Of Books and Learning

You, our avid readers, have probably noticed that I haven't been blogging for the past couple of weeks. That's because I was taking a couple of classes as I work toward my doctoral degree. I went back to the school where I received my Master's degree for two weeks of intensive classes. Each weekday pretty much found me sitting in a chair in a classroom for about 7 hours, learning from some of the best minds in the various fields.

The first class (6 credits) was about reaching out with God's Word, and then, how to incorporate people into the local body of Christ of the congregation. I found this to be a very helpful class, and now my project is to write up two different plans, one for evangelism at the congregation I'm a part of, and one for incorporating people into the congregation as they hear the Good News. The best part is, these are not to be simply papers I turn in with great thoughts, but are to be actual working documents with the people of the congregation. Hopefully I'll be able to give you some updates on how these go in the future.

The second class (3 credits) took a look at interpreting the Bible. This was a very intriuging class. First of all, I had to break out my Hebrew and Greek skills, which are not always used as much as I would like. But in looking at the Bible, my classmates and I were challenged to interpret our selected readings as they occur in the Bible. For example, if you read the account of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, what are some of your thoughts about that reading? How do we apply that reading to our lives as Christians? And how do we do it in a way that keeps the uniqueness of the miracle at the forefront of God's work?

For this class, I have a ten page paper to write. My topic is based upon Psalm 4:2-3. It basically takes a look at the two verses, praying them, meditating upon them, and then struggling with how they touch me in life. Throughout the paper, I use my example of the struggle with the reading to demonstrate how those who are part of my church body benefit from reading and struggling with what the Bible says.

One of the great things about these classes is that I have grown in my appreciation for just how strange and odd the God of the Bible truly is to our human perception. I have found myself re-reading stories I thought I knew well, and finding just how strange and unique the situation was. I would challenge each of you to take one of your more familiar or favorite stories, and then read it, looking at just how God appears in that story. Who knows, you just might be surprised at how radical God seems to be.