After many months and years of prayer and preparing for ministry, God has opened the door for me to study under the professors at Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School.  I wanted to go to Beeson because it is a multi-denominational school with a heart for preparing pastors for the work of the ministry.  Beeson teaches theology from a historical perspective bringing the issues of scriptural interpretation and the theological issues and debates in church history to life.  This approach to study does not rush out to see what the latest church guru has to say about a particular issue but studies issues surrounding the church in light of the past history of the Christian church.  I am blessed to have the opportunity to study in the community of Beeson Divinity School.  Thanks to everyone for their prayers for me in this process!  To God be the glory!

Walter Martin’s The Kingdom of the Occult does an extensive job of covering the issues regarding cultic practice.  This book is similar to Martin’s classic work, The Kingdom of the Cults, with a major difference being that this book was not published and compiled by Walter Martin.  It was rather compiled by one of his children from his various writings on the topic of the occult.   The book contains helpful case studies from Walter Martin’s notes and journals that make the philosophies and ideologies, which fill the book, come to life in ministry situations with real people.  This book is a very helpful reference work but is very dry to read through.  Covering various topics of the occult including: Kabbalah, New Age Movement, physic phenomena, astrology, Satanism, Wicca, and demon possession.  These are all relevant philosophies that many Christians could have some interaction with in the course of their lives and ministries.  Martin presents the main ideologies of these philosophies and contrasts them to the timeless truths from the Word of God.  The Kingdom of the Occult also provides a scriptural response to the issue being addressed which would be very helpful in biblical counseling situations and when dealing with spiritual warfare.  This book will soon become a classic work as a reference tool when dealing with the occult.

This is a message given at Lakeside Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on March 4th, 2009.  This message focuses on presenting scripture as a book of transformation rather than a book of moralistic stories.  The primary text for this message is Ephesians 2: 1-10.  I hope that this message is a blessing and a challenge to you in your walk with Jesus Christ!

 

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