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Theology: For, In, By, and With the Church

1/14/2023

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Theology matters deeply. It summarizes and articulates what you believe about key topics that matter deeply. As Christians, the Bible must inform and invigorate our theology, as it is the final standard of authority for us — the primary means by which we discover who God is, what He's like and what He's doing, and what that invites us into. (You can find a bit more on the value of theology here, here, and here. It's something I plan on continuing to write about and advocate for.) 

But agreeing that theology is important doesn't end the conversation; rather, it opens up the conversation to other worthwhile topics — topics like "What does theology offer?", and "How should we define it?" 

Or another topic, "How do we do theology well?" There are so many things to factor into doing theology well: for example, (1) we do theology with the whole Bible as our final authority, (2) we do theology in a spirit of confidence and humility, (3) we do theology for the purpose of increasing communion with the Triune God and advancing His mission in the world. All of these (and more) are important and worth continued reflection. 

In this post I want to focus on the relationship between theology and the local church. Specifically, I want to make a brief and very introductory case that when thinking about theology and the local church, four prepositions should shape the relationship: we do theology for, in, by, and with the church. 

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"Establishing a Discipleship Pathway for Ministry Programming at Brookside Church, Omaha, NE" — Table of Contents

11/4/2022

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Project accomplished!

Over the last two-and-a-half years, I have been chipping away at a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Applied Theology from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. I've loved the process (though it's been work for sure!), and am excited to be at this point where my final project has been defended, accepted, and successfully published — and now I'm just awaiting graduation in December. 

I'm excited to see how God might use this in and for the local church, as I seek to steward this education faithfully and for the advance of God's work. 

I'm getting questions about my doctoral project / dissertation, and so figured I'd provide a few snapshots of my work here.

The title of my project is "Establishing a Discipleship Pathway for Ministry Programming at Brookside Church, Omaha, Nebraska." 

The "really short version" is that I've been working on how local churches as the local church can make disciples in obedience to Jesus' command in Matthew 28:19-20. My research focused on painting a clear PICTURE of discipleship from the Gospel of Matthew and the early chapters in Acts. Then I moved into constructing a concrete PATHWAY for discipleship that local churches can benefit from and apply practically.

It's been fun already to "translate" this into two courses (both five sessions) I've been able to teach at Brookside — one specifically designed for ministry leaders, and another for the broader congregation. 

Below I've included PDF snapshots of the (1) Table of Contents and (2) abstract where the work is summarized further.

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Staying Devoted to the Gospel by Staying Devoted to the Ordinances

2/1/2022

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This last weekend I preached on "Gospel Ordinances"—baptism and the Lord's Supper—and talked about how these two practices help the church stay tethered to the gospel. 

I’ve sat in a bunch of classrooms and academic environments hearing about the ordinances (baptism and Communion/the Lord’s Supper), but haven’t heard many sermons on them. But these practices ARE FOR THE CHURCH! It's important to preach on these things in the setting of gathered worship where they are regularly practiced. 

If you’re not a Christian or are brand new to church, this’ll be super helpful at helping you understand these practices that may seem weird / foreign to you.

If you’re someone who grew up in a different tradition than Brookside, watch the message—we'll open up the Bible and you’ll see where we’re coming from.

If you’ve been following Jesus for a long time, we need to watch that these things don’t become mechanical. Tomorrow we’ll breathe fresh life into the meaning behind them.

If you're interested, here's a brief outline of what I covered: 

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Teaching is Taking Others Somewhere

11/6/2019

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If you were talk with most any seasoned teacher, they'd likely nod in agreement that the craft of teaching includes the idea of "taking others somewhere." This could mean helping them grasp new content, see things in a new light, practice new habits, change how they relate to others, and grow in virtue.

To play off this picture that teaching is taking others somewhere, here are a few brief tips I'd recommend to make this "trip" of teaching effective at helping the learner get from point A to point B.

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My 2018 Top 5 "Top Reading Lists of 2018"

12/24/2018

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Looking for some of the best biblical and theological books to read in 2019? Below I've collected and listed five "sources" that are worth listening to for some worthwhile reads.

My hope is that as you scan these lists, you'll find at least 2-3 books that strike your interest enough for you to pick up the book and dig in.

Click on either the image or the title below and you'll be taken directly to a page where you can see which books are on that particular list.

My Top 5 Reading Lists of 2018

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Christianity Today's 2019 Book Awards
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The Gospel Coalition: 2018 TGC Book Awards
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Verge Network - Top Books of 2018

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Sam Storms - Top 10 Books of 2018
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Tim Challies - The Collected Best Christian Books of 2018

Interested in more?

Below you'll find a few other links to related posts. Happy reading! 
  • 6 Books to Consider for the Reader You're Buying For (2018 Edition)
  • How to R.E.A.D. Books Well
  • The "Ministry" of Recommending Books
  • Building a Biblical and Theological Library? Here are 4 More Books for the Shelves.
  • My 2017 Top 5 "Top Reading Lists of 2017"
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Discipleship 101 (Luke 9:23-25)

10/30/2018

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In Luke 9:23-25, Jesus makes some bold statements about following Him. In a sense, these verses provide a “101 Class” on discipleship.  

“Disciple” is a word you’ll hear in church world a lot - and rightfully so. One of Jesus’ last commands is for the church to go and “make disciples” of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Making disciples who make disciples should be on the short list of priorities of every church.

The word disciple literally means “learner.” Don’t just think of a learner in some classroom environment, though. Think “apprentice.” Think “someone learning a skill or a lifestyle.” As followers of Jesus, we’re apprentices of Jesus. Or another way to look at it is that a disciple is someone who walks in the footsteps of someone else.

When I was in college, I went on a couple of backpacking trips in Colorado - one to fulfill some P.E. credit, and one as part of a team building experience for R.A.s. They were great: Get away from civilization, sleep in tents, see some awesome sights in the Rockies, and do a whole lot of hiking. And both times I went, the guide we were with reinforced the value of paying attention to the person in front of you. To watch where they stepped and to follow that same path. To literally walk in their footsteps as much as you could.

​As disciples of Jesus, then, we walk in His footsteps. And if the path He went on involved suffering and self-denial (Jesus tells us this in Luke 9:22), we can’t go around that ourselves or skip that part of the trail as His followers. Which is exactly where Jesus takes His instruction to us in Luke 9:23-25:

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Great Insight from Trevin Wax on Gospel-Centered Teaching

2/23/2018

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I love to teach. I believe that a healthy teaching ministry is vital to the life of a vibrant local church. And I want to emphasize a healthy, deeply-understood gospel centrality as I teach. 

Since that's the case, I'm grateful for how Trevin Wax - Bible and resource publisher at Lifeway Christian Resources - articulates what gospel-centered teaching looks like in this brief (less than 3 min) video clip. I'm including it here, both to circulate good content via this site, and to keep it for handy reference for the future! :)

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It's Not Too Late! A Review of the Top 5 Blog Posts Each Month, for the Last 6 Months

1/11/2018

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Based on the number of "hits" each month, here are the top 5 posts here on the Brookside Institute blog for the last six months - July 2017 through December 2017.

​Take a minute to scroll through the list below, and either catch up on things you may have missed or revisit things that were especially helpful.

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My 2017 Top 5 "Top Reading Lists of 2017"

12/28/2017

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Looking for some of the best biblical and theological books to read in 2018? Below I've collected and listed five "sources" that are worth listening to for some worthwhile reads.

My hope is that as you scan these lists, you'll find at least 2-3 books that strike your interest enough for you to pick up the book and dig in.

Click on either the image or the title below and you'll be taken directly to a page where you can see which books are on that particular list.

My Top 5 Reading Lists of 2017

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Christianity Today's 2018 Book Awards
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Desiring God - Top 17 Books of 2017 (Tony Reinke)
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My Top Books of 2017 (Jared Wilson, TGC)

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Top 10 Books of 2017 (Sam Storms)
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The Collected Best Christian Books of 2017 (Tim Challies)

Interested in more? 

Below you'll find a few other links to related posts. Happy reading! 
  • How to R.E.A.D. Books Well
  • The "Ministry" of Recommending Books
  • Building a Biblical and Theological Library? Here are 4 More Books for the Shelves.
  • My 2016 Top 5 "Top Reading Lists of 2016"
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Building a Biblical and Theological Library? Here Are 4 More Books to Add to the Shelves.

11/13/2017

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A couple of years ago, I wrote a short post advocating the idea of building a biblical and theological "library" of books — a shelf (or shelves) with trusted books that can relied on to guide you in reading the Bible and navigating theological topics. Some of these are books to read straight through; others are books to keep handy as reference books and turn to on an as-needed basis. All of them are worthwhile.

I'm still a fan of the books I recommended in the initial post — even as I figured it's time to add a few more books to the list. If you're looking to slowly start building or adding to a biblical and theological library yourself, here are four books to add to the shelf:

Bible: Old Testament

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How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament: 12 Steps from Exegesis to Theology (Jason S. DeRouchie)

Bible: New Testament

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How to Understand and Apply the New Testament: 12 Steps from Exegesis to Theology (Andrew David Naselli)

Theology

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Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 3rd ed (edited by Daniel Treier and Walter Elwell)

Theology

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What Christians Ought to Believe: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine through the Apostles' Creed (Michael F. Bird)

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...
  • Starting to Build Your Library of Biblical and Theological Resources? Here are 8 Books to Get You Started
  • How to R.E.A.D. Books Well
  • The "Ministry" of Recommending Books

What books would you have included, that I didn't here? (Because let's be honest, there are lots of additional books that can be a part of a good biblical and theological library, that I didn't include here for space reasons.) List anything you'd add (and why!) here.
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    Tim Wiebe

    Christian. Husband. Father. Pastor. Learner. Contributor. Reader.


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Top Five Posts from December 2022
#1 - 5 Ways to Show Readiness for Jesus' Return
#2 - 6 Online Tools that Can Help You Dig into (and Understand!) the Bible
​#3 - ​​8 Things We Learn About God in Deuteronomy 4-10
#4 - Weeding Out the Sin in Our Lives
#5 - Establishing a Discipleship Pathway for Ministry Programming at Brookside Church, Omaha, NE — Table of Contents

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