Halfway Through Course 2!

Well, we are halfway through course 2.

We got a start on the back and forth questions and answers last week. This week, let's delve into that a little further. Please follow this procedure for your posts this week.

(1) Make your first intial post like always. Give us the title and author of your book and/or DVD.
Divide the nuber of chapters you have left by four. That will give you approximately the number of chapters you will want to cover this week. Then, list the chapter titles for those chapters.

(2) After making your initial post, jump over to the other person's area and look at his chapter titles. Then make three posts. Each of those posts will deal with one of the chapter titles. For each post, make a two-sentence (or more) comment about the title. Then, follow that up by a question.

(3) Then, go back to your area and make five posts (3 sentences or more) in answer to the questions the other two asked about your book or course. After that, your 9 quality posts will have been made.

(4) For the rest of the week, continue on in discussion without having to worry about how long your comments are, and like the first week, we can throw in comments about anything (like Sean sleeping on the beach!).

Expository Topical Preaching

Some definitions of expository preaching specify a particular number of consecutive verses for the sermom to be classified as expository. In that sense, some topical sermons which explain a number of (non-consecutive) verses in an expository manner could not technically be called an expository sermon.

On the other hand, if you remove the arbitrary designation of a particular number of consecutive verses, a topical sermon could be handled expositorily. This would be called a "multi-passage" sermon. Each passage would studied within its context, and it would explain the text and would follow other rules for expository preaching.

I'm curious to learn what Sean's author had to say on this topic.

Hope for Today and Encouragement for Tomorrow

I have been preaching out of the book of Revelation for the last few Sundays. One book I came across when studying for these messages is called, "Hope for Today: Encouragement for Tomorrow." I have been acknowledging various interpretations of the book. Usually I will show how some of the things could (at least partially) have been fulfilled in the first century. Then I will show how some view the accounts as an explanation of the ongoing battle between good and evil. Then I show how the spirit of Anti-Christ is already in the world, and how many think that spirit and world system will enventually find its embodiment in "beast," "false prophet," and a person who would be called "the Antichrist."

But after all is said and done, I have been zeroing in on what we need to do in this present time to apply what we have learned.

For chapter 14, some of the things we need to do are:
1. avoid getting involved in spiritual idolatry.
2. Place yourself in a position to be able to sing the song of the redeemed.
3. Spead the Gospel as much as you can while there is time.
4. Have the patience of the saints:
(1) Keep the commandment of God (as expressed in the New Covenant)
(2) Keep the faith of Jesus
5. Realize that the wrath of God will be poured out on sin.
6. Be willing to worship Jesus even if it means giving your life.

The main application is that Jesus is coming. Judgment is coming. However, you can be on the right side by trusting Jesus!

Questions Started

Good job of getting the questions started. I can see it will be hard to have as much back and forth as we could have if Sean hadn't been traveling as much over the weekend; but we have had a good start. We'll take a different tack on it next week. You both have your minimum comments in, so feel free to banter back and forth as much as you wish.

Asking Each Other Questions

For the rest of this week, let's zero in on asking each other questions. Be sure to answer as many as you can. I think one of you might need to have a three sentence answer, but beyond that we can have one word, one sentence, etc. comments going back an forth. To start, each of you ask the other a question about something in the other's material that you are most (or one of the most) interested in.

Any visitors who have been dropping by may ask questions at the week 4 posting areas too. You might have to sign up for a gmail account to comment, but doing so is very easy and it does not cost anything.

Thursday Fourth Week--Secret Disciples?

Good morning, Gentlemen,

I got to sleep in my own bed last night. It was wonderful!

We had a great time at camp. Eight young people prayed to be saved, and seven of them made a public profession of faith. What about the one who did not want to tell others? Several things are possible. He/she could just be interested and not really ready to make a full commitment. His/her background could be such that it could cause problems in the home because of a different religious background of the parents. He/she could really have called upon the Lord, but is very timid when it comes to being before people. That person could also have some doubt about his/her ability to live the life.

Do we know of any "secret disciples"? One of the most famous ones was listed in the book of John. His name was Nicodemas. He heard that wonderful Gospel message, "Ye must be born again!" and "For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."

It seems that he continued on as a secret disciple for awhile, but later we see that he defended those who were preaching the Gospel before his peers at the Sanhedrin. When it came time to remove Jesus' body from the cross, he and Joseph of Arimathea (who provided the tomb) stepped forward.

Is it possible to be a secret disciple? I think so for a while, but, unless that person's life would be threatened by coming forward, I think that after a period of time, a real Christian will make his/her faith known.

Wednesday Fourth Week

Tonight is the last night for our church camp for the primary camp (ages 9-11). So far, we have had 8 people pray for salvation, and 7 of them have taken the step of confessing Him before men.
Praise the Lord!

I tried wrapping the messages in an ongoing story about four children. It seemed to work!

Hope you have a good night.

I will be back online more regularly after tonight.

Tuesday--New Week

Hi, Fellows,

I hope your new week starts out O.K.

At camp, we have had three come to pray for salvation so far. Many have used the altar in addition to this. Praise the Lord!

I hope to hook up again sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Have a good night.

Course 2 End of Week 3

I hope you all had a great at church yesterday.

I already put up the posting areas for next week, so you can start using them tomorrow.

Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free Week 4

Place your comments for week 4 (beginning Tuesday) here:

Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching Week 4

Place your comments for week 4 (beginning Tuesday) here:

Online Challenges

I will be the Camp Pastor at Camp Jericho for the next three days.

I plan to see if I can get to a place where I will be able to be online at least two of those days. But if you don't hear from me, go ahead and start you initial posts on Tuesday about the names of the book, the number of chapters you will be discussing and the titles of those chapters. Then, go ahead and discuss among youselves. I am putting up the next week's posting areas today, please don't get confused. You need to start using them on Tuesday, not before. (If you get mixed up and post early, though, I forgive you. Ha.)

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday.

I will talk to you when I can.

Randy

Hope You Had a Happy Fourth

I hope you had a good day yesterday.

We are reminded on the 4th of July of America's declaration of Indenpendence. One of the ideas included in this was that we were to be a free nation, and part of that freedom was to worship God, however we choose.

The God spoken of in the constitution, I believe, was the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God who became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. While we do believe in freedom of religion, it is a mistake to say that things like the freedom to worship Satan were meant by the founding fathers.

Actually the best way to exercise independence is to decide to be dependent upon God.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Fourth

I hope you all have a good Fourth of July. We are having family over, but we decided to postpone our picnic until about 4:00 this afternoon.

Sean, we hope you arrived safely last night and today, and that you get somewhere where you can hook up to the internet.

Have a great holiday, both of you, and Sean, have a great vacation.

A Heart Set Free

Paul is described as having a heart that is set free. Often a person has a heart captured by sin, and he is not even aware of the problem. People like that may know they are searching for something, but they usually are not willing to say that they are so bad that they have sinned. On the other hand, there are others who feel completely worthless. In addition, some are caught in the grips of addiction.

At any rate, when a person comes to Christ, his or heart is indeed set free. Paul was caught in the grips of religion and legalism. When he met Christ, he was indeed set free!

Challenge of Summer

For some reason, Summer often seems to be a challenge in many areas of life. In churches, we often have what is called the Summer Slump! (Although, one time, I did see our attendance actually grow during the summer.)

You have projects you think you will get to. You have family get-togethers. You have holidays and vactations, and I see that all of us will have at least a week at church camp. It will be a challenge during those weeks, but we do need to make it through somehow. A couple of those weeks may be where you will have to log on at least 5 times because that is a requirement. It is preferable to log on during 5 different days spread throughout the week because if we don't, it cuts down on the learning that should come through the discussion. Anyway, if needed, for a week or two, you may find yourself needing to do your online work in two or three days. Again, you will need to log on for a session. Then get out, and if needed, open up the blog again right away. That would cause you to be logged on twice in the same day. Then you may need to get out, and open up the blog again, in order to meet the log on requirements. This is not encouraged, but it may become necessary during some of those weeks. Also, you may find a week where you do not cover all of your intended chapters. You will not be penalized for that if you do make 9 quality posts that week. That is why when we start a new week, you can divide the number of chapters we have left by the number of weeks left. Then you will be able to catch up if you had a week where you got behind.

Summer is a challenge, but let's meet it head on!

Read Post

If you haven't seen it already since the blog site put June's comments in the archive, click on "June" at the side and read the Post about Church Camp Blessings.

Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free Week 3 Comments

Please post your comments for course 2 week 3 here.

Art & Craft of Biblical Preaching Week 3 Comments

Please post your comments for week 3 here:

Course 2 Beginning of Week Three

The Blessing of Youth

We had a good service Sunday night. It was youth night. Our young people led the service. One young lady, I think maybe even pre-teen but I hope I did not insult her if she is a teenager, led the singing. She has filled in for us even a few times on Wednesday evenings. Then, one of our teenage young men sang a special. He used to sing solos in church, but I think this was the first time he had done it here. Another of our teenage young ladies read a passage of Scripture. We also had a 14-year-old boy, Colt Dugger, preach for us. It was his first time, and I must say that he did an excellent job. At the end of the service, several responded to the invitation.

I remember, about six years ago (maybe it was only four, but I thought it was six), during Vacation Bible School, Colt came forward to accept Christ as his Savior. Now, what a blessing to see him getting up to proclaim the word of God.

I was curious to see what his reaction to the experience would be. Someone reported that he said it would be "one of many." Thank God for those willing to respond to God's call at an early age.

Please state the names of your book or Course again, and divide the namber of chapter you have left by six. Then list the titles of the chapters you will need to cover this week.

Keep up the good work!