Geoffrey's Notebook

Question: Where can I get the audio messages of Stephen Kaung's God Has Spoken series? If I could recommend only one book or series by Stephen Kaung it would be his God Has Spoken series. He shared a message for each book of the Bible, giving a simple overview and revealing the way to find Christ as you read. It is not only his classic set but it's His way with the Scriptures. Our brother could always find Christ and find Him as He's meant to be found. For a new believer and an old believer, this is the first set to have as guide through the Bible and a reference set to go back to later on.  Below are links to each of the original messages.   Old Testament  Introduction to the Old Testament Genesis -The Will of God Exodus -The Works of God Leviticus - The Ways of God Numbers -The Walk of God Deuteronomy - The Word of God Joshua - Possessing the Land   Judges - Possessing all the Possessions Ruth - Recovery of the Inheritance I Samuel - Epoch-...

Is wisdom a male or female? How can Christ be our Wisdom when Wisdom is a "she" in Proverbs 1-9? (*Note: This question was asked after someone gave out the book Proverbs by Stephen Kaung to a friend. The friend started to read it and couldn't continue after reading that Christ was Wisdom personified. He was bothered since "wisdom" is described as a female in Proverbs 1-9.)  In Proverbs, wisdom  is personified as a female but is not considered a real person or being. Solomon writes to "my son" as a wise father, "My son, attend unto my wisdom." In talking with a male son about receiving wisdom, he personifies wisdom as a female. If a wise mother were talking with her daughter, it might be different, and the "strange woman" would be replaced. Wisdom is in contrast with the "strange woman" (harlot) that may be received instead (see especially their calls to the simple in 9:4,16). For the sake of comparison with this foolish wa...

  Do we really understand what environment is? Oftentimes we blame the environment and claim that it makes a person what he is; yet let us see that only a weakling is made by his environment—whereas a strong person controls or makes use of his environment. Joseph had been taken out of the environment of his father’s love and put into another environment which was so mean, so base, and so low. He had become a slave in another person’s house—a very difficult environment, indeed. Whereas a weakling would have been crushed by such a circumstance, Joseph, instead of being crushed, rose above his environment and ruled over it. —Stephen Kaung  Geoffrey's note: I probably need to explain something about this quote in case it sounds odd or off. When I first heard this, it caught my attention because of the word "weakling," which was a little shocking to hear though good use of it. The teaching of this man-of-God is the same as Paul the apostle "when I am weak, then I am s...

I John Keyword: fellowship The instrument of writing: the apostle John Time of writing: between the years 95 and 98 AD Basic Outline of 1 John 1 John —Christian Fellowship The Ground of Fellowship (1:1-4) The Grace of Fellowship (1:5-5:5) Our Fellowship is in Light (1:5-2:28) Our Fellowship is in Righteousness (2:29-4:6) Our Fellowship is in Love (4:7-5:5) The Glory of Fellowship (5:6-21)

A Study of the First Epistle of John Please read this epistle five (5) times before you do the following studies: I. Background Study (1) Who is the writer of this epistle? Give reasons. (2) To whom is this letter addressed? Give reasons. (3) From where is this letter written? (4) Approximately when is this letter written? (5) Can you give a brief history of John’s life? II. Analysis Study (1) What is the purpose of this letter? How would you relate it to the Gospel according to John?? (2) How would you divide this letter in the simplest way? (3) What is the unique character of John’s writings? Compare him with James, Peter and Paul. III. Fact-finding Study (1) Who is the Word of Life? How does John describe Him? (Compare 1 John 1:1-2 with John 1:1-18) (2) What does fellowship mean in this letter? And what is the basis of Christian fellowship? (3) What is the message that John has heard from the Lord and declared to the believers? Find out the various...

One way of studying the Bible is to focus on one of the 66 books of the Bible. Some call this a book study. All of us can probably accomplish a basic overview study of each book of the Bible. We may only have enough time in life to thoroughly study a few books, but we can all gain a foundational understanding of what the Bible is saying in each book. Before turning to any commentaries, overview books, or even sermons, you'll want to first: read through that book of the Bible at least 5 times. During those five readings, you can 1. Read through for fun :D Without any specific focus, it's nice to read through and see what impresses you or stands out to you. You don't need to write anything down, but sometimes it'd be helpful. This first time reading through may be more of a devotional focus. 2. Read through making a straight outline a straight outline  looks like this the  whole time.  You are just trying to  find the breaks in thoughts  but yo...