Conversations: Exploring the Teaching Ministry

Next week I will be helping to put on a conference for Christian teachers at Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. Unfortunately, registration is now closed as the response for the conference was almost overwhelming.  All of the classes will be made available and I will be producing a review of the conference.

New Material at EFC

There is plenty of new material available at the site. This includes three lessons for a teaching weekend in Los Angeles, including Four Portraits, one Jesus + 1, Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up, and Who Is Jesus.  Also, new series are now available on Philippians, the Book of Mark, Hermeneutics, and an Old Testament Survey.

Travel Plans

Jan and I are planning on a teaching trip to Indonesia and Hong Kong March 13-29. Obviously, the visit to Hong Kong is going to be a bit problematic with the corona virus.  Please be praying for our safety and health on this trip, as we try to encourage several churches in Indonesia and China.

In Christ: A New Book by Dr. John Oakes

Illumination Publishers has just released Dr. John Oakes’ new book, In Christ. The book is a study of what it means to be outside of Christ, how to come into Christ and the many blessings that come to those who are in Christ.

Here is a partial list of the chapters in the book:

You Were Outside of Christ

You Came Into Christ

You Have Redemption in Christ

Already, But Not Yet

There Is No Condemnation For Those Who Are In Christ

Fullness in Christ

Freedom in Christ

We Are All One in Christ      And many more….

As a preview, here is the introduction to the book:

Introduction

 What is it that makes us Christians? The answer is simple. What makes us Christians is Jesus Christ. His life and ministry, and his death, burial and resurrection are what make us Christian. He defines us. If we are united with one another as Christians at all, it is because we are united in Christ. If there were no Christ, there would be no Christians. If we are one, we are one in him.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

Our concept of who we are comes from him. Our worldview comes from him. Our common purpose comes from him. It is all about Christ. He is the beginning, the middle and the end of our faith. He is “the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Let us then talk about Christ and who we are in him.

Actually, let us begin with a question. Given the title of the book, you can probably anticipate the answer to it, but let us do the exercise anyway. Pretend for a moment that you are hearing the question for the first time. What word or phrase is used most often in the New Testament to identify a saved person? Is it Christian? Saved? Born again? Redeemed? Justified? Disciple? Forgiven? The answer is that the most common term used for a saved person is “in Christ.” The other word or words that are used of a forgiven person are as follows: Christian (2), saved (50), disciple (29), redeem or redeemed (9), forgiven (28), justified (21), and born again or born of God (14). The words “in Christ,” “in him” or “in the Lord” are used of a redeemed person 164 times in Paul’s writings alone. If we want to find out how God views the saved, we need only look at passages about those who are in Christ.

Studying biblically the life of one who is in Christ is studying the Christian life. Studying how one comes into Christ is equal to studying how one is saved. Studying what it means to be outside of Christ is studying what it means to be lost. Everything we seek and everything we need are found in Christ. Therefore, in this book we will first look at what it was like when we were outside of Christ, then we will consider how we came into Christ in the first place, and we will spend the rest of our time learning about what we have in Christ. This will be a very encouraging journey. Will you join me?