Site Last Updated: 12 January 2008. For recent changes, see What's New

SKIP KAZMAREK  HOME PAGE
	Just because you're Christian doesn't mean you have to check your brains at the door!!

E-mail: skazmarek@mindspring.com. (This is the best e-mail address to reach me at.) 

As of 1 January 2008, my work contact information has changed. (Along with 2 of my long-time partners, we've started a boutique law firm specializing in environmental law.) So, please adjust my contact information to:

        E. A. Skip Kazmarek
        Kazmarek Geiger & Laseter LLP
        One Securities Center
        3490 Piedmont Road NE, Suite 201
        Atlanta, GA 30305
        404-812-0839
        404-812-0845 (fax)

Or, if this makes it easier, my vCard is available here: Skip Kazmarek vCard.

For those who asked, here's the poem that I've been working into the closing prayers:

(I'd give credit, but I don't know where this came from. If anyone does, please let me know.)

Course Catalog & Class Materials

Consumerism. These are the "beta" versions of some of the materials I've been working up for a brief look at consumerism in our society, and how it leads to a loss of trust in God, a loss of compassion for the poor, a corruption of our theology, and harm to our relationships. All of this is in draft form, but may be useful anyway.

Church 101 - Christian Doctrine. This is the third course in the Peachtree Presbyterian Level-100 sequence, following Survey of the Old Testament and then Survey of the New Testament. After a brief examination of why doctrine matters to modern Christians, the class examines basic Christian teaching (with a special emphasis on Reformed interpretation) of eight basic doctrines: revelation, God, creation, humanity, sin, salvation, Christian living, and the church. A more detailed description, references, a sample sylabus, and class materials can be found on the course's home page, above.

Bible 102: Survey of the New Testament. A thirteen-week course providing a high-level overview of the New Testament. The purpose of the class is to establish overall familiarity with the New Testament, understand the key themes, see the interrelationships between the books, and provide a basis for further study. NOTE: Enrollment in this course requires Bible 101 (Survey of the Old Testament), Bethel Old Testament study, a similar Old Testament study, or consent of the instructor.

Science and Religion. A few of the pages used in the one-day discussion of the current controversy over Darwinian evolution versus "Intelligent Design": Comparison of Scientific Materialism versus Christianity; comparison of Darwinian Evolution versus Intelligent Design.

Christians and Government. For that section of the team-taught class on J. Kerby Anderson's book, Moral Dilemmas.

William Barclay, The Mind of Jesus. A four- to thirteen-week course based on Barclay's book. The purpose of this class is to provide a context for the Gospels, so that you may know Jesus better, and in knowing him better love him more, and in loving him more do his will more completely.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. A four- to thirteen-week class reviewing the key themes of one of the most influential books ever written. The key to our study is in understanding the three-fold essence of what it means to be "Christian": (1) faith in the existence and nature of God, including the person and work of Jesus; (2) an understanding of "Christian morality," the nature of sin and the forms it takes, and how a "living faith" requires "living faithfully"; and (3) the total transformation of our innermost selves, transcending our own "self-hood" to become a real child of God.

A Thematic Approach to Romans. Ancient Rome was a society very much like our own: pluralistic, violent, sexually fritzed, and hostile to Christianity. To the church in that culture, Paul wrote his most personal and systematic view of Christian theology, a letter that is as relevant today as the day it was written. This class explores the themes of Romans, following the relentlessly methodical progression of the book from one end to the other. This will be an in-depth study of Romans and the theological issues it raises, focusing both on Paul's theology and on the implications for Christians in modern America. Students should be prepared to engage in Bible study, outside reading, and class discussion. Click here for the course outline for the Tuesday Night Singles Short Course.

Spiritual Disciplines. "Discipline" and "discipleship" share more than the same root word. Discipline is the necessary precondition to discipleship, and discipleship is the necessary precondition to salvation. From that observation, we will see how practicing the classical disciplines is necessary to both a vibrant spiritual life and a meaningful transformation of our daily living.

Fruit of the Spirit. What does it mean to live as a Christian? Scripture tells us. Gal. 5:22-23 says, "The ways of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." The purpose of this class is to examine each of these elements of the fruit of the spirit, but also to consider carefully the idea that a Christian life is not just a stew of individual ingredients -- it is a way of living that is spirit-filled and God-focused. Also present in this section are materials suitable for study of the fruit of the spirit as a weekend retreat.

Defending Your Faith. In our increasingly "post-Christian" society, Christianity finds itself under attack on at least five fronts: (1) its claims to possession of absolute truth; (2) its claims to an exclusive relationship with God; (3) its insistence upon certain moral standards, and the "discrimination" that results; (4) the complicated relationship between church and government; and (5) the conflicts between science and religion both in the truth claims made by each and in the ultimate authority to which each appeals. The purpose of this class is to examine these areas of conflict, the philosophical premises that underly each, and to develop a "stable platform," i.e., how we can as Christians be both more comfortable with our beliefs and more effective as witnesses in the secular world.

"Just War" and the War Against Terrorism. These materials were adapted from a earlier course (Just War and the War in Iraq) to provide some background for thinking about the nature and extent of a "proper" Christian response to the terrible events of September 11, 2001.

C.S. Lewis, Abolition of Man. [Material not yet online.] Based on the book of the same title, first taught to a New Ventures "mini-retreat" at Columbia Seminary, September 29, 1990.

Love and Relationships. All personal relationships (romantic, marital, family, friendship, whatever) are based in some form of love. The quality of our relationships matches the quality of the love we give and receive. The purpose of this study is to think about the different ways in which we love and are loved, to improve the quality of our love, and thereby to enhance our relationships with others. Based on C.S. Lewis's book, The Four Loves, first taught to a New Ventures class retreat, March 18-20, 1994. Here are the materials for the 2008 version for Faithmates.

Reliability of Scripture. A one- to four-week class on the "truthfulness" of Scripture, inerrancy, the problem of miracles, the "Jesus Seminar," and related topics.

Affluence in the Midst of Poverty. [Material not yet online.] For rich, "successful," yupped-out Christians like us, the temptations we face are most likely to be related to self-focus: pride, ambition, competitiveness, materialism. The purpose of this class is to examine one symbol of that class of sins, materialism, and understand exactly why it is that "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matt. 19:24) and what we can do to adopt more of a joyful unconcern for material things.

New Testament in a Nutshell. [Material not yet online, but see Bible 102: Survey of the New Testament, which is simply a better version of that course.]

Evil, Sin, and Suffering. [Material not yet online.]

The Holiness of God. [Material not yet online.]

The Meaning of Saving Faith. Protestants believe that we are saved by faith, not by works. But what is this saving faith? Do works really not matter, not at all? A short (1- to 2-week) course on what we mean by "saving faith" and the relationship between faith and works. Also, there's a four-week version that combines this with some of the key elements of sin and salvation.

Essays and Publications

Various essays, articles, and other written materials that may be relevant to one or more topics I teach.