Notes: Empowerment of Leaders and Encounter with God Theological Definitions

Empower
1.Give or delegate power or authority to 2.Give qualities or abilities to 3. Give somebody more control over their own life or the situation they are in 4. Inspire somebody with confidence, to give somebody a sense of confidence or selfesteem Synonyms: authorize, endow, endue, gift, indue, invest

Encounter
Below are the general meanings. "Encounter" has a distinct meaning in theological literature which I'll specify following these: As a Verb, it means: 1. To experience something, especially something unpleasant or difficult, while you are trying to do something else 2. To meet somebody, or discover or experience something, especially somebody/something new, unusual or unexpected 3. Accidentally be in the same place and interact with (someone) "How nice to encounter you again!" - meet, run into, run across, come across, see 4. Come upon, as if by accident; meet with "We encounter this idea in Plato" - find, happen, chance, bump 5. Be beset by "The project encountered numerous financial difficulties" - run into 6. Experience as a reaction - meet, receive 7. Contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle "Princeton encounters Yale this weekend" - meet, play, take on As a Noun, it means: 1. A meeting, especially one that is sudden, unexpected or violent 2. A sports match against a particular player or team 3. A minor short-term fight - brush, clash, skirmish

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Notes: Empowerment of Leaders and Encounter with God Theological Definitions

4. A casual or unexpected convergence "there was a brief encounter in the hallway" - meeting 5. A casual meeting with a person or thing - coming upon 6. A hostile disagreement face-to-face - confrontation, showdown, face-off Derived forms: encounters, encounterin

Theological Definitions:
1. According to the personal view (which says that revelation is a personal encounter with God, not just the printed words of the Bible or the propositions of doctrine), represented by Barth, Brunner, and Baillie, revelation is the event of divinehuman encounter which is a divinely initiated act of grace and the human response of faith. 2. According to Karl Barth, only in the Incarnation does one encounter the Word of God as the Revelation of God himself. The knowledge of God is grounded in God himself, not in nature, history, or human words. For Barth revelation as personal cannot be apart from an encounter with the Living God in Jesus Christ. As personal it can only be responded to in the person of Jesus Christ. Nature, obviously, has no personality; therefore, it cannot reveal God himself to man. 3. According to Emil Brunner, in revelation, one encounters God himself and not some set of abstract ideas. The knowledge of revelation does not add to ones knowledge; it transforms the person. In the divine-encounter that constitutes revelation, God steps into the solitariness of the Thou-less I as the Thou and brings man into a genuine I-Thou relationship. Critique: The encounter theory doesnt specify how one may be sure whether the encounter is really with the Christian God. One needs to have propositional revelation in order to have certainty of knowledge. Therefore, according to Erickson, revelation is both personal and propositional 4. According to Donald G. Bloesch, in His personal self-revelation God unites his action with our action.

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Notes: Empowerment of Leaders and Encounter with God Theological Definitions

ENCOUNTERING GOD
Encounter Theology has roots in Evangelical Theologys emphasis on revelation as primarily personal. Karl Barth was disgusted with the liberal view and treatment of Scripture, and began teaching that one can never know God unless one encounters Him in the person of Jesus Christ. There can never be an encounter with God through nature, history, or human words, he said; so, he considered natural theology to be false, even demonic. This would look logical when the encounter is not seen as we encountering some impersonal God, but the personal God revealing Himself to us. A natural object cannot encounter anyone; only a person can do that. Of course, it is not we who encounter God, but He who encounters us through His grace. It would be theologically wrong to say Lets encounter God, unless we have played with and transformed the meaning of the word encounter itself. It is and can always be only God who encounters man. When we talk of having an encounter, it can only be theologically right when it is an experience in which God meets us in a situation and reveals Himself to us. However, since people may come up with various theologies built on testimonies of such experiences, we have a general guide by which to measure whether a particular experience is Biblically valid or not (even if it is claimed that the encounter occurred while reading or studying Scripture) we have the whole Written Word as the authoritative guide. For Pentecostals, the encounter has a further dimension; for, we believe in the blessed ministration of the Holy Spirit in the same way that He ministered in the early church. Like someone said: In the Father, the honey is in the flower In Christ, the honey is in the honeycomb In the Holy Spirit, the honey is in our mouth He is so close that we cant escape Him at all; He is closer than our very breath. The Bible says that In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17). The Spirit speaks and blessed is he who can hear and experience God through this divine ministration.

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Notes: Empowerment of Leaders and Encounter with God Theological Definitions

SUBJECTIVE ASPECTS OF ENCOUNTER

Seeking, Waiting, Longing, Watching and Praying, Finding, Receiving, Believing, Obeying

OBJECTIVE ASPECTS OF ENCOUNTER

Revelation, Visitation, Enlightenment, Understanding, Illumination, the Revelational Gifts (Faith, Wisdom, Knowledge, Discernment)

RESULTS OF ENCOUNTER

Deeper Rooting in Christs Love, Word, and Presence Transformation of Thinking, Mind, Intellect Purging of Conscience from Dead Works Enhanced Moral-Sense Capabilities (Isaiah 6, Hebrews 5:14) Restoration of Spirit Sharp Spiritual Discernment Renewed Spiritual Passions, Affections (Greater than First Love) Stronger Faith More Effective Ministry NEGATIVE ASPECT: On those who reject. Judgment

EMPOWERING PEOPLE

The connection between encountering and empowering may be captured in the word impartation. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established (Romans 1:11) There is a body-systemic relation in this: that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. (v 12) Cf. EPHESIANS 4:11-16 The one who empowers also benefits from the empowering as the Body gets benefited. Give out what you have to receive what you dont have A Key New Testament Leadership Principle

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Notes: Empowerment of Leaders and Encounter with God Theological Definitions

BIBLICAL MODELS

VINE, BRANCHES, & HUSBANDMAN Grafting, Pruning, Culturing, Gathering FIELD & FARMER Preparing, Sowing, Irrigating, Reaping BODY Connection, Constitution, Contribution, Complementation, ARMY Training, Testing, Tackling (the enemy), Triumphing .

ELEMENTS OF EMPOWERING
Recognizing Roles (Calling, Gifting The Barnabas Factor) Training in Truth (Discipleship, Education The Paul-Timothy Factor) Placing in Position (Seeking in Prayer, Separating for Service The ACTS 13 Factor) Delegating Duties (Authorities & Powers, Accountability The Titus 1:5 Factor)

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