Blogogetics

Giving an apologia (defense) for the faith we have

Posts Tagged New Testament

Personal Worship

Sep 23

Posted by Luke Shiras in Worship | No Comments

The following are notes from a study I did about Personal Worship. We were looking at the tree analogy of roots, trunk and branches (study, affections, and fruits). More specifically, I was looking at how within each of these are three aspects; personal, social (small/intimate group) and corporate (church). Many of my notes come from Directory for Worship with some additional notes from Experiencing God Through Private Worship

Worship
William Temple defined worship this way, “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, and to devote the will to the purpose of God.” (Psalm 29:2, 1 Chronicles 16:29) The word worship comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word “worthship”. It literally means to attribute or ascribe worth to some one. It carries the idea of declaring the object of worship as being worthy of honor. The Greek word in the New Testament that is most often translated “worship” is the word “proskuneo.” This word means to “kiss the hand of one in a token of reverence, also by kneeling or prostration to pay homage.” The second most common word is “sebomai”, this word means “to revere”. Other words are used, but these are sufficient to teach us that the Bible sees worship as an act of honoring God because of His great worthiness to be honored. Read the rest of this entry »

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New Testament Deacon

Aug 18

Posted by Luke Shiras in Reading | No Comments

A short essay on Alexander Strauch’s The New Testament Deacon: The Church’s Minister of Mercy

When I began reading this book, I had now idea what a Deacon was supposed to be and therefore had no idea there was a question about it. Having read the book, I see why Alexander Strauch calls them “Ministers of Mercy” and also why there is a question as to their roles and responsibilities. Scripture does not come right out and say; “Deacons are this and they do that”. But Strauch makes a strong argument for the roles of deacons as “Ministers of Mercy”. Unfortunately, I think he (and many others) may be coming to the wrong conclusion.

First, I have to admit that while my head is quite large, my brain is rather small, so I might (just this once) be wrong about my own conclusions. Strauch makes the connection between the Deacons mentioned in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 and the Seven described in Acts 6:3. This does not seem to me to be supported by scripture but rather, inferred from the relationship between the Greek words diakonia, diakoneō, and diakonos. Since I haven’t studied Greek, I can’t confidently validate this conclusion, so I will accept this as possible so that I may address my main concern which is; the role of deacons.

If Deacons are the byproduct of the Seven from Acts 6:1-6, then the question that comes to mind is; what is the role and responsibility of the deacon? Now, my church clearly supports the connection made between the Seven from Acts 6 and the Deacons from 1 Timothy. This is seen in their own list of qualifications for deacons. Again, I do not have a problem with that. What I disagree with is Strauch’s description of deacons as “Ministers of Mercy”. Strauch clearly believes that Deacons are to serve the needs of the Church’s poor but I would be inclined to believe they are to serve the Church by freeing the shepherds from administrative duties. “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables” Acts 6:2. I find Stauch’s interpretation too limiting in scope and far too specialized.

The Seven were called to take the burden of service off the Apostles by handling the charitable distribution issues facing the church. Does this mean that they, as Deacons, are simply to serve the needy of the Church or to serve the Shepherds by reducing their administrative burdens and thus allowing them to “give [themselves] continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4)? What this comes down to is a basic example of principle and method. The principle is that the Seven took on the burden of serving so the Shepherds could focus on studying and teaching of the word of God (which ultimately serves the Church, too). Strauch is letting the method (distributing charity) define the principle (supporting the Shepherds).

What does this mean for Kaleo and our Deacons? Simply put, they are to serve the Church in many ways. Deacons are to serve the Church by taking charge of our various ministries as Strauch believes, but also by developing and updating our website and doing building and property management. Deacons are to organize and facilitate the different programs we offer from children’s study to Film & Theology. All these things and more serve the Church directly through the benefits they bring but also indirectly by allowing our Elders to continue in their studies so that they may continually teach us (and others through us) the wonderful Word of God.

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Hello world!

Jun 8

Posted by Luke Shiras in General Info | 1 Comment

Christian apologetics is the field of study concerned with the systematic defense of Christianity. The term “apologetic” comes from the Greek word apologia, which means in defense of; therefore a person involved in Christian or Bible Apologetics is a defender of Christianity. Someone who engages in Christian apologetics is called a “Christian apologist”. Christian apologetics have taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul of Tarsus, including renowned writers such as Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas, and continuing today with the modern Christian community through authors such as Karl Keating and Jimmy Akin. Apologists have based their defense of Christianity on favoring interpretations of historical evidence, philosophical arguments, scientific investigation, and other avenues.

This Classical Greek term appears in the Koine (i.e. common) Greek of the New Testament. The apostle Paul employed the term “apologia” in his trial speech to Festus and Agrippa when he said, “I make my defense” (Acts 26:2). In the English language, the word apology, derived from the Greek word “apologia”, usually refers to asking for forgiveness for an action that is open to blame. Christian apologetics are meant, however, to argue that Christianity is reasonable and in accordance with the evidence that can be examined, analogous to the use of the term in the Apology of Socrates, written by Plato.

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (1 Peter 3:15).

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