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Corinthians 13:4-7. The men are then encouraged to sign up for a time to meet up once their DPH is complete. Meet ups are voluntary but will give a chance for the instructor to give one-on-one feedback to each student.
Session 3: Becoming a Disciple through
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Teaching. After a short ten-minute break, the men return for teaching on how to apply the Bible. The teaching begins by helping men understand key principles of biblical interpretation and two common pitfalls. Key principles include, (1) authorial intent, (2) normal sense, and (3) grammatical-historical interpretation. The main idea in this portion of the training, is to help the men understand that when interpreting the Bible, meaning is found in discovering what the author’s original intent was when he
communicated (grammar and syntax he uses) to his audience (historical context); and that the Bible should be interpreted in the most natural way it can be understood, avoiding most allegorical interpretation unless warranted by the text. The two common pitfalls that lead to bad interpretation include (1) narcigesis and (2) Christocentric interpretation. The main idea here is that if students are focused on historical-grammatical interpretation, they will avoid narcigesis; which thinks that the Bible is about them first and foremost instead of God. And will avoid reading Christ into every passage (Christocentric); as if David and Goliath is an Old Testament shadow about how Christ overcame death.
The second portion of the teaching focuses on biblical application by walking through several main points, including, (1) dependent responsibility (Phil 2:12-13, (2) really knowing (Ezra 7:10), (3) the change process from Ephesians 4:22-24, and (4) the 4C’s in application (Rom 15:14). To open this section of the teaching, the men are encouraged with the idea that although God does sanctify Christians (Phil 1:6), His work does not make personal discipline in God’s Word unimportant. God’s work simply makes our discipline effective (Phil 2:12-13). The men are then challenged with the idea of what it means to really know something. They are walked through that to “really know” a person needs hands on knowledge, not only an understanding of facts. A soldier, in other
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words, does not know how to shoot a gun only after receiving classroom instruction, but after he has practiced on the range. In the same way, really knowing the Bible includes more than knowledge, it includes actual practice. Lastly, the three steps of change (put off, renew, put on) are walked through with the men alongside the 4C’s to help them think through their application of the Bible. When applying the Bible, it can be easy to leave out one or more of these important parts and lead to failure in biblical application.
A person may identify something he needs to start doing (put on) but fails to renew his heart (second C) or make a game plan for how to put off the sinful habit. Instead, application must create a specific plan to put off sinful habits, renew and replace the thoughts and desires of the heart with truth, and put on specific biblical ways of thinking (heart) and doing (hands).
Application lab. Immediately following the teaching, students are encouraged to take a ten-minute break before coming back for a whole-class lab time on their most recent DIG assignment. To start the lab, the connection is made between the two parts of the teaching (biblical interpretation, application) and its connection to the different sections of the DIG. The first two sections of the DIG (observations, interpretation) are connected to the first part of the teaching on interpretation, whereas the second part of the teaching on application is connected to the remaining sections on the DIG (meditation, application, prayer, and results).
The first part of lab focuses on biblical interpretation and therefore the first two sections of the DIG, (1) observations and (2) interpretation. The men are asked to
summarize the main points for the teaching. Depending on what they come up with, they are either encouraged or led back to their notes for clarity on (1) authorial intent, (2)
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normal sense, or (3) grammatical-historical interpretation. After good summaries are given, the men are asked to share a few of their observations and interpretations, and they are briefly discussed. After each section is reviewed, the men have an opportunity for questions. This part of the lab should go no longer than 20-minutes of the 45-minute lab time. The remaining 25-minutes of the lab are spent on the application section of the teaching, and how the men can strengthen their meditation, application, prayer, and result in sections of their DIG in response. The application section of the lab follows the same format as the previous section beginning with a summary of key points from the teaching, sharing, and the questions on each section.
Homework. After the lab, the men are reminded about the homework over the next three weeks, including, (Week 1) Complete a Sanctification Contract (plan), and read chapter 2 from “Grasping God’s Word”, (Week 2) Read Chapters 1-3 in “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life,” (Week 3) Read chapters 4, 9, 13 in “Spiritual
Disciplines for the Christian Life,” and remember to practice the sanctification plan daily.
Session 4: Becoming a Disciple through