|
 LOOPS (Loved Ones Of PrisonerS), Inc. is a non-denominational, non-profit, religious organization
dedicated to the support and restoration of prisoners and their families through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
|
Audio Lessons by Leland Maples
|
|
Date/Topic
|
Audio Format Available
|
|
March 24, 2009
|
|
|
|
Signs of the Signs
|
|
|
|
February 15, 2009
|
|
|
|
Praise and Worship
|
|
July 20, 2008
|
|
|
|
Time and Space and the Speed of Sin
|
|
March 2, 2008
|
|
|
|
Almost Obedient
|
|
July 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
When Man Does Right in His Own Eyes
|
|
March 25, 2007
|
|
|
|
Christ’s Prayer in the Garden
|
|
April 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
Repentance - Godly vs. Worldly
|
|
January 7, 2007
|
|
|
|
The Sign of the Prophet Jonah
|
|
|
|
|
|
What Would Jesus Do?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Building Our Own God
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Mystery
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spotting the Spots
|
|
|
|
|
|
Prayer - It’s Purpose - Peace
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Bible’s Formula for Peace
|
|
|
|
|
|
Filled With The Spirit
|
|
|
|
|
|
Full, Filled, & Baptized with The Holy Spirit
|
|
|
|
|
|
Leland spoke on the Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colorado on April 20, 1999. Click here to hear his commentary on Littleton, Liberals, and Lunacy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Self Image Hoax
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Bible and Your Self Image
|
|
|
|
|
|
Signs of the Times We’re Not Seeing
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why Faith Healers Need Glasses or Thank God for Contacts
|
|
|
|
|
|
Were Jesus And His Disciples Wealthy?
|
|
|
|
|
|
What Happens If I Fail?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Life After Death for Those Who Are Left
|
|
|
|
|
|
Myth and Criminal Justice
|
|
|
|
|
|
What Can I Do About Depression?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Can A Christian Commit Suicide?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why Did God Let Me Down?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why Does God Allow Suffering?
|
|
Leland and Linda Maples head the LOOPS Ministry. Click here to find out more about this organization.
Leland has donated some of his tape lessons to Right Division and they have been made available here. Thanks Leland.
 Signs of the Signs.- The lesson on May 24, 2009 was presented by Leland Maples of LOOPs Ministry who
was visiting during the Memorial Day holiday. Leland’s lesson started with the scripture reading of Acts 28:28 when the Apostle Paul wrote “Be it
known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.” The lesson explained that the change announced by the Apostle
Paul was the beginning of the Mystery, which is the body of truth revealed by direct revelation from God who had hidden this secret
purpose from before the foundation of the world. Paul then writes the last seven books of the old testament (chronologically speaking). These books are Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,
Titus, Philemon, 1 and 2 Timothy. These books are written specifically to the gentiles and Paul has used the word beware seven times. He says the first ones in Philippians 3:2 “Beware of
dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.” The next set of “bewares” are in Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man
spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”
Leland does a fine job taking us through these bewares and explains what they mean as signs of the signs. Click
here to listen now.
 Praise and Worship. The lesson on February 15, 2009 was given by guest teacher Leland Maples from the LOOPS Ministry based out of Odessa, Texas. Leland gives a quick update on Odessa before jumping into the lesson on
praise and worship. There are changes taking place in modern evangelical churches today with regards to praise and worship.
Praise appears 248 times in the bible. Worship appears 108 times. There is a bible study principal regarding the aspect of “first
mention” and Leland thought it would be good to look up in scripture where these words were first used. The first occurrence in the Old Testament of the word “worship” is in
Genesis 22:5 “And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you,” which is when Abraham was asked to
sacrifice his son Isaac unto the Lord. Worship in this context has nothing to do with music, feeling good about yourself, bvut rather,
sacrifice. Real worship in the bible has to do with sacrifice. The first occurrence in the New Testament is in Matthew 2:2 where the wise men are coming to worship Jesus “Saying, Where is he
that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” Here we find worship
involves adoration, sacrifice, and giving. Jesus himself told us something about worship in John 4:22 when He was speaking to the Samartin woman. Jesus said to her “Ye worship ye know not
what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.” Further, Jesus says in verse 24 John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” You can’t worship physically, only spiritually! Further, he said “in
truth” which the Lord clarified what this meant in John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Proper
worship is in the scriptures no matter how many people gather. Paul learned something about worship in warning he gave in Colossians 2:20-23 which explained worship in a way that was
self-centered and fleshly. God wants worship from a humble and contrite spirit. If we want to feel good about ourselves from
worship, if we are building our self esteem, then we are going in the wrong direction. Click here to listen now to this lesson from Leland Maples.
 Almost Obedient. The lesson on March 2, 2008 was given by Leland Maples of the LOOPS Ministry. Leland
visited Northside Bible Church and provided the lesson from Luke 5:1-10 (KJV). This passage in scripture details Jesus Christ borrowing Peter’s fishing boat so He could minister to the
crowd that had come to hear him speak. As it says in Luke 5:1-3 “And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of
Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and
prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.” Now this
passage tells of Jesus recruiting Simon Peter to be fishers of men. But before he came to that invitation, Simon demonstrated his lack
of commitment to Jesus when He had asked him to do something. The lesson continues in verses 4-6 “Now when he had
left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering
said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.” The Lord had asked Simon to
cast his nets (plural), but Simon was placating Jesus and told Him they had fished all night and caught nothing, but, he
would cast one net to “obey” what Jesus wanted. Simon had been partially committed to what God wanted him to do and
it created problems for him and his fishing buddies. For Simon had caught too many fish for just one net and it started to
break. We need to be sure and be fully committed and obedient to what God has asked us to do!  Click here to listen now.
 When Man Does Right in His Own Eyes.
The lesson on July 15, 2007 was given by Leland Maples of the LOOPS Organization (Loved Ones Of Prisoners). What happens when men decide to
do right? There are plenty of scriptures that talks about men doing what’s right, in their own eyes. In
the history of Israel, you go from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob into Egypt. Moses was selected to
bring Israel out of Egypt and Joshua took them into the promised land. After Joshua died, you come
to the time of the judges. The judges of Israel were good men wanting to do what is right (in fact,
four were listed in the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11). When good men start doing what’s right in
their own eyes, you will find that in two generations, this is when bad people start to take over. Proverbs 14:12; 16:25 say “16 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof
are the ways of death. 25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Do you
know who implemented capital punishment? The answer is God (see Genesis 9:6) It’s been man who has tried to try
something else because he’s thinking in his own eyes. God has established what is right, we just need to follow it. One
example of this was with Saul, who didn’t follow the commandment of the Lord because he thought in his own mind that
the spoils of the conquered enemy was fine to sacrifice unto God (1 Samuel 15:12-26) This is where Samuel told Saul that
it is better to obey, than to sacrifice and rebellion is the same as witchcraft. Mans right is usually wrong! The number one
problem in today’s modern church is that man is improving it. The same is true in society with issues like Capital
Punishment, Abortion, Evolution vs. Creation, Tattooing, Homosexuality, Prayer in school, etc. Somewhere man thought in
his own eyes that these issues should be handled differently than what God has established in scripture. Man’s biggest
mistake about being right was the thought that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. Surely, it wouldn’t be
right if the opposite were true? But with God, it is! God said that everyone is a sinner and no one is righteous. Does this
mean that we should all go to hell? No, because God provided a program that if a man chooses to accept Christ Jesus, he can be forgiven of his sin and go to heaven. Click here to listen now.
 Christ’s Prayer in the Garden. The lesson on March 25, 2007 was given by Leland Maples of the LOOPS Ministry and the lesson covers Matthew 26:36 “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place
called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.” He took three individuals with him as we see in verse 37 “And he took with him Peter and the two sons of
Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.” Jesus was saying a prayer to his father. What was he praying? We find out by reading Matthew 26:38-45 “Then saith he unto them, My
soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth
them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray,
that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will
be done. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now,
and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” . One thing we
as christians should be able to do is pray but God tells us that even then the Holy Spirit prays for us because we don’t know what we should pray for (Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we
should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”) We
often say today that there are four possible responses to prayer: “Yes”, “ No”, “Later”, and “You’ve got to be kidding!”
Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. He didn’t promise that they would be answered but instead we would receive the peace of God (Philippians 4:6-7 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”) Jesus prayed three times that if could not drink from the cup. What is this cup? Psalms
75:8, Isaiah 51:17, Jeremiah 25:15, and Revelation 14:9-10 tell us that the cup is the wrath of God! Jesus was praying if
there is any other way to save man, please let it be thy will. Jesus prayed the same prayer three times and he knew the answer would be “no”. We find in 2 Corinthians 5:21”For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Click here to listen now.
 Repentance - Godly versus Worldly.
The lesson on April 15, 2007 was provided by Leland Maples of the LOOPS Ministry who gave an update on LOOPS as well as a study on 2 Corinthians
7:9-11. In this passage, Paul was dealing with two different types of sorrows and two different types of repentance which lead to two different results. We see a very personal example of these
when comparing Peter and Judas. Mark 14:27-31 tells of the time where Jesus was telling the
apostles that they will all deny him this very night. We see Peter vehemently say he will not deny Jesus even until death “And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this
night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.” As we see, all
twelve apostles agreed with Peter. We pick up the story in Matthew 26:69-75 we see Peter was standing in the palace where Jesus was being falsely accused and somebody asked him if he was
associated with Jesus and he denied them three times (Matthew 26:75 “And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which
said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.” Peter was just like
you and me who have made promises to God and have broken those promises before the end of the day. We see another
one of the twelve apostles name Judas in Matthew 27:1-6. When Judas saw he made a mistake, went back to the Chief
Priests and tried to give the 30 pieces of silver back to repent his deeds for betraying an innocent man. In the end, they
would not take back the money they paid Judas. Consequently, we read in Matthew 27:4-5 “Saying, I have sinned in that I
have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.” Peter and Judas were so much alike: they were one of
the twelve apostles, they both were baptized, they both performed miracles, they both took communion, they both had a
good reputation, in fact, Judas had a better reputation than Peter because they let Judas carry the money. Yet one was a
saint and one was a devil. One was wheat, and one was a tare. One was real, and one was a hypocrite and the only
one that knew about the both of them was Jesus Christ. Nobody around them could tell. Nobody could look at them and
tell them apart but Christ knew who was the saint and who was the devil. They both committed a sin. Peter denied Christ
three times and Judas sells him out. Peter repented to God and was forgiven while Judas repented to the Chief Priests
and was not forgiven but hanged himself. Two types of repentance and two different results. Peter later was used by
God through half the book of Acts and wrote two books in the New Testament (1 & 2 Peter). One person was Godly and the other Worldly. Which type of saint are you? Click here to listen now.
 The Sign of the Prophet Jonah.
The lesson on January 7, 2007 was given by Leland Maples who was visiting and shared an update from his LOOPS Ministry. He also gave a lesson on
Matthew 12:38-40 (KJV) “Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous
generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet
Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.“ Some Christians debate whether or not the
story of Jonah is real or was it an allegory that accomplished Gods purpose through a story. Some Christians would say the story was real but argue whether or not it was a whale that swallowed
Jonah or just a big fish. Isn’t it interesting the Christ gave one sign to the nation of Israel and he used the story of Jonah in
that He said it was representative of the resurrection. Could it be that Jonah died in the whales belly and God raised Jonah
up when he was vomited back by the whale on the third day. It is evident when you read Jonah 2:1-10 that Jonah prayed
out of the fishes belly... and in verse 2 he said “... I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out
of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.” Didn’t the Lord go and preach to the angels in hell during the time before His resurrection? (1 Peter 3:18-19 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;”) Click here to listen now.
|
Leland Maples
