• A Treasury of Christian Literature

    Inspirations, Insights, and Questions from the World's Most Inspiring Library

     

    For use with a class in A Sweet Savor Bible School

  • The Homework Blog

    This blog is part of a class in A Sweet Savor Bible School. Those registered in this class are studying one Christian classic each quarter, and as part of their assignment must post their inspirations, reactions, help received, and questions here each week. If you are not part of the class, we hope you will enjoy reading what has been written, but please refrain from posting anything. Rather, use the Contact the Instructor form located below.

     

    Blog Rules:

    1. Keep to the topic, which is your inspiration and appreciation of the book under study, questions about its contents, and the application of its contents.
    2. Add chapter numbers to your post to help others find what you are talking about. Since we may not all be reading the same version of the book, chapter numbers will help while page numbers don't always match.

    If you wish to register for this or other classes, click HERE. To enter the thread, click on the circle to the left of the description.

    December 19, 2023
  • Class Syllabus

    Spring Quarter, 2024

    Class: A Treasury of Christian Literature

     

    Instructor: David Shields


    Times:

    Mondays 7:30-8:30 (ET)

    Dates: February 5-April 1, 2024

    Class Size: Limit of 30

     

    Book: The Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee

    In John 12:24, Jesus spoke of His upcoming death by saying that He, as a grain of wheat, must fall into the ground and die to bear much fruit. Once in the ground, the outer shell of the grain of wheat would break and decay so that the life inside could grow and produce many grains. Then, in the next verse, He applies this same principle to us when He said that the one who loves his soul life must lose it. According to Watchman Nee, this loss of our soul life is to have our outer man broken so that our spirit can be released. Only by passing through this process can our service to God and man be truly spiritual and bear fruit that satisfies God.

     

    Each student is expected to obtain a copy of the book before the first class. It is available free as a PDF file for reading online or to download HERE, or through Amazon in Kindle and paperback HERE.

     

    Discussion Schedule (Week by Week):

    Week 1: Introductions, Goals, Class requirements, Homework blog, Questions

    Week 2: Chapters 1, 2

    Week 3: Chapter 3

    Week 4: Chapter 4

    Week 5: Chapter 5

    Week 6: Chapter 6

    Week 7: Chapter 7

    Week 8: Chapter 8

    Week 9: Chapter 9

     

    Course Goal

    This class attempts explore the rich treasury of truth and spiritual experience in the writings of those who have run the Christian race before us. Our goal is to see what the authors saw and to experience what the authors experienced. Thus, our own personal Christian lives will be uplifted and enlarged to love the Lord more and to become a greater blessing to those around us.

     

    Class Structure

    Most of the class time will be used for mutual discussion, led by the instructor, over the week’s reading assignment. Everyone should come on time with their Zoom cameras turned on, prepared to speak up and volunteer something profitable. Students who do not volunteer will be called on. No one will be left out.

     

    Homework

    Reading: Each student is expected to read the assigned chapter(s) and attend class ready to discuss the material.

     

    Blog Post: Each student will post something weekly about that week's reading assignment on the class blog located on this site. Posts could be about what you especially enjoyed, how something changed in your understanding, or how you applied or experienced something from the book. As much as possible, be specific, not general. Feel free to read other's posts, and if inspired, give an encouraging reply. All posts should be kept positive to maintain an atmosphere in which everyone can participate. The blog is intended to become an avenue for edifying fellowship among us.

     

  • Contact the Instructor

    For Inquiries and Guest Posts