WSC Seminar II – Beyond the Tools

December 3^rd -5^th, 2004

Report by the TBF

     As the sun was setting over the Tampa Bay area on Friday, December 3^rd, 2004, a small group of Bible students from Florida, California, and New York began to gather for what was to be a fruitful and profitable weekend of Bible study and fellowship. Total attendance for the weekend was 22 adults and 5 small children.

     The fellowship and Bible study actually started the Thursday before the official beginning since no one wanted to waste any precious time spent in the company of like-minded believers, three just having arrived from out of state. Brother Todd, who so graciously opened his home for the seminar, treated us to a mouth watering barbecue. What a joy to sit down together outside on the large patio facing a beautiful natural wooded area.  How we thank God for allowing a beautiful weekend where every meal could be eaten outside if desired.  After the meal, we soon got a taste of what was to come for the weekend by a lively Bible study led by our teacher, Brother Zin Yi of the Good Message Foundation.

     As everyone began to take their seats at the white tables laden with Strong’s Concordances, Greek and Hebrew lexicons, a couple of Interlinear Bibles, paper notebooks, and laptop computers, there seemed to be a sense of anticipation of what God would reveal from His word as our study for the weekend developed.  Brother Zin gave a few minutes for everyone to construct a Word Study Chart on the Hebrew word rendered most often as “curse.”  As we began to study this word, we learned a lot about reconciling different renderings and verses in order to come up with the main thrust of the word. We learned to look for “lock” words as well as how to compare Scripture passages, contextually.  It soon became apparent how very careful one must be in handling the word of God - and that only God can open our understanding as we faithfully study His amazing word.  Many expressed how useful and essential a Word Study Chart (WSC) was to their Bible study.

     Saturday’s sessions were just as intense.  After a brief review, we went on to look at other Hebrew words that were found in the same verses as our original word study on “curse.”  We soon saw the value of studying these words in order to better understand how God was using the word rendered “curse” or “cursing.”  The exciting part was how God let us see how these passages directly applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. As we were studying, Brother Zin shared some more helpful suggestions in using the “tools” of Bible study. Later in the day, we began a New Testament study of the word, “beast,” from Acts 28:4, 5.  Near the end of the day, Brother Zin sprang a surprise on the men. The six volunteers were to each talk 10 minutes on the word rendered “beast,” for the Lord’s Day message the next day.  It was a wonderful sight to see the men “huddled” together after the last session, comparing notes, and deciding on which part each speaker would teach.

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      After an enjoyable breakfast on Sunday morning, we eagerly sat down to worship together with those present as well as online.  Then, what many attendees have commented as the “highlight” of the seminar followed: each of the six men stood up and taught for around 10 minutes. After the seminar was over, Sister Jean commented that the challenge taken by some of the men “to teach back to us what we had learned,” was, indeed, the highlight of the Seminar to her and that she was very encouraged as she saw the men hovering over the word, preparing to teach.

     During lunch on Sunday, Brother Zin made the comment that the ladies might want to seriously consider eating very well.  They soon found out why.  The sisters were assigned to construct a word study chart on the Greek word rendered, “Nicolaitans,” and after a set time of discussion together on the patio, come up with a main thrust of this word. That turned out to be a challenging, but delightful assignment as they studied God’s word together. While the women were working on this assignment, the men had a great time of singing a cappella as well as studying the same word, “Nicolaitans.”

     Those who were able also gathered together again on Monday afternoon for lunch and supper at Todd’s place with much interesting Bible study in between. We puzzled over the Hebrew word rendered “spit,” comparing it to the word rendered “spit” in the New Testament.  Led by Brother Tom Sollis, and with some help from our teacher, God allowed us to come up with a tentative conclusion on this most interesting word.

    As the out-of-stater’s were taken back to the airport to fly back to their respective homes, most were already expressing a desire to gather again very soon to fellowship and study God’s precious word.  Earlier that afternoon, one student commented that the seminar was “10 times better than a regular Bible Conference” because ALL were participating and doing the actual study.  Another student “liked studying the unusual Bible words that were chosen” and as well the interaction of the participants.  In emails sent after the seminar, the TBF was very much encouraged to continue to have Bible conferences and WSC seminars.  One person warmly stated that this seminar “you hosted was very well-organized and put every guest at ease from the outset.”  Another email said, “It was a very fulfilling weekend… full of studying God's Word, and filling up with good food, both spiritually and physically.”  Another commented that what impressed him was the fact that we, as a group, all struggled together to come to truth from studying the Scripture under each rendering of our word study charts.

One Bible student echoed what most of us were thinking about this seminar:  “I'm so thankful the Lord allowed this seminar to come about and to see you all again, and be blessed by a very faithful Bible teacher….”

Tampa Bay Fellowship