Think Update #10 - Post FLF Conference Welcome (October 8, 2020)
I sent this to our new subscribers after the Fight Laugh Feast Conference. —Joel
A Note of Welcome
Welcome to the Think Institute, and thanks for subscribing to the Think Update email. I'm Joel Settecase, and I'm the founder and lead teacher of the Think Institute.
We are a teaching ministry for believers. My goal with these emails is to equip you with tools and tips you need to fulfill your piece of the Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20).
Important request: This is a critical time for the church, so I'm asking you to share this email to others who may be interested in this content. My target audience is Christians who are serious about following Jesus, fulfilling his mission and applying God's word to every area of life. I do not recommend you share this with non-believers, but I will leave that up to you. Anyone who wants to subscribe can do so here.
I'm really glad you're here. In this welcome email I want to tell you about our three areas of study, and five ways you can get involved with the Think Institute.
First, Our Backstory
After beginning my career in the business world, I took a position as a Bible teacher at Chicago Hope Academy in 2009. Working in that role convinced me (and Aliza) that (a) teaching theology in some way was what I wanted to do long-term, and (b) that meant I needed more education.
I started at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (where I earned my M.A. in Philosophy of Religion). I knew I wanted to do some kind of academic work, but I received solid advice from my friend and mentor D. A. Carson, who suggested that, to become a well-rounded scholar, I would need to gain some pastoral experience.
So we moved the family and I started my pastoral career, first at a Bible church in Plainfield, Illinois, and then at a large, multi-site church in Chicago. After several years serving in various positions, I had gained the pastoral experience Dr. Carson had recommended. During those years my desire to teach grew into a desire to start an institute, training believers in what we believe, why we believe it, and how to share it.
I had also experienced how hard it was to get something like that off the ground while also fulfilling all the other pastoral duties in the church (pray for your pastors!). And then the Lord called us out of local church ministry.
This is when we started the Think Institute. Aliza and I linked up with a division of Cru called Church Movements. With my experience as a pastor, I knew there was a great need for a ministry that could work within churches, providing robust, biblical curriculum and education in the areas of the biblical worldview, evangelism and apologetics.
We launched the Institute in February of 2019, about one week before our son Lukas was diagnosed with heart failure (follow Aliza's updates here).
The last year-and-a-half has been an incredible ride (Lukas received a heart transplant at the end of March), and we have been amazed by how God has blessed and grown the Institute during that time, perfecting his strength in our weakness (2 Co 12:9).
Our mission is simple: we equip believers to explain, share, and defend the Christian message.
Our Three Areas of Study
We focus on three content areas: Worldview, Evangelism and Apologetics.
1. Worldview
A worldview is the "network of presuppositions... through which one interprets all of human experience" (Jefferey Ventrella).
Believers need to know how the biblical worldview answers all the most important questions of life, and we focus on these seven:
What is actually real?
What is right?
What can we know for sure?
What does it mean to be human?
What is the meaning of life?
Where is everything headed?
Who is Jesus?
You can check out my worldview course here.
2. Evangelism
Evangelism is all about guiding others to Christ. Believers need to know how to work with non-Christians at various stages of their spiritual journey, so we've marshaled the best evangelism training Cru Church Movements has to offer, called "Cojourners," for our Think Institute curriculum. We focus on these four roles:
The Explorer
The Guide
The Builder
The Mentor
You can download our Think: Cojourners Evangelism course from the Think Institute library, and you can listen to my excellent discussion with evangelist and pastor Tom Schmidt here.
3. Apologetics
John Frame calls apologetics the "theological discipline that defends the truth of the Christian message." We believe every Christian ought to be able to do this, even without a PhD in astrophysics or paleontology, so we teach a three-step, presuppositional method:
Show that the unbelieving position makes no sense (Pr. 26:4).
Show that the biblical position makes sense (Pr. 26:5).
Appeal to the unbeliever to repent and trust in Jesus (Cl 1:28).
You can listen to my talk, "A Crash Course in Presuppositional Apologetics," here.
I Promised To Tell You 5 Ways To Get Involved...
...so here they are. If any of this sounds compelling to you (and since you're subscribed to this email list, I'll bet it does), then there are five things you can do right now to begin to benefit from the work we're doing.
1. Go to the website.
Read the blog articles written by Yours Truly and others. Want something mind-bending to read? Check out this one by Parker Settecase on Simulation Theory. While you're there, browse the Courses Library for resources on the biblical worldview, evangelism and apologetics, as well as two seminars explaining Christianity for Muslims. We've got many more articles coming from exciting new authors, too.
2. Listen to the Think Podcast.
Watch all the episodes on our YouTube Channel, or subscribe on your favorite podcast catcher app, including Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. Do not miss my interviews with Sye Ten Bruggencate (on apologetics) or Doug Wilson (on education and reformation), or the latest Worldview Wednesday episode with Pastor Raef and me, or the infamous Thunder Thursday episodes with Parker Settecase and myself.
3. Join us on Facebook.
I'm always posting new content (live videos, biblical blurbs, updates and more on the Think Institute page. This is a good place to watch and interact (!) with the Think Podcast broadcasts as they go live, multiple times each week (you can also do that on the YouTube channel). In addition, you may be inspired to join my Christian Culture Builders group. It's a virtual society filled with believers in Jesus working to create Great Commission hubs—geographical and/or virtual centers of "owned space" (to borrow Aaron Renn's phrase)—for the propagation of the Gospel and the furthering of Christ's kingdom.
4. Book me to speak at your church or group.
One of my favorite things in the world is to teach a session or series in a local church, ministry or small group. I can partner with you/your leaders and tailor a training that fits the unique vision of your church or organization, in one of our three areas of focus (worldview, evangelism or apologetics. Interested? Tap here to email me about it.
5. Apply for the Hammer & Anvil Society.
Round two of our "sinister/saintly society" (as my friend Romi Olariu calls it) is starting in early 2021. This is our cohort that equips, encourages and engages Christian men to relentlessly pursue their piece of Christ's Great Commission, to raise the evangelistic temperature of their churches, and to set up Gospel outposts in their city by working within the three spheres of authority: the household, the church and the civil government. More info will be rolled out shortly, but if you're interested, email me here.
6. (BONUS): Partner with our family.
Aliza and I, and our family, are missionaries. We rely on the generous support of like minded individuals. People like you and your family. Would you consider joining our team with a one-time gift or with $25, $50, $100 a month, or some other amount? The process is simple, and you can begin it here. If you'd like to learn more about us first, that's great too. Email to schedule a virtual meeting sometime, right here.
Until Next Time
Thank you for subscribing. Again I ask that you would share this with other like-minded believers, to help me get the word out. Anyone who wants to subscribe can do so here.
If you have questions or comments about the Institute, my family, or our ministry with Cru Church Movements, please email them to me at thethink.institute@gmail.com.
I'm glad you're joining us on this journey. As I always say to close out the Think Podcast, I hope it made you think.
Your brother in Christ,
Joel Settecase
Founder | The Think Institute
thethink.institute@gmail.com
Partner With The Settecase Family | give.cru.org/1018841
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