Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Christian Life and Our Participation in Christ’s Continuing Ministry
    The Christian Life and Our Participation in Christ’s Continuing Ministry
    The Christian Life and Our Participation in Christ’s Continuing Ministry
    Ebook54 pages49 minutes

    The Christian Life and Our Participation in Christ’s Continuing Ministry

    By Gary W. Deddo

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This article is a revised version of a chapter by Gary Deddo in the book An Introduction to Torrance Theology: Discovering the Incarnate Savior, edited by Gerritt Scott Dawson. In this article, Dr. Deddo explains that ministry is not an add-on to our faith - it is something that flows out of our union with Christ. And when we consider the source, we can also see more clearly the form and content of our ministries.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGrace Communion International
    Release dateFeb 8, 2016
    ISBN9781310660009
    The Christian Life and Our Participation in Christ’s Continuing Ministry

    Read more from Gary W. Deddo

    Related to The Christian Life and Our Participation in Christ’s Continuing Ministry

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Theology: Why Do We Need It?

      Nov 27, 2020

      Theology: Why Do We Need It?
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Miracles of Holy Week

      Mar 26, 2022

      The Miracles of Holy Week
      4 min read

    • Article

      Receiving The Good News Lessons From The Parable Of The Sower

      Jun 12, 2020

      The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. It is the best-selling book year after year, every year. It far outsells any other book, with a whopping 4 billion copies sold over the last 50 years. The mission with which I work, Hellenic Ministries,

      5 min read

    • Article

      Commentary: Sin in America

      Feb 21, 2022

      Commentary: Sin in America
      3 min read

    • Article

      Stumbling Blocks That Delay Church Transformation Part 5

      May 20, 2022

      In my previous writings I have pointed out that institutionalised Christianity is fading away. Organised religious systems are sucking the life of Christ out of believers. In many cases, believers are busy with the church programme, but not with God.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Audrey Hardy

      Feb 10, 2020

      We read a lot these days about ‘fake news’ – but I wonder if such a thing as a ‘fake gospel’ also exists, and how to define it? Does one consider anything that does not bring the believer to maturity, as mentioned in Colossians 1:28, a fake gospel? D

      1 min read

    • Article

      THE WAR FOR OUR YOUTH Why creation still matters

      Dec 30, 2019

      We’re being told by public education systems, universities, media, some parents, and unfortunately many church leaders, that parts of the Bible are not relevant anymore and that we need to reinvent God’s word. So, with this situation, in order to und

      3 min read

    • Article

      How Should We Respond To Celebrities Coming To Christ?

      Dec 30, 2019

      If you’ve been following the news lately, you will have noticed a significant wave of celebrities who are turning to Christ. In what is referred to as a massive spiritual movement, the sinful city of Hollywood is turning more and more stars away from

      5 min read

    • Article

      Time For The Church To Embark On A Navel-gazing Exercise

      Mar 31, 2024

      FOR any political structure that fails in the absence of moral direction, it would seem natural for it to turn to organised religion for leadership. Unfortunately, the direction of most modern institutional religion is decidedly secular. The institu

      5 min read

    • Article

      A New Day Of Pentecost

      Jul 21, 2023

      A New Day Of Pentecost
      2 min read

    • Article

      Breaking Christian Traditions

      Jun 12, 2020

      We are starting to open up our country after many weeks of lockdown that saw citizens confined to their houses. The Christian Church suffered a huge setback during this time, as Christians across the world could not attend services or cell groups, co

      1 min read

    • Article

      At Fellowship Church, Faith Knows No Creed Or Color

      Jul 19, 2021

      The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, founded in 1944, transcends barriers of race, color, and creed, uniting instead in a shared humanity.

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Christian Life and Our Participation in Christ’s Continuing Ministry

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Christian Life and Our Participation in Christ’s Continuing Ministry - Gary W. Deddo

      The Christian Life

      and Our Participation

      in Christ’s Continuing Ministry

      By Gary W. Deddo

      Copyright 2015 Grace Communion International

      This article is a revised version of a chapter by Gary Deddo in the book An Introduction to Torrance Theology: Discovering the Incarnate Savior, edited by Gerritt Scott Dawson.

      Introduction

      There has been in recent years in North America a rising emphasis on the nature and obligations of the Christian life, especially within the evangelical branches of the church, whether within mainline denominations, historically evangelical denominations or independent churches. This emphasis in itself is not problematic and could be an indicator of a growing awareness that being Christian requires a living coherence of piety and practice, faith and obedience, private devotion and public witness, personal holiness and social righteousness. In these days when there seems to be a significant moral decline, a call within the Christian church to obedience and faithfulness is understandable. This focus on the Christian life is registered in the vast sales of books like Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life. A hunger for more integrity and depth in the Christian life can also be seen in the ongoing interest in spiritual formation and the accompanying proliferation of books, seminars, and retreats on this theme.

      Some in the church see the great social needs of our society and world, especially apparent and magnified by natural disasters and wars. The issue of global justice has grabbed the attention of many in the church who are wrought up over terrorism, war, human trafficking, starvation and the devastating AIDS epidemic especially witnessed in Africa. There is an acute awareness that the Christian church ought to be more involved in bearing faithful witness to the justice and compassion of God in these situations.

      On another front, some long for a transformed and emerging church in which we would find A New Kind of Christian. In such churches, Christian witness would attempt to address our postmodern society more by deeds than by words, more by community than individuals. Among the youth we saw a brief and not unrelated revival of concern for faithful Christian living embodied in the motto that was printed on thousands of armbands worn by teenagers and admired by adults: WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?).

      In light of the seeming ineffectiveness and apparent irrelevance of the Christian faith in our secularized culture, other voices are calling for the establishment of a missional church. Such a church would be captivated by a vision that saw its very reason for being the engagement of the world though service, evangelism, and outreach. All of what the church is and does would gain its impetus and justification by virtue of its contributing to the missio Dei, the mission of God, to take the gospel to our postmodern culture.

      I mention these interests, trends, and themes of our contemporary church not to disparage them. There is a genuine hunger for Christian faithfulness in all of these. There is much to affirm, admire and commend in these movements that no doubt reflect something of the heart of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have no intention to commend to you yet another emphasis, program, theme or movement as a superior alternative to those just mentioned.

      The question of a proper foundation

      Taking as my cue the theological vision of the Torrance brothers (Thomas F. Torrance and James B. Torrance), I want to raise a question about the foundations on which these various approaches to the Christian life are built—about the theological foundations that undergird them. Further, I would like to offer a theological foundation for any or every one of these movements. First, so that they might remain faithful to the gospel and its Lord, Jesus Christ. Second, so they do not lead to burnout and disillusionment in the Christian life and ministry.

      The theological insight of the Torrances bears witness that if these genuine impulses of the Spirit regarding the Christian life are not properly grounded, if they do not begin with a proper theological starting point, they will be open to subversion, even co-option by alien spirits and sooner

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1