About > My Theology
John 1:1-5 KJV
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Note: All of the documents linked on this page are now in Macromedia Adobe FlashPaper format. You will no longer need Adobe Reader to view them, just the Flash Player. The files are now smaller overall, and load much quicker. Additionally, this saves you having to download the special Greek & Hebrew fonts, because FlashPaper embeds them, whereas Acrobat would not.
Exegesis of Mark
Here are a few papers I did for my New Testament Exegesis class on the Gospel of Mark. Exegesis means to “read out of” the text, as opposed to Eisegesis, which means to “read into” the text something that isn’t there. If you didn’t know those definitions, don’t worry, neither did I!
- Mark 1st Read-Through – As if reading Mark for the 1st time
- Limited Good in Mark – Operating in the mindset of scarcity
- Final Paper on Mark – Exegesis & author comparison
Exegesis of Exodus
Here are the papers I wrote for my Exegesis of Exodus class. This course involved heavy use of the Hebrew language, dissecting the grammar and syntax, and comparing them against various English translations.
- Exodus Book Outline
- Exodus 1:8-10
- Exodus 3:1-4:17, 6:2-7:6
- Exodus 4:21-14:17
- Exodus 6:3
- Exodus 9:16
- Exodus 12:1-13:16
- Exodus 14:31
- Exodus 19:3-6
- Exodus 20:8-11
- Exodus 32:7-14
- Exodus 40:34-38
- Word & Dictionary of OT
- Book Review – Exodus & Revolution
Cross-cultural Leadership
I took the CL615 seminary class via correspondence while living in Boise, Idaho. For my final paper, I researched homelessness in the state capitol. I focused specifically on the Boise Rescue Mission, which helps men overcome alcohol and drug addiction and get back on their feet . The ministry was involved in a lawsuit over constitutional separation of church and state.
Faith Healing Counseling
This pertains to counseling in situations where people have been burned by promises of riches or physical relief. When initially doing research, I figured there would be hard evidence that faith healing works. What I found however, was a string of cases gone awry, and a solid Harvard study in which those prayed for actually fared worse in their recovery time from heart surgery.
Society + Culture
Here is a book review I did of the McLaren / Campolo text Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture-Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel. This was one of our book assignments for a campus ministry seminar. Some parts I really liked, others I didn’t agree with.
- Adventures in Missing the Point – Book Review
Here is an older paper I wrote for one of my sociology classes when I was in college. It examines how we as consumers pay to be entertained by Hollywood racism. Now that I’m married to a Russian, I realize how much this applies to them as well.
My Theological Method
Here are a few papers I wrote for my Preaching 610 class and Method & Praxis class, respectively. The first outlines my understanding of what makes effective preaching, the second covers a basic testamonial and what shapes my day to day understanding of theology.
Wesleyan Theology
Here is a final notebook I wrote up for my Doctrine 690 class, John Wesley’s Theology for Today. I really liked the curriculum, as it was great to read what Wesley thought about various theological topics. I was surprised to realize just how much he emphasized holiness and the role of the Holy Spirit in sanctification. Somewhere along the way, some parts of the United Methodist Church have become way too liberal, much more so than Wesley would have condoned.
- Wesleyan Leadership – a brief writeup for CL660
- John Wesley Notes – Final for Doctrine 690
New Testament Intro
Here are two papers from my NT Intro class at seminary. One of them, a hypothetical case study of Peter, was co-written by myself and several other students, and I was the editor. The other, A Lesson in Foolishness, I wrote for my final project. It pertains to the book of Galatians.
- Case Study of Peter – Grace to the Gentiles
- A Lesson in Foolishness – Paul & Galatians
Estonia Sermon
When I was in Estonia, I was able to preach a sermon at my wife’s home church (her dad is the pastor). I preached on Galatians chapter 3 and she translated.
- Sermon Notes – June 29, 2003.
Genesis Chapter 3
Here is the final paper that I did in my Old Testament Hebrew class, not to be confused with the class about the New Testament book of Hebrews.
- Genesis 3:1-19 – Hebrew Grammar Analysis
Inductive Bible Study
Below, you will find various assignments I’ve done for my Inductive Bible Study (IBS) classes at Asbury. So far, I’ve taken IBS classes about the books of Matthew and Hebrews.
- IBS_Matthew – Semester Compilation
- IBS_Hebrews – Semester Compilation
College Bible Study
Below you can download some of the Bible study topics that I did while a student at Washington State University. I co-led a Bible study that went for 36 weeks, and below are the 18 topics that I covered when I was able to lead.
- Week 01 – Leaving Home, New Beginnings
- Week 02 – God as our Avenger, following the September 11th attacks
- Week 03 – Bridging the gap between God and man
- Week 04 – Friendships to Die For, a look at Jonathan and David
- Week 05 – The names of Christ
- Week 06 – Prayer and Faith, talking and listening to the Lord
- Week 07 – Fires of Testing: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
- Week 08 – Called by Name: Samson, Jeremiah, and Jesus
- Week 09 – The Life of John the Baptist
- Week 10 – Having a Thankful Heart
- Week 11 – The character of the disciple Peter
- Week 12 – Slaves to Righteousness
- Week 13 – Listening to the voice of the King
- Week 14 – Obedience to the will of God
- Week 15 – The Lord’s Prayer
- Week 16 – The Armor of God
- Week 17 – God’s Earthen Vessels
- Week 18 – Living Life Outside the Box