Difficulties abound when trying to make a first entry on a new Blog. As a fifty-four year old the whole virtual environment is somewhat threatening. Inspired by my nephew Andrew's Blog, (he traveled the world in 2006 and 2007 logging over 38,000 miles in nine months, documenting his experiences as he went to each different country) I am taking the digital plunge and applying this new and wonderful technology to one of my life's passions. One of the greatest delights of my life has been the privilege of teaching young men and women about the Gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. I have been doing this for over thirty years and I have no idea how many young people I have engaged in study, but it is many. Though I can not remember them all by name their faces are with me. The format of my classes has always been under the authority of a local, evangelically oriented church. Most of my teaching opportunities have come to me in the form of classic morning Sunday School. I just love Sunday School! I am sure that makes some a little uncomfortable as early Sunday morning to most people is anything but to love. Getting out of bed to go and teach on Sunday morning has never been a burden to me...it is like the first morning of vacation every Sunday. I have exclusively worked with junior and senior high school students.
For the past four years I have also lead a small group Bible class/discussion at my home on Sunday nights. This study follows the local high school calendar year and is also an official feature of the youth ministry at our church. This study is designed for high school men who want to go deeper into Scripture, strengthen their knowledge and faith, make a firm commitment to participation, and grow in community with their fellow students. We meet at 6:30 p.m. and the men can go home whenever they want. Our official go home time is 9:00 p.m., but often we find ourselves talking much later. Jokingly I tell the guys that when they see me heading upstairs with my pajamas on they will have to turn out the lights themselves when they leave. I have the full support of my dear wife of 31 years. This support is a precious and greatly appreciated gift to me from her.
Our studies have been taken directly from the Bible. We have studied verse by verse; Proverbs, Romans, Psalms, Revelation, Job, and The Acts of the Apostles. We have done some topical work which has flowed from our studies. We have not been shy about what I like to call rabbit trails. I have found that we all can learn much from some of then. However, being the oldest and most experienced member of the group, we have agreed that I can choose for the group which rabbit hole we will go down. This has worked well over the years. Along with our studies we have a time of sharing and a time for praying for each other and our differing needs. This time, as much as the study time, has been a great blessing to me and the young men in our group. It has been a time of self reflection and a time to focus, not on ourselves, but rather on the Lord Jesus Christ first, and the needs of our brothers next. We always find that though some prayers can never be confirmed to have been answered, the simple act of surrender and giving to others brings peace and unexpected answers to many of life's challenges. We also have a policy which is called The Open Chair. This means that our group is open to new people who may be lead to our group through our church contacts, group member friendships, and parental requests. We never want to become in-grown nor do we want to be seen as an exclusive club. This is certainly something that would go against Christ's teachings. The world of public school is so saturated by this unfortunate sociological reality. We would want to be considered counter cultural on this issue. Unfortunately, this exclusivity also infects the Church more often than we would like. We want to be alert to this potential error and actively resist it.
As we initiate this Blog it is my hope that we will be able to use it to continue and to enhance our dialogue. We will attempt to update the entries at least once a week with reviews of our subject matter, the questions and answers that we encountered, and submit additional questions that may have come to me or one of the students after our classes. I encourage class and small group members to use this format to ask serious faith questions. My desire is that this Blog will remain limited to group participants and not open to the general public. I ask the young men to be cautious as to who they give this Blog address to so that our discussions can be uninhibited and more beneficial to all of us. I will reserve the right to edit and or delete any entry in an effort to improve clarity and protect the integrity of our group and the reputation of Jesus Christ.
I look forward to making entries on a weekly basis. May the Lord bless this effort and all the young men that I have come to love and admire.
For the past four years I have also lead a small group Bible class/discussion at my home on Sunday nights. This study follows the local high school calendar year and is also an official feature of the youth ministry at our church. This study is designed for high school men who want to go deeper into Scripture, strengthen their knowledge and faith, make a firm commitment to participation, and grow in community with their fellow students. We meet at 6:30 p.m. and the men can go home whenever they want. Our official go home time is 9:00 p.m., but often we find ourselves talking much later. Jokingly I tell the guys that when they see me heading upstairs with my pajamas on they will have to turn out the lights themselves when they leave. I have the full support of my dear wife of 31 years. This support is a precious and greatly appreciated gift to me from her.
Our studies have been taken directly from the Bible. We have studied verse by verse; Proverbs, Romans, Psalms, Revelation, Job, and The Acts of the Apostles. We have done some topical work which has flowed from our studies. We have not been shy about what I like to call rabbit trails. I have found that we all can learn much from some of then. However, being the oldest and most experienced member of the group, we have agreed that I can choose for the group which rabbit hole we will go down. This has worked well over the years. Along with our studies we have a time of sharing and a time for praying for each other and our differing needs. This time, as much as the study time, has been a great blessing to me and the young men in our group. It has been a time of self reflection and a time to focus, not on ourselves, but rather on the Lord Jesus Christ first, and the needs of our brothers next. We always find that though some prayers can never be confirmed to have been answered, the simple act of surrender and giving to others brings peace and unexpected answers to many of life's challenges. We also have a policy which is called The Open Chair. This means that our group is open to new people who may be lead to our group through our church contacts, group member friendships, and parental requests. We never want to become in-grown nor do we want to be seen as an exclusive club. This is certainly something that would go against Christ's teachings. The world of public school is so saturated by this unfortunate sociological reality. We would want to be considered counter cultural on this issue. Unfortunately, this exclusivity also infects the Church more often than we would like. We want to be alert to this potential error and actively resist it.
As we initiate this Blog it is my hope that we will be able to use it to continue and to enhance our dialogue. We will attempt to update the entries at least once a week with reviews of our subject matter, the questions and answers that we encountered, and submit additional questions that may have come to me or one of the students after our classes. I encourage class and small group members to use this format to ask serious faith questions. My desire is that this Blog will remain limited to group participants and not open to the general public. I ask the young men to be cautious as to who they give this Blog address to so that our discussions can be uninhibited and more beneficial to all of us. I will reserve the right to edit and or delete any entry in an effort to improve clarity and protect the integrity of our group and the reputation of Jesus Christ.
I look forward to making entries on a weekly basis. May the Lord bless this effort and all the young men that I have come to love and admire.
4 comments:
This is a test comment by the Blog author. Hopefully it will not only work but it will be the first of many such entries by the young men who have participated in either our Sunday School classes or small group Bible studies.
A second test to verify the response system.
Hi Daddy-O. Great blog!
Hey Bruce,
It's great to see that you are joining the blogging world. It's weird how blogging can be such an uplifting process, or such a negative and destructive one (most politics blogs of both sides).
I look forward to watching you and your blog evolve, and I hope it is a great source of inspiration and discussion for your small groups.
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