Marriage

"MARRIAGE: The act of uniting a man and woman for life; wedlock; the legal union of a man and woman for life. Marriage is a contract both civil and religious, by which the parties engage to live together in mutual affection and fidelity, till death shall separate them. Marriage was instituted by God himself for the purpose of preventing the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, for promoting domestic felicity, and for securing the maintenance and education of children."

-- Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828

DC 101 - Week 8 - Law and History

We've learned about the character traits of a disciple of Jesus Christ, looked at the three Persons of the Trinity. taken a spiritual disciplines retreat, taken an overview of Scripture, and received an introduction to Scripture. This week, we pay close attention to the historical books of the Old Testament and consider the purpose of the law. Here's what your workload might look like, broken down into five days:

Monday - Read Galatians, 1 Corinthians 1-6, and Proverbs 13
Tuesday - Read "Seven Keys to Understanding Scripture" by Tremper Longman III and giggle at the cartoon illustration of The Song of Solomon by Den Hart on page 140 of your workbook.
Wednesday - Memorize 2 Timothy 2:15 - "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" - and review previous memory verses (2 Peter 3:18, Ephesians 2:10, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 5:16, and 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Thursday - Answer questions 1a-b, 2a-b, and 3a-c (7 questions).
Friday - Answer questions 4a-d and 5a-b (6 questions).

Election 2008

Romans 13:1 - Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority, except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

Acts 1:24 - Then they prayed, "Lord, You know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen..."

Isaiah 9:6-7 - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

DC 101 - Week 6 - Overview of Scripture

Coming out of the Spiritual Disciplines Retreat, we met this morning to consider an introduction to Scripture. The focus of the lesson was on the inerrancy of Scripture. In other words, the Bible as we have it in our multiple English translations is essentially (with that word meaning what it is meant to mean) identical to the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. We focused on word studies as well, since it is crucial to know how and why English translations are rendered the way they are, given the original Greek language. For this week, we move to an overview of Scripture. Completing the workload might look something like this:

Monday - Read Matthew 19-28 and Proverbs 12
Tuesday - Read the two articles in the workbook - Bible 'Improvement' by Andree Seu, On Misinterpreting Stories You Don't Like by John Alexander, and How to Read Your Bible by F.B. Meyer
Wednesday - Memorize 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (if you haven't already) - "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Review previous memory verses as well (2 Peter 3:18, Ephesians 2:10, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 5:16).
Thursday - Answer questions 1a-c, 2, and 3a-c in the workbook (7 questions).
Friday - Answer questions 3d-e (2 questions) and spend some time with the guided study of the word "save" as found in Scripture. Consider using www.blueletterbible.org for assistance with this exercise.

Some of the guys will have retreat this weekend. They'll complete some additional work regarding the spiritual disciplines. Then we'll all be on the same page from here on out.