Leading a Bible study: Part 3
Continuing the series of posts on Leading a Bible study (Part 1 | Part 2), we finally come to the discussion portion of the Bible study! Here are my suggested Do’s and Don’ts…
DO: Bring cookies 😉
Tag: featured
At the close of the feast…
For those of you who exclusively use your guardian angels for when you go to the mall…
And one for the Catholic Whovians:
The article At the close of the feast… first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net
One Minute Book Review: If I had lunch with C.S. Lewis
This morning I finished If I had lunch with C.S. Lewis: Exploring the ideas of C.S. Lewis on the meaning of life by the well-known Lewis biographer, Alister McGrath.
It was an intriguing approach to discussing Lewis’ thought – imagining a series of lunches with the man himself – the dream of any C.S. Lewis fan! The book is not, as one might imagine, a fictional dialogue between the author and Lewis. Instead, in each chapter, the author looks at some topic close to Lewis’ heart and provides a digestible overview of what Lewis had to say about it. Such areas of discussion include the meaning of life, friendship, the importance of stories, apologetics, education, suffering and Heaven.
This was a quick, enjoyable read and provides a nice alternative to the more traditional books about Lewis.
Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 1 (“The clinging substance”, …)
As previously mentioned, I am going to read through the Qur’an in chronological order from beginning to end. I will be writing up my notes from the chapters (“suwar”) each day, starting today with the chapters which were composed at the beginning of Muhammad’s ministry in Mecca: 96, 68, 73, 74, 1, 111 and 81.
Surah 96 – “The clinging substance”/”Recite” (Al-Alaq)
This short surah accuses a man of sinning because he sees himself as “self-sufficient”. We are reminded that God made man (with a vague description of human development), that God sees everything and that if the man does not repent, God will drag him by the hair and angels will throw him into Hell.
Questions
Q1. “Created man from a clinging substance”. Is this a reference to a fetus?
Q2. “Who taught by the pen”. Is this a reference to the Bible?
TEA: Evangelization For The Terrified (SPC Retreat)
I know I said I wouldn’t be posting during Lent, but this weekend I gave a talk, “Evangelization for the terrified”, at the San Pedro Calungsod Young Adult Retreat in San Diego and promised that I’d upload the audio the following week, together with links to the resources I mentioned in my talk.
The Talk
Evangelization For The Terrified – Extended Edition (Download)
Unfortunately, the original recording has the last ten minutes cut off… 🙁 Fortunately, I just re-recorded the entire talk here at home. Since I didn’t have the time restrictions I had on the retreat, this recording is a little longer. Think of it as the Director’s Cut or the Extended Edition, which includes ten minutes of never-before-heard material!
Referenced Resources
I began my talk by referencing the Papal Encyclical Evangelization In The Modern World.
When I speak about learning your faith, I mention a number of low-cost services which will help you learn the Catholic Faith:
FORMED (Catholic Answers)
ClaritasU (Brandon Vogt)
New St. Thomas Institute (Dr. Taylor Marshall)
I also mentioned recommend the following sites which are completely free:
Institute of Catholic Culture
St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology
I mention that you can buy cheap books/CDs/DVDs to give away from Dynamic Catholic.
For staying up-to-date with Catholicism in the media, I recommend listening to Hearts & Minds and the Don Johnson Show.
If you would like lots of good examples of how seasoned apologists engage non-Catholics, please check out Catholic Answers Live.
The talk was concluded with a retelling of the story of the Sun and the Wind from Aesop’s Fables.
Squishing Ants
Knowing that my interest in the subject of psychology has been increasing recently, last week a friend gave me a paper written by Daniel G. Amen, MD on the subject of Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs). Those who suffer from depression will almost always suffer from Automatic Negative Thoughts, filling their minds of such people are filled with a succession of dispiriting thoughts. They view the world through a dim grey lens and this colours their thoughts concerning both themselves and others. They look to the past with regret, find the present unsatisfactory and look to the future with anxiety and pessimism.
I thought Dr. Amen’s paper contained such solid advice that I would write a short post here summarizing its contents.
Les Miserables. Go see it now.
It has come to my attention that not yet everyone has gone to see the newly released movie Les Miserables…
I find this unacceptable. If this is you, please turn off your computer and go to the cinema straight away. Seriously, what are you waiting for? Power down and go watch it now. Don’t worry, we’ll wait for you until you come back…
[Three hours later]
I know, I know, you’re welcome… Wasn’t that wonderful?! Aren’t you glad you watched it? You cried your eyes out too, didn’t you? 😉 Now that you’ve seen the movie, I’ll feel free to continue with spoilers…