MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. (BNc) by David R. Kenney — Saints can attend and profit from several excellent lectureships across the US. In October 2012, I attended the West Virginia School of Preaching “Victory Lectures.”
The theme was “1 Corinthians: 1st Century Solutions for 21st Century Problems.”
The lectures were delivered at the Hillview Terrace church in Moundsville, adjacent to the WVSOP campus.
Lectures covered 1 Corinthians both from exposition and ethics viewpoints, including church discipline, the Lord’s Supper, marriage, respect for differing opinions, the resurrection, and the death of a spouse and other marital issues. The church at Corinth had a multiplicity of problems. We can learn much from how these problems were dealt with in the first century.
The lectureship speakers generally consist of WVSOP alumni, directors past and present, faculty, area gospel preachers, and keynote speakers.
The keynote speakers for this lectureship were Dan Jenkins and Gary Hampton.
Hampton: Christians to be forgiving
Two lectures were especially noteworthy. Gary Hampton’s lecture on “The Ethics Among the Redeemed, Hating Sin—Loving Sinners (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) reminded Christians to be forgiving to the repentant who obeys the gospel because we are forgiven. God loves all mankind and wants them to come in obedience to him.
“God hates sin because it drives a wedge between him and the crowning jewel of his creation. The Almighty Father also loves sinners and did everything necessary to make it possible for men to have the stain of sin removed and walk with him in the heavenly paradise,” Hampton said.
May we do all we can to help reconcile people to God rather than becoming a wedge ourselves.
New director talks miracles
The new WVSOP Director, Andrew J. Robison IV, delivered one of the finest lessons I have heard on the use of miraculous gifts. In his lecture, “Revelation Concerning Miraculous Gifts (1 Corinthians 14:1-40)”, Robison made several key points relating to the modern advocates of miraculous gifts. About 1 Corinthians 7:10-12, he said,
“The languages of the world have their significance (10). Here is the implicit and obvious indication that these tongues were intelligible to people somewhere. The port city of Corinth would have been naturally home to several languages, and this may have spurred the temptation to speak in the gifts God had given for the spreading of the Gospel. But if speakers of those languages were not present in the assembly, the exercise was in vain. ‘Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me’ (11). Again, the chapter is punctuated with the recurring rejoinder that edification of others and not showiness of self was to be the aim (12).”
Book, audio, video available
WVSOP produces a lectureship book each year and makes audio and video available. The audio files for the 2012 lectures can currently be accessed on WVSOP’s website.
Additional speakers included Charles J. Aebi, Sam Bartrug, Denver E. Cooper, Eddie Cooper, J. D. Conley, Emanuel Daugherty, Jack Gilchrist, Glen Hawkins, Terry Jones, Dan Kessinger, Paolo Di Luca, Dale Parsley, Brad Poe, Charles C. Pugh III, Andy Robison, Jefferson Sole, Gregory Tidwell, Jeff Tucker, Van Sprague, Rick Tincher, Jeff Tucker, W. Terry Varner, and D. Gene West.
WVSOP puts out an informative newsletter, Publishing Peace, available for no charge by applying on WVSOP.com, emailing to dirwvsop@gmail.com, or calling 1-304-845-8001.
Please contact WVSOP for these materials, and make plans now to attend the Victory Lectures in 2013 at the West Virginia School of Preaching in Moundsville, W.Va.!
David preaches with the church in Wadsworth, Oh.
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