First, I apologize for letting nearly a month go by before posting anything about our upcoming Bible study. I had my gallbladder surgery about a week and a half ago and that has kept me on a short leash.
I have decided that for our first study, it will be a two-part study. This will be a study on faith. For the first part, we will be reading Lee Strobel's "The Case for a Creator" and discussing that. I will post the first discussion and questions about it in about two weeks, giving you time to acquire the book and to read. You may purchase the book (ebay, Amazon, and www.cbd.com are good choices [I found copies for $4-5, including shipping--just make sure you are not getting the students' or kids' versions]) or check it out at your local library or church library. I checked my copy out, though I think I may end up buying it as well. If you can't find a copy, I am sure you can still keep up as I will summarize what we have read before our study questions.
Here is our study plan (syllabus, ha ha):
Week 1: read chapters 1 & 2, online discussion
Week 2: discussion follow-up post/wrap-up
Week 3: read chapters 3 & 4, online discussion
Week 4: discussion follow-up post/wrap-up
Week 5: read chapters 5 & 6, online discussion
Week 6: discussion follow-up post/wrap-up
Week 7: read chapters 7 & 8, online discussion
Week 8: discussion follow-up post/wrap-up
Week 9: read chapters 9 & 10, online discussion
Week 10: discussion follow-up post/wrap-up
Week 11: read chapter 11, online discussion
Week 12: discussion and book follow-up post/wrap-up
If you are checking out your book from a library, you may see 12 weeks as impossible. Our library, I believe, will allow you to renew your checkout twice. So, check with your library to see how long you may keep your book. Or, feel free to read ahead and keep notes in a notebook. Most of the study questions I will ask will be from the "Deliberations: Questions for Reflection of Group Study" near the end of the book, so there shouldn't be many surprises for you.
You may have guessed that the second part of this study will be on Lee Strobel's book "The Case for Christ." Please feel free to invite friends to participate in our study. You may even consider inviting any atheist or agnostic friends to participate. Lee Strobel was an atheist and when his wife became a Christian, he set out to prove her wrong. He came from a legal and reporter viewpoint and was, therefore, interested only in provable facts. It think this study will help solidify our faith as well as provide answers to someone who may have questions or doubts.
In future studies, I have received suggestions of women of the Bible, the book of James, tough Bible questions, Bible culture/customs, healing, etc. So, we have a great pot to pick from for a future study. I hope that you will stay with us and have a blessed time learning with us and asking questions and finding answers! I pray that God will bless our study together. I am excited to begin!
