Have you ever gotten into a disagreement over something in the Bible? Yeah, I know we are not supposed to talk about politics or religion… I was in a Bible study at the Navigator Training Center at Michigan State University. There were 12 of us in the study. We were required to invest 20 hours each week in preparation. We were all, for the most part type-A personalities. So we came together with some fairly rigid positions which we were loath to abandon lightly. At the end of the two hour discussion there was usually blood and hair on the ceiling. Our wives were in the same study in the adjoining room. My wife would ask every week on the way back to our apartment if we really liked each other. Other than the current study on the Kingdom of God with two of these same men and another I have known longer, it was just about the best Bible study I have ever been in.
Why?
The “battles” over the Scripture, sharpened us. It was much like hand to hand combat training. We had to defend our positions from the Scripture against hard questions from like-minded, trusted warriors. It not only deepened but seasoned our convictions. We had to learn, or better begin to learn – it is a lifetime journey – to submit our thinking to examination and critique by differently gifted but like minded men.
It was Proverbs 27:17 on steroids.
As men fighting for our families, we need this kind of sharpening. Search and pray for an opportunity similar to this. Find like minded men who are in the same fight. Dive into the Word together, don’t just stick your toe in, dive in headfirst. Fight out what you have learned; test your thinking against the gifts of the other men.
It is not easy to create this. The current study on the Kingdom is over Skype, covers four states and three time zones. But the discussion is rich. Fight for this. It is worth it.
- Each man in the study came prepared.
- Each one had similar life experiences.
- Each was hard after pursuing building a ministry that challenged and stretched their gifts and abilities.
- Each was bending every effort of their lives to more effectively reach the people they were assigned to serve with the Gospel.
The “battles” over the Scripture, sharpened us. It was much like hand to hand combat training. We had to defend our positions from the Scripture against hard questions from like-minded, trusted warriors. It not only deepened but seasoned our convictions. We had to learn, or better begin to learn – it is a lifetime journey – to submit our thinking to examination and critique by differently gifted but like minded men.
It was Proverbs 27:17 on steroids.
As men fighting for our families, we need this kind of sharpening. Search and pray for an opportunity similar to this. Find like minded men who are in the same fight. Dive into the Word together, don’t just stick your toe in, dive in headfirst. Fight out what you have learned; test your thinking against the gifts of the other men.
It is not easy to create this. The current study on the Kingdom is over Skype, covers four states and three time zones. But the discussion is rich. Fight for this. It is worth it.
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