March 2007

CLU Student Newsletter

I also email an introduction of myself to all of my new students. If you haven’t received this, you also need to contact me so we can establish our email contacts.

I will be leaving for Finland March 28 to do about two weeks of ministry, including teaching How To Hear God’s Voice and other seminars plus doing some private deliverance/counseling. Your prayers for this time of travel and ministry will be greatly appreciated! Since I will have access to a computer there, I will also try to keep up with your emails.

There has been some great response to the Thursday night chat rooms held from 9:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. EST! Students are enjoying getting acquainted with one another plus sharing many other topics of interest. The chatting has been lively, so please plan to join us at the CLU Online Community!

May you be blessed by the testimonies given this month!
Dr. Karen King

New CLU Requirements
By Patti Virkler
It was the conviction of the founders of Christian Leadership University that all students at Bible Schools or Christian colleges should be required to read through the entire Bible as part of their preparation for life and ministry. The norm, unfortunately, is to only require the reading of selected passages or books, if any Bible is required at all. To guide CLU students in their meditation of God’s Word, the Through the Bible series was developed.

In these eight courses, the student reads through the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation at an average speed of two chapters each day. The collateral texts give the basic information about each book, such as author, when it was written, brief historical context, etc. There is also an outline graph of each individual book on a single page, highlighting major characters and events, and how they fit into the larger context. Students make these outlines their own by meditating on each chapter and creating a unique title for it that summarizes the content of the chapter for them.

Since the voice of God is central to all CLU courses, students also write down anything the Lord specifically speaks to them through the chapter, as well as questions and insights they have. Finally, there are open-ended questions that encourage the exploration of specific themes throughout the book and on throughout the entire Bible. Students are guided in building their own personal theology on a variety of subjects directly through their meditation on the Scriptures.

We believe this series is a vitally important part of the CLU program, and when the school was started, these courses were listed in the core curriculum that every student was expected to take. Unfortunately, we have not followed through on our convictions and have not been consistent in making sure all of our students have the solid biblical foundation needed for living a godly life and testing all spiritual experiences. We have been convicted by the Lord that we have left our founding passion for our students to know the Scriptures, and we are now returning to it.

Beginning April 1, 2007, all new enrollees of CLU will be required to complete the Bible Quizzes found online at http://www.cluonline.com/cgi-bin/quiztest.cgi. Any new student who does not earn at least 70% on any of the tests will be required to take the course represented by that quiz. Undergraduate students will earn three credits for each of the Through the Bible courses they successfully complete. Graduate students will have the option of completing only the work required in the undergraduate syllabus and earning two credits per course, or completing an extra project and earning three credits per course.

As a current student of CLU, you will not be included in this new requirement. However, we strongly encourage you to take the Bible Quizzes and test your own knowledge of Scripture. If you find that your understanding of any portion of God’s Word is weaker than it should be, we highly recommend that you include that Bible course in your college program. God’s Logos is the only sure foundation for our lives, and all rhema from Him will be in complete agreement with the whole counsel of God as found in His Word.

Because we feel so strongly about this, we are offering a 25% discount off the tuition of any Through the Bible course (BIB101 – BIB108) ordered by a current non-scholarship student during the next two months (until May 31, 2007). Click here to place your order online. If ordering by phone, be sure to ask for the discount mentioned in the Christian Leadership University Student Newsletter. (Students already receiving financial aid may request an addition 10% discount off their tuition.)

We also believe that lifelong learning is essential for the growing child of God, so we want to also extend this same 25% tuition discount to all CLU graduates. Why not make it your goal to complete at least two CLU courses each year for the rest of your life? God will surely use whatever knowledge and skill you acquire for His glory.

I Feel Like God Has Given Me the Greatest Possible Gift
by
Ronald L. Goodrich
Dana Point, California

I am 68 years old and feel the energy of God pushing the envelope of what can be accomplished for Him in retirement. All my adult life, I had a duel career as a church educator and pastor (part-time) and as a high school math teacher, staff development specialist, and summer school principal (full-time).

When I retired five years ago, I expected to focus on my hobbies of abstract painting and learning to play the guitar. Instead I felt this incredible desire to study everything from post-modernism to the coming clash between Christianity and Islam. I created and taught two PowerPoint courses on Revelation and Genesis 1-11. When I finished teaching the Revelation class, a godly lady asked if I had thought of creating a course on prayer. I was beginning to feel the Lord’s direction in this area, so I took this as a confirmation that I should create a course entitled, “How to Pray like Jesus.”

The prayers and works of Jesus amazed me. He said he did nothing on his own initiative, but only did what he saw his Father doing, and only used words he heard his Father speaking. This meant that the Present Voice of God was at the heart of everything he did.

It was at this point that I googled, “The voice of God,” and found Christian Leadership University on the Internet. While I had never heard of a university dedicated to hearing the voice of God, I was certainly intrigued. I emailed an inquiry about the requirements and cost of a Doctor in Christian Counseling degree. I already had a M.A. in counseling, and along with my seminary credits and other work was able to transfer a significant number of credits toward a D.C.C. degree. I prayed about it, talked it over my wife and son, and immediately enrolled.

Fourteen years ago I received a personal prophecy that included:

“ The Lord says. ‘I’m imparting faith to you. Son, I’m authoring faith. Even now, I’m giving you authority to heal. I’m giving you authority to be released. I’m giving you authority to flow.”

You can imagine my excitement when in my first course, “Communion with God,” the whole focus was on the authority to flow. In the personal prophecy, God said I had to hang around the brethren for a little while to get trained. And then all of a sudden I would be released. Well, that time is now. And the brethren I had to hang around with are Dr. Karen King, my academic advisor, and Dr. Mark Virkler, the President of CLU, who is the creator of the courses I am taking.

I feel like God has given me the greatest possible gift in the courses I’m taking at CLU. I can’t wait to get up in the morning and “hit the books,” which includes not only “Communion with God,” but also “Counseled by God,” and “Prayers that Heal the Heart.”

These courses are not for the faint of heart, or for those who are unwilling to be transparently honest with God, and have at least two or three spiritual advisors. The LAMAD method of teaching and learning is unique, because it is based on hearing the voice of God in every course. And I don’t feel alone in my studies. My academic advisor is always quick to respond to all the questions I have had along the way.

I’ve had a problem with overweight most of my adult life. I have tried every diet. I would lose the weight, only to gain it back again. In my course, “Prayers that Heal the Heart,” I learned that this stronghold required more than will-power to solve. It required a series of seven prayers. As I viewed the DVDs and filled in the Study Guide, I began to feel this stronghold crumble as I prayed these prayers in the Name of Jesus. The Lord reveled to me that my overeating was an attempt to fill the empty feelings in my wounded heart.

A contributing factor to my overweigh was the wound of inferiority feelings passed on to me by my father and grandfather, which required praying prayers to break generational sins and curses, and prayers to sever soul ties in this area. At the end of this prayer time, I was able to say, “Lord, release in me your self-control as I think about food, and as I prepare and eat everything for your glory.”

I still have some prayer work to do in this area. The hardest part of this prayer process is releasing the destructive energy forces that have attached themselves to my wounded heart. My course, “Counseled by God,” is teaching me that the Holy Spirit is willing to be my counselor; that He is willing to come along side me and add His intercession to mine. I am hopeful for the first time in a long time that my goal of losing the last 15 pounds, and keeping it off, becomes a reality, because I have the mind of Christ in this area of my life.

CLU is giving me the means of fulfilling my dream of hearing the voice of God. The Lord had revealed to me in my study on prayer that there were four ways of hearing the voice of God. These were in words and pictures, intuitive insights, godly feelings, and spiritual discernments. CLU not only confirmed these insights, but is making it possible for me to hear God’s voice as a routine part of my life.