Did you borrow the lesson “The Three Chairs” from Bruce Wilkinson’s book?
Question:
I saw "The Three Chairs" as copyrighted information on your web site. This information is copyrighted by Bruce Wilkinson for many years now. The Three Chairs book is on Amazon.com, if you are interested. Whoever is posting this information as copyrighted by La Vista Church of Christ is giving the appearance that your church or preacher condones passing someone else's work as their own.
Answer:
Yes, Bruce Wilkinson published a book in November 1999, titled The Three Chairs. I haven't read it. The lesson outline on the web site is my own. I got the idea for the lesson from Ralph Walker, when he preached a series of lessons in Cary, North Carolina, back in the mid-1980s. I went home thinking that the congregation where I preached at in New York at the time could benefit from such a lesson and wrote up my own outline. I checked my records and my last update was dated January 1999. It was my third revision and the other two copies pre-date it by over a decade.
I'm pretty sure the core idea for the lesson didn't originate with brother Walker since I've seen and heard numerous variations on the theme in many places. It seems clear to me that Bruce Wilkinson also heard the core idea from someplace and wrote a book with his own spin on the concept. Not having a copy of the book, I don't know if Mr. Wilkinson listed his source or not.
What should be noted is that the copyright and the license to allow the use of the outline for non-commercial purposes is for my own work. Glancing at Mr. Wilkinson's table of contents, my lesson and his book do not teach the same lesson.
