The implementation of Jesus' transformative leadership in leaders and activists of the Protestant Christian church in Bali, Indonesia

Jesus Christ is a role model for leaders, with His leadership still relevant until now. Jesus brought transformation to His community, and this transformative leadership model is needed to renew church ministry and evangelism. This article aims to find out the level of implementation of Jesus' transformative leadership among church leaders and activists of the Protestant Christian Church in Bali (GKPB) at Denpasar. This “traditional” church needs transformation to improve its quality and range of services outside Bali Island. The research used a quantitative method by measuring the Four Dimensions (D) in the concept of transformative leadership of Jesus according to the Gospel of Matthew. Results show that first, the implementation of Jesus' transformative leadership among GKPB Denpasar leaders and activists was found to be in "moderate" level due to the leadership model that was still committed to the system of institutional centralization and local autonomy based on tradition, which became an obstacle to develop mission work outside Bali. Second, the implementation of Jesus' transformative leadership among GKPB Denpasar leaders and activists was more dominantly influenced by the understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven (D2), meaning that leaders of GKPB Bali had practiced the Jesus transformative leadership model. However, the adequate salary and facilities provided by the synod created anthropocentric comfort, which diluted the spirit of the mission. Third, the background of "long-serving" (L5) dominantly influenced GKPB Denpasar leaders and activists to adjust Jesus’s transformative leadership model, but this was not yet able to fully optimize the practice. Therefore, GPKB Denpasar leaders and activists need to shift from the traditional paradigm to the transformative one to carry out personal and institutional transformations to improve their quality, range of services and answer future challenges.

THE EASTERN PHILOSOPHER AND THE WESTERNIZED PROPHET

Gibran Khalil Gibran is one of the few Lebanese authors who has bridged the East and the West and is justifiably considered a citizen of the world. His book of highly estimated prose poems, The Prophet is one of the most widely read books of the 20th century. It reveals Gibran’s philosophy about different aspects of life, mainly the precept in the Gospel of Matthew about the importance of the human sense of mutuality which summarizes a Christian’s duty towards his/her neighbor and states a fundamental ethical principle. In addition to this golden rule, The Prophet reflects Gibran’s beliefs in Christianity. Being a true mirror of the Sufi mysticism of Islam, it also shows his idealistic opinion on pantheism. From this perspective, the research will focus on the combination of his beliefs in Christianity, Islam, and pantheism in The Prophet, as well as his firm conviction in creating the united and unique structure of a Christian-Muslim synthesis which he deeply adhered to.

Czech Translations of the Gospel of Matthew from the Diachronic Point of View – Plus Ça Change…

The paper focuses on dynamics of changes of several linguistic and text properties in diachronic development of Czech. Specifically, we analyze the proportion of identical word-forms (types), the average type length, text length, the proportion of hapax legomena, the moving average type-token ratio, and entropy. For the analysis, seven translations of the Gospel of Matthew from the 14th to the 21st century were used. The study reveals some differences in dynamics of changes of particular properties.

Character Strengths Beatitudes: A Secular Application of Ancient Wisdom to Appreciate Strengths for Spiritual Happiness and Spiritual Growth

A beatitude is a blessing. It is a form of appreciation that can be directed toward others or oneself. Theologically speaking, some frame the original beatitudes from The Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew as pertaining to “spiritual happiness”, and recent scholars have offered a compelling argument that they are a call to flourishing. The focus here involves the creation and description of 24 blessings, or beatitudes, using the lens of one of the foundational and most researched areas in the sciences of flourishing, well-being, and positive psychology, which is the science of character strengths. Recent research has framed the 24 universal character strengths as spiritual strengths, hence particularly aligned for secular and nonsecular contexts of spiritual blessings. Each of the 24 character strengths was created into a blessing using the structure of the original beatitudes—with an opening description of the personal quality or attribute that is blessed and a follow-up outcome or core benefit that arises from the expression of that quality. In this way, these character strength beatitudes or character strength blessings offer an opportunity to appreciate the best positive qualities of others. These blessings are framed as primarily a mechanism of appreciating the character strengths of others, resting theoretically in both the grounding path and the sanctification path, the two types of integration of character strengths and spirituality that researchers have proposed. They are discussed, secondarily, as applied to the individual, for self-understanding, insight, and growth. These two purposes are relevant to the deepening of the spiritual journey, providing support as individuals pursue meaning in life and/or the sacred as they go deeper within themselves, up and beyond themselves, and sideways and interconnected to others. Practical applications, based in science, are discussed and point to avenues by which these character strengths beatitudes might both foster the appreciating of others’ strengths and support one’s own spiritual happiness, spiritual coping, and spiritual growth.

Jeremiah and His Prophecies in the New Testament

This chapter examines the various modes of reference to Jeremiah in the writings of the New Testament. It begins with an investigation of the three explicit references to the prophet Jeremiah in the Gospel of Matthew before expanding the discussion to examine various allusions to the content of Jeremiah’s prophecies in the four canonical gospels. The study will then consider the contribution of Jeremiah to Paul’s understanding of his apostolic ministry and also focus on the influence of the Jeremianic concept of “new covenant” on the understanding of the salvific significance of Christ both in Paul’s letters and in the epistle to the Hebrews. It concludes with an exploration of the various ways in which Jeremiah’s prophecies are employed in the book of Revelation, including the oracles of judgment against Babylon.