renewal, and then applies it t his lcal cntext. G and d likewise. 5. Keller, Timthy. The Prdigal Gd: Recvering the Heart f the Christian Faith. Penguin Bks. 192 pages. Perhaps the best shrt and simple bk n the heart f gspel-centered living. This is the first bk I wuld give t yung believers t help them understand the gspel. 6. Keller, Timthy. Rmans: A Study Curse in the Gspel, Leaders Guide. Available as a pdf dwnlad frm here: https://gspelinlife.cm/dwnlads/rmans-a-study-curse-in-the-gspel-grup-studyprduct/ There are tw prducts available, the Participants Guide and the Leaders Guide, s make SURE yu get the Leader s guide. This is perhaps ne f the finest and mst imprtant discipleship tls I knw f and use. Christians f every stage need t knw the gspel if they are ging t live it ut. Rmans is the bk that mst thrughly lays ut the gspel. Wycliffe said that every Christian ught t have the bk memrized. Rmans has brught incredible gspel renewal thrughut histry. Rmans is Gd s Discipleship Handbk. New and mature Christians need t knw it and use it. S, get t knw it yurself, and use it with thers. Keller s study guide is the best resurce. 7. Lvelace, Richard. Dynamics f Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Thelgy f Renewal. IVP Academic, 1979. 455 pages. Still in print, but hard cpy nly. This bk is smewhat dated in that it was written in the late 1970s, and it reflects a lt n the Jesus Mvement f the time. S, the cntext is dated, but the timeless truths f renewal are priceless. Lvelace is a master f gspel renewal principles thrugh histry, and he applies them thrughut histry. The timeless truths he lays ut still need t be the basis fr any gspel-centered ministry. 8. Marshall, Walter, put int mdern English by Bruce McRae. The Gspel Mystery f Sanctificatin: Grwing in Hliness by Living in Unin with Christ. Wipf and Stck, 2005. 270 pages. Make sure yu get the mdern English Versin, d NOT get the riginal lder English versin. It is nt readable! Available in hard cpy nly. This bk is the gdfather f the gspel-centered mvement, and it is a lng-frgtten classic. Prfessr Jhn Murray called this the mst imprtant bk n sanctificatin ever written. I agree, which is why I rewrte the bk in mdern English. 9. Miller, C. Jhn. Outgrwing the Ingrwn Church. Zndervan. 176 pages. Available in hard cpy nly. This bk is a bit dated as well, but again, the timeless truths are priceless. Jack Miller is really the ne respnsible fr putting the full-rbed gspel back n the map in Refrmed circles. 10. Ogden, Greg. The New Refrmatin. Zndervan Publishing 1991. 224 pages. Out f print, but plenty f gd used cpies available n Amazn fr a very gd price. Greg Ogden was my prfessr at Fuller Seminary, and he is a marvelus practitiner. Thugh ld, and inexplicably ut f print, this bk remains, in my view, the best bk n frsaking the dependency mdel f ministry, and building a ministry f equipping the saints fr the wrk f ministry thrughut the lcal church. 11. Ogden, Greg. Transfrming Discipleship. IVP Bks, 2016. 224 pages. An up-t-[date fllw-up where Greg Ogden mves frm equipping cngregants t discipling cngregants in the lcal church cngregatin. This bk talks masterfully abut the thelgy and practice f making disciples. 12. Malphurs, Aubrey. Maximizing Yur Effectiveness. Baker Bks, 2nd ed., 2006. 240 pages. Every church needs sme kind f prcess t equip peple t understand and use their gifts t serve Christ. There are many tls t d this, but mst leaders have recgnized that the simple spiritual gifts test is n lnger enugh. Peple have t understand their abilities, their temperaments, their passins, their histry, etc. In shrt, their entire divine design. Once they d, they are far mre equipped t effectively serve Christ, because what Gd has called them t d, he has already equipped them t d. In yur discipleship ministry, yu MUST have a
prcess t lead peple thrugh this discvery f their divine design. This bk presents an excellent mdel f hw t d this. Yu culd use this, r build yur wn, using ther resurces. 13. Stuart, R. D. Church Revitalizatin frm the Inside Out. P&R Publishing, 2016. 256 pages. An excellent bk n church revitalizatin. This is nt the primary fcus f the curse, but it must be said, an unhealthy church cannt make disciples! S, fr sme f yu, jb ne might be t lead yur church t spiritual health befre yu can significantly engage in strategic discipleship. Overall Perspective n the Reading Assignments Let me give yu sme verall perspective n the reading assignments I am requiring. Starting in the 1980s, there has been a gspel awakening in the church, particular in Presbyterian and Refrmed circles althugh it has nw mved much beynd that, int Calvinistic Baptist circles, mainline circles, etc. I myself have preached the centrality f the gspel fr my entire ministry, since I started in 1986 even when I was nt really sure what I was talking abut! I have received much brutal, tail-kicking criticism fr my message f grace, particularly in my earlier years. The respnse was much like the respnse f the Athenians t Paul and the resurrectin in Acts 17, What is this strange teaching yu are bringing t ur ears? In ther wrds, the message f gspel grace, unin with Christ, and that bth justificatin AND sanctificatin by grace, were cmpletely FOREIGN t many f my cngregants. In fact, they saw the message as psitively harmful. Many f them said, Why d yu talk abut Jesus and his finished wrk s much? If yu keep talking abut that, yu are ging t just prduce a church f peple wh think they can live as they please. We want LAW! We want tail-kicking law! We want yu t beat the stuffing ut f us with guilt t get us t d the right things! Hmmmm, where have we heard all THAT befre??????? I was astunded by this criticism. I grew up in a Refrmed and Presbyterian church where the gspel was clearly preached. Frm a yung age, I learned abut Francis Schaeffer, wh was a gd friend f the pastr f ur church when I was yung. I ften heard his phrase the finished wrk f Christ, ver and ver again, as I grew up. Hwever, the implicatins f this phrase fr sanctificatin were never really discussed. But then, in the mid 1970s, when I was in high schl, a prfessr at nearby Westminster Seminary named Jack Miller started the New Life Presbyterian Church near where I lived in Philadelphia. His church met in the afternn, and many f my high schl friends went t it, s I went t my hme church in the mrning, and New Life in the afternn! Jack Miller s driving questin that led him t rethink everything was, In the Refrmed faith, we have all f this great thelgy, but we are dead. We have n life, we are nt evangelizing, and I d nt see lives really being changed. Why? This led him n an extensive jurney f gspel study, which led him t deep faith and repentance, and a rediscvery f the gspel and its pwer t bth save and sanctify. Jack develped a discipleship prgram called Snship, which was really the first gspel-centered discipleship curriculum put ut. Many peple criticized it as cheap grace, as they always d! But since that time, the message f justificatin and sanctificatin by grace thrugh faith has bradened, and is nw permeating the church. The critics have sheepishly run away, because even they knw this message is STANDARD Refrmed dctrine. Many mre peple are writing n it, many f whm were influenced by Jack Miller. But perhaps Tim Keller is the mst prminent spkespersn, and his materials have spread far and wide. And ver time, the message has been deepened and refined. I reflect n my wn experience. I grew up in a Refrmed church that preached the gspel. Hwever, unin with Christ fr sanctificatin was rarely mentined. I started t learn abut it, and when I started t preach it, it was met with, What in the wrld are yu talking abut????? It stunned me. But I began t study, and I realized, that
especially in the past, in Refrmed circles, the message f grace-centered sanctificatin thrugh unin with Christ was COMMON, STANDARD, AND NORMAL fr the church. S, what happened? Smetime befre the twentieth century, the message gt lst. Thse f us wh are preaching unin with Christ, and discipling thers in it, are simply preaching and teaching what was NORMAL and quite STANDARD fr Refrmed peple t d! The ppsitin t it is nt a reflectin n US, but mre a symptm f hw much the American evangelical church, even the Refrmed church, has lst the gspel and has frsaken ur wn heritage. We utsurced ur discipleship ministry t para-church discipleship ministries that preached and taught, Yu are nw frgiven. But, wrk hard, try harder, d better thrugh yur wn discipline, t becme hly. Well, yu knw the result f THAT methdlgy. S, in the reading, I have assigned many f the key wrks f literature that helped the church rediscver the gspel f justificatin and sanctificatin unin with Christ, by grace thrugh faith. In my view, these wrks have still nt been surpassed. The gdfather f it all is Walter Marshall s Gspel Mystery f Sanctificatin. Jhn Murray tld Jack Miller when Jack was a student that Gspel Mystery was the mst imprtant bk n sanctificatin every written. Jack absrbed it. Then, Jack was highly influenced, as was Tim Keller, by Richard Lvelace s bk Dynamics f Spiritual Life anther bk that clearly talks abut the centrality f grace and unin with Christ fr any kind f church renewal. Yu will see this gspel renewal perspective reflected in Jack Miller s bk Outgrwing the Ingrwn Church. And then, in the 1980s, Tim Keller was teaching at Westminster Seminary and attending Jack Miller s New Life Church. Tim was already gspel-centered, but becme far mre s after he became mre assciated with Jack Miller. And frm that was brn Tim Keller s Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, and the whle church planting mvement he has spawned. But underlying it all is the gspel-centered fcus that Tim Keller absrbed, preached, and led with. Center Church is his magnum pus n gspel-centered thelgy fr building a cmprehensive disciple-making church. S, that is why we are reading the whle prgressin f bks that rediscvered the gspel that we already SHOULD have believed. And bks like Ddsn s Gspel-Centered Discipleship drank frm that same funtain. We have re-discvered the truth f the gspel, that ur justificatin and ur sanctificatin cmes thrugh unin with Christ. S, understand it, and build a life f faith and repentance n it. But the next step is t build ministries in which every crner is pervaded by the gspel. This is discipleship. Assignments 1. Study thrugh Rmans using Tim Keller s Rmans: A Study Curse in the Gspel, Leader s Guide. The Leader s Guide als includes the Participants guide at the end, which is mainly 23 inductive studies wrking thrugh the passages f Rmans in chunks, with thught-prvking questins. The Leader s Guide gives cmmentary, exercises, qutes, etc. My primary interest is that yu wrk thrugh Rmans, wrking thrugh the text passage by passage, and applying it t yur wn life. Yu can use Keller s questins. But I als recmmend that yu use a gd cmmentary t wrk thrugh Rmans. There are many fine nes, and yu can get sme that are very detailed. Knck yurself ut! But t this day, I think ne f the finest cmmentaries n Rmans, brief but prfund, is Jhn Sttt s 2001 The Message f Rmans in the Bible Speaks Tday series. In the class I will be mentining the place f Rmans in discipleship ministry, but my primary interest is that YOU use Rmans as devtinal study befre the class meets t lead YOU t deeper repentance and faith in the gspel. Yu cannt give away what yu d nt have! (Nte: I will NOT be discussing the New Perspective n Paul when we discuss Rmans! Many f the newer cmmentaries n Rmans reflect this perspective. Sttt mentins it in the intrductin, but his cmmentary is nt based n it.) As a practical matter, there are 31 weeks frm January 1, 2018 until
the start f class. I recmmend yu just gradually wrk thrugh the 23 studies frm the Tim Keller study guide, and let the gspel sink deep int yur sul. If yu prcrastinate n this, and just binge study it near the end, yu will miss the WHOLE pint f this assignment, and it will prfit yu very little. I intend t study thrugh it myself! 2. A shrt reprt n yur church. By the first day f class, write a shrt reprt (5 10 pages max, dublespaced) n the current state f discipleship at yur church and email it t me at bruce.mcrae@cvenantseminary.edu. D nt fcus n evaluating, but simply n describing. What kind f discipleship is currently ging n in yur varius ministries? What is the basic thelgy f discipleship? D yu have any key disciple makers? D yu have an verall strategic visin and plan fr discipleship in yur church? What kind f cultural cntext is in yur church age, style, demgraphics f the ministry, etc. and what challenges and pprtunities des this present? 3. Reading Reprts. While reading the required texts, write a shrt reprt n each wrk. This can be single-spaced, and n mre than 2 pages per bk. Rather than give an verall summary and critique f the bk, r a bk review, pick ne key takeaway frm the bk which yu find particularly valuable, and describe it, and make sme specific applicatin t yur wn ministry. Here is an example f what this might lk like: In Outgrwing the Ingrwn Church, Jack Miller gives 7 characteristics f an ingrwn church. Yu culd describe these characteristics, and then describe hw yur particular church embdies these characteristics f ingrwn-ness, and what yu intend t d abut it. The pint f this reading reprt is t have yu write up smething useful t yur particular ministry that yu take frm each bk. Email it by the first day f class t bruce.mcrae@cvenantseminary.edu. 4. Final Prject (due fur mnths after the cnclusin f class; i.e., December 10, 2018): Many f the final prjects in the CTS DMin prgram are final prjects using qualitative research methdlgy i.e., interviewing several peple n a specific tpic, ding a literature review, and reprting yur findings. This is the methd yu will use fr yur DMin dissertatin. Hwever, fr this class, I am NOT requiring qualitative research methdlgy fr yur final prject. A qualitative research prject will nt maximize what I want yu t d. Rather, d a regular paper based n the class lectures and readings. The paper shuld be 40 50 pages, duble-spaced, but NO MORE than 50 pages. In yur final paper, here is what I want yu t d. Use the reading and the class discussins as a basis t lay ut an verall strategic disciple making visin and plan fr yur church r ministry. Here are sme questins and cncepts t help prvide a rubric fr the paper. Lay ut the cultural cntext f the ministry yu are in. What is the age, structure, style, eths, etc. Describe it in detail. What generatins f peple are represented in the ministry, and what characterizes them? Als, describe what rle yu play in this ministry (senir pastr, assciate pastr, etc., and make sure yu describe what kind f leadership authrity (r lack theref) t plan and execute new ministries. Fr this part f the paper, feel free t use as much f yur earlier, shrter paper n the state f discipleship in the cultural cntext f yur church as yu need t, with any necessary revisins. Describe the spiritual state f the church r ministry, a la Revelatin 2 3, and the principles f church vitality. What is the level f maturity in the cngregatin, what is their understanding f the gspel (i.e., I am in a new church, and neither the gspel f grace nr the bible has been preached in 25 years... ), what is the level f biblical understanding, etc. Interact with the class lectures and literature and give a gspel-centered understanding f sanctificatin hw unin with Christ must drive all f discipleship. But als, hw unin with
Christ leads us t persnal hliness, using the means f grace, Christian wrship and cmmunity, equipping peple fr service with their spiritual gifts, and grwth in knwledge f Scripture and thelgy. Describe as best yu can hw yu plan t disciple peple using a gspel-centered mdel f discipleship. Dream big and bld, yet be realistic. What will yu put in place t develp a gspelcentered disciple-making plan and strategy in yur church? Talk abut what yu plan t get acrss, and what resurces yu will use t (Bible bks, specific bks, etc.) What structures will yu use t disciple peple (small grups, infrmal meetings, etc. Lay ut a general timeline that is realistic i.e., I will d these things in year ne, by the end f 5 years I will have dne these things, etc. Shw hw this disciple-making plan can be the basis fr develping new leaders in the church. Make sure yu describe any bstacles t yur plan that are present in yur specific cultural cntext. Fr instance, in my church, peple under 50 d nt cme t Sunday schl and are hardly willing t cme t anything ther than mrning wrship. They are nt interested in attending traditinal church ministry structures. Sunday schl is disappearing fr adults. They bring their children t Sunday schl and then g ut fr cffee until wrship starts. This creates a huge challenge. S hw will yu deal with this? Hw will yu disciple yunger peple if they d nt cme t anything in the church in the first place? Things like this. Email this final prject t bruce.mcrae@cvenantseminary.edu by December 10, 2018. I am SO lking frward t spending this class with yu! What an imprtant subject t grapple with!