Countercult Apologetics

The latest from Midwest Christian Outreach Journal, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Spring 2007):

“Who Will be First in the Kingdom”, by L.L. (Don) and Joy Veinot.
“Encountering G12: Analyzing the ‘cellular vision’ of Cesar Castellanos” (Part 1), by Ricardo Becerra and Paul Carden.
“The Secret: Chicken Bones for the Hungry Soul”, by Marcia Montenegro.

Midwest Chrstian Outreach can be contacted by going here, their blog is here This ministry is worth supporting. Tell them I sent you.

If you are intersted in this group, you want to take a look at this article, by Katherine Glover (posted 8/22/07).

Sing (to the tune “I can see clearly now, the rain is fallen”)…

I can see clearly now since I began Greek.
Some of the obstacles in my way are gone.
Gone, Gone Gone, as I learn each day.

This past Tuesday I started my very first Greek class at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary with Dr. Sid Dyer. We are using his A Preparatory Grammar to New Testament Greek (2007 edition).

Even though I only had the one class (my next class is tomorrow) so far, I’m enjoying it very much. I have the alphebet down, I know what a diphthong is and I even have some vocab. down. Our first quiz will be on the alphabet which is coming up this Thursday. Here are the course objectives (I’m sure they are the same for any beginning Greek course):

• to memorize and be able to write the greek alphabet
• to memorize the declensions of the article, nouns, pronouns, and adjectives and be able to recognize the various forms
• to memorize and be able to write our the conjugations of luo (Note: I do not have or know how to use the Greek font in WordPress)
• to memorize the conjudations of eimi and to be able to recognie the various forms
• to learn the formation of the six tenses and understand their significance
• to learn 422 focabulary words
• to leanr and comprehend elementary grammatical points
• to learn and understand linguistic principles governing word formation
• to be able to read Greek sentences
• to learn how to diagram Greek sentences

I really do wish I would have taken Greek while in College.

Here are some helpful sites:
New Testament Resources
Biblical eSources (page down for “Mastering NT Greek”).
Dave Alan Black’s Blog
Online Greek NT
Biblical Greek Course with Bill Mounce and his Website Teknia.

Taken from his 2000 book Let Christ Be Christ John Warwick Montgomery gives us A Critique of Chinese Religious Options.

In conclusion Montgomery states:

Moreover, not one of these traditional or classic religions provides a way to change the heart so as to arrive at genuine concern for one’s fellow man. All of Chinese religion either considers man basically good and not requiring redemption (folk religion, Taoism, Confucianism) or sees him capable of saving himself through a consciously chosen renunciation of both the world in which he lives and the people with whom he has contact (Buddhism). Another route entirely must be sought if China is to rise above its autocratic past, a past which is reflected as much today as in the imperial dynasties of yesterday. In a word, China has never had a “last emperor”-and desperately needs the biblical King of kings.

Asia’s Religions: Christianity’s Encounter with Paganism. Lit-Sen Chang (China Horizon, 1999; ISBN#: 1-8926-3203-9).

On Thursday I had my first class with Dr. Morton Smith for Intro. to Reformed Theology. Here are my assignments:

1. Read three hours per week in Calvin’s Institutes.
2. Outline the Westminster Confession of Faith.
3. Memorize the first 39 questions of the Shorter Catechism, plus questions 92, 94, and 96.
4. Read (and be prepared for examination) on Thomas Witherow, The Apostolic Church, Which Is it?, and John Murray, Christian Baptism.
5. In class we are covering the Westminster Confession and we are to have each section we’ll cover in class, read before class begins.

The final will cover the lectures and material from the two books in #4.

Dr. Smith is also teaching this subject at his Church. Some of the audio can be found here.

Here is a new article by Marcia Montenegro…

“Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Is Death Still the Next Great Adventure?”, by Marcia Montenegro (posted Aug. 2007).

In light of Mouw’s apology to the Mormon people and the recent interviews on Frank Pastore’s program, the following post from Mouw is interesting…False Teachers and False Teachings (posted 8/22/07).

Any thoughts?

“Mingled vanity and pride appear in this, that when miserable men do seek after God, instead of ascending higher than themselves as they ought to do, they measure him by their own carnal stupidity, and neglecting solid inquiry, fly off to indulge their curiosity in vain speculation. Hence, they do not conceive of him in the character in which he is manifested, but imagine him to be whatever their own rashness has devised. This abyss standing open,they cannot move one footstep without rushing headlong to destruction. With such an idea of God, nothing which they may attempt to offer in the way of worship or obedience can have any value in his sight, because it is not him they worship, but, instead of him, the dream and figment of their own heart.”
Calvin’s Institutes, Book 1, Chapter 4 Section 1.

For some odd reason I do not have the first and second outlines of my “A Biblical Approch to Christian Counterfeits” course I taught over the summer.

Is there anyone out there that might have downloaded these two outlines and could send them to me here? Thanks!

Listen to James Walker co-author of this book as he was interviewed on Raw Talk. The interview (from 8/12/07) can be heard by going here.