Assignments for this course take the form of written summaries, research, and analysis. They are designed to help us work through the course
objectives, while keeping a focus on our spiritual growth through conceptual learning.For each assignment, please develop a document and submit it to me in either Microsoft Word or HTML format (your word processing
software should permit you to do a "save as" and choose either of those formats).
Each assignment can be completed by consulting Web-based materials listed on the course Resource page.
Lesson #1
Assignment to be completed:
Read Chapter 1 and Appendix A of
How to Hear God’s Voice by Virkler, answering
all questions, filling in all blanks.
Listen to or watch Sessions 1 and 2,
following along and taking notes in your Seminar
Workbook.
Memorize Proverbs 11:14 NASU (“Where
there is no guidance the people fall, but in the
abundance of counselors there is victory.”)
Subjects to be explored:
Overview of the Four Keys to Hearing
God’s Voice
A Theological Backdrop for Hearing God’s
Voice
Lesson #2
Assignment to be completed:
Complete the “test” in Appendix B of
How to Hear God’s Voice as instructed in the
text.
Read the Introduction and Chapter 1 of
Dialogue with God by Virkler.
Listen or watch Session 3, following and
taking notes in your Seminar Workbook.
Memorize John 17:3 (And this is eternal
life, that they might know Thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.)
Subjects to be explored:
God Wants to Be Your Friend
Lesson #3
Assignment to be completed:
Read Chapter 2 and Appendices C and D of
How to Hear God’s Voice, answering all
questions and filling in all blanks.
Read Chapter 2 and Appendices A and C of
Dialogue with God.
Listen to or watch Session 4 and Session
5 up to the section on “Praying with an Idol in Your
Heart.” You will listen to or watch this teaching in
your next lesson. Follow along and take notes in your
Seminar Workbook.
Memorize Isaiah 55:10,11 (For as the rain
and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return
there without watering the earth, and making it bear and
sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to
the eater; So shall My word be which goes forth from My
mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, without
accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in
the matter for which I sent it.)
Subjects to be explored:
You will learn how the voice of God is
experienced and recognized: Key #1: Tune to Spontaneity.
Lesson #4
Assignment to be completed:
Read Chapter 3 of How to Hear God’s
Voice, answering all questions and filling in
all blanks.
Read Chapter 3 of Dialogue with God.
Listen to or watch the last part of
Session 5 and Session 6 following along and taking notes
in your Seminar Workbook.
Memorize the expanded version of Psalm
46:10 (Be still, let go, cease striving, relax, and know
that I am God.)
Subjects to be explored:
Key #2: Become Still
Praying with and Idol in Your Heart
Lesson #5
Assignment to be completed:
Read Chapter 4 and Appendix E of
How to Hear God’s Voice, answering all questions
and filling in all blanks.
Begin reading the verses in Appendix f of
How to Hear God’s Voice, taking notes as
you do so. There are suggested questions at the
beginning of Appendix E of Dialogue with God
for you to consider as you do this meditation. You
probably can’t finish this assignment in one lesson, but
keep working on it until you have completed it. The
place of vision in the Christian life can be very
controversial, so knowing exactly what the Word of God
says about it will give you the foundation you need to
continue using this vital spiritual sense. (Appendix E
of Dialogue with God is a record of Mark
Virkler’s meditation on these Scriptures.)
Listen to or watch Session 7, following
along and taking notes in your Seminar Workbook as you
listen.
Memorize John 8:38a (“I speak the things
which I have seen with My Father.”)
Subjects to be explored:
Key #3: Look for Vision
Lesson #6
Assignment to be completed:
Read Appendix G of How to Hear
God’s Voice, answering all questions and filling
in all blanks.
Continue working on Appendix F of
How to Hear God’s Voice.
Read Chapter 4 of Dialogue with God.
Listen to or watch Session 8, taking
notes in your Seminar Workbook as you listen.
Memorize 1 Chronicles 29:18 KJV (O Lord,
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers,
keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of
the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto
thee.
Subjects to be explored:
Key #3 continued: Restoring Your
Visionary Ability
Lesson #7
Assignment to be completed:
Read Chapter 5 and Appendices H and L of
How to Hear God’s Voice, answering all
questions and filling in all blanks.
If you have not completed Appendix F of
How to Hear God’s Voice, continue working
on it.
Read Chapter 5 of Dialogue with God.
Listen to or watch Session 9, taking
notes in your Seminar Workbook as you listen.
Memorize Habakkuk 2: 1,2 (I will stand on
my guard post and station myself on the rampart; And I
will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how
I may reply when I am reproved. Then the Lord answered
me and said, “Record the vision and inscribe it on
tablets, that the one who reads it may run.”)
Begin journaling at least twice each week
according to the pattern given in the text. Continue
this practice at least until the end of the course.
Prepare for Test One to be taken in the
next lesson.
Subjects to be explored:
Key #4: Journal: Write Your Conversations
with God
Christianity and the New Age
Lesson #8
Assignment to be completed:
Complete Test One and submit it to your
instructor.
Read Chapter 6 and Appendix I of
How to Hear God’s Voice, answering all questions
and filling in all blanks.
Read Chapter 9 of Dialogue with God.
Continue journaling at least twice a
week.
Memorize John 5:19,30a (Jesus therefore
answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly I say to
you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is
something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the
Father does, these things the Son also does in like
manner…I can do nothing on My own initiative.”)
Subjects to be explored:
Living Out of the Father’s Initiative
Lesson #9
Assignment to be completed:
Read Chapter 7 of How to Hear God’s
Voice, answering all questions and filling in
all blanks.
Read Chapter 6 of Dialogue with God.
Listen to or watch Session 10.
Memorize Hebrews 10:22 (Let us draw near
with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and
our bodies washed with pure water.)
Continue journaling at least twice a
week.
Subjects to be explored:
Biblical Patterns for Approaching God
Lesson #10
Assignment to be completed:
Read Chapter 8 of How to Hear God’s
Voice, answering all questions and filling in
all blanks.
Read Chapter 7 of Dialogue with God.
Memorize John 7:37-39 (Now on the last
day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried
out saying, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me
and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said,
‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living
water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who
believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not
yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Continue journaling at least twice a
week.
Subjects to be explored:
Testing Spiritual Experiences
Lesson #11
Assignment to be completed:
Read Chapter 9 and Appendices K of
How to Hear God’s Voice, answering all questions
and filling in all blanks.
Read Chapter 10 of Dialogue with
God.
Memorize Philippians 3:10,11 (That I may
know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the
fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His
death; in order that I may attain the resurrection from
the dead.)
Continue journaling at least twice a
week.
Prepare for the Final Test to be taken in
the next lesson.
Subjects to be explored:
Walk by the Spirit
“Yada” – Sharing Love
Lesson #12
Assignment to be completed:
Read Chapter 10 of How to Hear
God’s Voice, answering all questions and filling
in all blanks.
Read Chapter 8 of Dialogue with God.
Continue journaling at least twice a
week.
Complete Final Test and submit it to your
instructor.
Complete a Life Paper for the Communion
with God course:
Submit a paper discussing how your life
has been affected as a result of your encounter with God
through this course. What changes has He brought in your
understanding, attitudes, and behavior? Who are the
people He has placed as counselors in your life? What
are the methods which are most effective in bringing you
to stillness? How have you used vision and what have the
results been? Most importantly, how has your
relationship to the Lord been affected as a result of
this
study?
This paper is to be a minimum of 5
typewritten pages (double-
spaced, maximum 12-point font) and is due
at the end of the course. You
must receive at least a grade of “B” on
this paper.
Subjects to be explored:
Prayer That is Led by the Holy
Spirit
How to Enter Your Promised Land
Additional Assignments to be completed
for the Graduate Level:
-
Am I Being Deceived
–
Mark and Patti Virkler
Read the entire text and write a minimum
of 8 pages typed (no larger than a 12-point font) and
double-spaced in response to this book. Draw together
your observations, reactions and experiments into a
cohesive report.
a) Discuss how your mind has been opened
and your thoughts expanded through your meditation upon
this book. What new truths have you discovered?
b) Did you change theologically and/or
experientially as a result of this book?
Describe any such changes.
-
Write a research paper on Christian
mysticism. You may organize your findings in a way
that is meaningful to you.
This paper is to be 13-15 pages typed (no
larger than a 12-point font) and double-spaced. Include
each of the following:
According to Merriam-Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary, mysticism
is defined as follows
“1:the experience of
mystical union or direct communion with
ultimate reality reported by mystics;
2:the belief
that direct knowledge of God, spiritual truth, or
ultimate reality can be attained through subjective
experience (as intuition or insight).”
a)
Establish a biblical base for this definition and
practice.
b) Explore the history of Christian
mysticism, significant individuals
considered Christian mystics, and the
approaches they used. Document your research
appropriately (according to MLA Writing Standards).
c) Relate what you learn to your
experience of direct spiritual encounter with God
through the Holy Spirit and what the Bible teaches.
The internet is an excellent place to
begin your research, with copies of original writings,
scholarly analyses, complete books you can read online
(free and for a fee), and suggested avenues of
investigation from the syllabi of other universities.
Google is a most helpful search engine (www.google.com).
Type in the phrase “Christian Mysticism.”
Here are some resources that might help
you get started in your research:
Christian Mystics: A Journey into the
Presence of God
This site dedicated to Christian mystics
both traditional and contemporary.
http://www.christianmystics.com
Internet Public Library (IPL)
This free service is available to anyone who accesses it
at its web address: http://www.ipl.org. It provides
users with a Reference Center in areas of study common
to students, where they can ask reference questions that
are answered by a Reference Center Staff of trained
Librarians. Reading Rooms contain bookshelves of online
texts, publications and newspapers. There is a Catalog
of online books and an opportunity to access abstracts
of resources in specific categories.http://www.ipl.org
Questia
subscription: Questia is an online
library of over 400,000 downloadable resources,
including books, journals and periodical articles.
Subscriptions are available on a monthly, quarterly, and
annual basis.
http://www.questia.com
Early Christian Writings
- Early Christian Writings is the most complete
collection of documents from the first two centuries
with translations and commentary. Includes the New
Testament, Apocrypha, Gnostics, and Church Fathers.
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/
Assignments that MUST BE SUBMITTED to
Your Instructor for Grading
YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A GRADE FOR THE
COURSE OR BE CREDITED AS COMPLETING THE COURSE UNTIL ALL
OF THESE ASSIGNMENTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED AND GRADED BY
YOUR INSTRUCTOR:
Test One (To be completed at Lesson 8)
Final Test (To be completed at Lesson 12)
Life Paper (To be submitted at Lesson 12)
Response Paper (Am I Being Deceived?-To
be submitted to receive credit for the course.)
Research Paper (Christian Mysticism-To be
submitted to receive credit for the course.)
Submit a letter of verification for
completed items:
-
Completion of CD’s or DVD’s Sessions
1-10: How to Hear God’s Voice
-
Journaled 2x/week for the remained of
the course as outlined in the course schedule.
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