Religious Tradition Essay

Consecrated life is a call to in which baptized men and women offer their entire selves solely to God. There are a variety of ways to live out the call to consecrated life, and it usually charactered three main components called the three evangelical counsels, and they are poverty, chastity, and obedience. The purpose of these three evangelical counsels require people to go “beyond the minimum rules of life required by God (such as the Ten Commandments and the precepts of the Church) and strive for spiritual perfection through a life” (Vocation 149) committed to the three components. Besides living out the evangelical counsels consecrated persons are also called to live out their communities’ charism; a unique gift or grace of the Holy Spirit

Wilhoit, James C.. Spiritual Formation as it the Church Matters. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics, 2008.

As we have peeled away the layers of what evangelicalism and fundamentalism means throughout history, especially in our Western culture I am intrigued as to both and their very intense presence in many of our modern-day congregations. “Yet, the vast majority of evangelicals around the world today hail from Holiness, Pentecostal, and charismatic congregations”. After visiting Grace Covenant Church of Austin Texas, much of those aforementioned ‘typical’ contributions that have been emphasized in books such as The American Evangelical Story by Douglas Sweeney and American Apocalypse by Matthew Sutton, I experienced ever present at Grace.

According to the authors, Rainer and Geiger, “simple churches” or dynamic churches, experience a steady increase in the number of members that join their church each year. Churches that experience this annual growth in membership are more likely to have established programs and events that effectively share the gospel with the unsaved and aid in the progression of the church’s congregants’ spiritual development. Paradoxically, churches who do not experience this growth are likely to be “complex churches,” which have ineffective ministries that fail to evangelize and aid in the progressive of congregants’ spiritual development. Rainer and Geiger offer the church leader a

The purpose of this project is to demonstrate how the Sacramental Life or Incarnational Tradition help me focus on my life as a harmonious unit and to illustrate how my life is impacted by my view of worship. In addition, I will give a theological analysis on how focusing on life as a harmonious unit is essential to the myself, the individuals I administer spiritual counseling to and my ministry constituents.

The differences in the churches exist because of a lack of central authority. However, the differences “varied in form, completeness, and clarity” create what MacMillan defines as the environing culture. These distinctions do not detract from the validity of the Holiness Church, but rather provides a religious framework in accordance with MacMillan’s definition.

Paul’s letter to the Romans reminds believers that they are holy, not on their own accord, but because of God’s mercy (12:1, NIV) “by virtue of our union with Christ” (Chappell, 2011, p. 48). As well, Hebrews 10:9-10 speaks to our state of holiness: “and by the will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all” and verse 14, “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” If one is already holy as Scripture points out, is it necessary to delve into spiritual disciplines? Is sanctification complete the moment our sins were washed away by Christ’s blood at the cross? This journal entry will examine the connection between the gospel message, specifically sanctification

Throughout the assignment, I have explored key themes that I connected with and considered how they relate to my spiritual and religious growth, both personally and professionally. Perhaps the themes that I connected with from Mackay’s book were not the most obvious, however, they allowed me to experience reflection on my journey of Christian Life. The personal reflection required for this assignment has in itself provided an opportunity for my spiritual growth as I was challenged to recall and deal with previous issues I had, up to this time, intentionally

Perhaps the lesson given the most support throughout the course of this semester is the healthy church is a church whose members are devoted to prayer.1 Powerful

In a contemporary Christian environment one of the most prominent practices to have a significant contribution to Christianity as a living religious tradition is Baptism. Baptism is of utmost importance for most Christian denominations. It has profound significance for the individual who is baptised and is also important for the Christian community as a whole. As a sacrament of initiation, Baptism calls its adherents to become missionary Disciples of Christ. It is through baptism that one’s faith journey begins and Christians are called to follow and live their lives in the light of Christ.

Both the doctrines and dogmas of the Church display to us the proper way to act and the things to do in order to be holy. These principles laid down by the authority of the church, serve as a primary basis for our holiness and understanding of the church. When we consider the teachings of the church is it evident that they are vitally important for growing in Christ. As a church community, we challenge and push each other into lives of holiness. God wants us to not only have a good relationship with him but with others. As a church community, we can better understand the concept of having good relationships, and this will ultimately lead us into a stronger relationship with God. When anyone is in need of a “spiritual fix” the Church is always there to help and provide holy answers to the situation. A community of believers, believing in the same principles can further develop faith. If something is unclear or unknown, the Church community of believers is there to help so everyone is united in mind and thought. Fellowship of a church community is a necessity and aids with the prosperity of the Church. As a united church community, stronger relationships will be present and holiness will enhance.

Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, was first published in 1978. It presented sets of Disciplines that, if followed, would serve as vehicles for a deeper relationship with Christ as well as preparation for service. These disciplines are divided into three broad categories: the Inward Disciplines, the Outward Disciplines, and the Corporate Disciplines (Foster, 2003). Each category contains four Disciplines, which indicated by their titles, moves the disciple from the very personal to the larger congregational community (Foster, 2003). Recognizing humanity’s trend to make any process a law or regulation to follow, Foster warned against this by reminding the disciple that to do so would turn

In Andrew Murray’s With Christ in the School of Prayer, Murray proposes from the words of John (1 John 2:12-14) that, “In the Christian life there are three great stages of experience: the first is that of the newborn child filled with the assurance and the joy of forgiveness, the second is that of transition, of struggle and growth in knowledge and strength, and is comparable to young men growing strong, and the final stage of maturity and ripeness is that of the fathers, who have entered deeply into the knowledge and fellowship of the Eternal One.” These stages suggest progression and development over a period of time in the life of a Christian. To better understand the manner in which development occurs in the Christian life it is necessary to address the subject of progressive sanctification. This paper will expound upon the meaning of progressive sanctification, how it is manifested in the local church, what the Bible says about moving from spiritual infancy to maturity, and the role of discipleship in the process.

Making disciples is the all-encompassing purpose of the church. Many churches do a tremendous amount of work toward the goal of making disciples, but sometimes it is in an unhealthy manner. Just as a healthy person is going to have the most positive productivity in life, a healthy church will also have the most constructive output of discipleship. In this paper, I will explain how a healthy church is the goal for discipleship. In addition, I will examine my personal church context and identify the top three areas that I need to focus on to create a healthier body of Christ. Finally, I will discuss some initials steps that can be made to improve its spiritual health.

Religion is the belief of a higher being that holds all power. It is what shapes the traditions, values, and norms of a culture. In early American History religion was the celebration of a God or Gods that represented the accomplishments of one’s own. The importance of religion was the simple fact that people represented the type of life they lived based off their religious beliefs. People knew very well what others stood for but they did not accept it or tolerate it. I feel as though the ‘old world’ had it worse than what we have now. The old world took matters into their own hands and did not allow those of other groups to continue their ways of worship. People did not accept different cultures into their villages or places of praises. The invitation was declined before even presented, they most definitely killed others faster than standing around telling people what they did wrong by entrusting in those about their religious faith! Back in early American history there was a lot of issues about religious freedom. Without religion it is impossible for a nation to be shaped because then there would be no political views. If that’s true Donald Trump might have not been president; I bet you we would all be fine with that too. Society today I would have to say is less focused on religion and more directed to discrimination. Religion played a big important significant factor in early American history especially when it came to other invaders looking to make a way out of their