Category: General

April Biblical Studies Carnival

Post author By Christopher L. Scott
Post date May 1, 2019

For the April Biblical Studies Carnival I am featuring some articles and blog posts I found around the internet based on the four interests of this blog: Bible, theology, small groups, and leadership. I hope you learn and enjoy these posts as much as I did the past month.

BIBLE

Acts 21 – James and the Law. An interesting blog post from Dr. Phil Long contrasting James and the Law with Paul. Worth a read!
Philippians 2:5. A look at “think this” by Greek scholar, Bill Mounce.
Jesus and the Just, Executed Criminal Typology in the Gospel of Mark.
Plans for the NA29 and UBS6. Oh no! Another NA that I have to purchase! Santa please bring it!
Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem: Chronological and Narrative Problems. I appreciate how Gary Greenburg doesn’t just point out problems, but he also provides a solution.
Acts 24 – Who was Felix? One of my favorite Bible verse-by-verse blogs by Dr. Long.
Book Review: Romans (ZECNT), Frank Thielman. A good book review by Spoiled Milks blog.

THEOLOGY

Three Great Negotiations of Presbyterianism (Hodge). Little known fact: my grandmother was a PCUSA minister!
Can We Believe God’s Word is True Because our Parents Told Us? Some solid points from the Canon Fodder blog.
The Spread of the Gospel and the End of the World. The end of the world should be an encouraging thins. Some good points from my Dallas Theological Seminary friend, Aaron Massey.
Regeneration: Spiritual Resurrection. An essential to the Christian faith.

SMALL GROUPS

Five Ideas to Help Small Group Members Be More Present. I like this post cause it reminds us that groups are about community and about being with each other. His tips for prayer a solid too.
What is “disciple.” Some good thoughts and definitions of “disciple” and “discipleship.”
Five Takeaways from the Lobby Gathering. The Lobby Gathering is a great small groups conference held in California each year. I have never been to it, but have heard it is great!
Top 10 Ways to Build a Culture of Celebration. More great tips from Mark Howell about how to lead your small groups ministry team effectively.
Identifying and Recruiting New Leaders. Some great tips (in podcast format) for getting new leaders for your small groups.
3 Reasons Small Groups Leaders Need Humility. Roger Carr has been an acquaintance for a long time. He knows his stuff!
Sermons Don’t Make Disciples. I agree with Allen White on this one. I see sermons as a launching pad for discipleship and a reference tool for discipleship, but they don’t make disciples.
Creating Intentional Pathways to Small Groups. Some good thoughts and questions that might help small group pastors better connect people into groups.
Five Ways to Foster Friendships in Small Groups. Developing friendships and fellowship in a small group can be difficult. This post helps new groups.
A Summer Series Can Stunt Your Fall Launch. I read everything Allen White writes on small groups. Solid stuff!

LEADERSHIP

Seven Ways to Overcome Distraction and Do What Matters. Another great post from the Leadership Freak.
New Leadership Books for April, 2019. The LeadershipNow blog shares the newest leadership books for the month.
4 Questions the Best Managers Ask to Energize Their Employees. Always great and simple tips from the Leadership Freak.
Why Great Leaders Extend Grace. Good post I need to read over and over again as a reminder to me.
A Must Read List for Growing Leaders. A good list, but I was surprised to see no John Maxwell books on his list.

UPCOMING BIBLICAL STUDIES CARNIVALS

May 2019 (Due June 1) – Claude Mariottini @DrMariottini
June 2019 (Due July 1) – HOST NEEDED
July 2019 (Due August 1) – My Digital Seminary, Lindsay Kennedy @digitalseminary
August 2016 (Due Sept 1) – Amateur Exegete, @amateurexegete

If you want to host a future carnival, email Phil Long (plong42 at gmail.com) or direct message him on Twitter (@plong42) to volunteer.

General

How to Assimilate New People into Small Groups

Post author By Christopher L. Scott
Post date March 5, 2018

The regular part of a healthy and growing church means that new people need to be assimilated into existing small groups that the church has. As Small Groups Pastor at Rocky Hill Community Church we refer new people to groups every week! Below are some tips about how to assimilate new people into small groups.

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Quick Review of our “LIFE” LIFEGroup Culture at our Church

1. LIFE

Our church calls our small groups “LIFE” groups. The L.I.F.E. each stands for a core value.

L = Learning – Instilling the Word of God.
I = Including – Assimilating new people.
F = Fellowshipping – Experiencing biblical fellowship.
E = Equipping – Preparing people to minister.

2. Four Practical Aspects to RHCC’s LIFEGroups

There are a few practical things we want each group to do as a way to maintain a healthy small groups.

Apprentice – Training new facilitator leaders. We want every group to have a facilitator and an apprentice or co-leader.
Empty Chair – Committed to outreach. Keep an empty chair visible as a reminder for the group to pray for the lost and unsaved person.
Unifying Question – Complimenting weekend worship, not replacing. This is a question we have the groups ask before the begin the meeting to tie the small group lesson into the big church sermon from the weekend.
Serving – Working together to serve our church and community. We want every group to serve once a year either inside our church or doing outreach.

3. Why Do Small Groups?

Tags small groups, welcoming people

General

Defining Postmodernity in a Postmodern World

Post author By Christopher L. Scott
Post date October 14, 2013

Postmodernity is the period of time after the enlightenment which describes a new way of thinking about, looking at, and interpreting the world.[ref]Glenn Kreider, “Historical Overview of Christian Theology: The Modern Period, c. 1700-The Present” (lecture, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, TX, 2004).[/ref]

Defining Postmodernity in a Postmodern World

Photo Credit: breyeschow

Postmodernists (I use the word “postmodernist” as a way to describe a person adhering to and living in the time of postmodernity) believe there is no external[ref]Kreider, “Historical Overview of Christian Theology.”[/ref] source of authority because truth, logic, and reason are subjective,[4] not objective.

Tags postmodern, postmodernity, Stanley Grenz

General

3 Tips for Searching for a Seminary

Post author By Christopher L. Scott
Post date June 13, 2013

For more than a year my wife and I have ventured on a journey to explore seminaries and see what is available for me to study. Our journeys took us to Dallas (TX), Pasadena (CA), Portland (OR), back to Dallas, to Virginia Beach (VA), and to Wilmore (KY).

pic of two roads

Flickr Photo Credit: CraigCloutier

Throughout our search for a seminary I have discerned three tips that a prospective seminary student needs to practice in order to make the correct decision. These three tips were very helpful to me when looking at seminaries, and I hope they can be helpful to you too.

General

Book review of More Ready Than You Realize by Brian McLaren

Post author By Christopher L. Scott
Post date October 23, 2011

Recently I finished reading the book, More Ready Than You Realize by Brian McLaren. As a Christian man who is hopes to be a good witness (and respectful) to non-Christians, this book was very beneficial to me.

Beginning to read, More Ready Than You Realize is exciting to me because I like the idea of evangelism being less about an “event” and more about a “process.” I think the main reason I am excited to learn more about evangelism being a process is because I came to know and follow Jesus through a four year process. I was the product of “good evangelists” like those McLaren defines as, “people who engage others in good conversation about important topics such as faith, values, hope, meaning, purpose, goodness, beauty, truth, life after death, life before death, and God” (pg 16). That describes the process that I was engaged in for four years before I finally became a Christian and it is encouraging to see that McLaren encourages others to be that way too.

Tags Brian McLaren, evangelism, More Ready Than You Realize

General

My Story of Being Discipled

Post author By Christopher L. Scott
Post date October 17, 2011

It was a spring afternoon when I shared with two men my vision for the work that I wanted to do in the future.

I shared with them my desire to serve leaders through writing books and teaching. Shortly after that day, one of the two men privately approached me and shared that he saw some leadership giftedness in me, and he wanted to coach me to help maximize my effectiveness as a leader. I gratefully accepted his offer knowing little about the drastic change that was about to take place in my professional and spiritual life.

Tags discipled, discipleship, mentoring

General

My Sense of Call

Post author By Christopher L. Scott
Post date September 26, 2011

The purpose of my life is to be a leading servant who spreads God’s love around the world.

I. TO HELP LEADERS

I do that by serving and helping leaders. That sense of call for ministry comes from when I attended a training on how to lead small groups at our church. I was originally at that training because I wanted to create a small group of guys who would study leadership from the Bible and spend time getting to know each other.

I wanted to create a group of Christian guys who have leadership potential and want to lead. While at that small group training I felt God tell me, “Christopher, I want you to go to make leaders of everyday men and women.” Before this happened I already had a good feel for my sense of calling. I had been involved in leading a volunteer based program for five years, and I had personally seen the difference that good leadership has on a program. Therefore I was at the small group training to learn to train leaders, and what God shared with me was a tremendous encouragement that I was walking along the correct path.

Tags call, mission, purpose

General

Why I Like Quiet Time

Post author By Christopher L. Scott
Post date September 25, 2011

One of my favorite parts of the day are the hours from 4:30 AM to 6 AM.

Why?

Because that’s my quiet time.

What’s my quiet time look like? It means I get to have some time by myself to enjoy a cup of coffee, journal, read my bible, pray, and do any important tasks I “must do” for the day. Those two hours are the best part of my day because they are time for myself and time for God.

Tags prayer, quiet time, reflection

General

What I Learned from English 1A

Post author By Christopher L. Scott
Post date January 26, 2011

In preparation for completing my degree in Christian Ministry and Leadership at Fresno Pacific University (FPU), I took an English 1A class last fall. English 1A is a basic reading and composition class.

Many a friend found it ironic that someone who has penned a book and over 570 blog posts would need to take a basic English class. But, I needed the class for FPU, so I took it.

English 1A was taught by Rob Sledge, a professor I had taken twice while attending California State University, Stanislaus. Rob is a great guy, and when I saw he was teaching the class I needed to take for FPU, I registered as soon as possible.

Tags English, English 1A, Rob Sledge, Rob Sledge English, still waters run deep

General

Taking a Day Off

Post author By Christopher L. Scott
Post date September 10, 2010

Last year I realized that I needed to begin taking one day off a week. At the time I was working very hard seven days a week, often going many months without taking a day off to rest and relax. At the time I was a single bachelor with very little family in the area where I lived, so I didn’t really have anyone I would rather spend time with instead of working. I had work and some friends, but not much else.

At the time I was working eight hours a day at United Way until 5 PM, then I would transition into “A Day of Hope mode” where I would work for the next three hours on fundraising letters, recruiting volunteers, our e-newsletter and social media we had going. Then, on Saturdays I would often do a fundraiser car wash for A Day of Hope and then Sunday was catch up day on administrative work.

Tags priorities, rest, taking a day off