It is a great privilege for Olga and I to be used by
our Lord and hold Productive Bible Study Workshop in Placerville in Northern
California in the month of April and the beginning of May.
Of course this wouldn’t be possible without God's grace, my wonderful wife, and dear
pastor friends!
We have been conducting the seminar at Calvary Chapel here in Placerville for the last past several weeks.
Participants range 20 -25 years old attend the seminar once a week, sometimes twice a week for the last three weeks.
This seminar has been a great example as to
why the ministry of ICM is so important. Many youth in Placerville are on fire and
zealous for the Lord. The youngsters we have been working with are hungry for the teaching of God’s
word but their interpretations and questions reveal their lack of quality
time they spend with the Lord in His Word. While many of them read the Bible,
their application of the Word is somewhat narrow and legalistic.
They read
their Bibles with the idea to find truths they can apply to perfect themselves.
It is good to desire to become a better person, or a brother, better husband or
wife. But...
It is the job of the Holy Spirit to change us. It
is God’s grace that changes us altogether. What we found out though, is that
the youth here try so hard to change themselves on their own.
As a result of
that, legalism has crept in to their hearts unnoticed and it hinders their growth in the Lord! The only thing that the youth lacks that can solve
this problem is the ministry of of the Word where all these young men and women
can meet with the Lord face to face and change in His grace and perfect Light.
By the end of the seminar participants will learn how to use
the process of observation, interpretation, and application to rightly divide
the word, understand God’s utterance, and see the Righteous One face to face.
Calvary
Chapel puts a lot of emphasis on the teaching of the Word, praise the Lord!
However, people are used to only receiving the Word and not having to dig
themselves to glean truths from the Scriptures and see Jesus in person on a
daily basis. Going through the Inductive Bible Study Workshop is teaching them
how to personally hear from the Lord, know His will, see Jesus, and change in
His glory! Our prayer is that they will become powerful witnesses
for Him to all men of what they have seen and heard!!!
Olga and I pray that
young people in Placerville would fall in love with God’s Word, meet with Him
in person every day and allow the Holy Spirit help them apply the truths from
the Bible and work on their hearts in a mighty way!
