Fear and Trembling

This is part seven of a multi-part series on “He Has Spoken,” a study published by The Colson Center .  This post discusses my final impressions of the lecture and discussion series. The format of the study makes it a great conversation starter for small groups.  The lecture by John Stonestreet kicks of the discussion and the accompanying discussion between T. M. Moore and Stonestreet makes the lecture more personable.  Small group leaders will find much to discuss. These are great conversation starters, but not great conversation enders.  Group leaders who use the material will want to be well-versed in the topics and able to answer questions and guide discussion.  (This is true of any study which follows this format.)   The series inspires study beyond a few minutes of lecture and discussion, and group leaders should present recommended resources to encourage that study  (see www.str.org). There is no more important topic than this one in our ...

This is part six of a multi-part series on “He Has Spoken,” a study published by The Colson Center .  This post discusses the final presentation and discussion in the five lesson DVD curriculum.  The fifth lecture and discussion are entitled “Under the Word: Assuming a Posture Worthy of Scripture.” John Stonestreet’s lecture starts with a popular illustration from Karl Barth.  Imagine people in a warehouse who have lived in the warehouse their entire life without a clear view of the outside world.  Imagine that a person comes into the warehouse, takes the person outside, and introduces them to the world beyond the warehouse. What a wonderful thing it would be. That’s what the Bible does for us.  It shows us the way things are in the real world; the eternal, spiritual world we inhabit. If our thoughts about this eternal world are out of line, we are in essence idolaters.  We make idols out of our misunderstandings and mistakes that distract us from th...

This is part five of a multi-part series on “He Has Spoken,” a study published by the Colson Cente r.  This post discusses the forth presentation and discussion in the five lesson DVD curriculum.  The forth lecture and discussion are entitled “Not Ashamed: Trusting in the Power of Scripture.” John Stonestreet opens this lecture with a discussion of Paul’s advice to Timothy to hold on to the Word of God.  The Bible, as God’s Word, is trustworthy, stable and sure.  It is the one thing we can hold on to in our turbulent times. The Bible identifies not just the way our needs are met, but also the very needs we have.  We do not go to ourselves and our “felt needs,’ but to the Word to identify our actual needs. The Bible is true, and hence worthy of value.  It is the “true story of the world.” It does not need to be made relevant, because it is supremely relevant. I am reminded of John Piper.  His ministry often reveals a lack of awareness of curren...

This is part four of a multi-part series on “He Has Spoken,” a study published by the Colson Center .  This post discusses the third presentation and discussion in the five lesson DVD curriculum.  This lecture is titled “The Big Picture: Grasping the Purposes of Scripture.”  Any lecture which opens with a T. S. Elliot quote gets my attention, and this one is no exception.  Elliot said there were two questions we ask when we find something new: what can I do with it, and what is it for?  Of course, what is it for (what is its purpose) is the most important question.    This reminds me of Captain James T. Kirk’s comment in The Wrath of Kahn : “You have to know why things work on a starship.”  To me, the Bible answers the “what is it for” question for itself in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God[a] may...

This is part three of a multi-part series on “He Has Spoken,” a study published by  The Colson Cente r.  This post discusses the second presentation and discussion in the five lesson DVD curriculum.  This lecture is titled “Being Biblical: How We Miss the Point of Scripture.” John Stonestreet comments that we often hear misconceptions about the Bible’s authority, what the Bible is.  Two of these misconceptions could be called ‘the Bible as a rulebook’ or ‘the Bible as a collection of inspirational nuggets.’  But these misconceptions do not explain the Bible’s non-inspirational portions, which Stonestreet calls “scary."  Some describe the Bible as God’s love-letter to His people, but even that relatively accurate description does not account for the descriptions of God’s wrath and the stories of how that works out in history.  The Bible is also often seen as a book that tells stories about heroes of the faith, but these heroes are often flawed. ...

This is part two of a multi-part series on “He Has Spoken,” a study published by The Colson Center .  This post discusses the first presentation and discussion in the five lesson DVD curriculum. This lecture revolves around a simple set of sentences: God is.  He exists. God is Personal. God has spoken, and therefore truth can be known. And, God speaks in the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible. These are very weighty statements that cannot be completely elaborated on and defended in a short lecture and discussion, but the curriculum does a nice job of emphasizing the importance of these propositions and pointing you to resources that back up these statements.  The main resource cited is Stand to Reason , an apologetics ministry led by Greg Koukl.  This ministry has been of great help to me in my faith walk, and I am glad to see Stand to Reason endorsed by this curriculum.  As Stonestreet puts it in the lecture, “The work h...

I have come across a review copy of a Bible study.  It was offered to me in return for a quick review of the material.  However, after looking at the study, I have concluded that one review would not quite do the series justice, so this is the first of a short series of posts on the material.  I am impressed with the materials in this series of lessons. “He Has Spoken: The Worldview of Scripture” is a delightful study published by The Colson Center (A short summary of the study can be found here .).  The DVD-based study presents five video presentations presented by John Stonestreet.   The DVD also includes five discussions between Stonestreet and T. M. Moore on the materials.  There is an accompanying study guide written by Moore.  The basic idea is to use the study in a group format by working through the study guide individually, presenting the video lectures, discussing selected questions from the study guide, and then viewing the discu...