Back to Full Strength

After a good rest yesterday afternoon and a full night’s sleep last night, I awoke feeling fully back to strength. I am very thankful to God for the recovery and thankful for the prayers of faithful saints.

The recovery came just in time for me to teach a very full day of classes. After an early breakfast, Lordy and I left the hotel and went to Rody’s house which is next door to the church building where we have classes. Lordy immediately went to teach while I put finishing touches upon my PowerPoint presentations for the classes. My first class this morning was on the gospel of Luke. We examined the outline of the book and then looked at a portion of the teaching. Our focus was on the parables of Jesus since they take a central role in the way Luke presented Jesus to the reader. After lunch, I started the afternoon schedule with the Old Testament Prophets class, today dealing with Ezekiel. We again started by noting an outline of the book and then taking a closer look at its teaching. The apocalyptic style of the book was noted as well as the purpose of that style. We noted other books like Daniel, Zechariah and Revelation that share many of the same characteristics in style. The prophecies about Tyre were also studied in some detail to show the amazing detail of fulfilled prophecy as presented in this case.

After an hour break, I taught a two hour block with the classes on Church History and Denominational Doctrines. The Church History class looked at the power structure that developed as the church went into apostasy and which was advanced as Constantine reordered it after the same form of organization found in the Roman government. We also saw the apostasy in doctrine that took place as the result of the councils meeting from 325 to 787. We looked at the decisions or decrees of each council and how they departed from the truth. In the second hour, I presented the first of a two-part study on the errors of Roman Catholicism. (It will be finished tomorrow, the Lord willing.) We focused today on the fact that the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) teaches that grace and truth come from the RCC, but the Bible teaches that grace and truth come through Christ (Jn. 1:17). We spent some time detailing the differences in the two concepts. We also looked at the 7 sacraments taught by the RCC and how they differ from Bible teaching. Lastly, we dealt with the papal power and the false claim by RCC that Peter was the first pope. Some time was taken to show the teaching of Peter in 1 Peter 5:1-2 stands in total opposition to the nature and practice of the papacy.

Over the next few days, I would like to introduce you to some of our students. These picture will help you put a name with the face. The pictures are given in order of the names that follow. Jesus Adolfo, 38, is from Buguey, Cagayan. He is a graduate of the Christian Church college in Aparri, on the extreme north end of Luzon. He heard Rody’s radio program and left the Christian Church about 4 years ago. However, after the discussions about baptism over the first few days, he decided that he needed to be baptized because he saw his baptism into the Christian Church differed from NT baptism. Virglio Bocarile, 52, is from Rizal, Kalinga, about 40 minutes drive from Tuguegarao. He is a former Baptist, but was converted in the late 1980’s. I have worked with him in this area many times. Francisco Duque, 76, is from Amulung, Cagayan. He is the oldest of the students. He was a former Pentecostal preacher who was converted in February 1984, the first one converted by Rody Gumpad when he came to this area.

With the class day having ended and Tessie calling us to supper, I will close this report for today. We continue to appreciate and request your prayers as we engage in this work. May God bless your efforts in His service wherever you are doing your part in His kingdom.

Brotherly, Harry O.