Teaching Areas
David would like to talk to your organization about the following topics:
Christian Formation: Being formed into the image of Christ
Our traditional models of discipleship have never worked well, because they
are based on the premise that education, motivation and willpower are sufficient
to produce change. True Christian character can only be formed from engaging
with the Holy Spirit in ways that are transformative. Using Dallas Willard's
model of Vision, Intention, and Means (VIM), David presents an approach to the
Christian Life that brings about genuine change by bringing us closer to God.
Items covered include:
Hearing God: Developing a conversational prayer life
The only way we can know how to live the Christian life is to follow the Spirit.
But many of us find it hard to figure out what the Spirit wants us to know.
We were taught a form of prayer that is like a one-way conversation: saying
things to God and then going about our lives, waiting to see if He will respond
in some way. But the Bible makes it very clear that God intends to communicate
with His children very directly. We have all been given a personal Mentor in
the form of the Holy Spirit. And this Mentor loves to teach! Especially when
we ask Him about our lives.
So how does God's voice come to us? How do we separate out His voice from all
the other "voices" in our heads? How do we keep from going overboard
on this and getting into trouble?
This seminar seeks to examine these questions as well as provide opportunity
to listen for God and discuss our experiences with each other.
Why churches need to know about the Life Model
At its core, the Life Model is a blueprint for a well-tuned Christian Community.
Many of us would like a strong Christian Community, but we do not really understand
how to create one. This presentation will cover:
Personal History
All of my life, my greatest passion has been to learn how to live well in a
fallen world, and to share what I learn with others. Even at a fairly young
age it was apparent to me that few Christians around me were actually living
out the Kingdom life that I saw portrayed in the New Testament. And for most
of my life, my own attempts to grow and become like Jesus left me broken, confused,
and discouraged.
But God is faithful, and His continual pursuit of me over the years has been
fruitful and life-changing. My own healing began in earnest in 1985 and has
involved several life-giving communities, inner healing prayer, and continual
learning about what it means to be an apprentice of Jesus. Today, the God behind
my theology is my Father and personal Mentor, with whom I am developing an intimate
relationship.
Worldview
Generally, I believe that God’s main purpose for His people is that they learn
how to reign well in life (Rom.5:17) and participate in His ministry of reconciliation
(2Cor.5:18). That means, among other things, that we are engaged in a lifelong
transformational process of becoming more and more like Jesus. Along the way,
there are many things that get in the way of living as God intended, including
family dysfunction, abuse, neglect, destructive patterns, and mistaken goals.
With the help of the Holy Sprit and members of Christ’s Body, we can undo the
damage of many of these acquired deficits, and learn how to live from the heart
Jesus gave us. Thus, healing is not an end in itself, but an important step
in bringing our lives into better relationship with Christ.
Education / Training
M.Div. with concentration in Christian Formation, Fuller Seminary 2005
B.A. in Human Services with concentration in Family Counseling
Theophostic Ministry training, both Basic and Advanced
Life Model training with Jim Wilder