II Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

What's New at the BRJ...

Hi Everyone,
With all the much-discussed foo-foo going on, a classic song written by Scott Williams and performed by the Way Corps group Limitless Love, about the return of Christ and based on the accuracy of God's Word, seems just about right...


Here, there, or in the air,

Jeff's Signature




Latest Weblog Post ...

The "Kingdom Theology" Counterfeit, Part Three Picture of Victor Paul Wierwille
Victor Paul Wierwille's Teaching:
"The Way of Life or Death"
-- Jeff, Sunday 03-20-2010, 11:13 am CDT

Listen to Dr. Wierwille's world-famous teaching, during which he whanged the lecturn so hard that the Way Ministry's presidential seal, that always hung from the front of it when he taught, fell off and clattered onto the floor.

As you will hear for yourself, what he became so animated over was Living New Testament translation of Romans 13:1-8, which was published in paperback form in the 1970s as Reach Out, as produced by the editors of Campus Life Magazine of Youth for Christ International during the 1970s. Which as Dr. Wierwille covers, was an organization that at the time was basically run by, "Billy Bright and Billy Graham. Billy Bright is head of Campus Crusade, and he's the yokel that is financed by Billy Graham, and the two are always in cahoots" . . . more>>




----- BRJ Weblog: May/June 2011 -----

The Foundation of Biblical Research -Sticky-
-- Jeff, Sunday 04-01-2007, 9:30 pm CDT

God bless you and welcome to the Biblical Research Journal. The idea of Biblical research is at odds with many preconceived notions popular nowadays. To a lot of folks, putting the term "research" in association with the word "Bible" seems like an unlikely combination . . . more>>

"How to Change Your Mind and Your Life" -Sticky-
bookcover of Learned Optimism BOOK REVIEW: Learned Optimism, by Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D.
-- Jeff, Tuesday 11-08-2009, 4:15 pm CST

In medical research, there are three kinds of evidence that are considered to determine the effectiveness of a particular treatment. The least valuable is anecdotal evidence. More valuable, is clinical evidence. But only a treatment that has been proven by controlled studies can be said to have been proven scientifically . . . more>>

Extraordinary Evidence -Sticky-
'The God Delusion' bookcover And Witnesses of the Highest Order
-- Jeff, Wednesday 02-02-2011, 7:08 pm CST -- Updated, Sunday 06-19-2011, 1:16 pm CDT

The publishing world has hit the jackpot with the recent publication of several books that debate the existence of God. Books that have not only proven to be popular sellers, but that have also sparked a new chapter that ages-long philosophical wrangle . . . more>>

An Interesting Tidbit
'The Making of a Moonie' bookcover What "Mr. Belurker" or "Miss Jonassas" have to say about it, I dunno...
-- Jeff, Monday 02-28-2010, 10:54 pm CST
--Updated Sunday 06-19-2011, 1:07 pm CDT

In the course of researching for a possible future weblog post on the subject of "cults," I ran across a book in which I stumbled onto a tidbit that I thought might be interesting to graduates of Wierwille's "Power for Abundant Living" class series.

The book is sociologist Eileen Barker's The Making of a Moonie, Choice or Brainwashing? (1984), which she wrote after doing a years-long academic field study of the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon. Although in it Prof. Barker canvases far more than I -- for one -- care to know about the group, her conclusions are as interesting as they have been controversial. Especially considering all the hoopla over "cults" in our society over the last forty years . . . more>>

To Whom and to When are I and II Peter Written?
-- Jeff, Sunday 01-23-2011, 11:31 am CST

"There seems to be a question." People who were part of the Way Corps program may remember this statement emanating from the dining hall "head table" at the Way College of Emporia and elsewhere on occasion. Used as a preface to a discussion about whatever the question happened to be. Of course, I won't be dealing here with rumors about a Lightbearers outreach, a L.E.A.D. expedition, or a "Happy Household Holiday Relocation." But this observation "from days of yore" does fit with the post. . . . more>>


Photo of Victor Paul Wierwille

God's Bank Ain't Busted Yet
by Victor Paul Wierwille
The Way International Headquarters, January 6, 1980
-- Jeff, Wednesday 07-17-2010, 12:47 pm CDT

Gilt edged securities issued by the most financially sound corporation in the whole world are not as sound as the promises of God. Wall Street fluctuates the value of your money in the bank but the promises of God has suffered no fluctuations in any way whatsoever . . . more>>


Photo of E.W. Bullinger A Premiere Biblical Researcher
"What you want and what I want is not religion"
-- Jeff, Wednesday 07-15-2010, 2:35 pm CDT

The Rev. Dr. E.W. Bullinger (1837-1913) was among the most accurate and prolific researchers of the Word of God known to history. There are not many writers, of any kind of literature, whose works remain in print ninety-seven years after their death. The reason Dr. Bullinger's works remain in demand is quite simple. Serious students of the Bible including myself, to this day, find them invaluable to their studies. As a matter of fact, the demand for Dr. Bullinger's works has increased so much recently, that the publishing house Pilkington and Sons has put back into print numerous individual works that had been out of print.

Bullinger's Companion Bible is the Bible that I read every day. His Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the Greek and English New Testament is a resource that I always consult when I'm doing an in-depth study of a Greek word. His book on how to rightly-divide the Scriptures, How to Enjoy the Bible, sits at-the-ready on my bookshelf for whenever I need consult it, or just want to read through the studies in it. And it is safe to say that his reference work Figures of Speech Used in the Bible is a landmark work in that field of study.

This last book, I am pleased to announce thanks an individual who wishes to remain anonymous, we are now able to make available to BRJ readers in PDF format . . . more>>

Poster Commemorating Andrew Click Excerpts from a Letter
Including Observations about Spiritualism
And the State of our Country Spiritually
-- Jeff, Wednesday 07-13-2010, 7:15 am CST
Updated Friday 02-04-2011, 10:11 am CST

I thought that it might be profitable for readers of this journal to look at a couple or three excerpts from I letter that I have written to someone close to me . . . more>>







Photo of Karl Denninger Recessions, Depressions, and the Biblical Jubilee, Part Four
"The Math is Never Wrong" -Karl Denninger
-- Jeff, Monday 03-08-2010, 7:42 pm CST

Over the course of history, things change. Cultures change, technologies change, the accepted rules of legitimacy in governance change, relative levels of prosperity change, a lot of things change. But in the field of mathematics, nothing ever changes. Whether we are talking about pre-history, ancient times, medieval times or modern times, two times two has always and will always equal four.

Yet at the beginning of this Depression, which we are living through in the United States of America and around the world, with the evidence of history staring us in the face -- from the Great Depression of the 1930s all the way back to Joseph in Egypt -- we continue to believe and act as if, somehow or other, we are "special." As if the vagaries of the past somehow don't apply to us. As if "this time is different" (a subject we will explore in depth in Part Five of this series).

In recent times the economic phenomena -- which God instituted the Jubilee Year to address in ancient Israel -- has come to be called the Long Wave. A cycle which, like the Jubilee, recurs within the mean life span of a human being. It is a cycle that ends in a depression. Always and inevitably. That is, for any economy that does not have a Jubilee in place, patterned after the biblical example in Leviticus 25. (No one outside ancient Israel ever has, BTW.). . . more>>

Rightly Dividing God's Word: Use a Rapidograph not a Barnbrush
-- Jeff, Sunday 02-21-2010, 1:10 pm CST

Back in the early 1990s I saw a a lecture on the subject of mixed-use city planning by the noted architect Andres Duany. He delivered it to a civic group here in San Antonio, and video of it was broadcast several times on San Antonio's cable TV's "Government Access" channel. The first time I saw Duany's talk it grabbed my attention. I not only watched several repeats, I also recorded it on my VCR. Unfortunately the two copies I made were misplaced over the years. And by now even if they were found, I no longer own a videotape player.

What struck me were the principles that Duany adheres to in both his critique of modern city planning and in the solutions that he offers, not just in theory but in the real world. Principles which translate well into other fields of endeavor, including the one in which workmen of the Word of God work.

At one point in the lecture, Duany reminds his fellow professionals that they are designing places "where people live." In other words, that we should not lose sight of the big picture of what our work is all about, and the results that we are answerable for when we succeed or fail. As workmen of God's Word, one thing that hinges upon our success or failure in rightly-dividing God's Word can also be characterized as, "where people live," spiritually speaking. For God and the things of God can only be known from that Word. If we hash it to pieces, people will never know God.

At another point in the lecture, talking about the tools used to draw lines when designing neighborhoods, Duany challenges professionals to "use a pencil, use a pen," not "a magic marker." Because the lines that are drawn in urban planning must be fine lines. Likewise in studying to show ourselves approved unto God as workmen, not only must the lines we draw be bright, they must also be fine. When too often in my experience -- much too often -- workmen of the Word of God are drawing lines using a barn brush where they ought to be using a rapidograph.

There are other important princples that Duany illustrates in his lecture. So once in a while, remembering it, I had hoped to find one of the videotapes so I take it to a shop and have it transfered it to DVD. Gladly, now I don't have to find it. Because evidently during this Information Revolution that our society appears to be in, not a whole lot information-wise gets lost. I found the video of Duany's lecture, delivered to a small group in San Antonio all those years ago, on NuHerbAndIzm's Channel on YouTube. Cool! I believe that readers of the BRJ will enjoy viewing this lecture (and go ahead, TAKE NOTES!), which is presented in nine parts that last less than ninety minutes all tolled...

. . . more>>