https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12852/457 2026-04-05T14:48:50Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12852/2067 Church, a model for change: A transformation among T’boli tribe at Desawo Christ Church in South Cotabato Repolidon, Librado Javier This study attempted to interpret the development of the T’boli people under the care of the Desawo Christ Church in relation to its holistic-oriented program. Specifically, the study aimed to trace the historical development of Desawo Christ Church (DCC); describe the DCC holistic approach model; determine Christian values and behavior aspired for T’boli members; and determine problems encountered by the church ministries in the process of transformation. This study is descriptive-analysis research that used the case study and interview method. The DCC is an indigenous group who occupies the culture center of the southwest coast range of the Cotabato Cordillera. The members are living in poverty and being chased by the shadow of their animistic culture. The T’bolis, being young in Christ, are willing to undergo the process of transformation which is slow and hard but it is worth noting that the DCC is behind them in the process. The holistic approach model used by the Desawo Christ Church covered the spiritual, cultural and economic aspects of the T’boli church members. Christian values and behavior aspired for by the church among its members are sharing, willingness to help, mission mindedness, compassion and hospitality. Based on the problems encountered by the ministry at Desawo Christ Church, these values are not fully attained. Finally, problems like spiritual, cultural, and economic aspects encountered by the church are part of the gradual transformation of the T’boli tribe to become mature Christians. Abstract only 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12852/2066 Assessment of factors influencing the relevance and applicability of John Maxwell’s principles of leadership to CPBC pastors in Cadiz City Tapang, Efraim Libester It has been more than 10 years after I graduated from my Bachelor’s degree in Theology that I worked as a full-time pastor. In the two barrio churches that I served during this period, I never had an opportunity to work with as associate or week-end pastor, I did all things alone, leading and managing the church. I acted like a neophyte, unmindful of what was the ideal and effective principles of leadership. Thus, I struggled hard in order to enhance my leadership skills. Simply put, “I had insufficient knowledge about leadership.” John Maxwell, in his book, “Developing the Leader Within You” aptly says, “making sure the work is done by others is the accomplishment of the manager. Inspiring others to do better work is the accomplishment of a leader.” It is no secret that the crying need of our churches nowadays is good and effective leadership. I can never forget a church member who commented, “Our pastor is very poor in leadership." I do not know what he meant. Whatever that maybe, one thing I am sure that church members expect their pastors to demonstrate good leadership. Many pastors today are criticized for lack of leadership skills. Knowledge on leadership and administration learned from seminaries and Bible Schools is a great help to a pastor. But it is not enough, not a guarantee either to make a man of God a good and effective leader. Maxwell believes that “a leader is a learner and the learning process is ongoing." For him, learning is a continuous process. A research paper entitled “Tracer Study for the CPU College of Theology Graduates from 1995 to 2005” by Landero, Reyes and Villeza (2005) attempted to know their graduates’ perception as to which area of their curriculum in the College of Theology is weak. The survey revealed that administrative leadership was the weakest in the curriculum having a 50% rating over other areas. This means that administrative leadership must be given emphasis compared with other areas such as: field work, preaching, pastoral counseling, Christian Education, worship and family ministry. Needless to say, the implication of what the survey revealed is too important for a pastor: by all means a pastor must develop his leadership skills. Pastors occupy significant tasks or roles in the church, and one these roles is being a good leader. Whether they like it or not, they are accountable to lead God’s people. Perhaps most of them are still striving to become good leaders. Likewise, my personal struggles and difficulties encountered as a pastor for the past years has challenged me to come up with this paper. Thus, this paper attempts to assess the different factors influencing the relevance and applicability of John Maxwell’s Principles of Leadership to CPBC Pastors in Cadiz City. The study was conducted to assess the different factors influencing the relevance and applicability of John Maxwell’s Principles of Leadership to CPBC Pastors in Cadiz City. Specifically, the study aims: 1. To assess the degree of relevance of John Maxwell’s principles of leadership to CPBC Pastors in Cadiz City. 2. To assess the degree of applicability of John Maxwell’s principles of leadership to CPBC Pastors in Cadiz City. 3. To assess the relationship of relevance and applicability of John Maxwell’s Principles of Leadership as affected by several factors namely on gender, age, school and year graduated, length of pastoral service, church location and size of church members. Introduction 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12852/2053 Paul's concept of giving: An exegesis of 2 Corinthians 8:1-9 and personal reflections Articulo, Paulino B. Jr. Every church member has the responsibility to support the church ministry through the giving of financial resources. There are many advantages when everybody supports the cause of the gospel, but when only a few give their support and some do not even respond to the call of grace, the ministry becomes unproductive. The reason perhaps why some do not give is because they do not understand the true meaning of giving. Biblical understanding may have been insufficient because of poor spiritual insight and lack of fellowship and involvement in church activities. Grace giving has not been discovered because their lives were not yet fully surrendered to the Lord, so they were unresponsive to the need of (progress in) building the Kingdom of God and church structure. Their situation can result to financial difficulty of the gospel workers, lack of finances to pay important bills and sustain basic needs. This can also lead to poor physical church structure and ministerial functions. It is true that the power of God has no limitations to move in any of this situation. God can work without the financial support of people. The working of miracles and wonders will only appear in accordance to His own purpose just like what happened to the five loaves of bread and two small fish from the hands of a little boy (John 6:9-12). The five thousand people were fed and plenty were left over. Today God still uses people as His partners in doing miracles and wonders. Giving is God’s way of blessing people no matter how small the gift is because big things usually come from small things. Small things are used by God through His wisdom. When God blesses small things that they become big, the impact on people is great. When God favors or blesses small things, it becomes an effective testimony of His power. It is a challenge to people that no matter how little their possession is, when it is given to the Lord, then the Lord will honor their gift and increase it in due time. His blessing is given to those who are obedient to His word. His word is true and it stands firm forever in heaven (Psalm 119:89-93). Giving is not done for the sake of giving. Giving is done because of self-giving first to God. This was modeled by the Macedonian Christians. They gave themselves first to the Lord, and then to the ministry of God’s will (2 Corinthians 8:5). The act of giving implies first, obedience to God; second, that the love of God is in the people; and third, it is the expansion of God’s kingdom through His people. The Church is poor when people do not give but when they contribute the Church becomes rich with many things. There will be many workers, productive ministries, improved material structures, acquisition of facilities to be utilized, and personal needs are met abundantly. This concept was shown in the feeding of the five thousand people. God showed the abundance of His nature to encourage the church to enjoy giving and God’s blessings. Giving is obedience to God. It is in giving that receiving is also experienced. Luke affirms, “Give, and it will be given you, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measures you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38). So the measure of obedience to God is giving. God uses the act of giving as the measure for His provisions of needs. The word says “pressed down, shaken together and running over.” A rice land illustrates this matter. If the farm is given the needed seeds for planting, it will multiply the seed into grains during harvest. If the rice field is not given seeds, it will not yield anything for food. God has ordained the law of nature, law of sowing and reaping. What has been sown that shall also be reaped (Gal 6:7). The law of sowing is applied to the land. It is a concrete example of what God is doing in the practice of giving. If people give to the church, their gifts will be multiplied, although how God does it remains unknown. In the same way that no one knows exactly how the seed grows as time passes by. What is known is that at the end of the season there is a time of harvest. The same principle applies to giving. Giving to the Lord is like sowing and harvesting in due time. Giving is a means of God’s love. 2 Corinthians 9:7 states “God loves a cheerful giver.” However, reactions to giving may vary. These include the following: 1.) sadness; 2.) pain; 3.) anger; and 4.) joy. The first three reactions will not elicit God’s favor. What is needful is joyful attitude when giving. God does not expect any reaction in giving except cheerfulness. God loves the cheerful giver, according to scriptures. God’s favor or more blessings will be upon those who give joyfully. God’s love is for everybody as specified in John 3:16 but for a cheerful giver, God’s love has a different degree. God’s love motivates people to excel in their giving to the ministry of the church. Wesley L. Duewel says, “You were created to love. You were created in the image of the God of love. You were created like God so that you can have the capacity to respond to and understand the love of God. Your whole being, when touched by the Holy Spirit, can receive and, to be a blessed degree, transmit God’s love to other.” Giving is expanding God’s kingdom. The territories of the unreached will be reached out when there is sufficient funds, and sending out missionaries and workers to some parts of the world is very possible, and creating and establishing new communities for the Lord is accomplished. Training and building up people to be new leaders of His kingdom and reaching out continually the unreached people for the Lord can be done although it will take a long process. It takes patience and another generation to do it. Nevertheless as long as there is solidarity and cooperation in building the kingdom for Christ, many people who are lost will be reached for the Lord. Paul, the author of 2 Corinthians, is a concrete example of a missionary who was able to go to the continents of Asia and Europe for the sake of the Gospel and of planting the churches. With God’s help, Christian communities continued to grow and to labor for Christ. There are three kinds of giver: The flint never gives till it is well hammered, and then it yields only sparks. The sponge gives only when you squeeze it and keep on squeezing till it is dry. The honeycomb gives freely and keeps on giving. The last view of a giver is a great challenge for all people in obedience to God. It is from this view that supporting the ministry of the gospel should be done. The love of God is experienced more in the life of that person and His Kingdom will continue to expand. Objectives of the Study This study aims to explain Paul’s concept of giving in 2 Corinthians 8:1-9 and personal reflections. The specific objectives of this study are the following. 1. To define giving according to Paul’s concept in 2 Corinthians 8:1-9. 2. To exegete Paul’s theology of giving in 2 Corinthians 8:1-9. 3. To formulate personal reflections from the exegesis of the passage about giving. 4. To assess and come up with a position as the basis for further study and action of the church in relation to the concept of giving. Introduction 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12852/2047 Lukan theology of corporate prayer: An exegesis of Acts 1:12-14 and 6:4 and its implications Caspe, Adiel Nathan G. "Prayer" is simply defined as talking to God. It is an offering up of one's desires to God for all things lawful and needful, with humble confidence that he or she shall obtain them through the mediation of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Believers in Christ can pray anywhere, at any time and about anything. They do not have to use special words, close their eyes or put their hands together. The majority of the mighty acts of God after the cross come by corporate prayer. History reveals that God moves in His greatest power when Christians are fervent in united prayer. The mighty acts of God are in Churches where believers practice corporate prayer. These facts indicate that the Church will never have a spiritual turnaround unless Christians rediscover the neglected element of corporate prayer. In the Book of Acts, Luke tells us that something powerful and miracles happen when a church prays corporately. One hundred twenty were gathered in an upper room praying in one accord when Pentecost came (Acts 1:13, 2:1). The group prayed for wisdom in determining Judas' replacement (Acts 1:24). The church cried out to God in one accord for boldness when Peter and John reported the Sanhedrin's threats, and the place where they were was shaken (Acts 4:24,31). They prayed over the seven chosen to serve the widows (Acts 6:6). Peter and John interceded for those who had not received the Holy Spirit and then the Holy Spirit came (Acts 8:15-17). When Peter was in prison, the church fervently pleaded with God for him (Acts 12:5). While the prophets and teachers were praying and fasting, the Holy Spirit called Paul and Barnabas to their first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-2). The church prayed before sending them out (Acts 13:3). Paul and Barnabas committed the new churches to God in prayer (Acts 14:23). Paul and his companions were going to prayer when Paul cast the demon out of the slave girl (Acts 16:16). Paul and Silas prayed and the earthquake happened that resulted to the jailer's conversion and their consequent release (Acts 16:25). Paul prayed with all the Ephesians in his farewell address (Acts 20:36). Finally, they prayed with the disciples from Tyre (Acts 21:5). This is not to deny the role and significance of individual prayer. Ananias was praying alone when he was told to go to Saul (Acts 9:10). Peter was on the rooftop praying when he had his famous vision that led him to Cornelius (Acts 10:9). However, the majority of God's work comes when His people pray together. According to Acts 1:12-14 and Acts 6:4, the church must continue meeting together, searching for God in prayer, keeping the church united through worship, and giving attention to prayer. This study provides a background on how a church nowadays practices prayer, especially corporate prayer, and sustains the passion for prayer. This study is divided into four (4) chapters. Chapter I consists of the introduction which includes background and rationale of the study, objectives of the study, definition of terms, significance of the study and methodology. Chapter II deals with the historical background of the Acts of the Apostles namely; the exegetical study of Acts 1:12-14 and 6:4 on corporate prayer, and the summary of theological concepts about corporate prayer on the above texts. Chapter III consists of the theological implications of corporate prayer in Acts 1:12-14 and 6:4 which includes prayer as basis for unity, prayer as communion and fellowship, prayer as the foundation for every good work, prayer as power, prayer-meeting as an institutionalized activity, and prayer as kenosis. Chapter IV includes the summary of findings, conclusion and recommendations. Introduction 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z