Submitted by DFW Church of Christ
On a recent visit May 14-15, 2005, Douglas Jacoby inspired the Dallas disciples to cast off old ways of thinking and challenged them to take their Bible study to new heights. He even encouraged them to branch out and quit only reading the NIV translation of the Bible (gasp!).
Jacoby presented a series of classes on the Wisdom Literature in the Old Testament. He helped the disciples dispel some of their misconceptions about the hyperboles and generalities in Old Testament poetry.
"I've always viewed the Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes as nice, but not a lot of fun to read. There's a lot more to those books than I realized and it gave me a different way of looking at them," said Jason Baars, a member of the Dallas church.
Jacoby also enthralled the teens with a slide presentation on Genesis, Science and History and answered many of their questions about creation and evolution.
"It was neat to see there are answers to some of the questions I've had," said Blake Asaad, a 15-year-old high school freshman.
Overall, the disciples who attended said they were built up in their faith and ready to delve into their Bibles with renewed zeal. Jacoby taught on the weekend that the church had planned to give their Special Missions Contribution and it was the perfect time for the disciples to have a spiritual revival. So far, they have collected about $400,000.
"He explained some old things in a new way," said elder's wife Bev Ozanne. "It was very stimulating, interesting and exciting to think of the scriptures on a deeper level."
