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Antidote for Emerging Neopaganism : Developing a Discipleship Strategy That Calls for Faith in God in A

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Antidote for Emerging Neopaganism : Developing a Discipleship Strategy That Calls for Faith in God in A ABSTRACT ANTIDOTE FOR EMERGING NEOPAGANISM: DEVELOPING A DISCIPLESHIP STRATEGY THAT CALLS FOR FAITH IN GOD IN A GROWING CONGREGATION By Victor O. Olaosebikan A great shift in the focus of faith from God to elements of worship was observed among the members of St. Luke’s Anglican Cathedral Church, Birnin Kebbi. The elements of worship such as water, Holy Communion wine, anointing oil as well as stickers and pictures of men of God were being idolized, thus replacing the ancient gospel landmark with modified paganism (Neopaganism) in the church. The purpose of this research project was to measure the changes in knowledge, attitude, and behavior regarding elements of religion and faith in God among those who participated in a six-month preaching and teaching emphasis at St. Luke’s Anglican Cathedral Church, Birnin Kebbi. The employment of pre- and post-faith development assessment surveys among one hundred participants, as well as three focus group interviews revealed the change in knowledge, attitude, and behavior among the participants. The combined data evaluated the effectiveness of this intentional approach to disciple members of St. Luke’s Anglican Cathedral Church, Birnin Kebbi. The findings suggest that developing intentional purposeful biblical pulpit teaching and preaching in an inductive manner, integrating discipleship teaching that culminate in leadership development and mentoring in different church subgroups, and development of a consistent personal devotional lifestyle, facilitates increased faith in God in total allegiance among the participants of the intervention. DISSERTATION APPROVAL This is to certify that the dissertation entitled ANTIDOTE FOR EMERGING NEOPAGANISM: DEVELOPING A DISCIPLESHIP STRATEGY THAT CALLS FOR FAITH IN GOD IN A GROWING CONGREGATION Presented by Victor O. Olaosebikan Has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for the DOCTOR OF MINISTRY degree at Asbury Theological Seminary Dissertation Coach Date Director, Doctor of Ministry Program Date Dean of the Beeson Center Date ANTIDOTE FOR EMERGING NEOPAGANISM: DEVELOPING A DISCIPLESHIP STRATEGY THAT CALLS FOR FAITH IN GOD IN A GROWING CONGREGATION A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Ministry By Victor O. Olaosebikan May 2018 © 2018 Victor O. Olaosebikan ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1 NATURE OF THE PROJECT .....................................................................1 Overview of the Chapter .........................................................................................1 Personal Introduction ...............................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................3 Purpose of the Project……………………………………………………………...4 Research Questions ..................................................................................................4 Research Question #1 ..................................................................................4 Research Question #2 ..................................................................................4 Research Question #3 ..................................................................................5 Rationale for the Project ..........................................................................................5 Definition of Key Terms ..........................................................................................6 Ancient Landmark……………………………………………………….6 Neopaganism……………………………………………………………..6 Religion/ Worship elements/ Symbols …………………………………..7 Syncretism………………………………………………………………..7 Delimitations ............................................................................................................7 Review of Relevant Literature .................................................................................8 Research Methodology ..........................................................................................11 Type of Research ......................................................................................12 Participants ................................................................................................12 iii Instrumentation ..........................................................................................13 Data Collection .........................................................................................13 Data Analysis ............................................................................................14 Generalizability .........................................................................................14 Project Overview ...................................................................................................14 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW FOR THE PROJECT .........................................16 Overview of the Chapter ........................................................................................16 Biblical Foundations ..............................................................................................17 The sign of the Blood .................................................................................18 The Lord’s Supper .....................................................................................19 The bronze snake and the Cross…………………………………………..21 The Ark of the Covenant………………………………………………….23 Significance and Abuse of the Ark in the Old Testament…………….......23 Miracles of feeding of five thousand……………………………………..25 Theological Foundations ........................................................................................26 Total Obedience ..........................................................................................27 Allegiance to God. .....................................................................................28 Generational Discipleship………………………………………………...29 Sincere Worship of God………………………………………………….32 The Great Commission…………………………………………………...33 The Great Omission…………………………………………………...….37 Call to Discipleship…………………………………………………….....48 Danger of an Undiscipled Church……………………………………….57 Effecting a Discipleship Model……………………………………….....67 Research Design Literature ....................................................................................75 iv Summary of Literature ...........................................................................................76 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FOR THE PROJECT………………….78 Overview of the Chapter………………………………………………………….78 Nature and Purpose of the Project .....................................................................…78 Research Questions ................................................................................................79 Research Question #1 ................................................................................79 Research Question #2 ................................................................................80 Research Question #3 ................................................................................80 Ministry Context(s) ................................................................................................80 Participants .............................................................................................................82 Criteria for Selection .................................................................................82 Description of Participants ........................................................................83 Ethical Considerations ..............................................................................84 Instrumentation ......................................................................................................84 Pilot Test or Expert Review .......................................................................85 Reliability and Validity of Project Design ................................................88 Data Collection ......................................................................................................89 Data Analysis .........................................................................................................91 CHAPTER 4 EVIDENCE FOR THE PROJECT ..............................................................92 Overview of the Chapter .......................................................................................92 Participants ............................................................................................................92 Research Question #1: Description of Evidence ..................................................94 Research Question #2: Description of Evidence ................................................103 Research Question #3: Description of Evidence ................................................111 v Summary of findings from Focus Group on the impact of teaching/preaching intervention...................................................................................................111 Elements of worship; Mystical Revelation of God’s deed to the church…..112 Abuse of Worship
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