1. A final thesis project/paper for the degree of Doctor of Ministry

2. Something I can give to God and ask Him how He wants me to serve His mission with it

3. To get out of grad school, land in full-time vocational ministry loving on some group of misfits like me, and make my wife happy that I finally have a real job

Research is useful, even if it doesn’t bear out the hypothesis… meaning “does what you predict will happen, happen…and why do think it turned out that way?”

My prayer is that what is developed will bring glory to God by helping real people do real life with a better relationship with the Holy Spirit (whatever that might mean to them).

Short: Only the research team will see your answers; all data will be later destroyed. Roger is not getting paid to create and run this program.

See your three-ring binder (Participant Guidebook+Journal) to find the Learning Contract…all details are there.

Expectations, consent, and getting paid. So we both honor your dignity and we’re all cool with the ethics board approving the research.

There is a copy you’ll sign in your notebook on the first day of class.

Research is “mixed methods,” meaning there will be things like multiple-choice questions (“quantitative”) and what you write or say in your journal or on a call.

As stated in “Privacy and disclosures,” only the research team has access, and all will be later destroyed.

Details are in the Learning Contract in your three-ring binder (“Participant Guidebook+Journal”).

No.

Technically it’s “pre-evangelism,” meaning intentional engagement designed to move someone one notch closer to Jesus (regardless of whether or not “God stuff” comes up).

The gospel is the good news about the person and work of Jesus, the fact that I’m a sinner in need of a Savior, and my eternal destiny hangs in the balance if I refuse Jesus’ free offer (Rom. 6:23) and invitation, “Follow me.” Evangelism is the telling of this “good news.”

That said, we all recognize that it is God who saves (not us), and the Holy Spirit has been working on the people you meet long before you got to know them or invited them to coffee.

Just like ‘Paul planted and Apollos watered’ (1 Corinthians 3:6), so we also might meet someone on one tiny slice of their overall journey.

And if you’re intentional about blessing someone in manner consistent with God’s heart for them, that’s participation in God’s mission. It’s like tilling the ground before it’s plant.

This research engages investigates “tell me your story” as a relational spiritual discipline (something we can be intentional about in a quest to transformed more into the likeness of Christ).

But again, the point isn’t the means, it’s the outcome – you growing to be more like Jesus because you’re in Him because the Holy Spirit indwells you. So how often do you engage a conversation thinking that it’s sacred because you’re just showing up where He’s already at work?

When you show up, you potentially bring God’s common grace and blessing to others, sanctifying them by your willing engagement (1 Cor. 7:14a), even if it’s not a time when you share the gospel or talk about “God stuff.”

Is that “lifestyle evangelism?” No.

This is not about “living a good life” and hoping people fall in love with Jesus as a result.

Here, the context is “connection” — a “connection” that has a potential to take root. TMYS happens to be rooted in a way of asking questions that potentially removes roadblocks for them both socially and spiritually.

Both the Bible and psychology research affirm that someone’s relationship with God is related to how they connect with people.

We’re just going to be intentional about it by praying and inviting them, “Tell me your story.”

Show up.

When you can, engage the material, even if very little.

Jot down your thoughts, feelings, and prayers (journaling) as you can.

Thank you for even asking.

We don’t see the wind blow, but we know it on our skin and in watching the leaves on the trees, right?

Here’s a (simplified) way of thinking about it that I present for consideration.

In one sense you cannot research a relationship with the Holy Spirit because He is eternal and personal to every other human who’s ever lived. The spirit realm is immaterial reality.

But as pastor and philosopher Dallas Willard put it, "No understanding of the human self can be theoretically or practically adequate if it does not deal with the spiritual life." So now what?

The Bible speaks of “evidence” (Hebrews 11:1) and eyewitnesses to material realities that were affected by the immaterial realm (Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8). 

Importantly, the Bible offers a clue by way of analogy when John writes, "The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).

Put another way, the spiritual realm affects the material realm…and the material realm can be observed. Even if personal experience in the spiritual realm is wholly subjective, your report of it is like eyewitness evidence.

A short list of some of the effects the Holy Spirit produces within the lives of human beings as indicated by the New Testament includes such measurable things such as:

Transformation and renewal:

Convicting you of sin and need for a savior (John 16:7–11) (conversion and growth) | Leading you into a deeper understanding of Christ (John 16:12–15) (knowledge) | Empowering you to actually obey God’s moral commands (Romans 8:1–4) (behavior) | Is promised by God (2 Corinthians 3:18) and was promised long before Jesus (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

Inner witness empowering outer assurance:

Assurance that you are one of God’s children (Romans 8:15–16) (confidence) | Empowerment to experience a dynamic, despair-defeating sense of hope (Romans 15:13) (self-reported experience)

Empowerment for mission:

Led in actionable ministry guidance (Acts 16:6–10) (behavior) | Experiencing vital, joyful, prophetic worship (Ephesians 5:18–20) (self-reported experience) | Being empowered to boldly and effectively bear witness (Acts 1:8) (self-reported experience, behavior)

Fruit of the Spirit: Developing the personality and character traits of Christ himself (Galatians 5:22–25) (behavior)

Signs and Wonders:

Using previously unknown languages (Acts 2:1-4) (behavior)

Spiritual Gifts in Action:

Exercising your unique gifts for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7) (behavior) | Standing firm and interceding for others to do the same (Ephesians 6:10–18) (behavior) | Bringing His presence and power in various edifying, community-building ways (1 Corinthians 12:4–8) (behavior)[1]

In short, we see where the wind blows. The spiritual realm can and does affect the material realm (and vice versa). We can therefore observe and measure changes in the material realm to see the effects of the Holy Spirt in our lives.

[1] Inspired by and heavily indebted to Gary Tyra, The Holy Spirit in Mission: Prophetic Speech and Action in Christian Witness (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2011), 28–29.