HaY'Did Learning Center UPDATE July 31, 2002
shalom@haydid.org
Broken Arrow, OK
Shalom! Shalom! I bet you all thought I had disappeared off the face of the
earth! Its been a year
since I have written my UPDATE, and I apologize. Its been a busy busy isn't
really the word
for it year. I have several things that I want to bring to your attention first,
and at the end, I will
add my personal news. All is well with our family, and we love living in the
Tulsa, OK area. But
for now, let's get down to the business of letting you know what's going on in
the world of
studying about the Hebraic roots of our faith.
1) First, let me tell you that Dr. Gary Collett of Jerusalem, Israel is about
to begin the big dig at
Qumran. It starts next week, and we are posting a DIARY right at the top of our
webpage where you can read the latest report. Dr. Collett came to the USA this
past Spring on a speaking tour. We had him speak in Tulsa, and he was a big hit
with all his insight. Keep your eye on the Dig Diary at http://www.haydid.org
. Today as I was watching a show called Unexplained on PAX, Dr. Randall
Price, the archaeologist who will be working on the dig with Dr. Collett, was
telling the audience about Dr. Collett's dig. If you haven't kept up with the
developments over the past three years, then you may want to go to www.haydid.org/newsletters.htm
to read the past newsletters that concerned Dr. Collett. I think we're all in
for an exciting time as the news comes out of Israel. At the end of the most
recent communication from Dr. Collett he also discusses another dig near Qumran
that has also made a startling discovery that is also mentioned in the Copper
Scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls. So, take a look, and be sure to sign up for Dr.
Collett's newsletter! Share with your friends, and if you all would pray, they
would greatly appreciate it. They are still in need of funding. As you know, I
rarely ever mention donations to ministries, but we are sending this out in the
hope that if each one of us could send $10 to Dr. Collett, that it would be a
great blessing. His address is posted in his newsletter on our site, as well as
other articles at www.haydid.org/gary.htm
2) We are ready to announce that we are no longer making available the Our
Father Abraham Study Guide online. We've removed it from our site. But don't
dispair! For the last couple of years volunteers and I have been working on a
NEW Our Father Abraham WORKBOOK! Dr. Marvin Wilson has edited it and
endorsed it, and you can only purchase it directly from us here at HaY'Did. The
workbook is just that. It has true/false questions, multiple choice questions,
fill_in_the_blank questions, writing exercises that enhance what you have read
in the chapter, AND we put in a Teacher's Answer Key right at the front of the
book, to assist everyone with the work. I also wrote two lessons to supplement
the information in the book, so its got that added feature. Its spiral bound,
and plenty of space to write in the workbook as needed. This workbook will
reinforce what you have read, thereby, helping you review the information
presented in this classic of a primer on our Hebraic Heritage. I do not have
copies of Our Father Abraham (the book) available here at HaY'Did. ONLY THE
WORKBOOK, but you can purchase copies of OFA online from any of the established
bookstores. The cost of the workbook is $20 each plus shipping. If you order ten
or more, we will discount the workbook to $18 each. Shipping will be by Priority
Mail only USA. There will be no handling fee, but overseas shipments will have
to be discussed with us. PLEASE contact us by email rather than by phone! My
school schedule keeps me out of the house more than in, and if I can have the
first contact via email, then I can better tell you what needs to be done to get
your order to you. We do accept all credit cards, and we accept personal checks,
too. Orders are only sent out when we have money in hand. We hope that this
teaching aid will assist many of you in your studies, and YES it is perfect for
middle high school age students, too. NOTE: THE
WORKBOOK IS ONLY AVAILABLE AS A PDF FILE AS OF 6/1/03. No printed copies will be
sold unless special arrangements are made with us.
3) HEBREW COURSES: I get letters all the time wanting to know what the best Biblical Hebrew Course is. I just completed one that I highly recommend! Lenore Mullican teaches Biblical and Modern Hebrew at Oral Roberts University where I am working on my masters degree in Biblical Literature. Lenore was raised in Israel and is the daughter of Dr. Robert Lindsey. She and her husband, Ken were missionaries for many years in Israel, too, so she DOES speak the language fluently. They have www.HaKesher.org ministry online. I took Biblical Hebrew in an 8 week intensified course with 21 other graduate students. I can verify that her program works! The course sells for about $100 plus shipping. Included were four audio tapes. On two tapes Lenore read the 500+ vocabulary words in Hebrew followed by the English meaning. On two other tapes, her brother, David, read slowly and smoothly in his rich deep voice, the Book of Ruth. Lenore wrote the program using Ruth because you encounter all the different forms of words and gender in the book whereas in other books, you only encounter the masculine forms. Also you finish reading an entire book of the bible in the course, so that makes the student feel like they have accomplished something. There are 36 lessons breaking down the passages phrase by phrase so you can see the development of your knowledge being laid out before you. There is a Handbook and a new Workbook which I thoroughly enjoyed as it had the necessary exercises right in there with plenty of room to write. And she put all the vocabulary words on cards that you cut apart, and use for your vocabulary drills. So you are hearing the words on the tape, as well as reading along with her brother the story, and then working on language development step by step. So if you want to study Biblical Hebrew, this was the program that I PASSED and enjoyed. Now to take two more semesters of translation and exegesis. Two more years to go to finish the degree! OIVEY!
4) Homeschoolers! Check out http://www.heartofwisdom.com Robin Sampson, a long time Jewish roots educator, has put together several EXCELLENT programs both online and in printed form. She uses the Hebraic methods of teaching, and the unit method of working as a family to explore these things. Her prices are very reasonable. Robin and I talk often, and she's about as big of a book collector as I am! So take a look, okay?
5) Suggested books: Many of you have written and told me that you especially miss the book recommendations that I make in the UPDATE. Being at Oral Roberts University in the seminary working on a Biblical Literature masters degree, certainly gave me an opportunity to handle even more books. The hard part has been narrowing the recommendations down for this UPDATE. I use www.half.com and www.mysimon.com to help me find books. I have found that www.bibliofind.com has gone together with Amazon.com, but they can still turn up good books. I also receive email updates about books—both used and new—from Dove Books. They are online, too, but I have lost their address when my computer crashed. I’m sure you would enjoy reading about the books that they have. You know, the person with the most books when they die, wins! Or, at least that is what I’ve believed for many years now. :)
A. Israel and the Church by Doukhan ($20) was brought to my attention by Dr. Marvin Wilson when he was here in Tulsa in March to speak at Dr. Brad Young's Gospel Research Foundation's conference. This excellent book should be on everyone's shelf! Dr. Wilson was an editor of the book, and I can highly recommend it. You may purchase it from Hendricksons Publishers ISBN 1_56563_616_3. The price is about $20. (I bought mine at a discount, but that seems like the price.) 1_800_358_3111 is Hendrickson's phone number.
B. Old Testament Textual Criticism: a Practical Introduction by Ellis
R. Brotzman ISBN 0_08010_1065_9 from Baker Book House. The author "explains
the significance of scripts and writings of the ancient Near East, the Dead Sea
Scrolls, and Hebrew manuscripts for students of Hebrew exegesis. (DON'T PANIC at
this big word!!! Its okay! The book is very well written and you will get a lot
out of it! HONEST) The author leads students through the steps involved in using
the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS), and other tools to evaluate the
variant readings."This BHS is the Hebrew Bible that is most used in
Biblical Hebrew classes. But I recommend the book to you, just to give you some
good solid information and as an introduction to correct biblical exegesis
(another big word but it, too, is one that you should become familiar with if
you
are going to study these things).
C. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and
Douglas Stuart ISBN 0_310_38491_5. This book ought to be tatooed to every
Christian's arm! Really! We used this book in an introductory course and I
wished that I had known all of these things years ago! I bought this book at the
ORU bookstore, but you can probably get it online, too. It talks about what
makes up a good translation, and what are the basic tools needed for biblical
studies. It takes each of the topics from Old Testament Narratives, to Parables,
to Prophets, and the Gospels and shows you how scholars understand how to read
the Bible with greater understanding. Its very readable and definitely something
for all pastors to review, and Bible Study Teacher's to have on hand. There are
ways to deepen your understanding of what is being said, and this book does a
great job of
showing you that.
D. For New Testament Survey, Dr. Brad Young used two basic books that I would recommend all of you to have. You have to use both of them together one without the other leaves something to be desired. And we reviewed Jesus the Jewish Theologian as our book review. The students loved it! One lady called me on the phone after she had read just the introduction of Jesus the Jewish Theologian, and told me that her life had been eternally changed! She was finally getting the idea that Jewish roots WAS important. She got so excited that she signed up for all of Dr. Young's classes this summer, and the fall! So if you haven't read Jesus the Jewish Theologian, then contact his ministry at gby@busprod.com or www.GospelResearch.org
Back to the two books that we used: Judaism and Christian Beginnings by Samuel Sandmel. I bought my copy used online ISBN 0_19_5022915. And the other book is A Survey of the New Testament by Robert H. Gundry. I am not a fan of Gundry but you have to learn to weed out the bad with the good. He tends to be anti_semetic in his comments, thus the Sandmel book supplements for that. But if you will read both books together, then you've got a pretty good overview of the New Testament. Another book that is recommended on the New Testament that is used in ORU’s Church History I course, is The Story of Christianity: the Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation by Justo Gonzalez ISBN 006-0633158. I have a copy but haven’t read it yet, but that might be an alternative for you. Those books can all be bought online.
E. One of my favorite courses, was Introduction to Rabbinical Literature and Thought taught by Dr. Brad Young. One of the many books that we read, was the primary book The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan as translated from the Hebrew by Judah Goldin. As you go through the pages, you will see Jesus/Yeshua and how he fit into the rabbinical world. There were other books that we read for this course, but if you get this one, you will have a primary source to work from.
F. I also took a course in Pnuematology taught by Dr. Howard Ervin. Dr. Ervin is 86 years old and an outstanding scholar of Syriac and Hebrew. Pnuematology is the study of the Holy Spirit. It was my first theology course, and I loved it! Dr. Ervin wrote the book titled Spirit Baptism also from Hendrickson ($15 approximately) ISBN 0_913573_795. If you have ever wanted to know the ins and outs of the workings of the Holy Spirit, then this is the book for you! "It is a scholarly examination of biblical and theological foundations of the Pentecostal baptism in the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Dr. Ervin does an outstanding job of demonstrating that Spirit baptism in the New Testament relates not to conversion or sanctification but to charismatic empowerment." Back of the book. Dr. Ervin has a new book coming out this fall from Hendricksons titled Healing: Sign of the Kingdom. I've had the opportunity to see the manuscript of this book, and believe me, it is excellent.
G. Another topic that I must share with you, is on divorce. We all have friends that have been treated horribly because they were divorced, or that the church has crucified for even thinking about getting a divorce or remarried. This book is excellent! We didn't have it for any of my courses, so it is less scholarly and more readable. I highly recommend it to all of you either for your own healing or for you to be able to minister to those who are divorced. ...And Marries Another: Divorce and Remarriage in the Teaching of the New Testament by Craig S. Keener. Its also from Hendricksons. The author opens up this topic and creates a way that committed lay people are able to understand. This is for anyone whose life has been touched by divorce. Read it and hopefully you will drop me an email and tell me how you liked it. I hope everyone will seriously reconsider these things.I think we may be talking about another Women Restored! Conference coming up in the future, too.
H. I am tired of families in crisis and children especially backtalking to their parents. I found an excellent book from ArtScroll Publishers several years ago, and we've read through parts of it via email as a family. The title of the book is The Fifth Commandment: Honoring Parents, Laws, Insights, Stories and Ideas by Rabbi Moshe Lieber. 718_921_9000 is the phone number. I have read many books by ArtScroll who are orthodox Jewish teachers, and this book is outstanding. Its an easy read full of parables and stories that make the experience enjoyable. Great for youth pastors, too. And also for sermons!
G. Scripture Twisting is the title of a super book that I got when I took Modern Religious Cults class. It was definitely an eye opening course taught by one of my favorite solidly based teachers, Dr. James Tollett. There are twenty ways that people can twist scriptures to make it say one thing, but when you read it IN CONTEXT you will see that they have changed things to make it seem otherwise. An example is read Romans 11:29. Popular scripture, right? But then read Romans 11:25_30. Who is it talking about? NOT THE CHURCH! But we've taken it out of context and made it our own. I would recommend that you get the book, and repent like I did after I read it.
One lady in the class came back the first Monday after the class started, and said, "I was amazed at how my pastor can twist Scripture! I am buying him a copy of that book!" I bought my copy online for like $5. The shipping was more than the book! But next to How to Read the Bible for All that Its Worth, I would recommend this book next! There are RULES people, and we've got to become responsible scholars if we're going to teach properly! We are told to rightly divide the Word, and we haven’t begun to teach how this should be done. If you read this book and How to Read the Bible then you will have a good foundation. Tom says to tell you that he read How to Read the Bible for his class at Regents when he was working on his masters. It was his favorite book, too.
So what else is available online? How about:
1. www.csbr.org website. Dr. Bill Bean has excellent teaching and information for you. He sends out an excellent teaching online email lesson The CSBR ELECTRONIC DIGEST that you will enjoy. He'll be teaching one Hebrew word per lesson, and I think you will enjoy it. He also works closely with the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation. He travels with the display all over the country, so you might want to contact him about his schedule, too.
2. Another website that many of you have found is the Jerusalem Perspective. This is the school in Jerusalem that Dr. Brad Young, Dr. David Flusser, and Dr. Robert Lindsey founded many years ago. It now publishes online scholarly articles that you will enjoy greatly. You will see sample articles on their website, but you will need to subscribe to their magazine online to receive further teachings and to have access to the past issues of the magazine.
3. Of course, we do have an association of teaching ministries that are posted online at www.haydid.org if you are looking for other teachers. Our Statement of Faith and Tolerance are also posted on the website.
There are conferences, but not as many as there use to be due to poor attendance. I have had a problem with my computer crashing twice this summer (PTL it didn't happen during paper writing time!) So I have lost many addresses. I apologize. I haven't kept up with the UPDATE because my schedule just doesn't allow me to do it. Keep an eye on www.haydid.org/augcon.htm for information and links on conferences. I apologize that I haven't kept up with that like I use to. Time flies when you are living in the library at school. Personal: Going back to college at age 53 and competing with 20 year olds, can be a real challenge! I wish that I could write more often, but just keep an eye on the website, and I'll try to send out when I can. The Lord spoke to our hearts when HE moved us here two years ago, and told us that HE was tucking us away while I went to school. He certainly has. We live in RURAL Oklahoma where cows are our neighbors. I drive 30 minutes to school on the turnpike every day that's how rural we are! We love being out in the country on a dead end road in a tucked away subdivision where we're the last house! I get to garden, and relax on my front porch with my books every once in a while, and that's a blessing. If any of you want to come to ORU, I would encourage you to do so. ORU's seminary is accredited through the same place that Harvard and Yale are. They work hard at keeping the standards high. This semester I will be taking Biblical Hebrew Exegesis and Hermenutics, Jewish Apocalyptic Literature, Early Church Fathers, and Church History I.. There are ten masters programs and three Ph.D. programs at ORU, and over 60 undergrad degrees. Enrollment is up 20% in the seminary. People are realizing that they need to be taught and I have found that the professors at ORU are quite a blessing. They take time to get to know you, pray for you, and are eager to share. In my spare time I will be teaching 3_ 4 classes a week as a Teacher’s Assistant in Old Testament and New Testament under two really nice professors. We are using That the World May Know video series at ORU with our undergrads. They are really enjoying seeing Israel and Turkey in the 20-30 minute video lessons that we T.A.s select to supplement the professor’s lectures. If you want more information about this video series look at www.haydid.org/focus.htm I’ve seen it used even in children’s Sunday School classes, a daycare, and in a homeschool program besides church settings. It’s a good way to introduce people to these studies, and it is produced by Focus on the Family.
How's the family back in Kansas doing without us? Just fine! Roy and Sandy that got married two years ago Labor Day, gave us a new grandson Dwayne Thomas_Ray Holeman. They live in our old house and Dwayne is crawling every where! If you want to see photos www.haydid.org/dimples.htm Our daughter and family are also in a transistional time. Our son_ in_law, Eric, is also back in college to become an inhalation therapist. So my daughter is the main support. Eric is going to school on his GI Bill, so that's a big help. Their children, Tommy and Lorilyn, are growing like weeds! Tommy will be 13 in October and Lorilyn will be 12. Lorilyn is now two inches taller than this grandma. Tommy came down for Dr. Young's conference and sat through the whole thing. He was one of only two children that sat through the conference, and we were proud of him. It was his spring break, and that's what he wanted to do. Both grandkids have been down this summer for visits, too. Tommy helped us build a new sidewalk out of bricks that we took out of the house in Kansas' chimney over 22 years ago when we were remodeling. Who knew that those bricks would end up down here? Lorilyn is playing the clarinet and loving it. My mom is still living on her own at age 78. She's coming back this week from Dallas where she's been visiting my sister's family for a week. PTL for such blessings as our family!
Tom is happy at his new job. He is about 12 minutes from the house when he's at work and gets to drive on the infamous Broken Arrow Expressway every day to and from. Tom's been working on projects around the house, and keeping up with reading some of the books that I bring home. He had to build me new bookshelves for our office, just to hold our library. Thank the Lord that this house has four bedrooms! The two of us enjoy the space, and our family can come visit, too.
We're just two hours from our Kansas home and family, so we try to go home about once a month. Tom's antique 1973 mustang with the Cleveland engine has been getting new carpeting and such this summer, so all you guys can drool over it. Hopefully it will finally get paint this year. After 20 years, its time, don't you think?
Down here in Oklahoma we've met many wonderful new friends that are studying at ORU with me. Three of the young men are returning tonight from Indonesia where they have gone to teach for two weeks. They had asked me to go with them, but we felt that there should be another woman along, and no one volunteered. Chris, J.R. and Paul are all wonderful young men that sacrificed of their summer vacation and finances to make the trip. They hope to return next year, and I would ask that you pray about helping them go. I want to go, too, so we shall see. The cost is around $2000 per person. The lives of many were changed. Chris spoke one night and it was the radio to over 220,000 people. Chris came to ORU to study with the professor that taught like Ray Vander Laan who made That the World May Know video series. That professor turned out to be Dr. Brad Young! We met early on and he and his young family became like adopted children to Tom and I. He was in our summer Hebrew program, too, and is already sharing some of the things that he’s learned at the Nazarene Church where he is the Youth Pastor. God sent them to ORU for a purpose, and we feel very blessed to call them our friends.
One other note: Miss Oklahoma is one of our ORU girls! Her sister was in one of my classes last Spring. Miss Oklahoma sings on Richard Roberts television show and is a real sweetie. We’ll be cheering for her.
So, with that I will close for now. I do hope that you will keep us in your prayers, and we do appreciate your notes of encouragement and the financial contributions that come in to the ministry to keep our website going. Just know that the Kingdom of God is at hand, and we are all being used for His Purposes. Let us all walk in that fullness, and show people His Light in our daily lives.
Shalom,
Cheryle and Tom Holeman
HaY’Did Learning Center
http://www.haydid.org
10737 Meadow Crest Drive
Broken Arrow, OK 74014
(918) 486-4666 (answering machine will take your call)
shalom@haydid.org
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