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Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because
He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent
Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight
to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim
the favorable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18–19).
The Lord Jesus Christ came to minister to the poor (Luke 4:18),
and so did the apostles (Gal. 2:10). God cares, and His loving
heart wants to reach out to the poor through us. But how can
we best help people? What should we give and when? How can we
empower them in this wicked world and yet not make them dependent
on us?
This course will provide real, practical answers that come out
of the experience of people who have given up their own security
and comfort to minister to the poor in Jesus’ name. Come
and learn new ways to let your compassion flow effectively to
people in need and to develop and empower the poor. (2 units)
God loves the city and its people. He calls us all to help one
another with a love the world can’t understand. This course
involves volunteering a Saturday to help restore a poor, inner
city church facility that is in need of repair, so that the people
of the neighborhood might come and worship Him in all His glory
in a beautiful house. This is a time of great joy in working
together. It also includes reading and written work if you would
like to earn credit for it. (2 units)
The greatest thing in all the world is to worship God. He alone
is worthy of our total affection, adoration, and admiration.
In these last days the Church has been rediscovering the centrality
of the worship of God. It is finding more exciting ways to glorify
His name and draw people’s hearts upward to Him. You will
learn how to worship God in spirit and in truth, and lead others
in worship of Him. For such people the Father seeks to be His
worshipers (John 4:24). (4 units)
Jesus said, Go and make disciples of all the nations (Matt. 28:19).
This is at the very heart of the Great Commission that He has
called us to fulfill. But how do we make disciples? One clue
is found in the same passage when He said: . . . teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you (v.20). In Jesus’ day
that meant following Him without reservation, learning and doing
all He commanded. This course will teach you how to make real
disciples of those whom God places in your care. (2 units)
So, you want to preach?! Many people love to talk; and more than
a few would love to talk to, or preach at, a group. How can you
get a message from God rather than speaking out your own ideas?
How do you bring change in people’s lives, when God is
the only one who can change people? Or what if you don’t
like to talk, especially in front of a group? How do you overcome
fear and speak with the power of God? This course will give you
the basic understandings and skills to preach the Word of God
with power and find joy in doing so. (2 units)
Over 80% of the Bible is stories. God communicates to us by stories
of real people in real life situations. Jesus constantly told
stories because storytelling is the most powerful way to preach
and reach people in today’s world—even kids who seem
to have no attention span left after 100,000 hours of TV and
video games. Everyone is captivated when you tell a story. This
course will teach you how to use this powerful way of getting
people’s attention to drive
home the truth of God’s Word. (2 units)
And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because
they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd
(Matt. 9:36). Jesus cares deeply about the problems of society
today and wants His people to be salt and light, bringing the
transforming power of God’s kingdom into the urban world
of the 2000s. But how? That’s the subject of this
class and a part of the very reason for the existence of Harvest
Bible University. We really believe Jesus’ plan
began with the establishment of churches among the poor and disenfranchised
of society, and that from that base His people brought change
to society. Come and learn how you can become an effective agent
of God’s
kingdom in the urban jungles of the world. (2 units)
This course will help you become an effective teacher of God’s
truth. It covers: Personal preparation, discovering the message
God wants you to deliver, gathering material, organizing it,
presenting it effectively for life-change, getting feedback,
and helping students afterward. (2 units)
Building upon the course How to Preach Powerfully, Advanced Preaching
is designed to produce greater skills in clear, effective preaching
that changes lives. Further instruction in sermon preparation,
in effective delivery methods, and ways to read audience response
will be taught. (2 units)
Much of Jesus’ ministry on earth was healing, both out
of compassion for those afflicted with sicknesses (Mark 1:40–42),
and as an authentication of Himself as Messiah (Luke 7:18–23).
This course will teach the basics of God’s power for healing
and ministering to those in need of healing in a practical, hands-on,
yet careful way. (2 units)
Peter said, “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed
Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about
doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil;
for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). This is an exciting
course that will take you right into Jesus’ incredible
ministry of delivering people from the power of the devil. You
will thrill as you see Him setting the captives free and then
learn how to minister as He did in His power. (2 units)
Jesus has given us supernatural gifts so we can do the works
He did, things that the world simply cannot do. For example,
God has given the gift of healing for miraculous healings, the
gift of prophecy so that we might hear from God directly, the
word of knowledge so that we can have information about a person
we would otherwise not know how to effectively minister to them,
and many other wonderful gifts. Each is meant to bring great
joy.
But how do we receive, develop, and operate these gifts? This
course will explain how. You’ll be thrilled as you learn
how to move into the wonderful, supernatural life and ministry
the Lord has planned for you. The class will involve opportunities
to try out the gifts in a safe environment, with the instructor
helping you “get it” and letting you know how you’re
doing. Come, be blessed, and learn how to minister in the power
of God. (2 units)
Worshiping God is the highest, greatest, and best thing any creature
can do. People come to church expecting an experience that draws
their hearts up to God Himself. Yet often, the worship leader
does not know how to bring people into focused worship of God;
or worship is equated with listening to sermons; or tradition
reigns and the subject is not given much thought. This course
will tell how to bring people into the worship of God: From the
personal preparation of the leader, to the corporate preparation
of the church, to the actual worship experience. (2 units)
Churches require a special kind of leadership, different from
secular organizations. Jesus Christ was the greatest leader of
all time, and He told His followers not to lead like secular
leaders, but to be servants as He was a servant. This course
will teach you a whole new way to lead your church in the power
of the Holy Spirit to produce a more fruitful ministry. (4 units)
The church is unlike any other human institution and therefore
requires a different type of administration. The church is not
a part of the world system but of the kingdom of God. Much damage
has occurred down through history when churches were administrated
like a secular organization instead the house of God.
As in the Book of Acts, most churches are born of informal ministry
to people. Structure becomes necessary over time, especially
when there’s continued
growth. Yet competent administration seldom “just happens.” Churches,
as voluntary associations, often suffer from lack of efficacious
organization. This results in quenching the Spirit of God as
people vie with each other for control. It often leads to financial
mismanagement and/or abuse of church members and is a bad witness
to the outside world. This course will teach the basics of setting
up a church so that it has financial integrity; complies with
the law; provides clear, gentle leadership for its people; and
accomplishes what God has called it to do. (4 units)
As we near the return of Jesus Christ to this earth, the Church
worldwide is looking more like the Book of Acts all the time.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the move back to small
groups of believers meeting in homes and other places as the
backbone of fulfilling the Great Commission to win and disciple
people. This course will introduce you to many of the unique
approaches being attempted and used today—from two or three
in a factory or home, to mega-churches with hundreds of thousands
of people all meeting in home groups. You will have many more
options for starting your own “churchplanting movement” as
a result of this course. (2 units)
When Jesus said, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations
. . . (Matt. 28:19) , He literally said “make disciples
of all the ethne,” which refers
to ethnic groups. Amazingly, we interpret it as individual disciple-making.
Yet all over the world today people are being won in groups,
resulting in explosive, spontaneous, geometrical growth of churches.
This happened in the first century, and it is happening in many
parts of the world today. It’s God’s will,
the fulfillment of the Great Commission in this generation, for
He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). In this course we will explore
together ways of igniting such movements in the urban centers
of the world. (2 units)
The most effective means of fulfilling the Great Commission,
of bringing change in people’s lives and renewal to the
city, is planting new churches. Harvest Bible University was
especially founded to help people become successful church planters.
This course surveys all the basic aspects of envisioning, planning,
organizing, and planting a church that succeeds. It is designed
both for actual church planters, and also for other students
who want to be aware of the issues involved and how to help church
planters they personally know. (2 units)
In order to fulfill the Great Commission, we need both qualitative
and quantitative growth in local churches. This course will distill
and present the best of what God has revealed to His church in
recent decades concerning ways to bring greater quality to the
local church, as well as ways to coope ate with the Lord of the
Harvest as He seeks to bring more people into His church. You’ll
be amazed and thrilled at the fascinating content of this course.
(4 units)
As we near Christ’s return, Christianity is looking more
and more like the Book of Acts. In Acts most missionary activity
was done by people sent out from local churches, not “parachurch” organizations.
This course will show you how to send out ministry teams from
your church to plant churches in other nations of the world.
(2 units)
Picking up where Mercy Ministries left off, this course will
delve further into ways to show God’s compassion for the
poor. Special emphasis will be given to avoiding the patronizing
attitude of dogooders who think they know what’s best for
the poor. Rather, this course will derive from the poor themselves —and
the God who loves them so dearly —healthy ways
to serve them in love, ways they consider helpful. (2 units)
God still speaks to His people today in many ways and fashions.
One of the ways He communicates to us is through prophecy in
its various forms. However, prophecy is often misunderstood,
maligned, and misused.
This course will teach both the proper and effective use of prophecy,
and also its management in the church. It will include “hands-on” experience
in receiving and giving a prophetic word. Participants will have
the opportunity to seek a word, give it, and then receive feedback
from an instructor who is known for his accurate and balanced
prophetic ministry. This will be immensely helpful in developing
and moving forward in prophetic ministry in a way that is thoroughly
Scriptural. (2 units)
A major emphasis in the body of Christ today is hearing the voice
of God. This cuts across all denomination and theological boundaries
as people everywhere are hungry to know Him, commune with Him,
and hear what He would say to them. In these last days with the
rapid often deadly changes in the world it is vitally important
to hear God’s voice. It might
even save your life. This course will help you to hear His voice.
(2 units)
One of the things that makes Harvest so much more exciting than
other schools is that all the teachers are leaders who are actually
living and doing what they are teaching, which means you get
great wisdom and practical insight into every subject, practical
wisdom that really works in your life and ministry. This class
brings together a number of different Christian leaders for one
or two weeks each—leaders that are not normally
available to teach a whole quarter. You will be exposed to some
world-class people who will share things you’ve never heard
before. Come for an exciting time of growth and learning. (2
units)
Ordained pastors marry, bury, baptize, do visitation, and do
a myriad of other things in the operation of a typical church.
Budgeting, handling office equipment, building and maintaining
the church facilities, leading committees, setting up missions
programs and youth ministries, developing a library, counseling,
and sermon preparation . . . these and many other duties familiar
to ordained pastors will be explained in this helpful course.
(2 units)
The family has been the foundation of all societies for all of
human history. Today it is under unprecedented attack by the
devil and the media with the result that the latest statistics
show a large percentage of Americans not even bothering to marry,
and many other perverse groups now vying to be considered as
families with multiple partners and even animals included in
their so-called “marriages.” A
desperate day indeed. Now is the time for the church to develop
healthy families that will show the world God’s beautiful
plan, produce a new generation of godly kids, and turn our society
back to the Lord. Come and learn how to start a successful family
ministry in your church. (2 units)
“Satan wants the children” because they are the world
of tomorrow: Its leaders, its church, everything. Our society
is designed to take children out of the home at an ever-younger
age, and keep them in its grip so that they are shaped by the
world-system, not by their parents, the church, or the Bible.
Jesus loves the little children dearly, and He wants us to fight
for them. This class will show you how to draw children to the
Lord, and bring them up in Him so they will love Him and become
all He created them to be. (2 units)
“The youth of today are the church of tomorrow.” This
truism about teenagers falls short of an even greater truth—that
youth can be the most dedicated and zealous believers of any
age group! Many of the greatest revivals in history have involved
teens. Yet today they are typically the least committed people
in the church, because they have not been challenged in the way
that grabs their zeal. This course will teach you how to bring
youth into full commitment to the Lord and to spreading His Kingdom.
(2 units)
One of the names of Jesus in the Bible is “Counselor.” This
is not in the secular or psychological sense of the word, but
in the biblical sense of a pastor who takes the trouble to go
beyond the Sunday morning sermon and help people actually apply
the spiritual truth that was preached in their daily lives. This
course will help prepare those who pastor God’s people
to shepherd their flock with grace and wisdom. (2 units)
This course picks up where the basic Leadership Development course
leaves off, giving further insight on how Christ taught His followers
to lead as servants. It’s
a course rich with insight into God’s ways, which are the
opposite of human ways. You will grow in Christlikeness through
this course. (4 units)
According to studies at USC the church is the most effective
organization in bringing change to the inner cities of the world.
The church transforms lives, families, and neighborhoods. Spiritual
solutions produce permanent change. Though the problems of society
often seem intractable, impossibly resistant to solution, yet
the Word of God has much to say about the way societies work
and God’s
ability to change them when the church is willing to be and do
all that God has called it to. This is a thrilling course, because
it will highlight obvious answers that few Christians even consider.
Jesus cares about the social problems of the city, and this course,
designed for seniors, will open up new vistas in solving them.
(2 units)
Jesus said we are to visit those who are in prison, and that
if we didn’t, we were neglecting Him (Matt. 25:31–46).
Prison ministry is certainly close to our Lord’s heart,
yet how do we do it? This course will teach you how, and the
results will bring great joy to your life. (2 units)
A study of the uniqueness of Christian education, in the home,
at church, in school, and elsewhere. An introduction to various
pedagogical methods along with practical application. (4 units) |
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Bible University | All Rights Reserved |
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