The title of my book is THE NEW TESTAMENT:ITS BACKGROUND AND MESSAGE. The authors are Thomas D. Lea and David Alan Black. The chapters for the final week are;
Chapter twenty three talks about the epistle of Jude. The author claims to be the brother of James. The debate is which James it is. Most scholars don't think that it si the son of Zededee, but James the brother of Jesus. I guess that Jude didn't want his epistle to glorify himself in the fact that he was Jesus' brother, but to glorify Jesus. The book is similar to 2 Peter in that it really warns against false teachers.
One word that I saw a few times in my reading was eschatology. I thought that it meant "belief system" when I firs read it. I had already looked it up in the dictionary before the first posts about being a word detective. It means; a system of doctrines concerning final matters such as death, the judgement, and the future. I will try to use the word detective method from now on.
Tyler, your thoughts about eschatology will work. You thought of "belief system." Did you find a dictionary meaning that was close to yours. If so, what (generally speaking) was it?
Duh--Sorry about that question about the dictionary. I see that you already mentioned it in your post. That is what I was talking about. You actually used the method. You guessed what it meant. You were close. Just more general. More clues were the suffix "-ology" which refers to the study of something--like biology which is the study of life. So, eschatology is a belief system that talks about the study of the last days or end times. That counts for the first exercise.
Pick out another one and do a similar exercise with it.
Another word that I found early in my course was amanuensis. once again, I looked it up before we started discussing the method of "word detective". I thought that it may have meant someone who wrote the word on paper for the author. When I looked it up, that happened to be what it actually was. Lucky guess. That usually doesn't happen to me that often.
The last chapter is entitled THE REVELATION. It discusses many things about the last book of the Bible. One is the authorship of the letter, most people agree that the Apostle John wrote it, but some think that it may have been another person named John. I disagree with this idea. There are a lot of similar things in Revelation to the gospel of John. This is the only book that has three different genres in it. The opening verse sounds like an apocalypse, it also states that it is a prophesy, but it is written in the form of a letter. There are also four different types of interpretations to the book. They are; preterist, idealist, historicist, and futurist. I would have to say that I am a futurist.
I also wanted to add some more input about the book of Revelation. The book that I am reading discusses the terms premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism. Postmillennialism is the belief that Jesus will return at the end of the millenium. This is not the thousand year reign that we know, but rather a symbol for a period of human progress. Amillenialism is the belief that the thousand year reign is a symbol for Christ's present reign at the right hand of power and the millenium is this period of time when the gospel is spread so freely. Premillennialism is the belif that Jesus will come before the tribulation in the rapture and that the thousand year reign is an actual, physical reign on earth. I have to say that I am a premillenialist.
The book of Revelation definitely stands out among the rest of books of the Bible. I haven't really studied a whole lot on the Pre or Post trib. I know I've heard it mentioned a lot. I guess I've always looked at it as something that hasn't happened yet. It can get you in deep thought, I think of God & time, I found C.S. Lewis' thoughts on time interesting in which he said God is present in all time. Meaning he's seeing you born right now, he's seeing you right now reading this, and he's seeing you die right now. I know that might have come from left field but its something that come up in my thinking. Ultimately what I get from Revelation is that you had better be ready now. And I always love hearing the verse where there wont be a need for the Sun, because Jesus will be the light.
An amanuensis, based on my memory, was someone like a secretary who wrote down the words for another person. The one doing the dictating was the actual author. Your dictionary definition seemed to match that.
I just had to correct all the typing errors I saw when this comment published.
While some denominations seem to camp at one or the other view, Free Will Baptists have historically included some amillenialists and some premillenialists. Among premeillenialists, they have included those who held to pre-trib, mid-trib, and post trib views. I don't know if we have any mid-trib people in my congregationl, but I do know we have some who, at least in the past, have held to an amillenial view, some pre-trib, and some post-trib. One of our preachers described himself as a pre-trib hopeful, and a mid-trib believer. In our church, we respect each other, try to listen to each other and feel free to express our views. I try to look for applications that could come from any of the views, but I try to make sure the applications are also taught by other passages of Scripture besides the Book of Revelation. Others may decide to adamantly present their views, but they would do well to do so with grace and respect for others with whom they might disagree.
Some say they are "pan-millenialists." They think everything will "pan out in the end." That's not really a millenial view, but the idea can remind us of the main thing, which is that Jesus is coming again, and that every believer should be ready.
Randy- I liked your last post. I think that it is important to study views other than what we might believe. I also think that it is neat that there are so many different opinions even among the same denomination. Some people that I have talked to are afraid of the book of Revelation, but we as Christians should take comfort in the fact that Jesus is coming back. We are united in that fact. Someone once told me that "its alright to disagree, just don't be disagreeable about it". I really try to take that to heart. Even though we may disagree about things, we can't disagree that Jesus is the way, truth, and the life.
You will notice some posts below that relate to various topics of discussion by our online community of preachers.
One of the purposes of Preachers' Meeting is to provide a place for young ministers or those recently called to preach to interact around the principles in a course of study recommended by our local group of preachers in the Southern Illinois area.
We invite you to look in on our conversations. If you would like to add comments as a guest, you are welcome to do so. If this looks interesting to you, you may join us as we start a new session. You can look in the side bar (or sometimes it is moved to right below this post) to see the weekly requirements. We start new courses every 8 or 9 weeks. As already mentioned, you are welcome to comment as a guest before that time.
Below these posts, you will see the word, "comments." Just click on it, and you will see a box on the right side of the screen where you may add your comments.
Look around. Enjoy yourself, and come back often!
Weekly Requirements
Here is a review of the general requirements for each week.
You have three assignments each week
(1) Make at least two initial posts in your posting area. The first one will be the name of the course, and the names (or numbers of the DVD's) of the chapters or lectures you will be covering during the week. The second one will be a comment on one of those chapters. You will receive one point for getting the first post in on Tuesday or Wednesday. You will also get a point for getting at least one more initial post in.
(2) Go to your fellow student's posting areas, and ask them a question or make comments about their intial posts. You will recieve one point for completing this assignment before 12:00 a.m. on Friday morning (that would be before midnight on Thursday).
(3) Answer the questions asked.
(4) On Fridays, I will also give directions for making remaining posts during the week. Be sure and read those, and take them into account when making at least one of your remaining posts.
In all, we want to make at least nine posts during the week. You will receive points for that as follows:
9 or more posts - 12 points
6-8 posts - 10 points
3-5 posts - 6 points
1-2 posts - 3 points
You will have the extra points you had accumulated by getting things in on time. Those are bonus points that will be used only to move your grade closer to 100 if you need them. They will be awarded each week if needed to move your grade up to 12 for the week. If you do not need them for that week, they will be carried over to the next week(s). Remember the posts that count for points will be at least three sentences long.
Thoughts on Application
Roger gave some good thoughts on application:
"Chapter 75, titled: 'Apply Within' is a lesson in application. The writer explains why it is sometimes difficult applying a sermon to real life situations. I will list some of the reasons application is not applied to our lives.
"First it is "hard work", it is hard to find application to every situation in the congregation,
"second, is wrong assumptions, assuming the audience is able to apply any and all biblical truths is totally a wrong assumption,
"third, is fear, fear of being to deep or to simplistic in the text and failing at application, and then there is training or lack thereof,
"many preachers know the text, and the history and the order of things but are totally untrained in application. One gentleman said it this way," how can you be a good football player when you can pass the ball, or when you can kick the ball, or when you can run with the ball but you don't know the rules of the game."
If you live in the souther Illinois area, we would like to invite you to a Couples' Marriage Enrichment Seminar on Saturday, February 27. It starts at 6:00 p.m and will run to 9:00 p.m.
After the welcome, there will be a dinner. Then there will be an opening session, followed by two breakout sessions, then a short closing.
The Keynote Speaker is Dr. Randy Carney (That's me :)!) and Roger and Janet Dutton will be speaking during the breakout sessions (That's Roger, who is commenting on this blog during this term!). Randy and Rhonda (my wife!) Carney will also have a breakout session discussing "Keys to Marital Bliss."
The Keynote Address will be on the topic of "The Way to a Successful Marriage: The Shocking and Surprising Truth."
Roger and Janet will be talking about "Hope for Restoring your marriage."
The cost is $15.00 per couple and that includes a dinner and all seminar materials. A nursery and childcare will be available. (Please indicate that you need these services when you register.) A book table with resources from Handfuls on Purpose Christian Bookstore will be available.
The seminar is for couples of all ages, ranging from newlyweds to marriage veterans!
To register, call 618-627-2228 to let the church know how may will be attending. Payment can be made at the event. (Make checks to TFBC.) For more information, call the church at 618-627-2228.
The Greatest Love
Since Valentine's Day falls on Sunday this year, I imagine there will be a ton of sermons going out on the topic of love.
Paul talked about love and respect in marriage (Ephesians 5), but he was really saying that that was an illustration of the relationship between Christ and the church.
Christ
Left Heaven to come to this earth.
He
Overcame adversity while here. He even conquered death!
He
Valued mankind so much that He gave Himself on the cross.
He desires fellowship with us. He reconciled the world to Himself, so that people could have an
Intimate realtionship with Him.
He meets all of our
Needs.
He is the supreme example of
Giving.
Do you see the word, LOVING, there? That is what He is--our LOVING Savior! Because of that, we should love one another.
Course 11 Week 4
Scroll down to the week 4 area to begin commenting.
Dealing with the Closed American Mind
One of the chapters Roger is reading is entitled, (something like) "Dealing with the Closed American Mind." I don't know if it is mentioned in the chapter, but I suspect that if you tak about something where a person has a felt need, you can gain their hearing somewhat.
What are your thoughts?
You may scroll down and comment in the week 3 comments area. Visitors are welcome to comment also.
Connecting with Postmoderns
This is something most preachers do every Sunday. If you have young unchurched visitors in your church, you will be trying to reach postmoderns. Even some of your church youth are more influenced by postmodernism than by their previous Sunday school teaching.
Here is my reply to one of Roger's posts:
"Roger, what tips stand out to you for commecting with postmoderns? I think the term modern referred to an age in history that related to new thoughts in science, etc. (If I am off base, refresh my memory.) Post modern refers to the time following that era. Connecting with postmoderns is something you have to do, whether you realize it or not, almost every time you preach."
I will post some of his answers here if he sees the question in time.
Preaching--Proclamation of God's Word
Preaching, by one definition, is the proclamation of God's Word. As such, a person, can take the Scriptural passage and find some of its main points and emphasize those points.
While I believe we should learn all we can about the grammatical construction of the words of Scripture, and that we should learn all we can about the historical setting for when those words were originally spoken; the nice thing about proclaiming the Word is that you can just take what the text says and emphasize it. Then the Word will not return void.
People with all different types of backgrounds have been called to preach throughout the centuries. Some very "unlearned" (as the world would put it) men have had great results by simply taking the main ideas of Scripture and simply emphasizing them. As long as we do not twist the meaning, this simply shows the amazing power of the Word of God.
New Format
I am going to try putting my comments for each day in this left sidebar. The comments areas for the remaining weeks are displayed to the right. That is where you will place your comments for each week.
16 comments:
The title of my book is THE NEW TESTAMENT:ITS BACKGROUND AND MESSAGE. The authors are Thomas D. Lea and David Alan Black. The chapters for the final week are;
23. The Epistle of Jude
24. The Revalation
This week is gonig to be fun.
Tyler
Chapter twenty three talks about the epistle of Jude. The author claims to be the brother of James. The debate is which James it is. Most scholars don't think that it si the son of Zededee, but James the brother of Jesus. I guess that Jude didn't want his epistle to glorify himself in the fact that he was Jesus' brother, but to glorify Jesus. The book is similar to 2 Peter in that it really warns against false teachers.
Tyler
The most common view, at least in the past, was that Jude was the brother of James and Jesus.
One word that I saw a few times in my reading was eschatology. I thought that it meant "belief system" when I firs read it. I had already looked it up in the dictionary before the first posts about being a word detective. It means; a system of doctrines concerning final matters such as death, the judgement, and the future. I will try to use the word detective method from now on.
Tyler
Tyler, your thoughts about eschatology will work. You thought of "belief system." Did you find a dictionary meaning that was close to yours. If so, what (generally speaking) was it?
You don't always have to use the method, but I do want us to be familiar with it and have some experience with how it works.
Duh--Sorry about that question about the dictionary. I see that you already mentioned it in your post. That is what I was talking about. You actually used the method. You guessed what it meant. You were close. Just more general. More clues were the suffix "-ology" which refers to the study of something--like biology which is the study of life. So, eschatology is a belief system that talks about the study of the last days or end times.
That counts for the first exercise.
Pick out another one and do a similar exercise with it.
Another word that I found early in my course was amanuensis. once again, I looked it up before we started discussing the method of "word detective". I thought that it may have meant someone who wrote the word on paper for the author. When I looked it up, that happened to be what it actually was. Lucky guess. That usually doesn't happen to me that often.
Tyler
The last chapter is entitled THE REVELATION. It discusses many things about the last book of the Bible. One is the authorship of the letter, most people agree that the Apostle John wrote it, but some think that it may have been another person named John. I disagree with this idea. There are a lot of similar things in Revelation to the gospel of John. This is the only book that has three different genres in it. The opening verse sounds like an apocalypse, it also states that it is a prophesy, but it is written in the form of a letter. There are also four different types of interpretations to the book. They are; preterist, idealist, historicist, and futurist. I would have to say that I am a futurist.
Tyler
I also wanted to add some more input about the book of Revelation. The book that I am reading discusses the terms premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism. Postmillennialism is the belief that Jesus will return at the end of the millenium. This is not the thousand year reign that we know, but rather a symbol for a period of human progress. Amillenialism is the belief that the thousand year reign is a symbol for Christ's present reign at the right hand of power and the millenium is this period of time when the gospel is spread so freely. Premillennialism is the belif that Jesus will come before the tribulation in the rapture and that the thousand year reign is an actual, physical reign on earth. I have to say that I am a premillenialist.
Tyler
The book of Revelation definitely stands out among the rest of books of the Bible. I haven't really studied a whole lot on the Pre or Post trib. I know I've heard it mentioned a lot. I guess I've always looked at it as something that hasn't happened yet. It can get you in deep thought, I think of God & time, I found C.S. Lewis' thoughts on time interesting in which he said God is present in all time. Meaning he's seeing you born right now, he's seeing you right now reading this, and he's seeing you die right now. I know that might have come from left field but its something that come up in my thinking. Ultimately what I get from Revelation is that you had better be ready now. And I always love hearing the verse where there wont be a need for the Sun, because Jesus will be the light.
An amanuensis, based on my memory, was someone like a secretary who wrote down the words for another person. The one doing the dictating was the actual author. Your dictionary definition seemed to match that.
I just had to correct all the typing errors I saw when this comment published.
While some denominations seem to camp at one or the other view, Free Will Baptists have historically included some amillenialists and some premillenialists. Among premeillenialists, they have included those who held to pre-trib, mid-trib, and post trib views. I don't know if we have any mid-trib people in my congregationl, but I do know we have some who, at least in the past, have held to an amillenial view, some pre-trib, and some post-trib. One of our preachers described himself as a pre-trib hopeful, and a mid-trib believer.
In our church, we respect each other, try to listen to each other and feel free to express our views. I try to look for applications that could come from any of the views, but I try to make sure the applications are also taught by other passages of Scripture besides the Book of Revelation. Others may decide to adamantly present their views, but they would do well to do so with grace and respect for others with whom they might disagree.
Some say they are "pan-millenialists." They think everything will "pan out in the end." That's not really a millenial view, but the idea can remind us of the main thing, which is that Jesus is coming again, and that every believer should be ready.
Randy- I liked your last post. I think that it is important to study views other than what we might believe. I also think that it is neat that there are so many different opinions even among the same denomination. Some people that I have talked to are afraid of the book of Revelation, but we as Christians should take comfort in the fact that Jesus is coming back. We are united in that fact. Someone once told me that "its alright to disagree, just don't be disagreeable about it". I really try to take that to heart. Even though we may disagree about things, we can't disagree that Jesus is the way, truth, and the life.
Tyler
Tyler, remember to do the word exercises and to do your course wrap up.
You have done an excellent job so far in this course!
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