CDM Archive

Discipleship Ministries of the PCA

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Announcing: Amazing Grace 360 – PCA International Women’s Conference

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Since CEP hosted the 2006 International Women in the Church Conference with over 4000 women in attendance we have been repeatedly asked, “When will you host the next one?” After much prayer and discussion, we are ready to announce another CEP Conference for PCA women, ages 13 years and up.

The theme for this conference is a grand and glorious look at the full orbed grace of God in our lives – Amazing Grace 360!

Whole Gospel. Whole Life. Whole World.

Be sure to stay connected to the conference, by using this conference website to see the full faculty of gifted men and women whom God is raising up to lead and teach us.

Nancy Guthrie, a gifted teacher, writer, and conference speaker will serve as the Conference teacher. The preacher for this year’s event will be Brian Habig, pastor of the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina, and former Reformed University Minister at Mississippi State University and Vanderbilt University. Worship and music will be led by Kevin Twit of Indelible Grace and Laura Story.

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Conference Teacher:
Nancy Guthrie		 Conference Preacher:
Brian Habig		 Conference Musicians:
Indellible Grace & Laura Story

The CEP staff is finalizing the balance of the conference faculty with speakers and seminar leaders from across the PCA. Continue to check this website over the next few weeks as more speakers are announced.

Also, plan to arrive early in the day on Friday to attend the special Pre-conference sessions. These seminars will provide you three extra sessions to be encouraged and equipped with tools for service in the Kingdom of God.

As the CEP staff and the Women’s ministry team weighed the privilege and cost of planning another major conference, there was consensus that in the midst of an uncertain economy, often leading to a spirit of fearfulness; now is the time to rehearse the scope and surety of God’s grace in our lives, to come together as this portion of His body to worship, learn, celebrate, anticipate, and focus on His eternal grace to and in us.

As you pray and anticipate this discipling opportunity, begin now to think creatively as local churches for ways to help raise funds for your women who are unemployed or financially challenged and who want and need to be part of this weekend.

Click to visit new conference website www.amazinggrace360.com which is under development.

If you would like to receive updates and information about the conference, be sure to join our Amazing Grace 360 contact list.

Thank you for your kingdom partnership.

Jane Patete
CEP Women’s Ministry Consultant.

Shaping a Community of Grace Today for a Stronger Church Tomorrow

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By Dr. Bryan Chapell

“The Lord has changed me in numerous ways. One of the most significant of those is how he has given me a much greater appreciation of my need for other people and the corporate nature of the gospel.”

– Doug Kothe (MDiv ’11)

This is how Doug Kothe, one of our current students, describes his time at Covenant Seminary. Doug’s words reflect the experience of many who come to us each year to follow the call of God in preparing for ministry. His statement also reflects our firm belief that fully preparing pastors and other leaders for Christ’s church involves much more than mere classroom instruction. It involves, as we like to say, the shaping of the whole person-head, hands, and most especially, heart-within the context of a living, learning, worshipping community of grace. And, because we believe that God calls not just pastors, but also pastors’ wives and children into ministry, that shaping process must include not only the student who is taking classes, but also that student’s whole family. This is why we strive to make our campus a place where students, faculty, staff-and their families-can grow together in the gospel and be transformed by the power of God’s grace into the pastors and other ministry leaders our Lord has called them to be.

To this end we are seeking to raise funds for needed improvements to two elements of our campus that are vital to this kind of personal and spiritual growth: Edwards Hall Community Center and Rayburn Chapel. The only large gathering places on our campus, these two aging venues need to be renovated both to accommodate our increasing numbers of full-time students and to make it easier for seminary families to meet, worship, and enjoy fellowship with one another. We also hope to make some technological improvements that will better enable us to produce gospel-centered resources for use on campus and by the worldwide church. You can find out more about our plans here or through the 2011 WIC Love Gift promotional materials available here. Please consider how your church might be able to help.

We are exceedingly grateful to Women in the Church for their enthusiasm and support for our ministry and their heart for the men, women, and children whom God has called to Covenant Seminary. We look forward eagerly to seeing what our Lord will do through them and through our generous PCA churches as we seek to continue shaping a community of grace today for a stronger church tomorrow.

Many blessings to you in Christ,

Bryan Chapell

President, Covenant Theological Seminary

Please Pray for Us!

Here are a few ways in which you can be praying for Covenant Seminary during the next few months.

  • Pray for the students who will graduate this spring and move on to serve in churches and other ministries. Pray for those who are still seeking a call, that God would quickly clarify their places of future service and give them a strong sense of his guidance in this process. Pray also that he would work mightily through each of these graduates to show his grace and mercy to others.

  • Pray as we continue to navigate challenging economic waters that the Lord would continue to provide the funds we need to operate the Seminary and offer scholarships and other financial assistance to our students. Pray that the Lord would help us to continue building good relationships with our donors and that he would open doors to future friendships that would lead to even great financial health for the institution.

  • Pray for us as we seek a replacement for Professor of World Mission Dr. Nelson Jennings, who will be leaving us at the end of this academic year to become Director of Program and Community life for Overseas Ministries Study Center (OSMC) in New Haven, Connecticut. Pray that the transition to his new role would go well for Dr. Jennings, and that our search for his successor would be blessed.

An Evaluation of Gender Language in the 2011 NIV Bible

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Editor’s note: This following is the introduction to a report evaluating the gender language used in the 2011 edition of the NIV Bible. The report was produced and provided by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (www.cbmw.org). To read the full report, you can download the pdf file by clicking on the link below.

Download Full Report

Introduction

According to the Christian Booksellers Association, the NIV is the best-selling Bible in English-ahead of the King James Version, the New King James Version, the New Living translation, the English Standard Version, the New American Standard, and several others.[1]

CBMWBut now Zondervan, the publisher of the NIV, has issued a new edition, the 2011 NIV. This edition will replace the current NIV (the 1984 edition). What is this new edition like?

The last two attempts at revising the NIV were met with a great deal of controversy due to their use of a gender-neutral philosophy of translation.[2] The gender-neutral approach of the TNIV (Today’s New International Version) in 2002 and 2005 became such a lightning-rod that the version never caught on with American evangelicals and has now been discontinued.

The TNIV provoked a lively discussion among evangelical scholars and Bible readers about translation philosophy in general and about gender-neutral approaches in particular. In fact, the debate actually preceded the appearance of the TNIV because of rumors in the evangelical world that the NIV was going “gender-neutral.” That debate began in 1997 and extended through the mid-2000s. Many of the contested issues in that discussion remain unresolved.[3]

It is no surprise, therefore, that many evangelicals have been anticipating the release of the 2011 NIV. Readers want to see how this latest revision has resolved (or not resolved) points of contention about gender language that are left over from these previous discussions.

Does the 2011 NIV deserve the same prominence among evangelicals that the 1984 NIV has enjoyed for so many years? Or will 2011 NIV fall into disuse and go the way of the TNIV?

[1]The CBA’s rankings are available online at http://www.cbaonline.org/nm/documents/BSLs /Bible_Translations.pdf.

[2]The first attempt was the New International Version – Inclusive Language Edition (NIVI) in 1996 (released only in the UK), and the second was Today’s New International Version (TNIV) in 2005.

[3]See Mark L. Strauss, Distorting Scripture?: The Challenge of Bible Translation & Gender Accuracy (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998).; Glen G. Scorgie, Mark L. Strauss, and Steven M. Voth, eds., The Challenge of Bible Translation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003); Vern S. Poythress and WA Grudem, The Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy: Muting the Masculinity of God’s Words (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2000); D. A. Carson, The Inclusive-Language Debate: A Plea for Realism (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998); Vern S. Poythress and WA Grudem, The TNIV and the Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2004); Wayne Grudem and Jerry Thacker, Why Is My Choice of a Bible Translation So Important? (Louisville, KY: Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, 2005).

Bible Study: Following the Ways of the Word

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Bible study…everybody’s doing it! In the most inventive contexts around the globe, this vital activity is taking place. Yet “Bible study” means different things to different people.

Kathleen Nielson, known to many through her conference speaking and as author of The Living Word Bible Study series, has brought her extensive expertise and literary gifts to present us with a clear perspective on the Bible and what it means to study it.Dr. Nielson asks the penetrating question: Just what is Bible study? Is it possible to pinpoint a flexible cluster of characteristics that must be present for “Bible study” to be identifiable and effective? The Church, Authority, and Word are identified as three perceptions that we follow throughout the book.

“It is God’s Word that teaches us how the church, the body of Christ, must be fully equipped for the mission of making disciples in these last days. That equipping happens through the Word. It is God’s Word that teaches his authoritative and loving rule, through his commands that must be obeyed. It is God’s Word that is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.” (Hebrews 4:12).With this right starting point, Kathleen Nielson guides us in the next nine chapters, through a series of five truths about God and His Word that have huge implications for how we personally study, teach, and train others in faithful and true Bible study. As we follow the ways of the Word, the reader is shown that the Bible is: God speaking, powerful, understandable, a literary work, and one story.

In preparation for writing this kingdom tool, the author included friends in ministry throughout the world to have a voice in sharing valued perspectives, challenges, and clarification as we think through exactly what we are doing in Bible study.

Attention all laypeople and church leaders who delight in the Truth and power of God’s Word! This is a resource that has multiple applications within the church of Jesus Christ. Solid biblical truths that offer great challenges and promises of the place of Bible study in individual lives and in the corporate ministry of the church are fleshed out with clarity and passion. This equipping tool should be in the hands of men and women who hunger and thirst for the Word of God in their own lives and who desire to faithfully pass on its truths to succeeding generations.

In this unique and needed resource, Kathleen Nielson, with a prayer that “God will raise up in his church, huge, loving armies of men and women who are well armed with the sword of the Spirit…which is the Word of God”, offers the reader a clear approach for understanding and valuing what true Bible study is.

Dictionary of Everyday Theology and Culture

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Applying theology to challenging social and economic issues is the order of the day and understanding sound doctrine is imperative for our daily lives. The editors of Dictionary of Everyday Theology and Culture bring together doctrine and current issues. The book cover depicts an ocean wave rolling in over the sand. This illustrates how our theology should cover every aspect of our lives, including how we respond to whatconfronts us in our daily lives. Although we don’t usually hear sermons from our pulpits regarding social and cultural challenges, we live with them everyday.

Dictionary of Everyday Theology and Culture addresses various doctrines and cultural issues. It serves as an easy-to-read guide applying theology to our daily lives as followers of Jesus. As the editors explain, “Each article in the Dictionary is divided into two main parts: Everyday Definition and Everyday Application. Approximately equal attention is given to defining the meaning of each term and to applying the meaning of the term to our lives and service in the world.”

Our biblical worldview is sustained by understanding biblical truths and applying these truths to everyday life. We are living in extremely challenging days and we are constantly bombarded with cultural and social issues demanding we take a stand. We need to lay the template of Christian theology over these issues. “A sound theology-drawn primarily from authoritative Scripture, as well as from the reflections of trusted Christians from both church history and the current church-is basic to every aspect of our lives as Christian disciples.”

This book is written in non-technical terms for ordinary people and focuses our attention on issues in our world today, while embracing a biblical foundation for a biblical worldview. Not that we agree with every application in the book, but we recommend you use the Dictionary as a reference to help steer you through the maze of our cultural instability with sound doctrine.

As indicated, “This resource contains an alphabetical listing of 173 theological and cultural terms; each entry includes a definition (explaining the term in easy-to-understand language) and an everyday application (helping readers grasp how to live out the concept).”