Exodus: A Paradigm of Redemption

The course I teach at Bethel World Outreach Center is in full swing again after the holiday hiatus. The latest class is entitled, "Exodus: A Paradigm of Redemption." You can access the audio and notes via the link located in the upper right hand column of this webpage, or simply by clicking here.

God's Story of Redemption resumes!

At long last after a hiatus due to illness and the holidays, I've resumed the class I'm teaching on God's Story of Redemption. Just to review, here's my objective for this weekly class which will run about 22 weeks altogether:

• "Students should grow in their theological understanding of the biblical metanarrative of redemption in terms of its grounding in the purposes of creation, its cohesiveness throughout Scripture, and its objectives in the present and coming ages, and consequently grow in their awe of God, their eschatological hope for the return of Jesus Christ, and their desire to holistically engage in God’s mission now."

I've just posted Lesson #7, Israel: A Chosen People for All Nations, which is a make-up lesson from November, and Lesson #8, which is a review of the first seven lessons. You can access the class on this blog by clicking the link in the top right column, or simply clicking here.

Truth & the American Church

Here's some food for thought regarding theological truth that I recently passed on to a friend...

The American church emphasizes practical teaching and training to the point that it undervalues the importance and significance of truth for its own sake. What I mean is that there are many profound theological truths that do not immediately translate, upon brief reflection, into practical ministry use. For this very reason, many American pulpits are incredibly shallow. Some truths take a long time to grasp, but as they dawn upon the human heart and take hold of the believer’s consciousness and conscience, they transform the person’s worldview to the point where they will never see many aspects of God and life the same again. The ultimate significance and usefulness of a theological truth is not always immediately apparent, especially to the untrained mind. Furthermore, the building of a comprehensive, cohesive biblical worldview requires the construction of many lesser truths, which only later begin to reveal their importance as they interconnect to provide greater overall insight and understanding. Therefore, I would be very hesitant to embrace the lure of wanting everything you learn to seem immediately important, relevant, and practically useful. It is important to learn why the church historically has thought many doctrines and truths were (and still are) important.

God's Story of Redemption

If you've visited this blog before, you may have noticed that I have taken a temporary hiatus from the series of posts I've been doing on the Apostolic Gospel. This is because of the work I've been putting into a lengthy class entitled "The Bible: God's Story of Redemption." Each week I am posting the audio and notes online here at this blog on a separate page, which can be accessed by the link provided at the top of the right hand column.

So far I've covered the following concepts in the biblical narrative:

• The importance of historical-cultural research in the interpretation of Scripture
• The Creation being designed by God as his "Cosmic Temple"
• Humanity being made by God as his "Living Image"
• The Creation Mandate given to humanity by God
• The Fall and its consequences vis-a-vis the Creation Mandate
• The election of Abraham for the blessing of all nations & the recovery of the Creation Mandate

For those interested in the Apostolic Gospel series, I hope to be making some additional posts during the upcoming holidays.

Speaking of which, I hope you have a blessed holiday season with friends and family (beginning with Thanksgiving if you're an American)!

Blessings,
Bruce

The Bible: God's Story of Redemption

I'm currently teaching an adult Sunday School class at Bethel World Outreach Center, an Every Nation member church, in Brentwood, Tennessee. The purpose of the class is to provide a theological overview of the overarching biblical narrative concerning God's purposes in creation and redemption.

Lecture notes and audio for this class can be accessed at "The Bible: God's Story of Redemption." The link to this page is also located on this blog in the right hand column under "Pages."

The class will tentatively run approximately 25 sessions long, beginning October 17, 2010, and ending May 22, 2011.