Articles by Northwest
Faculty & Staff
Posted with the tag
‘Bible’

Top Ten Countdown of Cultural Lessons (3-4)

Posted on June 9th, 2008 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: Cultural IssuesMissiology

Jarrod Haas is a student in the Cross-cultural Leadership Training Program, CLTP @ Northwest, working towards an undergrad level diploma in preparation for cross-cultural ministry among Asians. CLTP is a one year, mentored, experienced based program that prepares the student for Master’s level seminary studies as well as equips them for ministry either internationally [...]

Top Ten Countdown of Cultural Lessons (5-6)

Posted on June 6th, 2008 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: Cultural IssuesMissiology

Jarrod Haas is a student in the Cross-cultural Leadership Training Program, CLTP @ Northwest, working towards an undergrad level diploma in preparation for cross-cultural ministry among Asians. CLTP is a one year, mentored, experienced based program that prepares the student for Master’s level seminary studies as well as equips them for ministry either internationally [...]

CLTP Program Outline

Posted on May 29th, 2008 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: _Uncategorized

Program Outline
FIRST STAGE: Diploma in Cross-Cultural Leadership - (30 credits)
Fall Semester (12 credits)
This Semester is completed in a Canadian intercultural ministry setting

CCT 401 The People of God and the Practice of Ministry (4)
CCT 402 A Biblical Theology of World Missions (4)
CCT 403 World Religions (4)

Spring Semester (12 credits)
This Semester is completed with the Gateway Trax [...]

Resolving Intercultural Tensions: Understanding Leadership in High and Low Power Distance Contexts

Posted on April 10th, 2008 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: Cultural IssuesCultureLeadershipMissiology

The Power Distance Contrast
In Pakistan there is a strong tradition of "holy men" who are called Pirs. One day I had a visit from a young man who informed me that he was the Pir of his village. I was puzzled by this because he was dressed in modern clothes and did not have the [...]

Images of God

Posted on February 26th, 2008 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: Christian LifeGod's LoveGodliness

I came across an interesting theory.  People act according to their conviction about the nature of God.  If God is perceived as an autocratic patriarch whose rules must be followed without question, then that is how the leaders of that group will act.  If God is viewed as a stern judge who is inflexible concerning [...]

Core Basics for Church Boards

Posted on February 4th, 2008 by Dr. Lyle Schrag   
Other tags:
Categories: NCLD

In November of 2005 we held our very first Best Practices for Church Boards workshop. At the time, it seemed to be the right thing to do and the right way to do it. Two years later, what seemed to be right has proven to be monumental. As of November, 2007 we [...]

Chronological Bible Storying

Posted on January 31st, 2008 by Dr. Kenton Anderson   
Other tags:
Categories: BibleBible Story

My friend and mentor, Grant Lovejoy, sent me a link this morning to the new website for Chronological Bible Storying. The website offers the methodology, research, and reports from the field into this powerful way of preaching to oral and indigenous cultures.
According to the website, "Chronological Bible Storying (CBS) is the process of encountering [...]

User Friendly Bibles: When Titles Mislead

Posted on January 10th, 2008 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: BibleHermeneuticsMissiologyTranslation Issues

section headings … can be misleading

I like section headings in Bible translation.  They are not part of the original text, but added by the translation team to assist the reader in three ways: “1. to help those already familiar with the Bible to find a passage they know; 2. to help those unfamiliar with the [...]

A Challenge for 2008

Posted on January 7th, 2008 by Mr. Loren Warkentin   
Other tags:
Categories: 2008 ChallengeBible StudyNew Year

I would like to present you with a tough but exciting challenge for 2008 . . . but let me back up a little! 
This past two months I have been somewhat restricted in my activities because of a ruptured achilles tendon.  After 4 weeks in a fiberglass cast and now another almost 4 weeks in [...]

Heart for Ministry

Posted on December 29th, 2007 by Dr. Lyle Schrag   
Other tags:
Categories: _Uncategorized

I think that God may be calling me to take my ministry to another level…
I sense that God may be calling me into some kind of ministry…
I can’t help but think that God has something more for me…

BUT HOW CAN I KNOW FOR SURE?
Questions like this are being asked by men and women of all [...]

Seeker Becomes Self-Feeder

Posted on December 3rd, 2007 by Dr. Lyle Schrag   
Other tags:
Categories: Church

 
            As full disclosure, I should confess that I’ve been a fan of Willow Creek before Willow Ceek was Willow Creek. In the mid-1970’s the youth pastor of my home church in Park Ridge, Illinois was a Trinity College student named Bill Hybels. I always enjoyed coming home on holidays from Seminary just to see [...]

Eat This Book!

Posted on November 28th, 2007 by Dr. Kenton Anderson   
Other tags:
Categories: Preaching

I’ve just completed Eugene Peterson’s improbably titled, Eat This Book and I cannot recommend it highly enough. This “conversation in the art of spiritual reading” both values Scripture while helping us see its accessibility. The book argues for the validity and necessity of exegesis for spiritual growth. It describes in detail the practice of Lectio [...]

Crossing Cultures with the Bible

Posted on November 14th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: BibleCultural IssuesCultureHermeneuticsMissiology

Three ways to understand the Bible
My wife, Karen, heard a message by a young woman with no theological training on Jer 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you….” The young woman spoke of the verse as if it was addressed to us today and talked about the plans God has for us.  Although [...]

Scratching the Surface of Non-Belief

Posted on November 13th, 2007 by Dr. Lyle Schrag   
Other tags:
Categories: Athiesm

In the last few months, I have encountered a number of people who seem “taken” by the current campaign to promote the message of atheism. Such books as God is Not Great, and The God Delusion seem to suggest that there is something solid to the life and belief of the unbelievers. Which is why [...]

Preaching with Variety

Posted on November 8th, 2007 by Dr. Kenton Anderson   
Other tags:
Categories: Preaching

_Preaching with Variety: How to Re-create the Dynamics of Biblical Genres_. By Jeffrey D. Arthurs. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2007, 978-0-8254-2019-1, 238 pp., $15.99, paperback.
Several years ago I embarked upon a project. Having been given a short interim preaching opportunity at a nearby church, I decided to choose a different biblical genre for every sermon [...]

Church Board Talk: Relationships are Everything

Posted on November 7th, 2007 by Dr. Larry Perkins   
Other tags:
Categories: BoardTalkLeadership

Dr. Lyle Schrag, director of our Northwest Centre for Leadership Development, led our sixth Best Practices for Church Boards workshop this past weekend. Seven churches participated. As I gave one of the presentations and facilitated a conversation among one of the church boards, the centrality of relationships to good Church Board operations became absolutely clear. [...]

It’s NOT about the Information

Posted on November 5th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: Cultural IssuesCultureMissiologySeminaryTranslation Issues

I am slow. I have come to the realization – at least a full decade after more perceptive and observant thinkers – that we are no longer in the information age; we are in the networking age.  Facebook is not about information, but about connecting. Due to the ease of access and overwhelming quantity of [...]

Disillusioned with the Sunday meeting expression of church

Posted on October 25th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: ChurchPreaching

The following is a response from my wife, Karen, to a couple of recent blogs found on this site:
In his Oct 17 blog "The Foundation for Hearing God," Loren Warkentin wrote:
We Christians have become acculturated to this [fast-paced] style of living and I believe it has affected our spiritual lives. We are easily bored. If [...]

The REAL Examination

Posted on October 22nd, 2007 by Dr. Brian Rapske   
Other tags:
Categories: BibleBible StudyBiblical LanguagesChristian LifeChurchDiscipleshipEthicsHermeneuticsPreachingTranslation Issues

It’s that time of the semester once again. The Registrar’s office has asked each professor to indicate whether they are requiring an examination that needs to be scheduled into the examination week for their courses. The schedule is out and professors and students are all now aware of when each examination will need to be [...]

Apologetic Preaching

Posted on October 19th, 2007 by Dr. Kenton Anderson   
Other tags:
Categories: EvangelismFaithPreaching

J. P. Moreland of Talbot Seminary was the keynote speaker at this year’s meetings of the Evangelical Homiletics Society. He took the opportunity to offer a proposal for “apologetic preaching.” While such an approach is not new, Moreland seemed to suggest that apologetics could and should take a much higher place in our thinking about [...]

The Foundation for Hearing God

Posted on October 17th, 2007 by Mr. Loren Warkentin   
Other tags:
Categories: BibleBible StudyChristian LifeCulture

There is, today, a proliferation of articles, books and speakers discussing the topic of “hearing God”.  Several well known evangelical preachers and leaders have weighed in with their contributions. I did a web search on the words “hearing God” and was fascinated by what came up. Page after page listing web sites, books, articles and other [...]

The Wonder of Sulfa and Penicillin – or Salt and Light

Posted on September 27th, 2007 by Mr. Loren Warkentin   
Other tags:
Categories: Christian LifeCultureGodliness

On my way to work this morning the radio station to which I was listening had an announcement regarding some of the up-coming fall TV shows. I found myself reacting to the announcer’s casual monologue. What he was describing was entertainment comprised of watching godless and adulterous relationships, of watching actors and actresses portraying a society whose [...]

Don’t Discuss, DO

Posted on September 26th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: Bible StudyChristian LifeDiscipleshipSpiritual Formation

For the past couple of years I have been leading a Bible study on the theme “touching the robe of Christ.”  This was adopted as a paradigm for the desire to break past misleading interpretations, religious terminology and church traditions and trappings in order to connect with God through Christ, to experience the reality of [...]

Resources and Seminars

Posted on September 21st, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: _Uncategorized

The following are resources that are particularly helpful for those with responsibility to facilitate their church’s involvement in missions.
The FEBInternational resources and servicing churches pages provide a number of resources and helps that have proved valuable for our FEBBC churches
David Mays provides excellent resources from missions in churches on his website.  His CDs, Missions Trip [...]

Church Based Short Term Missions

Posted on September 21st, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: _Uncategorized

 Support, Workshops and Resources
Many churches are presently involved in short term missions projects.  These STM trips provide “teachable moments” that can be utilized to expand a person’s commitment to what God is doing in the world. Northwest Baptist Seminary and FEBInternational would like to be of service to our FEBCC churches by enhancing their efforts [...]

Translation Theology

Posted on September 19th, 2007 by Dr. Larry Perkins   
Other tags:
Categories: BibleBible StudyBiblical LanguagesHermeneuticsMinistryNew TestamentTalkPreachingTheologyTranslation Issues

No, this is not an attack on any Bible translation. But it is a serious question — how do our translations of the Bible  influence the forming of our Christian worldview? We believe that God intended his Word to be translated into every language. Yet as we make the transition from Greek or Hebrew text [...]

The love of the Father

Posted on September 18th, 2007 by Mr. Loren Warkentin   
Other tags:
Categories: Book ReviewsGod's Love

Over the years of my Christian life I have often grappled with the questions, "How can I have a relationship with someone I cannot see, hear or touch?  What kind of a relationship is it if one party is limited by being bound to this humanity?"  I know, and have preached on the theologically correct [...]

YLTP Stage Two - Masters Level

Posted on September 14th, 2007 by Mr. Loren Warkentin   
Other tags:
Categories: _Uncategorized

Master of Arts in Christian Studies [MACS] - (51 credits)
The MACS is offered by Northwest Baptist Seminary through its participation in the ACTS Consortium (Trinity Western University). All ACTS rules and protocols apply. The degree can be completed in two years (though a student can take longer if desired). [...]

The Word Must Be Heard

Posted on September 11th, 2007 by Dr. Kenton Anderson   
Other tags:
Categories: BiblePreaching

We have a new lead pastor at our church (Parkland Fellowship) and we couldn’t be happier. Yesterday, Brian Stewart offered us a dramatic recitation of the entire book of Philippians, from memory! I had memorized the book of Philippians some years ago, but I had never had the courage (or the wisdom) to offer it [...]

Ministrytalk: Spiritual Formation — is it all good?

Posted on September 10th, 2007 by Dr. Larry Perkins   
Other tags:
Categories: DiscipleshipMinistryTalkSpiritual Formation

Great interest now focuses upon fostering spiritual formation within all segments of Christianity. In its best forms, Christian spiritual formation uses various exercises and disciplines to form us to be like Christ, in thought, word and deed. Jesus himself taught his followers to pray, to resist evil, to love, to serve, to pursue righteousness, to [...]

A Call for a Complementary view of Bible Versions

Posted on September 6th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: BibleTranslation Issues

As a missionary involved in Bible translation for the past 18 years, I was disappointed with the tone of the article “‘Packer’s Bible’ now bestseller” appearing in the BC Christian News, August 2007 Vol 27 #8 < http://www.canadianchristianity.com/bc/bccn/0807/01bible>. During the course of celebrating the growth in sales of the English Standard Verson (ESV) – a welcome [...]

God’s Economy

Posted on August 27th, 2007 by Mr. Loren Warkentin   
Other tags:
Categories: GodlinessGospelGrace

Have you ever been bemused by God’s way of doing things?  I have, and in the end have stood in awe of His timing, patience, grace and goodness.
A number of years ago (in another world) I taught at a Bible college deep in the jungles of Kalimantan (formerly known as Borneo).  For several years I [...]

Appreciating the beauty of God

Posted on August 20th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: ChurchSpiritual Formation

At the beginning of August Karen and I visited the Bridal Veil waterfall outside of Hope. At the foot of the falls there is a fenced off area for observers with a large “CAUTION” sign warning people to keep back and enjoy the falls from a distance. The falls are beautiful – almost [...]

Global Warming and the Ability to Know

Posted on August 13th, 2007 by Dr. Kenton Anderson   
Other tags:
Categories: HermeneuticsIssues of the Day

I’m a global warming skeptic. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t care about the environment. As a child of God I understand my responsibility as a steward of creation and I take it seriously. It’s just that I’m not sure I can believe all of the hype surrounding climate change.
This morning, for [...]

Patriarchy and Understanding the Bible

Posted on August 9th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: HermeneuticsMissiologyTranslation Issues

 “That’s just NOT right!” exclaimed a woman in a Bible study I was conducting. The object of her disapproval was Naomi’s instructions for Ruth to approach Boaz while he was sleeping (see Ruth 3). She was correct in that she recognized the inappropriateness of such an action within our society. She was incorrect because she failed to recognize [...]

The Marks of an Unspiritual Leader

Posted on August 8th, 2007 by Mr. Loren Warkentin   
Other tags:
Categories: GodlinessLeadership

In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right. Judges 21:44
Eli the priest of God at Shiloh was the default leader of Israel at the opening of the book of 1 Samuel.  He was elderly and his two sons, Hophni and Phinnehas, performed the regular priestly duties at [...]

The CMTP Courses

Posted on July 27th, 2007 by Dr. Lyle Schrag   
Other tags:
Categories: _Uncategorized

What are the Courses of the Christian Ministry Training Program?
There are eight 3-credit learning courses that address three core ministry essentials that form the foundation of a mature ministry: Conviction, Character, and Competency. As Students learn these ministry essentials they will find that they will be prepared to enter a wide variety of ministries from [...]

A Father’s Contribution to the Development of a Great Leader

Posted on July 27th, 2007 by Mr. Loren Warkentin   
Other tags:
Categories: ChildrenLeadership

As the dark years of Israel’s history, recounted for us in the book of Judges, draw to a close and we see the transition of national identity from cowering fugitives into a great kingdom - a remarkable leader is used by God to bring Israel back to Himself.  That leader is the prophet and judge [...]

Greater Than Solomon

Posted on July 23rd, 2007 by Dr. Larry Perkins   
Other tags:
Categories: _Uncategorized

In Matthew 12:38-42 Jesus compares himself to two Old Testament figures - Jonah and Solomon. In both cases he indicates that "one greater than" either of these individuals is now present and active among the people of God.[1] It seems apparent from Matthew’s arrangement of the gospel materials[2] that the choice of these particular individuals [...]

Spiritual Leadership: Acting with Integrity

Posted on July 23rd, 2007 by Dr. Kenton Anderson   
Other tags:
Categories: _Uncategorized

January 12, 2001
It is thought that spiritual people don’t make good leaders. Yet a biblical view holds that leadership without spiritual character is incompetent. Integrating competence and character is frightening for spiritual leaders aware of their failings. However, leaders with the integrity to own this kind of honesty will find the grace they need to "finish first."
Spiritual leaders [...]

Shaping the Message

Posted on July 19th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: EvangelismMissiology

One of the primary responsibilities of the cross-cultural Christian worker is to discover how God’s revelation of himself in both the written word (the Bible) and the living Word (Jesus) resonates with the cultural group with whom she or he is developing a relationship. In our ministry among the Sindhi people, we discovered that [...]

Samuel, a Mother’s Contribution to a Great Leader

Posted on July 18th, 2007 by Mr. Loren Warkentin   
Other tags:
Categories: ChildrenGodlinessLeadership

Recommended reading: 1 Samuel 1-8
I am intrigued with the rise of Samuel’s leadership as described in the first few chapters of 1 Samuel.  After the years of Israel’s spiritual, moral and national decline as described in the book of Judges the years of Samuel’s leadership stand sturdy and tall.  Under his faithful and godly guidance [...]

Godliness, Again!

Posted on July 9th, 2007 by Mr. Loren Warkentin   
Other tags:
Categories: Godliness

I am curious about Paul’s usage of the word ‘godliness’ (eusebia) in his letter to Titus on several counts.  The first is that Paul makes it clear throughout the letter that the pursuit of godliness is a normal practice in the life of the believer.  In the very first sentence he writes:

From Paul,a slave of [...]

Here They Come…

Posted on July 6th, 2007 by Dr. Lyle Schrag   
Other tags:
Categories: BoomersLeadership

In the February edition of the Leadership Connections newsletter, I recorded the results of some research that I’ve been doing on emerging leaders: [When Emerging Leaders go BOOM! http://leadership.nbseminary.com/ncld_011.htm - check it out.]
Twice this week, the issue has come up as both the Seminary – and our Churches are beginning to witness this phenomenon. So, [...]

Relational Spaces

Posted on June 28th, 2007 by Mr. Mark Naylor   
Other tags:
Categories: Cultural IssuesMissiology

In The Search to Belong: Rethinking Intimacy, Community, and Small Groups (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), Joseph R. Myers challenges evangelicals to think creatively about how people belong. He utilizes the work done by Edward Hall explaining that there are four “spaces” or levels of connecting in which people relate and commit: Public, Social, Personal [...]

What is Godliness?

Posted on June 27th, 2007 by Mr. Loren Warkentin   
Other tags:
Categories: Godliness

A friend e-mailed me a response to my June 18 article on the topic, “Godliness in Everyday Shoe Leather.” After describing the lives of Christian friends, family and acquaintances, with some of the accompanying struggles and issues that Christians can and do face, the following was the observation made and the question posed in the [...]

Gunproofing the Church

Posted on June 15th, 2007 by Dr. Lyle Schrag   
Other tags:
Categories: Church

I hadn’t been the Senior Pastor of the Bethany Baptist Church for more than a few weeks when I got a telephone call that put a chill down my spine. At first impressions, it seemed to be the sort of random call that inner-city pastors will get from disturbed people. The caller was rambling, vaguely [...]

Contextualized Bible Storying