And so it begins
Today, after some confusion, delays and a virus outbreak, I received my Moodle login details for a course which may mark the start of my time at bible college.
I say may as I don’t know if I will continue study or not. That’s the point of this trail course. To see if I can fit in the training and am a suitable candidate.
I hope and believe that is the case but this is not an easy time for my family (or anyone’s really). I am also aware of my ego and intentions. I believe they are honest (I want to study because I enjoy studying and I hope that I will be able to apply this new found knowledge for my church. I have no need for more leadership but I am open to that if it is God’s will).
Introduction to New Testament Studies
The course I’m taking is designed to give an overview of the New Testament with principles of how to read, study and even preach it properly within its context.
In the introductory session, the lecture described John Stott’s metaphor of preachers (and Christians as a whole) building a bridge between the culture, customers and world of the New Testament and our own world and culture. Thanks to the work of previous preachers and theologians, we can look at past bridges and use what we learn from them, but we must be aware that we are bridging two different points which may require some differences in construction.
Perhaps appropriately, I started reading the latest NT Wright book (in collaboration with Michael Bird) “The New Testament in Its World”. This book seeks to do the very task laid out above. Seeing as its brand new, it’s not on the reading list but there are a string of other books which have done a similar job.
Trying Notion
Notion is a note taking app I’ve wanted to try for a while and it seems like a good choice for this course. Notion is something between a notes app, task and project management tool and wiki all that same time. That flexibility makes it really powerful…it also makes it a bit confusing.
I can see that having a system like this might be really useful for keeping a wide range of notes organised, or it may lead to more time spend managing the system. I guess we’ll see.
Prayers
It’s hard not to think about COVID-19 at this time. Personally, we have connections with a family through church who are not in great shape. Please pray for this family in Warsaw as well as for the global situation.
I’d also ask your prayers for my studies. I was hoping this would be a quieter time and had deliberately let some opportunities go so I could fully-focus on my studies. Still, thanks to COVID-19, things are more hectic than ever.
In addition, I’d ask you to pray for God’s guidance and wisdom as I work through this course.
Till next time…
I don’t know how regular these emails will be but I hope not too long. I’d love to hear from you so please send me messages (you can reply to this email).
