[October 13, 2007]  The annual James D. Strauss Lectureship at Lincoln Christian College and Seminary will be on Tuesday and Wednesday, with featured guest speaker Dr. Ben Witherington III.

Witherington taught at the Ashland Theological Seminary for more than a decade. He is a prolific author and has written more than 30 books and six commentaries, including "The Gospel Code: Novel Claims About Jesus," "Mary Magdalene and Da Vinci" (2004), "The Problem With Evangelical Theory: Testing the Exegetical Foundations of Calvinism, Dispensationalism and Wesleyanism" (2005), "The New Testament Story" (2004), and "What Have They Done With Jesus?" (2006). One of his works, "The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of Nazareth" (Inter Varsity Press, 1995), was selected as the top biblical studies book of 1995 by Christianity Today and the Academy of Parish Clergy.

Witherington has led numerous study tours through the lands of the Bible and is known for bringing the text to life through incisive historical and cultural analysis. He is a John Wesley Fellow for Life, a research fellow at Cambridge University and a member of numerous professional organizations, including the Society of Biblical Literature, Society for the Study of the New Testament and the Institute for Biblical Research. Witherington has also spoken to many groups about his topics of expertise, appeared on numerous television documentaries and had the opportunity to preach at the National Chapel in May of 2006.

The James D. Strauss Lectures, formerly the Chi-Lambda Lectures, were established by the Chi-Lambda Fellowship, a student-based research and publishing entity founded by Dr. Strauss to encourage Christian reflection in every discipline. Dr. Robert Kurka is the coordinator of the institute at Lincoln Christian College and Seminary. Every fall the Strauss Lectures bring to the LCCS campus key Christian thinkers who are wrestling with vital issues confronting the 21st-century church.

For more information, contact Lisa Bobb, assistant to the dean, at lbobb@lccs.edu or 217-732-3168, ext. 2254.

[Text from file received from Lincoln Christian College and Seminary]

[October 13, 2007]  Lincoln Church of God, located at 1415 Fourth St., will host the new contemporary Southern gospel ministry River's Edge on Sunday during the 10:45 a.m. worship service.

The River's Edge duo features Brent Austin and Jeff Willis. Austin is the son of Pastor Jim and Terry Austin, who served the Lincoln Church of God in the mid-1980s.

The ministry features a combination of rich, tight vocal harmonies, powerful and uplifting worship, humor and life-changing testimonies. The ministry is based out of Springfield.

A freewill love offering will be received for the group. The public is welcome to attend, and questions can be directed to the church office at 732-8989.

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