Writer’s block!

UPDATE ON MY WRITING PROJECTS:

As some of you know, I’m on study leave this semester from my teaching duties at Columbia International University Seminary and School of Ministry (we have pretty large bumper stickers).

After serving two weeks on the OM ship Logos Hope in Singapore and Thailand, I have the rest of the semester to pursue a number of writing projects.  Here are a few of them:

1.  “Twelve Atheists Who Have Trusted Christ”:   I’ve been working on the first chapter of this book and it is tentatively entitled “C.S. Lewis: Mere Atheist.”  I’ve got a few contacts to pursue, but if you know of any believers who wandered for a while in atheism before trusting Christ, I’d appreciate contact information.

2.  “Saved!  Rescued from God, by God, and for God.”  This manuscript is with my agent waiting to be pitched to publishers.  I’m really excited about this one which is about 98% finished.  The chapter titles are:  LOST, LOVED, LURED, LEARNING, LABELED, LIBERATED, and LAUNCHED.  The Epilogue is quite challenging and is entitled LOATHED!

3.  “One-Year DocDEVOS”:  Some of you may know that one of my earlier books is called “DocDEVOS: Ten-Minute Daily Devotionals on the Great Doctrines of the Christian Faith.”  There are ten areas of doctrine in Christian theology, and the original DocDEVOS covered only the first three areas (in yellow).  I want to write devotionals for the other seven areas.  The total number of devotionals would be about 300-325.  A friend of mine refers to my original DocDEVOS as a “kind of Daily Bread with teeth.”

4.  “Working Out Your Own . . . Faith”:  I have already developed five of these theological workbooks.  These are lay-flat, fill in the blank, self-studies of the ten areas of theology.  I’m very enthused for this project.  I believe most Christians would enjoy going through these Workbooks and working out their own understanding of the truths of the Scriptures.  This proposal is also with my agent.

5.  “DocTALK” and “DocWALK” and “Heaven: Thinking Now about Forever”:  I want to check into the possibility of having these earlier books republished, perhaps with some added material (such as study questions).  DocTALK is a survey of all then areas of Christian theology and DocWALK asks the questions, “How do we put these truths into practice.  When Temptation Strikes is a study of both temptation and sin, suggesting a number of strategies in not simply avoiding sin, but of moving on in godliness.

There are other projects that I am working on, but I value any feedback from any of you on these works.  Thanks.  Larry

 

“WORKING OUT YOUR OWN FAITH: FIRST THINGS FIRST!” (Section 3)

Friends:

I am teaching an undergrad theology course this  Fall semester and I’m using five theological Workbooks which my students will fill in.  I’m referring to these Workbooks as “retro,” because they are in a lay-flat format and the questions will be answered in the Workbook with pen or pencil.

I thought you might find this first Workbook interesting.  The topic, “First Things First,” refers to the introductory issues in theology which must be considered before diving into the doctrine of the Bible, or the doctrine of God, etc.

What I will seek to do over the next few weeks is provide several of the 50 questions which make up this first workbook.

The Workbooks are designed to be used by those who are not students in my class, so they may be purchased here:

SECTION #3: THE IMPORTANCE OF DOCTRINE!

We can easily fall into the thinking of our culture that all beliefs are really merely personal opinions and that none are more valid or true than another. Our fundamental convictions guide us in our daily decisions and priorities, don’t they? Solid thinking is vital for us to keep us from falling into something other than biblical Christianity. Let’s talk about some of these issues:

14. List out the four priorities of the Early Church as found in Acts 2:42. Note the 1st priority! Why do you think evangelism and missions are not in this list (read the rest of Acts 2)?

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15. One of the best sermons I’ve ever heard is John Piper’s “Don’t Waste Your Life!” For extra credit please listen to that sermon (the audio is found on our website and the video is on my blog at http://tinyurl.com/7vfgt57). Take a few notes on that sermon below:

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16. Some argue that BELIEF is nothing other than merely holding a personal

opinion. Survey the gospel of John and write out your definition of FAITH or BELIEF below (give the references in John which lead to your definition(s):

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17. Someone named John Gardner once wrote: “The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity, and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity, will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.” For extra credit, listen to — and take notes on — the message by Al Mohler on THINKING found at: http://tinyurl.com/869nr67 or at desiringgod.org or on our website.

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18. In that message on thinking, Albert Mohler referred to something called “moralistic therapeutic deism.” Read the following Wikipedia article and write out your understanding of what is meant by this term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moralistic_therapeutic_deism

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How do we Christians become theologically lazy? Name three practical steps that we can take to overcome doctrinal laziness:

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What have we seen in these six questions? We’ve seen that the early church devoted itself to the Apostles’ teaching, so that evangelism and missions were natural outcomes of believing the truths of God. We’ve learned from Piper’s sermon that the believer in Jesus can waste his or her life (see I Cor. 3:15 in this regard). Belief or faith, as used in the Gospel of John, means far more than holding a correct opinion. Are Christians guilty of moralistic therapeutic deism? It would sometimes seem so. If we rise to Albert Mohler’s challenge to think biblically, we will not be theologically lazy. In that regard, our last question in this section is . . .

If we are to love God with our minds, we will be challenged by an unbelieving world at every point. Do you presently have a relationship with a non-believer who challenges your faith intellectually? _______ (yes or no). If no, will you begin to pray for God to give you such a friend? ______ (yes or no)

 

“WORKING OUT YOUR OWN . . . FAITH! First Things First!”

Friends:

I’ll be teaching an undergrad theology course this coming Fall semester and I’m developing five theological Workbooks which my students will fill in.  I’m referring to these Workbooks as “retro,” because they are in a lay-flat format and the questions will be answered in the Workbook with pen or pencil.

I thought you might find this first Workbook interesting.  The topic, “First Things First,” refers to the introductory issues in theology which must be considered before diving into the doctrine of the Bible, or the doctrine of God, etc.

What I will seek to do over the next few weeks is provide several of the 50 questions which make up this first workbook.

The Workbooks are designed to be used by those who are not students in my class, so they may be purchased here:

Explanation of This Workbook:

Mark Twain once said that “Loyalty to petrified opinion never broke a chain or freed a human soul.”  While the truths of the Scriptures have freed many a human soul, this Workbook is not designed to perpetuate petrified opinion.  If God has spoken — and He has — then we can investigate what He has revealed in His Word and we can become loyal to that chain-breaking and soul-freeing content of truth.

This Working Out Your Own Faith Workbook is designed to be somewhat retro.  We’re going to expect you to work hard in answering 50 questions in the area of theology we are studying — and your answers are actually going to be written out in this Workbook!  To receive maximum benefit from this Workbook, you should be prepared to spend significant time with an open Bible, a pen or pencil, and an open mind.

Although this Workbook has been designed for my undergrad students in theology, any believer who is serious about pursuing the truths of God’s Word will benefit from the questions.

Extra Credit:  There are a number of questions which require doing some internet work (short videos to analyze, brief articles to read, etc.).  Students in my theology class will receive extra credit for doing these questions.  Those outside the class will find the assignments worthwhile to complete.

We will divide this Workbook into nine sections.  Each section will be preceded by an explanatory paragraph and concluded with some of my observations.  A “so what?” question will be at the end of each section and will be in a dotted box.  Please answer this application question honestly.

SECTION #1:  DEFINITIONS!

A “Farside” cartoon in my files shows a goofy-looking man standing in his front yard. You can see that he has painted in big, bold, black letters the words “THE TREE” on a tree, “THE HOUSE” on the house, “THE DOOR” on his front door, “PANTS” on his pants, “THE DOG” on a mangy-looking dog in front of him, “THE CAT” on a disgusted cat crouched on the sidewalk, and the word “SHIRT” on the t-shirt he’s wearing. With paintbrush in hand, and a bucket of paint in his other hand, he says, “Now! . . . That should clear up a few things around here!” It’s important to name things.  Definitions are critical in the study of theology.  How should we define terms like “faith,” “belief,” “unbelief”?   As we will see from the Scriptures, “faith” and “belief” are far more than simply having a correct opinion.

1.  Read through the entire book of Jude (relax — it’s only one chapter).  Please unit-read the book (which means to read through the whole book at one time).  Check the following box when completed.

2.   Where does Jude use the word “faith” and what does he mean by the term?

Verse:	What he means by the term “faith”:

3.  Where else is the term “faith” used to mean not one’s confidence in God, but the content of truth one must believe?  (find at least two other passages):

Passage:                                                                         Why does this mean content?

4.  Read my blog entitled “Everyone Lives by Faith!” found on our course website or at: http://tinyurl.com/6sir5jc  What is one truth you learned from that devotional?

5.  What biblical texts come to your mind which say that we can KNOW the truth and should DEFEND the truth?

6.  In light of what you have seen already, watch the video or listen to the song by Gungor entitled “Beautiful Things” found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyPBtExE4W0