I. Course Description
Learn about the causes and cure for spiritual depression from a master physician and minister, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) served as minister of Westminster Chapel in London for almost 30 years.
II. Course Mentor
If you are taking this course as directed studies, you must have a mentor to successfully complete the course requirements. A list of available mentors for this course and their contact information is posted in the Student Area. If you have any difficulty arranging for a mentor, please contact the Study Center Director.
III. Attendance and Participation
This course meets for 16 sessions. Students will have 20 weeks to complete all the sessions (from September 2, 2008 to January 31, 2009).
Your participation in the course will be determined largely by your contact time with your mentor. You may work through the course material online at your own pace, but to fulfill the attendance requirement for the course, you must stay in contact with your mentor and log at least 16 meetings with your mentor (one for each session of the course). If you meet long enough to sufficiently cover two sessions, your mentor may give you credit for two meetings. It will be up to your mentor to determine at the end of the course if you have fulfilled the attendance requirement and sufficiently covered the course material.
If extenuating circumstances arise and you will not be able to complete the course in the allotted time, please contact the Study Center Director.
IV. Required Texts
Three texts are required for this course:
• Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
• When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy by John Piper
• An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scriture by Andrew Davis
V. Outline of Sessions
The 16 sessions of this course follow the lectures and chapter headings in Spiritual Depression by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Some of the lectures do not have cooresponding chapters in the book, and some of the chapters in the book do not have corresponding lectures.
1. General Consideration / The True Foundation
2. Men as Trees, Walking / Mind, Heart and Will
3. That One Sin / Vain Regrets
4. Fear of the Future / Feelings
5. Laborers in the Vineyard / Where Is Your Faith?
6. Looking at the Waves / The Spirit of Bondage
7. Stengthened in the Inner Man / The Truth about the Cross
8. Living the Gospel / The Danger of Gnosticism
9. The Mortification of Sin / Spiritual Warfare
10. The Armor of God (Parts 1 and 2)
11. The Armor of God (Parts 3 and 4)
12. False Teaching / Chastening
13. Weary in Well Doing / In God's Gymnasim
14. Discipline / The Peace of God
15. Trials / Learning to Be Content
16. The Final Cure
VI. Method of Instruction
Teaching methods will include:
VII. Course Assignments
All assignments for the course are outlined on the session pages and in the study guides.
Weekly Assignments:
Each session will include the following:
1) Reading Assignment: chapters in assign texts
2) Discussion Questions over assigned chapters
All of the sessions include additional discussion questions over the reading and lectures.
Please complete all the readings for the session and print out a hard copy of your answers to the discussion questions so you are prepared for your meetings with your mentor. You will receive credit for doing your weekly assignments once you have met and covered the material with your mentor.
Major Project:
Your major project for this course will be selecting and implimenting a plan for personal Scripture memory. You can select one of two options:
1. Memorize a Whole Book: Choose a book of the Bible to memorze. Try using the method in An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture by Andrew Davis. He outlines a plan to memorize 6 verses a week and suggests starting with the book of Ephesians. Ephesians, however, has 155 verses and may take you longer than the course to finish the whole book. Other possibilities include Philippians (104 verses) or 1 John (105 verses). A list of books of the Bible with the number of verses per book is provided in appendix 3 of An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture. [Available online from First Baptist Church Durham Media.] This option is more challenging -- you can set your goal to memorize 3 to 6 verses a week.
2. Fighter Verses: Memorize sets of verses on various subjects as suggested by John Piper in When I Don't Desire God, How to Fight for Joy. You can prepare your own plan or use one of the plans provided on the Bethlehem Baptist Church site. Choose from Set A, B, C, D or E. This option is less intense -- you can set your goal to memorize 1 or 2 verses a week.
If you are taking the course as directed studies, your mentor can help you determine which option is best for you to choose. He will also assign specific due dates for your project and help you keep up with your Scripture memory each week. All course work must be complete to the satisfaction of your mentor by January 31, 2009.