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THIRD ROUND
OF OLD TESTAMENT
BIBLE QUIZZES
NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE
In the July 24, 2007 issue of this newsletter, we announced the addition of the second round of Old Testament Bible quizzes on our Website. In this newsletter, we are pleased to announce the third round of quizzes in that series. As in the past, there are four quizzes (easy, moderate, difficult, and extreme). We invite you to test your Old Testament knowledge by taking one or all of the quizzes, which can be found on our Website at www.thegospelofchrist.com/quiz.
NEWS FLASH!
2008 OFF TO GREAT START
1,000,000 HITS AND COUNTING
This short "news note" is simply to inform our readers of the fact that, as of February 27, the GOSPEL OF CHRIST Website surpassed 1,000,000 page-hits. And that is in just the first two months of 2008! People are visiting our Website from all over the world in order to view or listen to our programs, read our program transcripts, use the program study questions, take our Bible quizzes, and work our Bible-based crossword puzzles. In short, people are using our Website to increase their Bible knowledge. What a great way to spend time—by getting addicted to God's Word?! If you haven't visited our Website lately, please do. We think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you find there.
LESSONS SEVEN AND EIGHT
COMPLETE THE
NEWLY REVISED SERIES ON
THE BOOK OF ACTS
In the first, second, and fourth newsletters of 2008, we announced the first six lessons in our newly revised series on the Book of Acts. In this newsletter, we are announcing the last two of those lessons.
In Part 4 of "The Gospel into All the World," Ben Bailey covers Acts 23-25. In Acts 9:15 God had told Ananias concerning Saul (who later became the apostle Paul), "He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel." In Acts 23 we see that promise unfolding as Paul tells the Jewish council, "I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day" (vs. 1). However, as Ben correctly points out, "conscience" is not a safe guide when it comes to such things as worship of God or a person's salvation. Only God's Word can instruct us properly in such matters. In Acts 24:25 we see Paul preaching a three-point sermon to Governor Felix as Paul "reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come." Felix, the text says, "was afraid, and answered, 'Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.' " As poet John Greenleaf Whittier once put it, "For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been.' "
In Acts 25 Paul is introduced to Festus, before whom Paul (as a Roman citizen) appealed to Caesar. In verse 12 Festus responded, "You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you shall go!" God, the Master Weaver, was working through Festus to ensure that, through Paul, the Gospel would go to Rome where, eventually, Caesar himself would come into contact with it.
In "The Gospel to Rome," Ben covers Acts 26-28, where we see Paul preaching to King Agrippa, who uttered one of the most-memorable statements in all of Scripture: "Almost you persuade me to become a Christian" (vs. 28). After quoting that statement, Ben asks, "Do you know what one of the saddest songs in Hell's chorus is going to be? 'I almost became a Christian. I almost dedicated my life to the Lord. I almost gave up the sin that had such a stranglehold on me.' The road to Hell will indeed be paved with good intentions."
In Acts 27 Paul is on a ship headed for Rome, and in chapter 28 is shipwrecked on the Island of Malta. In Acts 28:10-22 we see Paul arriving in Rome and preparing to appear before Caesar. Acts 28:30-31 records, "Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him." Paul's mission gradually unfolded—probably not as he thought it would, but rather as God intended that it should! As a result of Paul's efforts, the Gentiles received the Gospel, and we received from the apostle's pen more than two-thirds of the New Testament.
Both of these new lessons are now available on our Website, where you will find them in video, audio, and written transcript formats. We invite you to examine them for yourself, and to share them with others.
"TELL TEN,"
TO TOUT TGOC!
If you know someone who is not currently receiving our electronic newsletter, we would like to invite you to bring it to their attention by forwarding a recent copy to them, or by suggesting that they visit our Website at www.thegospelofchrist.com to sign up to receive it. In fact (as you can tell from this alarmingly alliterative announcement), what we really would like to encourage you to do is to " 'tell ten,' to tout TGOC." Please, in one way or another, tell ten people about our work at TGOC. For example, send them a link to our Website. Encourage them to sign up for our e-newsletter. Invite them to view or listen to one of our programs. Inform them about our new Bible quizzes or crosswords. And so on. Our guess is that they will thank you for the information. And, who knows? They might even tell ten people about TGOC. And those ten would tell ten more, who would then tell ten more, and.... Well, you get the point.
Also, we would like to encourage you to advertise our Website address (above in blue) by announcing it from the pulpit, placing it in the church bulletin, etc. In addition, we want you to know that you have our permission to reprint the crossword puzzles from our Website in church bulletins, young-people's newsletters, etc. If we can offer any assistance, please call on us.
Sincerely,
The Staff at THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST
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