Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Project Portfolio

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Department

Seminary

First Advisor

Mindy Smith, DMin

Second Advisor

Sunggu Yang, PhD

Third Advisor

Leonard I. Sweet, PhD

Abstract

Binding the Strongman seeks to address an underlying problem at the heart of western evangelicalism, an idolatry which contemporary Christianity has become enmeshed in as it relates to political figures, cultural influencers, and unhealthy spiritual leaders. The NPO examines how evangelicals engaged in politics are encountering barriers to spiritual growth largely due to systemic social and spiritual leadership issues caused by their position in a relational system that is experiencing chronic anxiety.

Binding the Strongman addresses underlying dynamics at the heart of every Christian, such as the unhealthy emotional systems they are prone to rely on as systems of truth, the desire to find an alternative solution to difficult discipleship, and temptations to look for quick fixes that satiate anxiety instead of following true teachings of Jesus into transformation. All these ultimately manifest in an alternative “stronghold” into which evangelicals place their anxieties.

Through ministerial experience in a local community church, I have encountered many who have been caught in the emotional-spiritual torrent that has plagued contemporary Christianity and have been lost as they attempt to navigate through it on their own. Binding the Strongman seeks to provide clarity to what these congregants have experienced and proposes a path that can lead out of the emotional quicksand and into the experienced Kingdom of God.

Ultimately, the potential for transformation hinges on having a purity of heart to choose the easy yoke of Jesus over every earthly affection that tempts one into trusting it for salvation.

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