by Willie Alvarenga, Director, Brown Trail School of Preaching Spanish Department

BEDFORD, Tex. (BNc) — The Brown Trail School of Preaching hosted its Second Annual Spanish Department Lectureship Nov. 12. Thanks to our heavenly Father, it was a great success.

We truly enjoyed a great attendance of approximately 200 people throughout the day.

The eight speakers, who are graduates of the Spanish Department at Brown Trail, did an excellent job at presenting the Word of God. This year’s central theme was, “Stand Up for Jesus.”

People attended from Austin, Houston, Tyler, and many other Texas cities, as well as from Dodge City, Kan.

The lectureship was broadcast live through the Brown Trail church’s website and through the Spanish Internet Radio Station, “Una Sola Fe.”

People from Europe, North, Central, and South America enjoyed the opportunity to listen to the Word of God being proclaimed by the graduates.

The lectureship also included a questions and answers forum. Obed Rodriguez, instructor at Brown Trail and evangelist with the Everman congregation, and Willie Alvarenga, Director of the Spanish Department at Brown Trail School of Preaching, answered several questions during this session.

Thanks to God, we have make available a lectureship book with all the lessons presented by each of the speakers. CDs and DVDs of these lessons are available at a minimal cost through the Brown Trail office at (817) 268 3222.

We are thankful to the Brown Trail elders for supporting this lectureship and to the many brethren who helped us with classes for children and who prepared the meals that were served free of charge to participants.

We ask that you continue to pray for this effort. Our goal is to provide a sound lectureship among the Spanish-speaking congregations of the Dallas-Fort Worth area that will uphold the authority of the Scriptures as taught in the pages of the New Testament.

Lord willing, our next lectureship will be on Nov. 10, 2012. Please make plans to invite friends who speak Spanish and who can benefit from the preaching of the Word of God.

Williamson was a teacher and coach at Harding from 1990-95. His wife teaches at Harding, and his children attend the school as well.

Harding also released a short video of the announcement and Williamson’s acceptance of the post.

Dean of Students Paul Goddard said he was “very thankful” for the choice of Williamson.

Williamson is a member of the Highland congregation.

by Kyle Massengale

PINSON, Ala. (BNc) — On a Friday evening, an audience gathered at the Pinson High School Fine Arts Center to hear reason and evidences regarding the fundamental point of contention among the  ‘religious’ world today: “The Bible is the exclusive standard of authority for Christian faith and practice.”

Robert Sungenis, well known author and president of Catholic Apologetics International, an organization dedicated to teaching and defending Roman Catholicism, was set to defend his belief in additional authoritative sources.

David Hester, evangelist with the Springville Road church, affirmed the Bible as the exclusive will of God to man.

There was a great deal of expectation that both men would present thought-provoking rationale for their respective positions. However, at the close of the opening statements, it was apparent that the Catholic defender was neither prepared to respond to the well-executed arguments of brother Hester, nor was he able to present any point in support of his signed statement affirming that “The Roman Catholic magesterium, the Bible and Apostolic Tradition constitute the authorities for Christian faith and practice.”

Even though Mr. Sungenis agreed to affirm the Catholic magisterium as an authoritative source, he purposefully avoided the use of the word “magesterium” throughout the entire debate — which did not go unnoticed by Hester.

In fact, the moderators discussed with brother Hester a looming sense that Sungenis was wavering in his conviction.

A recent quote of Sungenis which was used by Hester during his rebuttal stated, “I have resolved that the modern Catholic Church will be required to stand on its own, for I simply cannot defend it any longer. There are simply too many doctrinal aberrations and moral laxities in today’s Catholic Church that are indefensible.”

With fervor, David wasted no time in his affirmative speech referencing a stack of manuals, including the Catholic Catechism, and challenged his opponent to present any reason how Catholicism could make any distinct claim of exclusive authority above all the others. Sungenis struggled as he relied upon his claim of a Catholic apostolic succession in response to the challenge.

Brother Hester put forth a clear and forceful argument refuting any apostolic authority laid upon any man beyond those referenced by Luke.

“Nothing further or in addition to the message from these men was authorized by Christ or the Spirit,” David stated. “Nothing is said about a Magisterium, the college of bishops or the Pope in John 14:26 and 16:13. By what authority can Sungenis include anyone else? To claim any further revelation of divine truth today would require a succession of apostolic authority yet we know there is not provision for such a person to meet the qualifications of apostolic succession as given in Acts 1:21-22.”

David correctly reasoned that any claim for further revealed truth beyond scripture would be void of God’s divine sanction and seal.

Building on that foundational principle, Hester then pointed out that all truth was delivered to and by those present during the first century as directed by the words of Christ in John 16:13. Using Jude 3, David showed that truth has been (past tense) handed down. He went on to state that Peter also makes it clear concerning the things which God has chosen to reveal to man has already been bestowed upon mankind (2 Peter 1:3). These “things,” which include all truth, were recorded as scripture — placing such acknowledged first century writings in fulfillment of the Old Testament.

Brother Hester offered this, along with the fact of apostolic finality, as proof that no further revelation through a magisterium or by further apostolic tradition can be substantiated or defended as a product from God.

David closed with the undeniable truth that one cannot add to or remove from the teachings of the apostles.

“The apostle John pronounced that if one was to add or accept any new teachings not of Christ then he is not God’s, 1 John 9-11,” he stated. “Paul also is very clear on the matter and tells the church at Corinth not to go beyond what is written, 1 Corinthians 4:6.”

Brother Hester raised a question for which Sungenis had no plausible answer. “What happens when a contradiction occurs between the scripture and the adopted dogma of the magisterium or Catholic tradition?”

He posed the example of Catholic practice and teaching regarding baptism in light of scripture. Sungenis could not deny the obvious contradiction between the two and resorted to an incredible defense of sprinkling infants defying any serious consideration. In relating the events of Acts 10, Mr. Sungenis attempted to argue that the text does not indicate what form of baptism was used by Philip. Sungenis affirmed that the word baptizo includes sprinkling and pouring and that he (Sungenis) had done a detailed word study and was convinced of his conclusion.

Upon returning to the podium, brother Hester expressed astonishment at the “novel definition” of baptizo that Sungenis proposed. Where were the lexicons to prove Sungenis’s claim? David went on to explain that the word originated from the sound a stone would make when hitting the surface of the water and sinking down into the water.

Sungenis made no attempt to explain the inconstancy between administering baptism to an infant and Christ’s prerequisite of belief.

On the second night, Sungenis not only reaffirmed his claim concerning baptizo, he went a step further. He said, “While the scriptures do not state this, you must imagine Philip taking a cup and using it to pour water on the eunuch’s head.”

In his response, David replied, “You can just as well imagine that they had a shower stall.” When one sets aside the Scriptures, he can “imagine” anything.

Sungenis offered no specific point of fact or reference that is of much substance to mention, although he gave his best attempt to say that the Catholic Church was spoken by Paul as the pillar and ground of truth (1 Timothy 3:15) and required the adherence to both oral and written doctrine that the church would develop over time as acceptable apostolic traditions.

Brother Hester refuted this erroneous idea using the very passage Sungenis relied upon for his argument. David correctly identified the traditions which Paul referred to in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 as the apostolic teachings that were both spoken, as well as written down, being delivered to the first century Christians during the apostolic age. Paul did not leave room for any future apostolic traditions as claimed by Sungenis.

I commend brother Hester in representing the truth in love.  His accurate portrayal of the true church, the apostolic work of the Holy Spirit through the called and qualified men of the first century, and the deliverance of all truth once for all time, make this debate a rich supply of affirmation and confidence that God’s exclusive standard of authority for Christian faith and practice has but one source, the Bible.

Kyle is the evangelist with the Madison Ala. church and participated as a moderator for brother Hester. The debate can be viewed online.

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. (BNc) — I served in the U.S. Army as a combat infantryman soldier during the Vietnam War. My tour of duty in Vietnam was Sept. 4, 1967, to Sept. 1, 1968. I was assigned to Alpha Company of the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Battalion, and 22nd Infantry of the 25th Infantry Division.

This unit was involved in four counter-offensives during my tour of duty.

During my military service, I was not a Christian. After my military service, I struggled with the events of Vietnam.

As I sought help from the doctors, I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This became my thorn in the flesh.

All I ever wanted was to have inner peace. I discovered that what I wanted was a struggle to find and when I found it, it was a struggle to keep it.

Jesus told the apostles, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

All the symptoms of PTSD prevented the inner peace that I so desired in life. To those who suffer from PTSD I say, I know where you are going because I know where you have been.

The symptoms of my PTSD are survival guilt, depression, withdrawal, inner rage, avoidance of feeling, anger, anxiety reactions, sleep disturbance, nightmares, flashbacks, and intrusive thoughts.

When I became a Christian, I thought that God would take away all my memories of my past, but this was an irrational belief and I had to find the truth.

As a Christian, I struggled with the person I was in 1967-1968. It was and is hard to see me as that person. I studied the Bible from cover to cover, and I went back to college to study counseling psychology. It was a struggle to tell those with whom I studied the Bible that obedience to the gospel of Christ would bring peace when I knew that I did not have the inner peace I desired.

Help came when I re-studied the life of Paul (Saul). Paul continuously made “havock of the church.” The “threatening and slaughter (murder)” were the continuous element from which Paul drew his breath (Acts 9:1-3). After becoming a Christian Paul struggled with his past life.

How could Paul write in Philippians 3:13-14 that “this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”?

This took place in a Roman cell around AD 62. Later, he wrote to Timothy that he was a “blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious” and described himself as “chief” of sinners.

Paul forgot those things, which are behind. Were they gone? Paul was saying that he was not going to allow his past to keep him from claiming heaven for faithfully following the Lord. He replaced living in the past with living in the future.

Paul shows those who suffer from PTSD that the past will always be there, but it should not keep us from attaining heaven as our final home.

I found my answer by changing by irrational belief system, with telling myself the truth, no matter how hard it was.

I will always have the memories of my time in Vietnam. I will always suffer from PTSD, because there is no cure.

PTSD means many things to many people but to me it has come to mean “Pleasing The Savior Daily.”

Bobby has written a book on PTSD called “My Thorn in the Flesh: A Vietnam Veteran Speaks About Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Bible,” which may be ordered from Lulu.com, or directly from the author.

Though the move is obviously not specific to churches of Christ, BNc includes this news because it represents a significant development, differing from previous policy restricting access to the scrolls, that highlights even further the reliability of the Bible.

The direct link to the scrolls site is here.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (BNc) –

“We had a beautiful day. There was a lectureship program. All of our students and guest preachers encouraged each other through message from the theme scripture, Luke 10:2, “The harvest is plentiful but laborers are few.” All of were encouraged,” wrote Director Gajendra Deshra.

In late 2008 the Bear Valley Bible Institute in Denver contacted Jerry Golphenee for information about the church in Nepal. Ralph Williams visited in Feb., 2009 and again with Bob Turner in Sept. The result is that the NCBS opened in Jan., 2010.

The school began with Director Gajendra and Jerry doing the teaching. That has expanded to four additional Nepali preachers who occasionally teach or assist with a class.

Six visiting American teachers have taught special week-long classes. Two visitors stayed for two weeks.

The basic activities of the school are as follows:

• Comprehensive teaching and training of the full-time students.
• The students go out in groups of twos and threes Friday afternoons through Sunday to assist local congregations.
• The last Saturday of each month the school hosts an area-wide fellowship which includes classes and lunch.
• At least four times each year Nepali preachers and leaders outside the Kathmandu Valley are invited to a week of special classes.
• At lest four times each year students are taken to congregations in remote mountain or jungle areas for a week campaign.
• Every October, during a three-week national holiday, the school offers four days of special classes and activities for youth, ages 15-22.  About 40 from distant congregations join 20 local young Christians.

The school’s goals are to teach, train, and prepare sound preachers and servant leaders, to use the school as a focal point of teaching and maturing many Christians, and to go to people in areas who can’t go to the capital for teaching and encouragement.

Jerry has been in Nepal for 15 years. “The progress I have seen through the school in the last 21 months has been unparalleled,” he said. “That is to be expected since we now have a year-round mission program to compliment and support the activities that that have established the church over the past 20 years.”

The school will begin with the second group of 13-15 students Nov. 7.

“We anticipate that the next two years will continue and surpass the progress began Jan., 2010,” Jerry said.

A full story and detailed list of Military Friendly Schools will be highlighted in the annual Guide to Military Friendly Schools, which will be distributed to hundreds of thousands of active and former military personnel in early October. The newly redesigned website features the list, interactive tools and search functionality to assist military veterans with their school decisions.

G.I. Jobs is published by Victory Media, a veteran-owned business which also publishes The Guide to Military Friendly Schools, Military Spouse and Vetrepreneur magazines and annually rates the nation’s “Military Friendly Employers,” “Military Spouse Friendly Employers” and “Best Corporations for Veteran-Owned Businesses.

Heritage Christian University is a private, four-year university affiliated with churches of Christ, offering the A.A., B.A., M.A., and M.Min. in Biblical Studies. The university exists to educate and encourage effective communicators of the gospel.

LETHEM, Guyana (BNc)  — Graduation ceremonies were held July 13, for ten graduating students of Guyana Christian University, Lethem, Guyana. Tom Holland, President of GCU, traveled to Guyana and delivered the commencement address.

Approximately 75 were in attendance for the graduation ceremony and the reception for the graduates, family and friends.

A dinner was held at Takuto Suites Guest House to honor the graduates and wives. Held by candle light, it provided a beautiful setting brought on my happenstance. The fuel truck making a delivery to power the generators throughout Lethem became stuck on the 300 mile dirt road from Georgetown to Lethem. It was unable to make the delivery; therefore the dinner was held by candlelight.

Instructors who have donated from 2-3 weeks during the two-year Bible training period came from different areas. They were: Mark Jamison, KY; Marshal Underwood, Mobile, AL; Bryan Evans and John Langham, Eastern Short, Daphne, AL; Archie Honea, Broken Arrow, OK; Brian Pitts, Woodburn, TN; Mike Lyle, TN; Ken Mohammed, Trinidad; Thomas George, Director, Lethem.

Already the students have accepted the responsibility of working in different villages. The graduates and their new locations are as follows:

• John Campian is working in the his home village of Moco Moco.
• Elroy McGarrell went to the village of Yupukari, where a new church building and house were completed in May, 2010.
• Richard Dorrick has returned to his home village of Karasabai and will be working in the satellite village of Tiger Pond.
• Walford Donald has returned to preach in the village of Woweta.
• Kinnard Moses has returned to work with the church in Annai village.
• Innocent Simon and his wife, Dorthy, have moved to Moruca where the church was established in March 2011. Dorthy is from Moruca and had not seen her mother in 30 years, since the day she married. During the campaign in July, Dorthy’s mother was taught and baptized.
• Glen Brown has moved to work with the church at Krawdarnauwa.
• Omadat Persaud has begun working with the Culvert City congregation, where Guyana Christian University is located. He will be assisting the director, Thomas George.
• Ernesto John will be working with the congregation which the students of the school established across the border in Bon Fin, Brazil.
• Sylvan DeFritas is still to be assigned a work.

A new session and group of students will begin studying in the two-year program at Guyana Christian University, January 1, 2012.  For more information contact Jerry O. Davidson at davidsonjo@aol.com or call 251-510-9350.

The MDiv is widely considered the first professional degree for ministers.

HCU Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Bill Bagents noted of the approval,

“In an ever more educated society, expectations for ministers constantly rise. It’s not a matter of education for the sake of education. Rather, it’s about increasing the breadth and depth of our skills and knowledge so that we can serve more effectively in an ever more complex world.”

The 75-hour degree will allow HCU to serve many congregations of varying size by preparing church workers in theology, ministry, and pastoral counseling.

The MDiv at HCU will also include a spiritual formation track, aimed at assisting students to learn and practice the essentials of spiritual growth.

For nearly 40 years, HCU has been preparing men and women to become effective communicators of the gospel, the university website says.

As many of you know there have been discussions over the past few years regarding the possible merger of the Middletown Church of Christ and Watterson Trail Church of Christ. Both parties have established the necessary understanding to move forward with this merger. It is anticipated that all of the necessary paperwork will be completed to make May 15th the official date of this merger. We ask that we all continue to pray for this event and that the merger between our two families become one in fellowship and spirit striving to continue to build the family of God in Louisville. We look forward to members of the Middletown Church of Christ placing membership with us and laboring with us.

According to their website the Watterson Trail church formed in 1995 as a merger of two other congregations that were in “steady decline due in part to their locations.”

No reason was given in the announcement for the latest merger, but as a process, its rationale undoubtedly has been well placed before the congregations.