You are currently browsing the daily archive for July 9th, 2008.
Bibliography
Thompson, Jr, W. Oscar . Concentric Circles of Concern.
Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999.
Author Information
W. Oscar Thompson, Jr., was an instructor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in the area of evangelism. He was a pastor for twenty years before joining the seminary staff and was also president of the Oscar Thompson Evangelistic Association. He died of cancer in 1980.
Content Summary
Concentric Circles of Concerns is dynamic plan of specifics through love, to develop disciples for Christ. Thompson through the entire book links the importance of relationship, love, prayer, and organization as a fortified team to accomplish discipleship. He states that there are seven stages in this process: get right, survey, pray, build bridges, show love, make disciple, and begin again. (Pg.30-31) He makes a stance of declaring that the word relationship is the most important word in the dictionary.That word alones provides a stem or basis from which everything else can and will grow. He is very adamant about relationship being the glue that holds everything together in the area of discipleship. He states throughout the entire book the premise, that if you do not have a right relationship with those close to you, how can you have one with those far away. He goes even deeper by saying that you can’t have a right relationship with God and then treat others adversely. (pg93)
He furthers his case by then moving to the concept of love. He shows the direct affect that relationships have on your ability to display love. He lays out a message of love through the words that Christ shared in the Mark. Christ allows us to see in the book of Mark that when you love the least of mine you are showing your love to me. Thompson explains that text by telling us that Christ loves comes through when we meet the needs of other people. (pg.153)
He also shows the importance of prayer throughout the entire process of discipleship to others. As he tells the different stories of reconciliation and salvation prayer becomes the backdrop of the all that was done in the people lives. It was amazes to see lives changed through the prayer while sometimes the person praying never had any contact previously. (pg.183) It was clear that being directed by the Holy Spirit through prayer was essential to development of others. Thompson displays this throughout the book to help the believer see that nothing can really be down outside of prayer.
As you read the book you find out one other thing, which was so important that he really does not mention much but is displayed through the book. That one thing is organization. With this he makes a few points as to know people names when you meet them because to love them is to remember their name. Through the seven stages he shows the importance of keeping up with many people from different places and paths. He repeats more than once, that God wants us to pray for specifics in our lives and the lives of others. The organization is not so much based on being neat but more so on making sure that all that are in your circles will be prayed for in your prayer time.
Thompson finishes the book by challenging the reader to now take someone else through the process that was just taught. He spells out the entire premise of a disciple and what it means to be a disciple. (pg. 191) Once the reader understands what a disciple is he or she then can go back out a make other disciples. At the end of the day that was what Thompson was after, making disciples. (pg. 200)
Evaluation
This may be one of the most convicting books that I have ever read. Thompson addresses themes directly and with passion. He give primary sources for many of the things that happen while either teaching or actually out in the field. He then gives biblical text to back up his thoughts throughout the book that brings home his presentations of the different stages.
As he writes, it is as if he holds the mirror in front of your face and then tells you to look at before you make a decision. I found it to be very refreshing that every time he was presented with a question he would respond with, what did your time in prayer led you to do. He would not convict the person but he would allow the Holy Spirit to convict the person. He says throughout the book that people convince others to come to Christ but the Holy Spirit convicts. He teaches throughout this work to let the Holy Spirit guide you to do that which you are called to do which is love those in your circle. He continually brings conviction by displaying the attitudes that when you become a believer you lose the right to choose who you want to love. That one statement is an enough to make me go into prayer and repent.
This book will be given to all my friends as a must read. I can say honestly that this book has made a drastic impact on me and challenge me to mend broken fences. I have to start at home then work out to those who are far from me. This has revolutionized by evangelistic approach. I believe he has hit the target and the aim with this book beyond anything that he ever imagined.
I believe that Thompson lived out what he wrote in this book which made it so real to him. He was a man that was out there witnessing to people but always looking for the better way to reach God’s people. After finding out the way, that he perceived Jesus to have taught the disciple, he instantly changed his whole teaching method and the way that he evangelized. That speaks volume because that is rare. He changed his whole method of teaching and lifestyle to fulfill what he believed to be the blueprint from the bible.
If I had one complaint about the book it would be that Dr. Thompson makes everything appear to be so systematic. He doesn’t really give a lot of room for uncertainty in any of stories but makes everything finite. I believe he addresses those areas of concern with the, continue to pray statements. I still find it scarce in this book that it always worked regardless of anything.. For a person who holds the sovereignty of God to be the utmost, there may be a bit ambiguity hidden in this text. I believe it would be minimal but I can see where they may have an issue. Thompson makes it appear that our prayers can actually change the will and mind of God. Pure Calvinist would have a problem with some of the ways that Thompson presents his message.
All in all, I believe this is a great book and should be used a paradigm for churches and other bible study groups. This book has made an impact through it stories and personal testimonies as well as the revelation that Thompson provides from the scriptures.
The collective unconsciousness of society sometimes leaves me in a state of bewilderment. As I go through my day, I do my best to display myself as a viable part of this society that we refer to as America. I obey the laws of the land and help in preserving what mere part of unity that we have left to preserve. The major difference that I have from that of the collective unconscious is that I look through the eyes of a young black male.
I see the world through the eyes of one who has been afforded the opportunity to connect with the collective unconscious but prefers to mingle and challenged the other side of the spectrum, the dispersed epigones. Understand the dispersed epigones are products of their environments that are largely influenced by the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious always makes decisions that will benefit themselves but still has an adverse effect on the dispersed epigone. They profess to have a love and concern for the dispersed epigone but when it comes time to ante up there true colors come out.
The collective unconscious would have you to believe that the majority of young black males are criminal minded, baggy pants wearing only good for jail, non-citizens who live in America. So the interaction that they have with the young black males becomes extension of this dysfunctional relationship. They’re perspective becomes myopic and clings to the halo effect which makes judgments on all because of the perception of one.
What does this all mean? It means that Harold Cruse was right when he wrote in 1967, The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual, that whoever controls mass media controls America. In the big scheme of things, Obama’s 20 or more years of relationship with Dr. Wright has ended because of media hype and miscues. The jaded nightly news has softly been killing the young blacks males by painting targets on our backs for police to shoot by their one sided presentation of the news. I remember reading one time where Dr. Bill Cosby once said, “That if a Martian came to America and looked at the news without any other source of information he would try to kill the black men.”
You can hate Dr. Wright or love him but show me in his speeches where what he was saying was so wrong. It was harsh and sometimes unfair but where was it wrong. For those who differ with him read or listen to the whole speech. There is a major difference between context and sound bite. The collective unconscious has been behind the scenes controlling the entire process and the dispersed epigone reaps the benefit of their selfishness.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Christ died on the cross and became the atonement, I would right now be in the process of getting my weaponry up for city wide chaos. My peace and protection stems on his love and assurance. But for those that do not have that assurance they have to asked themselves do you want 91 shots(shots fired at Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell on two separate accusation by police when they had no guns) or to be caught in a Hurricane in a major city(people of Louisiana). The choice is yours but understand this one thing; the collective unconsciouses are doing their best to find a way to impoverish, miseducate, steal your land, kill or enslave you.
Rest in Peace to Diallo, Bell and those who perished in New Orleans
Just my thoughts
In a time, where everyone has a thought and their two cents to chime in with, I find that the hip hop culture is in a constant state of culture shock. Anthropologist Rachel Irwin defines culture shock, “as the anxiety and emotional disturbance experienced by people when two sets of realities and conceptualizations meet.” Walter M. Miller in his writings, A Canticle for Liebowitz makes a description of culture in the these words:”For Man was a culture-bearer as well as a soul-bearer, but his cultures were not immortal and they could die with a race or an age, and then human reflections of meaning and human portrayals of truth receded, and truth and meaning resided, unseen, only in the objective logos of Nature and the ineffable Logos of God. Truth could be crucified; but soon, perhaps, a resurrection.” The resurrection that I perceive him to be talking about is Jesus.
When we inject the hip hop culture with the stimulus of the Jesus what an effect it has on the culture. We start to see the “chickens coming home to roost”. Many can attest that they love Christ but have to viable fruit displayed in their lifestyle. I had the opportunity to watch Hip Hop vs. America the other night on television. They had a panel of great brothers and sisters from different walks of life. The one that stood out the most in my mind was David Banner. David Banner is a southern brother from Mississippi. He is a wealthy entertainer but he is also has a Masters degree from University of Maryland. So we are not talking about a dumb brother here. He talks passionately about his love for the black people and what he did it Louisiana when Katrina came through and wrecked the city. He was there helping which is and was a noble thing. But the problem came for me when he tried to rationalize his lyrics in his song. This statement was taken from an excerpt from a Vibe Magazine interview;”Yeah because when you look at it, you have so many other people doing the same type of music. They only attack Nelly because he’s at the level that he is. My thing is its entertainment. An actor can get up and act and do whatever he wants to do. Arnold Schwarzenegger perfect example. He can kill kids, he can blow up half of the United States and become governor of California. But we speak about the things we actually see every day in our lives and we’re crucified for it. The thing is, nobody beat anybody to be in that video. The women enjoyed themselves, the same way the men enjoyed themselves and they got paid. And if you really want to talk about ethics as far as women are concerned, you can look at football games. Half naked women on the sidelines, don’t have nothing to do with the boys on the field playing football. You see it everyday; it’s a bigger problem. But young black males are the easiest scapegoat for America to crucify. If Spellman is truly concerned about women, they have a bigger target to attack. But that’s not what people really want to do. They want to attack safe targets, they want to attack their own people and that’s sickening to me.”
He expressed the same words on the BET show like what he was saying was correct. He justifies himself by saying that he put his career on the line by writing a song with the lyrics,”
God I know that we pimp
God I know that we wrong
God I know why she talk about Moet all of my songs
I know these kids are listening
I know I’m here for a mission
But it’s so hard to get ‘em wit 22 rims all glisten
taken from the song Cadillac on 22″s
This is a culture shock to the hip hop culture. We have gotten in our mind that we can divorce our walk from our talk. The bible is very intentional when it says, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”(Luke 6:45) What we have is a postmodern culture that compartmentalizes holiness for economical gain. It is alright to be good and accountable when I can see payment for it. But if I have to display holiness because it is a God govern attribute, you might as well trash that idea. (peep out Da Truth’s song Click: No Regrets on the album Open Book)
In our culture if it ain’t paying it ain’t staying. That mentality is killing our youth as well as the older generation. The quest for the mighty dollar has left us aimlessly wandering through the field of false dreams. These dreams are leading us down the road of debauchery and with no end in sight. We must transcend into a Holy Culture that places God at the forefront of our lives.
Just my thoughts
