AGE-GRADED SUNDAY SCHOOL

A Sunday School that has an average attendance of up to 1,000-1,200, so named because of its organizational structure, which adds a department for each age in the school grades and a department of adults with class divisions for each five-year span (e.g., ladies ages 25 to 29). The upper limits of an age-graded Sunday School represent the third danger-level plateau in a growing Sunday School.

ANOINTED PREACHING

Preaching is anointed when the proclamation of the gospel has God's power to (1) transform lives; (2) bring people to Christ; (3) free people from immoral habits; (4) bring people into intimate fellowship with God; (5) transform lives to be like Christ; (6) work in ministry to the needs of hearers; (7) initiate revival (which is God's pouring Himself on His people); (8) and above all to bring glory to God. When there is anointed preaching, people respond to Christian service, find their spiritual gifts, give money to the cause of Christ and feel the presence of Christ.

 ARMINIUS, JACOBUS (1560-1609)

Educated at Leyden and Geneva, Jacobus Arminius was a student of Bez, trained in the Calvinism of Reformed Theology. In 1603, he became professor of theology at Leyden. His attempt to modify Calvinism to prevent God from being viewed as the author of sin and to recognize the evolution of people was opposed by his colleague Francis Gomar and other Calvinists. Arminius called for a national synod to discuss the issue but died before the 1618 synod at Dortmund.

Arminius laid the theological foundation of Arminian theology, a theological view adopted by most holiness groups, including such outreach-oriented movements as the Methodist movement and the Salvation Army. Arminian theology emphasizes human responsibility in the conversion process and is viewed by some as a strong motive for evangelistic efforts.

BOOTH, WILLIAM BRAMWELL (1829-1912)

Founder of the Salvation Army.

At age 15, William Booth was converted and began preaching within the Methodist movement. He broke with the movement nine years later and became an independent evangelist. In 1864, Booth moved to London to begin the Christian Mission in London slums. This mission became the Salvation Army in 1878. As the name suggests, the Salvation Army was organized like a military unit, complete with ranks and uniforms. General Booth directed his army of Christian workers in a wide variety of Christian relief missions as part of his worldwide evangelistic strategies. The Salvation Army continues to be influential in many parts of the world today, especially in the area of social work.

Booth's major contributions to evangelism included a renewed emphasis on urban evangelism (especially the inner-city slums), using creative means to reach people (bands and open air preaching) and integrating social ministries and evangelism on an unprecedented scale.

 

References: William Booth, In Darkest England and the Way Out (London: International Headquarters of the Salvation Army, 1890); St. John Ervine, God's Soldier: General William Booth (London: William Heinemann, 1934).

BUSTERS, EVANGELISM OF BABY

When busters join a crowd with a Walkman plugged into their ears, they don't relate, talk or interact. They listen to music by themselves and remain isolated in the midst of the crowd. To understand the "Isolated Generation," compare the way various generations danced.

The first generation, "Depression Kids," listened to the Big Band sound and hugged and squeezed one another on the dance floor. Dancing was relationship and they whispered into one another's ears as they suggestively held each other in their arms. The Depression Kids idolized Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers for their perfect grace and flair that represented two people in perfect harmony.

Then came their kids, the baby boomers. They listened to Dick Clark and "The American Bandstand." They did the twist, the swim and many other dances whereby two couples danced together but seldom touched. Boomers did not have the intimacy, relationship or interpersonal involvement in their dance routine.

The boomer generation is now followed by the busters who dance alone. They idolize Michael Jackson and Madonna, who dance by themselves; no one else is on stage. Their idols are the perfect expression of the Isolated Generation.

The busters are children of divorce. Many grew up in isolation, perhaps without the intimacy of a father and a mother in the nuclear family. They thought they were alone in this world and found it hard to dream by not having anyone with whom to share their intimate thoughts.

The Devalued Generation. The very fact that fewer children were born during the baby bust generation implies that babies were not valued as highly as before. But notice other things that crept onto center stage during their childhoods. First came Roe vs. Wade (1973), resulting in rampant abortion, the ultimate act against devalued children. Because children were no longer valued as in the past, America slaughtered more than 3 million fetuses a year.

The busters have also been the target of an explosion in child abuse. Some people believe child abuse was going on for years, but not reported by and to the police; others think that family restraints were lifted by changing family values. Adults took their hostilities out on their children; surely suggesting children were devalued in adults' thinking. Many parents did not want children (e.g., birth control by using the pill or by other means). When many of the busters finally went off to college, many parents said to them, "Don't come back." In many homes, the busters were not wanted because of parent midlife divorce. Busters were children left to work out their own problems; they could not go to Mom and Dad to talk about it.

Another reason that produced the Devalued Generation is the nature of their parents—the baby boomers. Boomers have been called the "Me Generation," which meant they were proud, egotistical or, at best, self-centered. Those people who are too concerned about themselves don't have time to give of themselves to their children, which devalues the children's relationship to their parents and their self-perception.

The Self-Proclaimed Generation. The baby busters grew up with parents who told them, "You are important," but many of the parents denied by actions the words that came out of their mouths. They were too busy with their own pilgrimages in their lives. As a result, the busters believed they were important, but did not see importance coming from other people. Because healthy ego development comes from proper self-recognition, they had to beat their own drums. Busters are characterized by "self-proclamation" or to express it another way, they are "self-absorbed."

The Lengthened Adolescent Generation. One obvious thing about the still emerging baby buster generation—they are slow to grow up. They seem to grow into maturity later than previous generations, which means they take on the roles and responsibilities of adulthood later than their parents or grandparents did.

Adolescence is a transition between childhood and adulthood. Generally, adolescence is a protected time when children are allowed to find themselves, develop some maturity, choose vocations, choose partners and learn how to make their ways in the world. Traditionally, adolescence has been called by sociologists a time of "passages" or the "season of the soul" when the personality ripens into maturity.

Historically, adolescence has lasted from ages 13 to 17 or 18—at least it took that long for the Depression Kids. In her 1986 article entitled "The Postponed Generation," Susan Littwin indicated that adolescence now lasts from ages 11 to 28. Adolescence has been lengthened on both ends of the age continuum. Kids enter adolescence earlier and leave it much later. Whereas the first generation took four or five years to make the transition to adulthood, it takes the buster 15 to 17 years.

First the boomers lengthened adolescence on the front end, entering it earlier because of their general sexual freedom and the sexual revolution they introduced to the world.

Now the buster is lengthening adolescence on the exit end. They are refusing to grow up. Like Peter Pan, they seem to desire perpetual adolescence (i.e., freedom to make mistakes, goof off and mess around), all without consequence. Disturbingly, busters come out of adolescence about 10 years later than did their parents. What we see are young people in their 20s who have all the characteristics of a teenager. We are not talking physical characteristics, but their emotional outlook and commitment to handle the pressures of life.

The postponed generation knows more because of television, has experienced more in the realm of sex, has traveled farther, yet usually does not accept responsibility and usually cannot act upon what they know.

At one point in time, a clear line existed between adolescence and adulthood; it was when a person left high school, joined the military or graduated from college. In other eras, it was when a person got married or got that first job. But now, a baby buster can work for five years and still live like an adolescent at home, or can earn a Ph.D., marry and still not accept the responsibilities of adulthood.

What are some results of postponed adolescence? They marry later, are not in a hurry to get through college, but will reduce academic loads and change majors. If and when they graduate, they will switch jobs, switch mates, change apartments, make short-term commitments to sports teams, duck responsibilities and float from one hobby to another, or from one singles bar to another.

The Noncommitted Generation. Busters seem overwhelmed by life. Because they know more, have experienced more from the multitude of television advertisements, media information, and the possibilities of travel, work and an open-ended life, they seldom know how to handle any of it. So they don't commit to anything. The busters believe they must try everything before making a decision. They live life in a consumer's market. They leave their options open. Rather than buying a computer, they shop around but do not make a commitment because next year the model may be cheaper and have more options. Because they live in a changing world, they do not commit to the present because it may be out of date tomorrow.

The buster shops for a car phone but puts off buying one for 90 days, when the price drops from $800 to $150. This is the way the buster learns to get along in life. The buster often doesn't make a deep commitment to a partner because a better prospect might come along. The buster does not make a deep commitment to a job; a better offer might come along when a head hunter phones with an attractive offer. The buster does not make a deep commitment to anything because everything is transitory.

The Unfocused Generation. The busters have difficulty focusing on anything for a long time period. Their lives are like news stories presented on the evening news. Everything is instant, an instant war, an instant crisis, an instant political drama. For 15 minutes, busters give rapt attention to earth-shaking danger, then back to pizza or the football game.

Some believe television has produced more dysfunctionalism than anyone is willing to admit. The way television makes people experience information and feelings is the way they relate to others and to their culture. Television presents news in nice "bit-size" 30-second modules of time. So busters drift through life unconnected to their previous or their future experiences. They are dysfunctional.

Television never moves to closure on anything. The soaps never end, they just keep on going. When baby busters get wrapped up in the famine of Africa, before they know it, it is no longer a news item. Suddenly it's Grenada, then herpes, then the nuclear freeze. Before long, the flow of news makes it difficult for them to commit to any issue, so life becomes an existence of nonissues. They are the nonfocused generation.

The Unisex Generation. The busters are the first generation who are the products of America's growing unisex orientation to life. Unisex is a movement toward the center; both boys and girls wear jeans, T-shirts and have the same hair length. Outward adornings are not the issue; it is crossing the ontological bridge between the sexes that becomes the issue. The boy-girl relationship seems to contain no mystery. Buster children have grown up being taught sex education. They have seen nude pictures, can identify the human plumbing fixtures, know what they are expected to do in copulation and can explain it by properly identifying the organs. But they don't know the mystery of the sexual relationship. Marriage often contains a contractual agreement. They have not experienced what Jesus described, "the two shall become one flesh" (Matthew 19:5).

The growth of women's rights has resulted in both men and women performing all the roles for an airline company: pilots, computer operators, luggage handlers and mechanics. This in itself is not wrong because in many of these tasks previously relegated to men, women are observably better. The issue is that in the middle of America's social struggle to correct a historic wrong, busters seem to be swimming in a stream where they can't find bottom.

The Anomaly Generation. Anomaly means a person is hot and cold at the same time, or happy and sad, or depressed and vibrant. Anomaly means both extremes exist without coming to a middle synthesis. The busters are the anomaly generation, at least to their parents and grandparents. They wear a $500 suit and sneakers to work. They want to be comfortable, yet present a good image. They wear shoes without socks. They drink a diet cold drink for breakfast rather than the traditional coffee. The anomaly buster Christians wear T-shirts displaying rebellious slogans, or silk-screened ads for beer, not caring about the antichurch implications for their parents or grandparents.

Busters are tolerant of change, expect change and embrace change with affection. They can take change in stride because they are nontraditional. But their parents—the baby boomers—and their grandparents—the Depression Kids—look at moral situations through the eyes of tradition. Their parents interpret by the standards of consistency, and when things are not consistent, they get uptight. But busters don't agree. They hold contradictory beliefs and have no trouble with them. They may not believe in losing their salvation (eternal security), but they attend Pentecostal churches that say they can lose their salvation. They may speak in tongues, yet attend Bible churches that preach against sign gifts.

The buster generation says contradictory things, which does not bother them because consistency is not a rule of thumb. Their view of Christianity contains choices similar to a cafeteria, so they load up their trays with a little Mexican food, Southern black-eyed peas, Italian pasta and a bottle of beer, which may or may not be opposed by their pastors. The anomaly buster quips, "What's the big deal?"

The First Atheistic Generation. The buster generation is a product of Madalyn O'Hair, who persuaded the Supreme Court of the United States to kick the Word of God, recognition of God and the symbols of God out of public schools. So buster children were reared without knowledge or training of an absolute deity, either Jewish, Catholic or Protestant. Supposedly, they were reared in a neutral environment that gave no reference to God. They were supposed to be reared free of all moral restraints and choices. But that is not the way it happened. Because nature abhors a vacuum, anti-God forces rushed in under the guise of neutrality, and public schools became humanistic and atheistic. The result is not just, "no God," but "anti-God." What do they think about God? Their orientation is secular, humanistic, and they will not allow the church to run their moral lives.

The busters do not get their theological views from the church or organized religion, rather they get their views about God from films and music. As a result, they have a watered-down view of God, the church and ministers. Their pluralistic viewpoints of life make them antidoctrinal and antiorthodox. Yet they are not theologically liberal, but are against the liberalism of the mainline churches. Busters believe in supernaturalism because in the movies they see demons and supernatural events. They have seen the realism of The Exorcist and the surrealism of Ghostbusters.

FELT NEED

The conscious wants and desires of a person; considered to be an opportunity for Christian evangelism that stimulates within the person a receptivity to the gospel.

 FOUR SPIRITUAL LAWS

A popular presentation of the gospel developed by Bill Bright and published by Campus Crusade for Christ. Translated and adapted for wide use internationally, this presentation begins with the question, Have you heard about the Four Spiritual Laws? The presenter then explains that just as the physical laws govern the physical universe, the spiritual laws govern our relationship with God.

Law One: God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

Law Two: Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Law Three: Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life. "Christ died for our sins...he was buried,...he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,...he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred" (1 Cor. 15:3-6, NIV).

Law Four: We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephes. 2:8-9).

 

Reference: Bill Bright, How to Experience and Share the Abundant Life in Christ (San Bernardino, Calif.: Campus Crusade for Christ, 1971).

DISCERNMENT, GIFT OF

One of the enabling gifts of the Holy Spirit. A God-given ability to distinguish between truth and error.

 

Reference: Larry Gilbert, Team Ministry (Lynchburg, Va: Church Growth Institute, 1987).

 

—Evangelism and Church Growth