The Links
A. The links under COURSE will lead you to a description of the
course.
B. The links under REQUIRED MATERIALS will lead you to manuals for
downloading. In the case of books, it will lead you to an explanation
of where and how to obtain the books.
C. The links under RECOMMENDED READINGS are for official Visión
R.E.A.L centers which will want credit with MINTS. This seminary
requires at least 300 pages of reading per course, with a bibliography
submitted to the teacher as proof. These readings helps the student
find these extra readings.
The Lessons
Number of lessons is not equal to the number of classes. Some lessons
may require two or more classes, depending on the subject and the
abilities of the students. There is no time limit on when a course
is finished. This also depends on the teacher.
Final exams are available upon request for officially registered
Visión R.E.A.L centers only.
The Teachers
The teachers must have read and understood the teaching methods
page. If there are questions about this, the teacher may write to
us.
Credits
For centers which will want credits with MINTS seminary for their
studies, they must have registered with Visión R.E.A.L before
beginning the class, and receive a reply of approval. (MINTS requires
a certain quality control the seminary for credit transfers.) The
leader of the Visión R.E.A.L center must write a letter requesting
official recognition. The letter should include the name of the
person in charge, the denominational affiliation and number of students.
The Logic of the Study Plan
This plan corresponds to the mentoring process. The initial goal
of the mentor is to ensure the student is hearing personally from
God out of the Word, being guided by .Him and growing in faith.
Therefore, it is essential to start with Avivamiento Personal.
The courses that follow are Christian Leadership I&II. Some
sectors of Latin America have only known dictatorial leadership
styles. These two courses help the student see a new model of leadership,
the christian one, founded on the concept of service, along with
practical managerial skills.
After these come two important doctrinal studies: First, Justification.
Most students lack a clear comprehension of the foundations of the
Gospel and how to deal with the errors of Catholicism.
Then comes a study of the reformed doctrines of grace so the student
may catch the vision of spreading the message that God is sovereign.
Finally comes a series of practical studies on themes like how
to preach and teach. By this time, the student is already thorougly
involved in ministry.
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Personal Revival
This course is brief, with little academic emphasis. Its primary
purpose is to infuse into the student the disciple of a regular
daily quiet time. It gives students guidelines for understanding
the subjective experiences common to all believers such as divine
guidance, spiritual warfare and growing in faith.
Important note: This course is not yet complete in English. Enough
of it exists, though, to give the students a start.Material: Teacher’s
Manual
Christian Leadership I&II: Principles
and Practice
Many sectors of Latin America have only known authoritarian and
dictatorial systems of government, whether religious or political.
The notion of a leader disposed to serve and suffer for his followers,
who treats them as people of value, has few cultural antecedents.
This two courses are taught together. The book has three sections:
Principles, Practice and the Mentor. By the time the student finishes
the course he will have a totally new concept of leadership, the
biblical one, along with some practical managerial skills. He will
understand better his role of leadership as one of mentoring others.
Materials: Teacher’s Manual// Book by Smalling, Christian
Leadership//Book by Sanders, Spiritual Leadership
Gospel of Grace I: Joyfully Justified
Many Christians assume they understand the gospel well, until they
study justification. The Apostle Paul considered this doctrine so
important, he made it the central theme of Romans and Galatians.
This course shows why justification is the basis of our security
of salvation. It deals with such themes as imputation, faith and
works and finishes with a refutation of the catholic errors on justification.
Personal Evangelism
The best personal evangelism training we have ever seen is the Way
of the Master series with Ray Comfort and actor Kirk Cameroon who
is the protagonist in the Left Behind movie series. The 12 lessons
on VHS are revolutionary because the approach is totally biblical.
It emphasizes repentance in a way other witnessing plans fail to
do.Way
of the Master VHS series Costs $60.00 but well worth it. You
can show it to groups. (Our church showed it at adult Sunday School
resulting in real enthusiasm for witnessing.) 12 lessons, about
40 minutes each. The book The
Way of the Master by Comfort&Cameroon, contains much of
the same material as the VHS. Seminaries and educational institutions
receive a 50% discount. To order by phone, you may call Living Waters
1-800-437-1893. To see their web site, go to Living
Waters.
As a suppliment to the Way series, we recommend a
little booklet from RBC
Ministries with a witnessing plan for those who wish another
approach. This is How
Can I Share My Faith Without An Argument. RBC has numerous helpful
booklets at a reasonable price. This ministries has numerous excellent
teaching booklets, some for Christians, others for different kinds
of unbelievers.Phone number to order is:
Church Government (Ecclesiology)
Witherow shows the Bible approves only one form of church government.
He lays out the six principles with irrefutable scriptural evidence.
In his basic manual, The Body of Christ, Gary Teja touches on all
the fundamentals: The roles of church officers, their duties and
privileges the roles of church offices, along with their duties
and privileges; the membership, church discipline and marks of a
biblical church.
Materials: The Apostolic Church by Witherow// The Body of Christ
by Teja// Recommended essays by Smalling: Elder Controversy, Deaconesses
Bible Interpretation (Hermeneutics)
Ignorance of the common sense rules of interpretation is behind
most doctrinal errors. Sproul explains what are these rules and
why they exist.
Materials: Book, How To Study The Bible by Sproul. No manual exists
for this course because it is found as a study guide in the last
part of the book.
How to Teach
Many Christian workers think they know how to teach and do not.
The biblical philosophy of teaching involves sharing one’s
life with the student, not just imparting data. Research shows certain
techniques are more efficient than others. s. Hendricksen explains
these are ‘law’ of the teacher.
Materials: Book, Teaching to change lives. by Hendricksen.
Essay: Teaching Methods by Smalling. There is no manual for this
course because there is a study guide at the end of Hendricksen’s
book.
History of the Reformation
Since we are training people to be reformers, not just reformed,
it seems appropriate for students to grasp how the reformers went
about it. The reading for the course is the first section of the
book below.
Materials: A History of Christian Thought: From the Protestant Reformation
to the Present Day by Justo Gonzalez is a classic introduction to
the reformation. It covers the whole period from the reformation
to the present day. The book is large and a bit expensive (about
$20) but worth the price as a reference work.
We have no manual in English for this course
SPECIAL MAILING SERVICE FOR
Visión R.E.A.L. CENTERS
We can mail books in quantity to officially recognized
Visión R.E.A.L. centers through a post office service called
International M-bag. The requirements are:
1. The box of books must weight at least 11 pounds.
(This puts a minimum limit on the number of books that can be ordered,
depending the weight of each book.)
2. The cost is $1 extra above the cost of each book. This is
because it costs $2.25 per pound. This includes the weight
of the mail bag in which the box of books is shipped, about 3-4
pounds extra.
3. The address must be a post box, not a residence address. The
shipment will be return otherwise.
4. Delivery is 2-3 weeks.
BOOK LIST AND PRICES
Official Visión R.E.A.L. centers have a right
to a 50% discount on the Smallings’ two books in Spanish, Si, Jesus, and Liderazgo Cristiano. For the other
books, we have special discount arrangements with certain publishers
for as much as 40%-50%, depending on the book and quantity. The
Visión R.E.A.L. center leader needs to evaluate if it is
better to buy quantity at a local book store rather than try to
order through us. Example: For Sander’s book, Spiritual
Leadership, we can get them at 40% discount in quantities of
50 or more. Payment must be in advance by check drawn on a U.S.
bank, in the name of Roger Smalling, or via bank transfer number.
The Visión R.E.A.L. center leader may request this number
from us by email.
How Can I Share My
Faith Without An Argument?, is a small booklet
of 32 pages. Since these booklets are so small, we would have
to send several hundred copies to qualify for M-bag service. Therefore,
leaders of Visión R.E.A.L study groups can request from
us one copy which we will send by ordinary mail to photocopy for
their students. For those living in the U.S., you must contact
the publisher directly. Copies are free, but we usually give them
an offering of .25 cents per copy. To order the booklet on line,
go to RBC
Ministries. The phone number is: 1-877-399-7109.
Comfort&Cameroon Foundation
Series VHS Evangelism Training; Book-The
Way of the MasterSee Course Description for a fuller
explanation. Check out their web site for a vast array of good
evangelism materials.www.LivingWaters.com
To see their Foundation Series ad, CLICK
HERE.
Hendricks, Howard. Teaching
To Change Lives
Outlines seven principles to make teaching effective. Paperback,
Multnomah publishers, available from Amazon.com
for around $12. About 150 pages.
Gonzalez, Justo. A
History of Christian Thought: From the Protestant Reformation
to the Present Day is a classic introduction to
the reformation. It covers the whole period from the reformation
to the present day. The book is large and a bit expensive (about
$20) but worth the price as a reference work.We have no manual
in English for this course.
Robinson, Haddon. Biblical
Preaching
Teaches expository preaching. I recommend this book because expository
preaching was one of the strong points in the Reformation.
Sanders, Oswald. Spritual Leadership
A classic. Sanders book is the most challenging we’ve
read on the character God wants for leaders. A classic.
Smalling, Roger. Unlocking Grace
The translation of Smalling's book in Spanish, Si, Jesus,
on the reformed Doctrines of Grace. Touches on Sovereignty
of God, Total Depravity, Election, Atonement, Security, etc. Available
from DeoVolente
publishers.
Sproul, R.C. Knowing
Scripture
This little book of 125 pages is a good introduction to hermeneutics
for laymen. Intervarsity Press. Also available from Ligonier
Ministries. Phone: 1 800-435-4343
Teja, Gary. The Body
of Christ
Spiral bound manual obtainable from the Christian Reformed
Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Tel.616-246-0825.
Witherow, Thomas. The
Apostolic Church, Which Is It?
This remarkable little book is hard to find but worth the
search. It proves succinctly from Scripture that reformed and
presbyterian church government is the only form approved by God.
Free Presbyterian Publications. It is a small book and you may
find it used. Don't pay more than $10 for it. As a last resort,
if you can't get the book, use the simple outline at GospelPedlar.
The evaluations for each course are a combination
of two grades: The final exam grade, plus the grade on his performance
evaluation. This latter is an evaluation by his mentor of his
life, including devotional life, family life, ministerial activities
and general conduct in class. He diagram illustrates. The final
grade is a combination of these two. See a sample evaluation
form.
To pass the course requires a final grade of 75%.
This is a device to help apply the mentoring philosophy of the
program, which incorporates the academic without letting the academics
dominate.
Ejemple: A student scores 100% on his exam, with only a 40% personal
evaluation. This amounts to 100%+40%= 140/2= 70%. This is a failing
grade, although he got 100% on the test. His conduct did not permit
himto advance. This prevents intelligent people with poor character
from graduating.
NOTE: Final exams for registered Vision R.E.A.L.
centers are obtained by writing to Vision R.E.A.L.