Author: Jonathan Dodson

Society for the Advancement of Ecclesial Theology

Posted on October 7, 2008

A new church-focused theological society is starting up calledThe Society for the Advancement of Ecclesial Theology (SAET). SAET is a network of evangelical thinkers committed to resurrecting the pastor-scholar paradigm for the renewal of the local church.

The pursue this mission through fellowships, conferences, papers, and so on. In addition, the SAET Journal is published twice a year, an online book review journal with a distinctly pastoral focus. Scholarly works relevant to evangelical theology are reviewed with a view to pastoral ministry.

Taylor on Beauty

Posted on October 7, 2008

Check out David Taylor’s new article on “Beauty” and the Gospel in Christianity Today: A Holy Longing:Beauty is the hard-to-define essence that draws people to the gospel. From the intro:

The saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” suggests that attempting to say anything concrete about the nature of beauty is a futile task. As soon as one person deems something beautiful, ten others will show up deeming it ugly. But theologians of the early and medieval church did not assume beauty was subjective. Borrowing from neo-Platonic philosophy, they believed that for something to be beautiful, it must also be good and true, with God reigning as the ultimate source of beauty. Today’s church can be thankful for people like David Taylor, who connect such esoteric reflections to the church’s mission. As the arts pastor for 12 years at Hope Chapel, a vibrant congregation in Austin, Texas, Taylor helped believer artists make the connection between worship, creativity, and community. Here, Taylor makes a similar connection between beauty and gospel proclamation to answer this year’s cvp question, “Is our gospel too small?”

N.T. Wright on Wisdom

Posted on October 6, 2008


“Wisdom is the characteristic of the truly human person, who takes the humble yet confident place marked out for Adam in the order of creation, under God, and over the world.” – N.T. Wright, Colossians

Deacon Training – I

Posted on October 6, 2008

Tonight we had our first of three sessions on deacon training. I was moved by the number of quality of potential deacons sitting in our house. God has been so kind to Austin City Life! In preparation for training our deacons, I did the following:

Then I wrote and mailed a letter of invitation to potential deacons, gave them a copy of Driscoll’s booklet, and developed a teaching outline for our three session Deacon Training. In all of this I borrowed heavily from Bob Thune and David Fairchild. Thanks guys! Here’s the list of topics we are covering each month:

October 5, 2008 1st training meeting @ Dodson’s house

Discussion topic: A Theology of Deacons

Assignment: One Page Reflection Paper on 1 Tim 3:8-13

November 2, 2008 2nd training meeting @ Dodson’s house

Discussion topic: The Practice of Deacons

Assignment: One Page Dream Ministry Description

December 7, 2008 3rd training meeting @ Dodson’s house

Discussion topic: Holding to the Mystery of Faith

Next Assignment: One Page Summary of the Gospel

December 8-14, 2008 Interviews and Installation