Handbook of Megachurches
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Meserete Kristos Church Leadership During the Ethiopian Revolution (1974-1991)
Thriving under Persecution: Meserete Kristos Church Leadership during the Ethiopian Revolution (1974-1991) BRENT L. KIPFER* Abstract: Under persecution during the Ethiopian Revolution (1974-1991), highly committed men and women led the Meserete Kristos Church (MKC) through remarkable transformation and growth. Although persecution has been an enduring reality in the global church, leadership in that context has received scant research attention. Drawing on interviews and other first-person accounts of faithful MKC leaders in the Derg era, this essay explores the dynamics of their experience using the leadership theory of Robert E. Quinn as a conceptual lens. Persecution forced MKC leaders to clarify the priority of their commitment to Jesus and the mission of the church. Prepared to die for the sake of the gospel, they demonstrated leadership marked by a highly effective pursuit of purpose, compelling integrity under pressure, attractive love, and remarkable creativity—leading to extraordinary results. Between 1974 and 1991 the Meserete Kristos Church (MKC)—an Anabaptist Christian renewal movement in Ethiopia—experienced a profound transformation. Under pressure from a Marxist regime bent on eradicating evangelical Christianity from the country, the MKC grew from 800 to 34,000 baptized members, greatly expanded its geographic reach, dramatically increased the pool of people in active ministry, became financially self-supporting, adopted a radically new ministry structure, and nurtured a contagious spiritual vitality among its members. A remarkable group of leaders—both men and women—played an essential role in this transformation, leading the MKC with courageous purpose, integrity, love, and creativity. This essay, based largely on extensive interviews with twenty-four MKC leaders, explores the dynamics of leadership that enabled the MKC not only to survive but also to flourish under circumstances of persecution and extreme hardship. -
Effective Evangelistic Strategies for North Korean Defectors (Talbukmin) in South Korea
ABSTRACT Effective Evangelistic Strategies for North Korean Defectors (Talbukmin) in South Korea South Korean churches eagerness for spreading the gospel to North Koreans is a passion. However, because of the barriers between the two Koreas, spreading the Good News is nearly impossible. In the middle of the 1990’s, numerous North Koreans defected to China to avoid starvation. Many South Korean missionaries met North Koreans directly and offered the gospel along with necessities for survival in China. Since the early of 2000’s, many Talbukmin have entered South Korea so South Korean churches have directly met North Koreans and spread the gospel. However, the fruits of evangelism are few. South Korean churches find that Talbukmin are very different from South Koreans in large part due to the sixty-year division. South Korean churches do not know or fully understand the characteristics of the Talbukmin. The evangelism strategies and ministry programs of South Korean churches, which are designed for South Koreans, do not adapt well to serve the Talbukmin. This research lists and describes the following five theories to be used in the development of the effective evangelistic strategies for use with the Talbukmin and for use to interpret the interviews and questionnaires: the conversion theory, the contextualization theory, the homogenous principle, the worldview transformation theory, and the Nevius Mission Plan. In the following research exploration of the evangelization of Talbukmin in South Korea occurs through two major research agendas. The first agenda is concerned with the study of the characteristics of Talbukmin to be used for the evangelists’ understanding of the depth of differences. -
7 Political Corruption in Ukraine
NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENCE π 7 (111) CONTENTS POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN UKRAINE: ACTORS, MANIFESTATIONS, 2009 PROBLEMS OF COUNTERING (Analytical Report) ................................................................................................... 2 Founded and published by: SECTION 1. POLITICAL CORRUPTION AS A PHENOMENON: APPROACHES TO DEFINITION ..................................................................3 SECTION 2. POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN UKRAINE: POTENTIAL ACTORS, AREAS, MANIFESTATIONS, TRENDS ...................................................................8 SECTION 3. FACTORS INFLUENCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COUNTERING UKRAINIAN CENTRE FOR ECONOMIC & POLITICAL STUDIES POLITICAL CORRUPTION ......................................................................33 NAMED AFTER OLEXANDER RAZUMKOV SECTION 4. CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSALS ......................................................... 40 ANNEX 1 FOREIGN ASSESSMENTS OF THE POLITICAL CORRUPTION Director General Anatoliy Rachok LEVEL IN UKRAINE (INTERNATIONAL CORRUPTION RATINGS) ............43 Editor-in-Chief Yevhen Shulha ANNEX 2 POLITICAL CORRUPTION: SPECIFICITY, SCALE AND WAYS Layout and design Oleksandr Shaptala OF COUNTERING IN EXPERT ASSESSMENTS ......................................44 Technical & computer support Volodymyr Kekuh ANNEX 3 POLITICAL CORRUPTION: SCALE AND WAYS OF COUNTERING IN PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS AND ASSESSMENTS ...................................49 This magazine is registered with the State Committee ARTICLE of Ukraine for Information Policy, POLITICAL -
For Free Distribution
ELECTIONS LeGAL ASSESSMENT US AMBASSADOR GeOFFREY PYATT IN UKRAINE OF THE 2014 RuSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR ON CHALLENGES FOR UKRAINE № 14 (80) NOVEMBER 2014 WWW.UKRAINIANWEEK.COM Featuring selected content from The Economist FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION |CONTENTS BRIEFING Lobbymocracy: Ukraine does not have Rapid Response Elections: The victory adequate support in the West, either in of pro-European parties must be put political circles, or among experts. The to work toward rapid and irreversible situation with the mass media and civil reforms. Otherwise it will quickly turn society is slightly better into an equally impressive defeat 28 4 Leonidas Donskis: An imagined dialogue on several clichés and misperceptions POLITICS 30 Starting a New Life, Voting as Before: Elections in the Donbas NEIGHBOURS 8 Russia’s gangster regime – the real story Broken Democracy on the Frontline: “Unhappy, poorly dressed people, 31 mostly elderly, trudged to the polls Karen Dawisha, the author of Putin’s to cast their votes for one of the Kleptocracy, on the loyalty of the Russian richest people in Donetsk Oblast” President’s team, the role of Ukraine in his grip 10 on power, and on Russia’s money in Europe Poroshenko’s Blunders: 32 The President’s bloc is painfully The Bear, Master of itsT aiga Lair: reminiscent of previous political Russians support the Kremlin’s path towards self-isolation projects that failed bitterly and confrontation with the West, ignoring the fact that they don’t have a realistic chance of becoming another 12 pole of influence in the world 2014 -
Five Principles to Make and Multiply Disciples Through the Small Group Ministry
LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY FIVE PRINCIPLES TO MAKE AND MULTIPLY DISCIPLES THROUGH THE SMALL GROUP MINISTRY DOCTOR OF MINISTRY PROJECT A Thesis Project Submitted to Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF MINISTRY By Timothy W. Yates Barboursville, West Virginia November, 2012 ii Copyright © 2012 by Timothy W. Yates All Rights Reserved iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In January of 2009, my Pastor, Dr. David Lemming began to realize the traditional Sunday school was no longer effective as a means of evangelism and discipleship. Consequently, Pastor Lemming asked me to investigate the small group model. Thank you Pastor for having the wisdom and fortitude to leave a traditional model in order to embrace a more effective means of making disciples. Thank you for entrusting me with this ministry. Fortunately, that same year, I enrolled at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and eventually became a disciple of Dr. Dave Earley and Dr. Rodney Dempsey. I want to thank these two godly men for sending me on the most incredible journey of my life. You time, training, and friendship have been invaluable and life changing. I also want to thank my wife (soul mate) who also joined me in my mission. Thank you for being an incredible small group leader, disciple-maker and multiplier. You have the uncanny ability to see the big picture and the incredible potential of multiplication. It is a joy serving Jesus shoulder-to-shoulder with you. I also want to thank my mentor, Dr. Charles Davidson and my reader, Dr. Rodney Dempsey. Your constant encouragement has inspired me to forge ahead during the difficult days of writing. -
American Society
AMERICAN SOCIETY Prepared By Ner Le’Elef AMERICAN SOCIETY Prepared by Ner LeElef Publication date 04 November 2007 Permission is granted to reproduce in part or in whole. Profits may not be gained from any such reproductions. This book is updated with each edition and is produced several times a year. Other Ner LeElef Booklets currently available: BOOK OF QUOTATIONS EVOLUTION HILCHOS MASHPIAH HOLOCAUST JEWISH MEDICAL ETHICS JEWISH RESOURCES LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT ORAL LAW PROOFS QUESTION & ANSWERS SCIENCE AND JUDAISM SOURCES SUFFERING THE CHOSEN PEOPLE THIS WORLD & THE NEXT WOMEN’S ISSUES (Book One) WOMEN’S ISSUES (Book Two) For information on how to order additional booklets, please contact: Ner Le’Elef P.O. Box 14503 Jewish quarter, Old City, Jerusalem, 91145 E-mail: [email protected] Fax #: 972-02-653-6229 Tel #: 972-02-651-0825 Page 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: PRINCIPLES AND CORE VALUES 5 i- Introduction 6 ii- Underlying ethical principles 10 iii- Do not do what is hateful – The Harm Principle 12 iv- Basic human rights; democracy 14 v- Equality 16 vi- Absolute equality is discriminatory 18 vii- Rights and duties 20 viii- Tolerance – relative morality 22 ix- Freedom and immaturity 32 x- Capitalism – The Great American Dream 38 a- Globalization 40 b- The Great American Dream 40 xi- Protection, litigation and victimization 42 xii- Secular Humanism/reason/Western intellectuals 44 CHAPTER TWO: SOCIETY AND LIFESTYLE 54 i- Materialism 55 ii- Religion 63 a- How religious is America? 63 b- Separation of church and state: government -
Bridesmaids”: a Modern Response to Patriarchy
“Bridesmaids”: A Modern Response to Patriarchy A Senior Project presented to The Faculty of the Communication Studies Department California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Arts By Blair Buckley © 2013 Blair Buckley Buckley 2 Table of Contents Introduction......................................................................................... 3 Bridesmaids : The Film....................................................................... 6 Rhetorical Methods............................................................................. 9 Critiquing the Artifact....................................................................... 14 Findings and Implications................................................................. 19 Areas for Future Study...................................................................... 22 Works Cited...................................................................................... 24 Buckley 3 Bridesmaids : A Modern Response to Patriarchy Introduction We see implications of our patriarchal world stamped across our society, not only in our actions, but in the endless artifacts to which we are exposed on both a conscious and subconscious basis. One outlet which constantly both reflects and enables patriarchy is our media; the movie industry in particular plays a critical role in constructing gender roles and reflecting our cultural attitudes toward patriarchy. Film and sociology scholars Stacie Furia and Denise Beilby say, -
Temptation to Control
PrESS frEEDOM IN UKRAINE : TEMPTATION TO CONTROL ////////////////// REPORT BY JEAN-FRANÇOIS JULLIARD AND ELSA VIDAL ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// AUGUST 2010 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// PRESS FREEDOM: REPORT OF FACT-FINDING VISIT TO UKRAINE ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 2 Natalia Negrey / public action at Mykhaylivska Square in Kiev in November of 2009 Many journalists, free speech organisations and opposition parliamentarians are concerned to see the government becoming more and more remote and impenetrable. During a public meeting on 20 July between Reporters Without Borders and members of the Ukrainian parliament’s Committee of Enquiry into Freedom of Expression, parliamentarian Andrei Shevchenko deplored not only the increase in press freedom violations but also, and above all, the disturbing and challenging lack of reaction from the government. The data gathered by the organisation in the course of its monitoring of Ukraine confirms that there has been a significant increase in reports of press freedom violations since Viktor Yanukovych’s election as president in February. LEGISlaTIVE ISSUES The government’s desire to control journalists is reflected in the legislative domain. Reporters Without Borders visited Ukraine from 19 to 21 July in order to accomplish The Commission for Establishing Freedom the first part of an evaluation of the press freedom situation. of Expression, which was attached to the presi- It met national and local media representatives, members of press freedom dent’s office, was dissolved without explanation NGOs (Stop Censorship, Telekritika, SNUJ and IMI), ruling party and opposition parliamentarians and representatives of the prosecutor-general’s office. on 2 April by a decree posted on the president’s At the end of this initial visit, Reporters Without Borders gave a news conference website on 9 April. -
Nternattona Ettn
• Vol. 17, No.3 nternattona July 1993 ettn• Doctoral Dissertations on Mission: Ten-Year Update, 1982-1991 William A. Smalley Ten years ago the INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY erate ever more rapidly, again reflecting change in the church RESEARCH published a directory of 934 doctoral dissertations on and in mission. Most of the topics indexed in the earlier bibliog mission-related subjects attheological schools anduniversities inthe raphy are to be found again in the pages that follow, but this United States and Canada. Almost four decades of research were decade also shows a distinct increase, especially in dissertations covered, from 1945 through 1982. In this issue we are pleased to dealing with theological issues in the younger churches, most present another directory of 512 North American dissertations for notably with non-traditional theologies. Liberation theology thedecade 1982-1991. predominatesamongthesenon-traditionaltheologies,butAsian, The compiler of thedirectory andauthor of thearticle below is African, black, and feminist theologies recur as well, as the William A. Smalley, afriend andcolleague ofmanyyears' standing. following summary indicates:" Now retired in Hamden, Connecticut, he is a near neighbor of the Overseas Ministries Study Center. For twenty-three years Dr. Smalley wasa translation consultant with theUnited Bible Societ ies, serving primarily in Southeast Asia.Duringpartofthatperiod he also edited Practical Anthropology, and for a time he was On Page principal of the Toronto Institute of Linguistics, which prepares missionary candidates for language and culture learning. Earlier 97 Doctoral Dissertations on Mission: Ten-Year Smalley wasa missionary linguistwith theChristian andMission Update, 1982-1991 aryAlliance in Laos andVietnam. Hismostrecent book isTransla William A. -
Rethinking Discipleship at Faith Methodist Church in Singapore: Making Disciples Through Effective Small Groups
Please HONOR the copyright of these documents by not retransmitting or making any additional copies in any form (Except for private personal use). We appreciate your respectful cooperation. ___________________________ Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) P.O. Box 30183 Portland, Oregon 97294 USA Website: www.tren.com E-mail: [email protected] Phone# 1-800-334-8736 ___________________________ ATTENTION CATALOGING LIBRARIANS TREN ID# Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) MARC Record # Digital Object Identification DOI # Ministry Focus Paper Approval Sheet This ministry focus paper entitled RETHINKING DISCIPLESHIP AT FAITH METHODIST CHURCH IN SINGAPORE: MAKING DISCIPLES THROUGH EFFECTIVE SMALL GROUPS Written by MOH-YING WONG and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Ministry has been accepted by the Faculty of Fuller Theological Seminary upon the recommendation of the undersigned reader: _____________________________________ Kurt Fredrickson Date Received: December 13, 2015 RETHINKING DISCIPLESHIP AT FAITH METHODIST CHURCH IN SINGAPORE: MAKING DISCIPLES THROUGH EFFECTIVE SMALL GROUPS A MINISTRY FOCUS PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY MOH-YING WONG DECEMBER 2015 ABSTRACT Rethinking Discipleship at Faith Methodist Church in Singapore: Making Disciples through Effective Small Groups Moh-Ying Wong Doctor of Ministry School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary 2015 The goal of this paper is to develop an intentional communal disciple-making process at Faith Methodist Church that will help foster life transformation among its members. At Faith Methodist Church, a transformed life is defined as one growing in the areas of Fellowship (community), Adoration (worship), Involvement (service), Transformation (discipleship), and Harvest (evangelism). -
Star Channels, March 18-24
MARCH 18 - 24, 2018 staradvertiser.com BY THE BOOK A killer takes a bestselling book about crime theory a little too literally in Instinct, a police procedural with a modern touch. In order to solve his murders, Det. Lizzie Needham (Bojana Novakovic) will need the author’s help. Watch as Dr. Dylan Reinhart (Alan Cumming), a former CIA operative-turned-professor and author, joins Needham in order to create a profi le and help catch the killer. Premiering Sunday, March 18, on CBS. WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE LIVE @ THE LEGISLATURE Join Senate and House leadership as they discuss upcoming legislation and issues of importance to the community. TOMORROW, 8:30AM | CHANNEL 49 | olelo.org/49 olelo.org ON THE COVER | INSTINCT The write wit Remixing police procedurals Without any motives or additional leads, following and firmly established the demand Needham reaches out to Reinhart for his help, for the police procedural drama. with ‘Instinct’ knowing that his unique perspective as author “Instinct” pulls from this transitory past, as — and former CIA operative — is her best hope the story began in the pages of a novel. The By K.A. Taylor at stopping this mysterious murderer. series is an adaptation of James Patterson’s TV Media To better prepare himself for the chase, novel “Murder Games,” with much of the Reinhart calls on some old friends for assis- series’ content staying true to Patterson’s olice procedural dramas are a staple of tance from his previous life, including Julian own words. Fans of literary, small-screen and North American television. Just mention- Cousins (Naveen Andrews, “Sense8”). -
The Concept of “Sister Churches” in Catholic-Orthodox Relations Since
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA The Concept of “Sister Churches” In Catholic-Orthodox Relations since Vatican II A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy © Copyright All Rights Reserved By Will T. Cohen Washington, D.C. 2010 The Concept of “Sister Churches” In Catholic-Orthodox Relations since Vatican II Will T. Cohen, Ph.D. Director: Paul McPartlan, D.Phil. Closely associated with Catholic-Orthodox rapprochement in the latter half of the 20 th century was the emergence of the expression “sister churches” used in various ways across the confessional division. Patriarch Athenagoras first employed it in this context in a letter in 1962 to Cardinal Bea of the Vatican Secretariat for the Promotion of Christian Unity, and soon it had become standard currency in the bilateral dialogue. Yet today the expression is rarely invoked by Catholic or Orthodox officials in their ecclesial communications. As the Polish Catholic theologian Waclaw Hryniewicz was led to say in 2002, “This term…has now fallen into disgrace.” This dissertation traces the rise and fall of the expression “sister churches” in modern Catholic-Orthodox relations and argues for its rehabilitation as a means by which both Catholic West and Orthodox East may avoid certain ecclesiological imbalances toward which each respectively tends in its separation from the other. Catholics who oppose saying that the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church are sisters, or that the church of Rome is one among several patriarchal sister churches, generally fear that if either of those things were true, the unicity of the Church would be compromised and the Roman primacy rendered ineffective.