Classes Progressing

With the end of the classes drawing near, we seem to have formed a good routine with all being well adjusted to the schedule. The outlines are getting better each day and the students are quicker to grasp the points in the classes. The camaraderie of the students is also evident, though many of them had not met each other previous to this week. They now have a good working relationship and a respect for one another by virtue of their shared labor in the Lord.

I was about 15 minutes late getting to the classes this morning as my vertigo and fatigue were worse this morning, but both cleared up after I had been teaching for about 30 minutes. As many of you know, I have been on a very strict diet in order to prepare for a probable surgery after my return from a November trip to the Philippines for more classes of this type in Manila. That diet has been impossible to keep exactly as I do it in the U.S. because some of it is unavailable here. So, I have done the best I could, but am having to adjust a few things that have proven to be problematic. Hopefully, I will get those problems resolved before the next trip begins on October 31, the Lord willing.

The Epistles of Peter class covered the last part of 1^st Peter and the first chapter of 2^nd Peter today. We saw the great encouragement and exhortations to be found in Peter’s conclusion of the first epistle urging them to a greater service of faith as they lived in hope of the promises of God. We then shifted to the second epistle and noted the character of a Christian as we are told to grow in the grace commanded of God for those who would make their calling and election sure. The last part of the morning class was spent in examining the inspiration discussed in the closing part of 2 Peter 1. Jonathan, Rody and Lordy then took over for their part of leading the discussion and clarification period to end the morning session.

In the afternoon session on Premillennialism, we covered four basic questions:

·      Does the Bible teach the “rapture – revelation” distinction claimed in Premillennialism?

·      When and what is the tribulation of the Bible?

·      When will the righteous & unrighteous be raised from dead?

·      Does Bible teach literal 1000-year reign of Christ on earth?

We noted specific passages that denied premillennial teaching in each of these areas. This was the first time some of these men have been involved in a detailed examination of the false doctrine of Premillennialism. Some have been confused by the teaching received while in the denominations and have expressed that these principles help them more clearly see the truth and will enable them to teach others as well. I left a little early this afternoon to let John, Rody and Lordy have more time to discuss the material covered on Premillennialism with the students in their dialects.

On the way back to the hotel, we passed the area for two of the big Catholic churches here in Cebu. They were packed and I wondered why so many were out today. I learned something interesting about September 8 from the Catholics – it was the day Mary the mother of Jesus was born! You may have missed that piece of information in your Bible just as I missed it in mine, so I thought you might be interested. :-) Strange how religious error can observe things not even found in Scripture, then ignore things that are plainly and specifically taught in Scripture. How sad!