2-16-25 Biblical-LiteracyMark taught Lesser-Known Women of the Bible with an emphasis on unnamed but significant women. Anonymity can sometimes speak volumes. Why no name? Various reasons: to prevent embarrassment, the person is unknown or sometimes used as a literary device. Examples of the later could be to 1) elevate a universal significance as …

2-9-25 Biblical-LiteracyMark continued the series: Lessor Known Women of the Bible. This week’s lesson focused on Job and his daughters. The lesson had three sections:1. The journey through suffering - Job, a righteous man whom God had blessed with divine provision lost everything, including his children, health, and relationships. God responds to …

2-02-25 Biblical-LiteracyDr. David Capes led another lesson of Lessor Known Women ofthe Bible withan interview of Dr. Nancy Dawson, author of All the Genealogies of the Bible.Dr. Lawson received her doctorate in biology and always held an interest intheology. In this lesson she focused on three of the five women named inMatthew 1 who are part of th…

Dr. David Capes interviewed Dr. Federico Villanueva, regional commissioning editor for Langham Publishing and scholar care coordinator for current Langham Scholars in Asia. He teaches at the Asia Graduate School of Theology and Loyola School of Theology in Manila, Philippines, and is known for his focus on the church knowing the importance of lamen…

Mark Lanier continued his series on Lesser-Known Bible Women with a study of Jael - Courage in a Crisis, from Judges 4:2 - 5:27. Mark divides the lesson into:1. Context and Characters:  Israel is under oppression from the Canaanite army led by Sizer who has control of the Jezerel Valley. The people are regulated to the mountains where it is not sui…

Mark continued the series on The Lesser-Known Bible Women by focusing on Zipporah, Moses’s wife, as found in Exodus 4:24-26. He unpacked the meaning behind her striking statement: “You are a bridegroom of blood.”The ContextIn Moses’s time, culture dictated every aspect of life. Mark began by revisiting the pivotal moment of the burning bush, where …

In this first lesson of 2025, Mark continues the Lesser Known Women of the Bible series by exploring the intriguing reference to the “elect lady” in 2 John. Who is the lady? - A majority of scholars interpret the “elect lady” as a metaphor for the local church - the unified body of Christ chosen by God, living in truth and love.Central Theme: truth…

Mark taught the last class of 2024 which concluded the series of Lesser Known Women of the Bible using a passage in Luke 2 with a focus on 3 witnesses of Jesus’s birth.-Witnesses of the Shepherds: Those who were of the lowest social standing, outcasts. Even the line of priests who raised lambs for the temple sacrifice were considered untrustworthy.…

Pastor Brent Johnson continued with the series, Lesser-Known Women of the Bible with a focus on Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist from Luke 1.Brent taught three points:1. Aaron: Zachariah and Elizabeth were from the Levite clan.2. Baron: Although righteous, Elizabeth was advanced in age, and felt shame and inadequacy in that culture.3. Errand: …

Mark continued the series Lesser-Known Women of the Bible with a focus on Shiphrah and Puah, two of God’s unlikely heroes.The Crisis: Egypt enslaved the Israelites when their increasingly large population became a threat. Pharaoh ordered the midwives to kill all newborn male babies. The Courage: Midwives Shiphra and Puah faced the choice of living …

11-24-24 Biblical-LiteracyPastor David Fleming continued in the series of Lesser Known Women of the Bible with a focus on Vashti from Esther Chapter 1.Dr. Fleming’s roadmap for the lesson included:1. Context: King Xerxses held a massive feast for seven days to show his wealth and power.Queen Vashti and ladies left, but other women joined the king a…

11-17-24 Biblical-LiteracyMark Continued in the Lesser-Known Women of the Bible series with a snapshot of thedaughters of Zelophehad, five sisters from the tribe of Manasseh who changed the law. Thestory is from Numbers 26 and 27.1. The story: Zelophehad had no sons, and his daughters ask Moses for their father’s land.The Lord agrees.2. The context…

11-10-24 Biblical-LiteracyMark continued in the series Lesser-Known Women of the Bible. Today’swoman was a "wise woman” from 2 Samuel 20, who helped save her city byturning over Sheba to Joab and his army.The storyline: Sheba was a worthless man who encouraged the northerntribes of Israel to rebel against King David. Worthless in those days meant n…

Pastor David Fleming taught Lesser Known Women of the Bible with focus on Lydia from Acts 16 during Paul’s second missionary trip.Pastor David share three areas of focus:1. Story before the story: Paul was called from a dream to Macedonia. In Philippi, which had no synagogue, he and Silas gathered to pray outside the city gates by a body of water i…

10-27-24-Biblical-LiteracyMark picked back up with the series: Lesser-known Bible Women with a focus on Judges 19. Mark shared some context for the storyline, what went wrong and some application points for home.Storyline: 1200 BC to 1040 BC. Israel is in the promised land. No earthly kings yet. A young woman of the Levite tribe is brutally murdere…

10/13/2024Bib-lit Class SynopsisDr. Esau McCauleyMark interviewed Dr. Esau McCauley, an incredibly focused and jovialMessenger of God’s word.Dr. McCauley is a Professor at Wheaton College. He discusses his child hood growing up in a God loving home and learning about the Bible from a “Cartoon Bible” which he read with great diligence. He was born i…

10-6-24 Biblical-LiteracyMark completed A Study of Revelation with a focus on The Great News in Revelation 22. This final lesson closed out the study of Apocalyptic Literature and recapped the 7 vignettes each covering a segment of the age of the church to the 2nd coming.Mark revisited the 7th vignette acknowledging varied interpretations of the mi…

9-29-24 Biblical-LiteracyMark continued A Study of Revelation acknowledging controversial viewpoints about thetribulation with a focus on the seventh or final vignette from Revelation 20:1-6. Thecontext deals with Satan and his symbolic “binding” for a thousand years. We hear about 3views of the Millennium, premillennial, postmillennial, & amillenn…

9-22-24 Biblical-LiteracyDr. David Capes interviewed Dr. Amy Orr Ewing, writer, scholar, and evangelist who shared her life and passion for transforming lives for Jesus.Dr. Ewing relayed her family background and how she and her parents came to know Jesus. Amy holds a doctorate (DPhil) in Theology from the University of Oxford, and serves as Honora…

9-15-24 - Biblical-LiteracyMark returned to the Study of Revelation starting with a fast but important review of chapters 1-16 noting that we need to go back in time to fully understand the writings. Understanding the aspects of apocalyptic literature changes how we read & understand Revelation. Marks explains it as a series of vignettes that refle…

Dr. David Fleming taught the 2nd class in Lesser Known Women of the Bible with a focus on Joanna from the Gospel of Luke. She was the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager. David’s discussion was divided into: Context: Joanna’s religious and social context as a wealthy woman. Jesus' respect and affirmation of Joanna and women. Content: Joanna ha…

Dr. David Fleming taught the first lesson in the "Lessor Known Women of the Bible" series. The focus today was on Achash, Caleb’s daughter and subsequent wife of Othniel, from Judges 1. Our roadmap: Context—Caleb ensured the right man for his daughter, a man to provide for her, and to strengthen their family. Conduct—Achash respectfully trusted her…

August 25,2024Traits of God, The Holy SpiritMark LanierMark asks three questions:1. What is the Holy Spirit?2. What does the Holy Spirit do?3. How do we see the Scripture?Mark addressed these questions:1. What is the Holy Spirit?Holy: 1. Connected with God or a particular Religion2. Good in a moral and religious waySpirit: 1. The part of a person2.…

8-18-24 Biblical-LiteracyBrent Johnson provided insight into the Attributes of God with a focus on Jesus Incarnate reflectedwho God is and what God wants through His teachings, commands, actions, and parables.Brent has three focus areas:1. Why does Jesus matter? He is the Word, God, and eternal life.2. Ethics of Jesus as seen in the 4 Gospels and t…

8-11-24 Biblical-LiteracyMark continued teaching on The Attributes of God asking the question: How do we understand God?Three areas of focus to understand God include:1. Words—God’s name is more than a label but who He is and what He does. His majesty & powerare reflected in I Am. LORD, Yahweh, and Jehovah.2. Socially—Through relationships we see G…

8-4-24 Biblical-LiteracyMark continued teaching The Attributes of God using this outline:1. The importance of Knowing God and understanding God is Truth.Mark shows how Truth has shaped and reshaped over the years through views offaith, theology, science, history, and reason.2. The Westminster Confession of faith was written before the enlightenment…

7-28-74 Biblical-LiteracyMark Lanier returned from vacation to teach a lesson from the summer series - The Attributes of God. Practical life experiences with insight helps us understand the God who never changes.Mark’s three points:1. The Importance of knowing GodEternal life starts nowThinking of God humbles the mind2. The Westminster Confession o…

July 21, 2024Dr. Capes discusses in detail “Favorite Attributes of God” as documented in Ephesians Chapter 1-6.He begins by citing the “anchor verse” of the lesson: Ephesians 1; Anchor VerseBlessed be the God and Father of our Lard Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in Him…

7-7-24 Biblical-LiteracyDr. David Fleming continued in summer series of The Attributes of God from the Bible using The Westminister Confession of Faith as a guide. This week David reflected on God as Incomparable, Incomprehensible & Indescribable and a focus of His Aseity.The lesson had three points:1. Aseity of God - the belief that God doesn't no…

6-30-24 Biblical-LiteracyBrent Johnson taught a new summer series: Favorite Attributes of God -based on The Westminster Confession of Faith. Brent selected "Working all things according to the council of his immutable and righteous will, for his own glory.” Brent started by sharing some background on the confession which was drafted in Westminster …

6-23-24 Biblical-LiteracyMark continued A Study in Revelation with lesson 18 in this series. As an intro to the lesson, Mark shared a rendition of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” whose lyrics, written by Julia Ward Howe, were partially based on passages from Revelation. Mark then continued the lesson with three parts emphasizing the fundamental a…

Mark continued in his Study of Revelation with lesson #18 with a refresher of material covered to-date.The setup: Review of the previous lessons, Revelation 1-14, from the age of the church to the second coming in parallel series of vignettes.The text: Chapters 15-16 mirror Exodus when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. God is full of righteous…

6-9-24 Biblical-LiteracyMark continued with lesson 17 in his Study of Revelation starting with a reference to The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis which shows how Satan instructs his demon with eight ways to shake and destroy our faith. Satan uses the church, ourselves, Christian life, prayer, focus, all to pull us away from God. Mark then expanded…

Mark continued with Lesson 15 in A Study of Revelation. This week’s focus was on the dragon,the beast, and other things.The persecuting dragon in Revelation 12-14 shows a spiritual war.This occurs during the age of the church through the second coming.The dragon: Satan, the deceiver, accuser, devil.Two different beasts are sent to plague theworld: …

05/26/2024 Biblical-literacyThe lesion begins with Mark talking about where we are so far in the book of Revelations and then talks about the persecuting Dragon, which starts in Revelations Chapter 12.Where are we so far in Revelations?Revelations was the type of writing that was common 2000 to 2500 years ago that Scholars today call apocalyptic.Th…

5-19-24 Biblical-LiteracyMark continued in The Study of Revelation with the 7 visions that happen in parallel construction.The focus of today’s lesson is the interlude period: the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet prior to the second coming. This age of the church period is a call and a warning for people to repent before it's too late.Mark also tau…

5-12-24 Biblical-LiteracyBrent Johnson taught today’s lesson on the topic of what we should do while waiting on the 2ndComing of the Lord. Brent’s primary passage was from 2 Peter 3:11-18. Peter wrote the letter around64-67 AD. Brent opens by explaining the letter’s purpose: to remember truth, faith supplements, andbe aware of false teachings becau…

5/5/24 Biblical-LiteracyMark continued in The Study of Revelation with a comparison of chapters 4:7 and 8:11The lesson showed how John’s two visions compare and relate to the people at the time of writing and thoseliving in the age of the church.Revelation 4-7: The 7 seals,what each signify and there effect on believers and unbelieversconcluding wi…

4-28-24 Biblical-LiteracyDr. David Capes taught a class in the Study of Revelation with a focus on the apocalyptic themes noted by the Apostle Paul.Dr. Capes reviewed more traits of apocalyptic themes including analysis of the academic definition, literature of the time, and how it encouraged faithfulness for the persecuted believers. In addition, …

4-21-24 Biblical LiteracyMark continued in A Study in Revelation expanding the theme of visions. Revelation replicates the same visions in different ways. Today’s agenda focused on Revelation 8-11: the 7 angels and 7 trumpets, similar to the 7 seals in Revelation 4-7.We learn that:1.The visions are happening at the same time.2.Bible trumpets are th…

Biblical Literacy 4/14/24Pastor Jarrett Stephens taught the Biblical Literacy class lesson with a focus on“Remember" that God offers the believer hope. He asked us to focus on these times:1. Remember your salvation2. Remember your calling3. Remember when the Lord first used you4. Remember when you met your spouse and/or had your first child5. Remem…

4-7-24 Biblical-LiteracyMark continued in our class study of Revelation with a reminder that what God says is reality. Mark's lesson had three areas of focus:1. Reading Revelation in time: The reader is encouraged to understand literature during the time of writing Revelation.2. Deeper study of Revelation 4-7 and the seven seals: We see heaven's pe…

Mark continued the Study of Revelation, Part 10, with a focus of Revelation in Context. Mark begins with an overview of Apocalyptic literature and continues with three points. 1.Revelation in context: type of literature, time of literature, and intense persecution of Christians. Two themes in Revelation: comfort the church in its struggle of evil, …

March 17, 2024 Pastor Dr.David FlemingRevelationsPastor Fleming opens the class by explaining the effect of how we approach the study of Revelations. Approaches to the study of Revelations include Views, Genres and Interpretation.He goes into detail on how we approach the text of Revelations can determine what we see when we get there. For example,…

Mark continued teaching in the series on Revelation in three sections:1. Two remaining letters to the churches - Philadelphia & Laodicea.The church of Philadelphia receives commendation.The church of Laodicea is warned about its lukewarm status.2. Two different ways to read Revelation:Timeline reading: ChronologicalVignette reading: Vision, story, …

Mark interviewed Dr. Alister McGrath from Oxford University in England. Dr. McGrath was born in Ireland. He became an atheist and Marxist as a way to deal with the struggle between Catholics and Protestants during the 60s in Belfast known as The Troubles. He became a Christian soon after starting his studies at Oxford.Dr. McGrath spoke about the po…

Mark continued in the Study of Revelation with Chapters 2 through 3:4. Todaycontinued with the study of the letters to the 7 churches. Each church had specificinstructions to strengthen them for their mission.1. Letters:The letters are written to the 7 churches structured in 7 parts but for allchurches for all time.2. Examine the letters to: Pergam…

2-18-24 -Biblical-LiteracyMark continued in the series A Study of Revelation which was a comfort to the church in its struggle against the forces of evil. Christ wins over Satan.1. Symbolism -a quality or an idea that showed the church how God desires a complete relationship with them. Not all images are symbols. Never lose focus of the message.2. …

2/11/24. Biblical-LiteracyMark continued in The Study of Revelation series with a study of the first chapter in Revelation.His lesson had three areas of focus:1.The Exalted Christ is depicted as the Alpha and the Omega. We find that He isreferencedthroughout the Old and New Testaments.2. The Setting of the Book of Revelation is more than a book Joh…

02/4/24Mark continues the study of Revelations by going into detailabout how decisions were made about which scrolls andwritings were to be put into the Bible Library as we know it.Mark discussed the meaning of Canon and Canonization of thebible.Was Canon to Jesus and the Apostles?Mathew 15:3Was Canon to the Church?Mathew 15:6The Church’s recogniti…