Chattanooga - Day 5

Well, this has been yet another day of great teaching and Bible study. I've really enjoyed my stay here and everything I've learned is valuable but I am also eager to get back home.

At breakfast this morning, I was talking to Sue, originally from Scotland, now from Cupleper. She had some questions about some of the teaching in Jude that had impacted her and asked if I could be her 'Vicker' for the moment. I've never been a Vicker before! Not knowing too much about Vickers, I'm not sure how I did but as she explained how God had touched her I'm not sure which one of us was the Vicker was because I was moved by the truth she had seen as well!

Today's class was a long one but packed with great practical information and more in depth study of the Word. We were back in 2 Thessalonians but with a different approach. Today's subject was 'Planning and Leading Effective Discussions'. Everything was based on the Precepts Bible Study method and was geared toward the leader.

Our instructor, Jan has had quite a bit of experience and brought that along with insight and humor to another though subject. We covered a wide variety of material from 'How to Prepare' (you start out by doing all the homework yourself) to "How to Handle' any number of awkward situations including dominant people, argumentative types, going off subject, shy folks and more. The basis of all approaches was to reflect Christ to everyone and lead with honesty, integrity and compassion, taking the cues right from the passages we were studying.

Again, I was impressed by their commitment to the local church and toward guiding the student deeper into the Scripture and allowing the message to rise up out of the text. Jan's method is more that of a facilitator, keeping the folks involved, active and participating with each other.

Having signed up for this class late, I didn't get the notebook until today so I have a ton of catch up work to do tonight.