Friday, October 03, 2014

1 Chron 12:32 report, 116: On the fulness of Christ vision, Wallnau's seven mountains of influence and biblical discipleship driven revival and reformation

A few days ago, my attention was drawn to Lance Wallnau's seven mountains of influence theme, which -- without endorsing all he has to say --  has in it a definite point we need to face.  

For he has definitely found a way to speak to seven commanding heights of culture that can communicate to ordinary people in a very easy to remember way. In a day when the accelerating decay of culture, church, home, school, government and civilisation all around us should give any thoughtful person sobering pause.

Accordingly . . . and not having found a good graphic elsewhere, I have pulled together an infographic that relates his thought to the discipling mandate, the Christocentric fulness theme of Eph 1 and 4, and the for R's of revival and reformation:



Now, if we wish to understand a bit more of Wallnau's thought, this video may give a flavour:



(As noted, in drawing out the seven mountains graphic and insight and setting it in the context of the fulness of Christ, discipleship and reformation, I am by no means giving a blanket endorsement. View and draw your own overall assessment. But, I believe the image and idea of seven mountains of influence is very useful.)

To go further, I wish to draw again on Schaeffer's powerful (though marred by some errors) analysis of the thought-life and energising spirit of our civilisation across the centuries since Rome:


We then see the effect of splitting our field of knowledge into an upper and a lower storey, with the life of the mind isolated from the voice of God:



That breakdown then challenges us to prophetic, godly intellectual and cultural leadership towards reformation under God, informed by a sound understanding of worldviews:


Thus, the gospel ever challenges the community to turn from sin to God in the face of Christ.

Food for thought. END

PS: Speaking of Christ, I notice where writer Michael Paulkovich has been trying to suggest that there is an absence of adequate documentation that Jesus of Nazareth rises above a myth. That of course inadvertently underscores just how powerfully challenging the gospel is to those who would rather forget the reality of God.  As a quick first answer I point him and those inclined to take him seriously, to this 101 level video:


 
I also note, from Paul Barnett's Is the New Testament History? regarding early non-Christian sources:
On the basis of . . . non-Christian sources [i.e. Tacitus (Annals, on the fire in Rome, AD 64; written ~ AD 115), Rabbi Eliezer (~ 90's AD; cited J. Klausner, Jesus of Nazareth (London: Collier-Macmillan, 1929), p. 34), Pliny (Letters to Trajan from Bithynia, ~ AD 112), Josephus (Antiquities, ~ 90's)] it is possible to draw the following conclusions:
    1. Jesus Christ was executed (by crucifixion?) in Judaea during the period where Tiberius was Emperor (AD 14 - 37) and Pontius Pilate was Governor (AD 26 - 36). [Tacitus]
    2. The movement spread from Judaea to Rome. [Tacitus]
    3. Jesus claimed to be God and that he would depart and return. [Eliezer]
    4. His followers worshipped him as (a) god. [Pliny]
    5. He was called "the Christ." [Josephus]
    6. His followers were called "Christians." [Tacitus, Pliny]
    7. They were numerous in Bithynia and Rome [Tacitus, Pliny]
    8. It was a world-wide movement. [Eliezer]
    9. His brother was James. [Josephus]
[Is the New Testament History? (London, Hodder, 1987), pp. 30 - 31. Cf. McDowell & Wilson, He Walked Among Us (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1993) for more details; free for download here.]
(For more information, kindly see here on.)