THEME: The target
of a preacher (so are all church workers) is to be an approved worker in the
eyes of God. He must be on a long and rewarding journey of learning.
QUESTIONS:
What is the purpose of knowing God personally?
- It
is the basis of all ministry.
- to
lead a life of godliness
- to
lead other people to know God too
What other study areas can help us to understand God’s Word
better?
- biblical
interpretation, hermeneutics, exegesis, biblical languages, and the
history of interpretation
What is the true meaning of learning God’s truth?
- to
find out how to apply God’s truth in every dimension of life
- ready
to teach, defend, and proclaim God’s truth
- study
in the fields of systematic theology, historical theology, ethics, church
history
What characteristics should someone have in serving God’s
people?
- the
obedience of the soldier, the discipline of the athlete, and the patient
endurance of the farmer (2Ti 2:3-7)
THEME: The Sermon
on the Mount (Mt 5—7) provides Christians with the proper attitudes in life. It
is counter-intuitive and is contrary to today’s culture.
QUESTIONS:
What is the Sermon on the Mount about?
- Jesus
begins with the Beatitudes (blessings), moves into moral imperatives, and
then teaches us the Lord’s Prayer, and also different aspects discipleship
in the church.
What should our attitude be toward the Sermon?
- It is
the rule of the Kingdom of God.
- It is
not to be admired but obeyed.
- It is
against the culture of our times.
What should we do as a result of the Sermon?
- The
Sermon teaches Christians how to wage a culture war. The Church must fight
its battles with character and not with cowardice, and with truth rather
than technique.
- We
must live out the Sermon. We must show the world how to live a different
way.
- The
Christian way is the unconditional lordship of Jesus Christ.
THEME: John
Shelby Spong, a retired bishop of the Episcopal Church, is no doubt a heretic
and yet he is still welcome as a teacher and trainer to pastors.
QUESTIONS:
What qualifies Bishop Spong as the leader in progressive
(liberal) Christianity?
- He
is know known throughout the world for having denied virtually every major
doctrine of the Christian faith.
What major Christian doctrines has Spong denied?
- He
denies the incarnation, the miracles as recorded in Scripture, the virgin
birth of Christ, a salvific purpose for the crucifixion, and the bodily
resurrection.
- He
teaches that the Bible is an essentially human book, not the Word of God
and is not inerrant.
- He
believes that God is largely a human construct. He has abandoned
theism—the basic belief in a personal God.
- He
believes that Christianity does not provide the only salvation.
What does Spong support in the area of human sexuality? How
did he dismiss Biblical teachings?
- He endorses
pre-marital sex, advocates sexual revolution, fully accepts homosexual
behaviour as normal (welcomes homosexuals as ministers), and supports
homosexual marriage in church.
- He
thinks that Paul does not understand sexual orientation and has no
imagination.
Why is Stetson University’s invitation of Spong as a speaker
shameful?
- He
will be the main speaker for a pastors’ school. A Christian institution
openly endorses a heretic and invites him to teach church leaders.
- The
university was founded and nurtured by Baptists in Florida (though now secular).
THEME: A former
wellknown CBS reporter exposes the liberal bias in news media.
QUESTIONS:
How did the news media develop liberal bias?
- factors:
social context, educational experiences, and class consciousness of
liberal journalists
- many
of these media personalities have convinced themselves that there is no
liberal bias in themselves or their peers. They just consider their own
worldview to be normative and anyone who disagrees with them to be lacking
in either intelligence or sophistication.
Why did the liberal media deny their bias?
- Because
they cannot afford such an admission. Their worldview leads them to see
their own presuppositions as normal, and those who oppose them as backward.
- They
consider themselves to be doing a public service when they position
conservatives as a radical fringe and establish liberal dogma as the norm.
What are the changes in the media world that reduces the
liberal domination?
- the
rise of alternative media, such as internet, blogs
- Fox
News is now an alternative to the more liberal bent of CNN
- conservative
talk radio increasingly dominates the airwaves
Are there objective proofs of liberal media bias?
- An
objective research by Brady and Ma shows that the media are far more
likely to describe a conservative in negative terms than a liberal under
similar circumstances. [KH: they are many similar studies.]