Video Transcript: Learning to Lead a Bible Study on Christian Doctrine

Hi, I'm Henry Reyenga, president of Christian Leaders Institute and with me is Professor Steve  Elzinga. And years ago, when we started into Christian leaders Institute, we were always  concerned about reproducible tools for Christian leaders for influencers for ministers. And the  Lord brought us this incredible resource from Dr. Ed Roels. What is Christianity? We also have  Dr. David Feddes who's teaching in depth teaching of the book. And we have you an  influencer, that is interested in not only learning the basic doctrines of Christianity, but  sharing those doctrines with others, right, because we're a Christian leader, yes, Leaders  Institute and College. So we want to help you become a leader. So as you study this book, as  you learn all the different parts of what is Christianity, we want you to be as you're doing it,  thinking about how you use it as a Bible study. So what we're going to do then is basically,  first of all, talk about a Bible study how to be used even before they're taking the class. Okay,  so I mean, in some ways, maybe this should go last. Yeah, but what reason we debated this,  yeah, we decided to put it here at the beginning. Because we want to keep coming back to  this whole idea of using it with other people, right. So we're going to introduce you to all these different ways of thinking about it. But we're going to come back to these things. As we get  into the class itself. Well, I'm excited to go over the material. Let's go. Alright. So just a couple of verses to begin with Joshua one, verse eight, these are the words that Moses gives a  leader, a new leader, Joshua, do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth and  meditate on it day and night. So that you may be careful to do everything written in and then  you will be prosperous, and successful. All right. And the reason I chose that verse is, in a way of Bible study, allows you to meditate on something. And meditation is like going over  something and slowing down, you can read the book. But having a Bible study and looking at  questions and getting other people involved, actually helps you go over the material over and over again. And that's really what meditation is. Proverbs 12 verse 22, plans fail for lack of  counsel, but with many advisors, and they succeed. Okay, so this is the whole idea of what a  Bible study is, you could just study it on your own. And that is one way to do a Bible study. But getting other people involved is a great way to expand your own insights. Lot of times it's in  the discourse with someone else, right, that you actually figure out things for yourself, you  know, and that's so true. I have found that in our relationship, both now 30 years over 30  years. Time went by, yeah, I know, I know. That's a good way to think about it. But it's that  interaction, I mean, we've studied the word together, we study ministry together, we've  studied influencer techniques together and how to spread Christianity more effectively. We've  had wonderful mentors, but that engagement that actually takes the teachings from the  page, and really helps us relate it to our life, our leadership, our impact. So there are several  different modes of looking at this material. And one is the personal level. So I mentioned that  you could do it with other people. But you could use this book. There's, there's questions for  the, in the beginning, there's questions for all the different topics Ed Roels more like biblical,  intellectual, doctrinal? Do you understand the material? And then at the end, you and your  wife wrote some discussion questions that help you think about it help you apply, right, what  you've actually saw as so you could instead of just reading the book, I would suggest that you get a notebook. You write down some of the things, write your answers in this notebook. Use  it sort of as a personal study. The other way is number two as a marriage, rival study, you  know, when Pam and I wrote this, we did this to write of for us in our marriage. Now we wrote  it with all the Bible says in mind. But I said to her, be careful. Could it be something you could  just do as a couple right? And so it was written by a husband and wife. There's many  questions I had. And Pam said, you know, I would like a question that sort of addresses the  marriage a little bit more. And we even dealt with these constant controversial issues that  Pam and I have looked at over the years of how to relate to same sex marriage based upon  the worldview of Christianity is one man, one woman marriage. Well, how do we relate to that  for one of the topics, we even dive into that for consideration, right. And marriage, that  marriage connection is generally one that people sort of neglect? Yes, people do personal  things, they do family things in these small group things. But the marriage, which is if you are  married, it's the most important relationship that you have. That one is often we were busy,  we don't have time, a lot of times we marry our opposites. One wants to dive deep, the other  one wants to go to the shallow end of the pool. So but those are the things that make up your 

marriage. Why not? I mean, the most important thing that you have going on in your marriage in Christianity, so why not go through a book that actually tries to dive into what Christianity  is all about? There's actually an entire chapter on issues related to marriage and all that the  biblical worldview of that, pretty awesome. So another mode is family Bible study. So why  not? I mean, you know, we did some research back at least in the United States, the early,  you know, maybe 150 years ago, right? The state of the church, and we discovered looking at  old churches, that a church was just a big building and no education. Right? None. And when  we read some of the literature back then, the idea was, that the families is is the the program  of the church. Yeah, that that the father and the mother were responsible for teaching the  kids, the doctrines, and the Bible. And, and then the Sunday school movement came in as a  means to to reach children whose parents didn't go to church. And it wasn't supposed to be  for the church kids. The parents were supposed to do it, right. But then eventually, Sunday  school in the in the church program, took it over. And a lot of times parents neglect, to  actually train their children on the way they should go. It's like they delegate it away, when  they have this great opportunity to be influencers in their home, they pass that off, and now  again we're not saying Sunday schools are bad. We're not saying the church programs are  bad, but we're getting to like that influence or Christianity really was very much a home  Christianity, right. And this book is a great opportunity. It helps you it leads you, you may feel  inadequate to teach your own children, a lot of parents feel that way. This book will hold your  hand and walk you right through it. And all the questions can relate to your family. You know,  if you're a homeschooling family, this is a perfect curriculum around 12, 13, 14 all the way  through high school, it's both 30,000 feet, but it goes deep, a beautiful time for discussion, so  fourth. Under that I wanted to do Deuteronomy 6. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your heart. How does the word of God get into your heart, right? impress them on your children, talk about them. When you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, or when you get up, tied into symbols on your hands, bind them on your  foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. What I love about this verse, or these couple of verses, is it it's about habits. Yeah. And a lot of times as parents  we fail to actually grab hold of our children and lead and try to influence them with  Christianity, not because we don't want to, we want to, but but the busyness of life, and we  just don't have a habit, right? There's how many lessons in this book? There is 11 weeks 11  lessons. There are 12 Bible studies, one of the lessons will go in two parts. So you really get  into the key topics of Christianity and what an awesome opportunity for our family. Because  there's 12 And again, saying this book, hold your hand through it. Just going through the book will establish habits Yes, which is what Deuteronomy six is talking about. Exactly. All right.  Fourth mode of using this book, Bible study mentor is small group Bible study. You know, the  small groups are something they're coming back in many manifestations. There are small  groups on the internet. There are small groups in churches, there's small groups in your  neighborhood, there are small groups in your friend calculations, you know, I have a small  group at our, my kind of golfing location where some men who like to golf now have a small  group studying the Bible. Right? So small groups are a beautiful opportunity and talked about  the engagement you talked about earlier, where you know, you and I have a small group for  many, many years, we've included our wives. We've included other leaders of the church. In  fact, in some ways, I feel like all I see now are small groups everywhere. In fact, all of life is  really made up of small groups of people gathered around a particular purpose. So why not  gather a group of people around the most important question there is, right, what is this  Christianity thing? I think people that have church background are interested in this question.  But don't you think people that that don't have church background are interested in this one  class has been taken by 1000s 10s of 1000s, of Christian leaders at Christian leaders  Institute, Christian Leaders college, it has been used for the Alliance in licensing ordination.  And new Christians somehow find their way to study because they already feel a call. They  take this class, we have gotten reports that this class has been foundational in launching new  believers to really understand what is Christianity, we've seen this class help existing  ministers pull it all together. This material written by Dr. Ed Roels, was led by the Holy Spirit to really give church, new Christians, Christian leaders an opportunity to understand Christian 

doctrine in an effective way. So there's one more mode. And this is a strange one, I suppose  sermon. But in some ways, why couldn't you use this book as a service is fascinating that you  say that, because there are ministers that have been telling me that they already use it, and  that others are finding ways to create sermon series. And I think that's just an interesting  thing to explore in the future. Maybe you ought to do that, when you find in our chapel, you  know, or, you know, go through the book, and then kind of rest on one chapter and show or  whatever. We don't want to set expectations too high. The reality is in sermons, you know,  this gives you that amazing teaching. So you know, and you can even pick some of the  passages. Right? Well, in your discussion, at the end of each chapter, there's some biblical  references that you can pick one of those. It's a timely topic. All right. So basic format, first of  all, read ahead. Right. Okay. So I mean, if you had a study, and then you have the book, and  then no one reads it ahead of time, you know, half your time would be spent reading the  thing, or you'd have the leader would have to explain it. Right. So there's a little bit of  homework. And I know sometimes as a leader, it's hard to pass on homework. But wouldn't  you say that book is rather engaging, it is. And it's simple, it's concise, nondenominational.  When you read it, you actually Oh, that puts it all together. When you get to the Bible study  part. It's something that can be shared in a mixed group and can be shared to give them a  family personally, but they have sort of engages, how does this reflect our lives today? So you could in some ways, you could read it at home without into your marriage or your family and  discuss it? Yeah. What if you had a Bible study where everyone in the study did that while  then you came to the Bible study? Or like, Are you back for the idea of a sermon, any of this  sermon, really engaged in Christian literacy everywhere and get the whole church? Literally  on the same page? That's amazing. All right. So quiz time. Okay. Quiz time, is, if you as we go  through this book, you'll notice that in the chapters, there's particular topics, but the topic is  generally headed by a question. Yes. And the question then can be used in the Bible study, or  in your family or your marriage. You can use that as sort of a quiz. Like, what what, what is  the role of the Holy Spirit? Yeah, you know, it'd be a question like that right? And then you  know the answers Right there, right. But But if people if you have just a 10 minute period in  your Bible study for quiz time, then people would pay attention to the reading because they  want to pass the quiz. Yes. I mean, we all like that. I know, we've had a few examples where  we went on like a cruise somewhere, and then they do this trivia game, you know, in, you  know, you're out all day in three o'clock. That's when it starts. And I'm amazed how you and I  and our wives. I mean, these are just whatever topics but we got to be there at three o'clock  for our team and quiz time. Why not? Have that culture be more prevalent in Christianity?  Right? I like it. All right, number three discussion. So this is the discussion questions that you  and your wife wrote at the end of each chapter. The discussion questions are designed for  engagement. They're designed for a little like looking at the material connected to even local  situations. I mentioned before the same sex issue that's everywhere right now in Christianity  is facing and how do we engage in that discussion? And yet hold to our worldview, a one man  one woman marriage, okay, so how does that work? But all the other topics to reflect on being an influencer? Where you take the material and say, Okay, how can we make an impact for  Jesus Christ led by the Holy Spirit in our communities? What is Christianity? So obviously,  these chapters touch on the basics of life, that's Christianity is, is a life thing. Right? In fact,  the early Christians were called people of the way, the way of life so very, very practical.  Alright. Proverbs, Bible study dynamics. There's always going to be . Yes. We'll start with the  challenges. Proverbs 20, verse five. purposes. Man hearts are deep waters. But a man of  understanding draws them out. Okay, so like about that verse is, as it relates to leading Bible  Studies. As a leader, your job is not to teach, right? As a leader, your job is to draw out what  God maybe stuck in. Now that seems counterintuitive to many because, you know, let's go  back to our past, we come from the Dutch tribe way back. And then we, our family emigrated  to the United States. And I remember growing up that the minister was called the domini. And the domini meant, that's from a Latin word, Lord. And it was very reformational because the  domini was also a lord, government lord. And so then over time, but he was expected to be  the answer man to many questions, he was often the educated one. And peasants were not,  the farmers were not. So he had a lot of responsibility in those days, but even passed on as a 

child. We called our minister Domini, right. And my mom and dad expected him to know the  answers to questions. And even today, there is a role for teaching sermons as a teaching, if  you had a class, there might be a teaching, but a Bible study is a different form of learning,  

when you're trying to draw a really good leader learns how to draw out stuff from the people  involved so that they can they walk home thinking, that was fun. That was right. And we  talked about Christian leaders Institute in college in that and the Alliance that the Minister is  the servant leader, not the the domini not the answer, man, not the Lord over everything.  Right. So really, this passage speaks to that, that we draw people out. Serve them that way.  That's awesome. All right. So this is one challenge is talking too much. Go to the next point.  You have the dominator. So the next one, the questionater and number three, the self  absorbinater, okay. So the dominator, the questionator the self absorbinator. Okay, Steve,  you're making up words here. I see that a little bit with the dominators not being able to put  that questionater in the self absorbinator that's like those are like toys. Yes. dominator this is  what it says that you have someone in the group that does all the talking and he answers all  the questions. He's the first one to say something and he goes on and on and on and on. and  other people don't have a chance to say anything. answers to every every, if anyone says  something he comes in and he answers everything. And it's all about that person, when that  could even be you the leader, if you're the dominant leader, when someone asks a question  you answer, yes. So we're going to deal with how to deal with that. That's one problem, then  there's the questionater, it's okay to have questions. But if you had someone that's asking  1000 questions like a little child, right, why? Why did they do that? And they dominate again,  with all their questions. I mean, it's good to have a few people have questions, but if one  person is dominating, and then the last one is at the self absorbinater, this is the person who  only sees their own thing, they're always bringing it up for me, I see this as okay, that type or, or they make the small group there a counseling session, oh, bring up everything, you know,  everyone wants to fix them and help them. And then and that goes for you. Right, that type of which we are, right, but it's in everyone's kind for the first time, but week after week of that,  you know, that's for counseling, this a small group meeting. So what you're saying just real  quick here is that, you know, anything out of balance becomes hurting the small group. So we have to address if one or more take the purpose of the group out of purpose. Okay, but then  you can have the opposite problem. Okay. Okay. So you can talk? Yes, you have a group where people are talking too little number one, just leave it at number one. Okay. Intimidated by  knowledgeable members? Okay. Okay. So you're in a small group. And either you might be  you might be the one because you're the leader, right? And you have all the answers. And or  there might be someone in the group, they're very smart, and everyone can tell. And what  happens if they end up saying too much? Or look too smart? Yes, then the rest are going to  stop talking because they're intimidated by that relates to the second point, the fear of  looking foolish, and they're either just people that are naturally shy. So there's a lot of reasons why people don't share in our group. Sometimes they're intimidated, sometimes that's just  their personality, right? Or sometimes, they don't want to say the wrong thing, especially new people. And this class really is a great class for young people. So you don't want them hiding  all their questions, because they need to talk about those to come to a fuller understanding of Christianity. Okay, leading a group best practice. Okay, here we go. So here we go. So  Proverbs 20 verse 5, The purpose of a man's heartaoer deep waters, but a man of  understanding draws it out one minute response, one minute, now it could be two you can  decide to see how it goes. But the point is, some people will just go on and on and on and on.  And the others don't have a chance to share it. Right, you have an hour Bible study, and  there's 10 people, that'd be six minutes a person right? Now, one person taking 10, 15, 20  minutes, and the rest have two minutes or one minute. So sometimes it's about getting a  rhythm going. And as a leader, you can establish that you can tell people look, we're gonna  try to do one minute I was in I was in Toastmasters, or not Toastmasters. It was the Dale  Carnegie, when everything we did was a two minute speech, right? And I was amazed at the  end of that class, we all knew each other, right? From two minutes. You can get it done in two  minutes. Right? No point on that to you. And I understand this, not only because of the Dale  Carnegie course, but because of decades of church planting of ministry this is a boundary that

if you can get this basic down, you can really launch offer some learning, but people need to  be taught it. Not a natural thing. Okay, leader calls on each member makes order. Okay, so  one way to ensure that one person doesn't dominate, and that the people that are more shy,  are reluctant to break into a group. I mean, it's tough. If you have 10 people in a group, and  you're a little bit shy, and people are talking talking, you have a split two second silent period  where you have to grab hold of the stage, right? And half the people just will not do that. And  you want their input, you want them engaged. So one way to do it is not to have it a free for  all right? But what I often do is just go around the room. Hey, Ronnie, what do you think? Hey, Bill, what do you think? Hey, Jack, what's it just go around. Now, if you always start with  Bonnie And then whatever she said, and then the guy at the end of the line has very little to  say, because everyone's already said, Yes. So you can go the other way. Or you can mix it up.  Yeah. You know, my wife is an example of that. I mean, my wife is brilliant. She's the editor in  chief around here. But if in a small group, she will just go right notes and everything. She has  a lot to say. But she's not just going to speak up. And it works. allow members to pass. You  know, maybe someone doesn't have much to say, and to force them to say so. Yeah. And one  good way to do that is that, you know, if I was leading the group with my wife, I would, I would ask her to say passwords to them. Right, right. So it's okay, all the ones who pass who want to pass in given them permission to pass, and not feel uncomfortable about it? Would you like do that passing thing? Like at the beginning? Would you lay a few ground rules out first in all  these things, we're going to try to do a minute minute and address all these things we're  talking about, I would lay out before them. Gotcha. All right. Go back on that. There we go.  Number four, as a leader try not to respond to each member's contribution. Don't be the  answer man or woman, we got to talk about it, but it's easy for the leader. You know, okay,  Bonnie, what do you think? And then Bonnie says something you don't you know, Bonnie, and then you have something, whether it's encouraging, or whether she brings something out,  that reminds you of a story. And then Bill, and then Bill says something, and then you say  something, and then and there's almost like one upsmanship you know, so and so said this,  then you have to say something, but you create a culture where it's becoming like more, oh,  you rode 10 miles to school when you're a kid? Well, we did 15 miles, you know, that types of  ideas. And you become the leader, you become the hub that everything turns on, and you  want people cross talking, right? You want Bill to respond to Bonnie and Sue to respond to Bill, right. Mixed up, rather than everything directed at you. Interesting. All right. Number five,  establish a time of brainstorming with no evaluation by leader for members. What do you  mean by this? No evaluation? Well, what happens often in the small group is, especially if you  have a mixed group, where people that don't know much about what preceded your question, when you ask a question, they're gonna respond with what they think was their limited  knowledge. They're gonna say some interesting thing, right? And so what happens is, say a  new person says something that's not true, or it's not right or wrong, or it's not biblical or  something. And Bill who's been studying the Bible for 25 years, is going to jump in and correct them. And what happens is builds does that is it tells everybody if you get it wrong,  somebody's gonna jump on you and correct you. That almost feels abusive. I mean, it's not  because there's a heart motive, but to a new Christian almost feels like yeah, I remember one time we were in Rockford, Illinois. And we were there first. And I don't know what it was. And  we heard a new believer being talked to by a longtime believer. And I remember you said he  listened to. So we were doing little eavesdropping. And because you heard what was going  on, and you brought out this idea that that new believer must have felt humiliated, must have felt like she could never grow, right? That she would never be able to get it because that guy  just so quickly, came off as the answer, man, right. So that's the problem in Bible studies,  even like with a prayer, you know, a good prayer praises incredible prayer, he takes the thing  off, he loops with it, he lands it perfectly, then try to get the new person to pray. Right?  Instead model something simple and easily reproducible. And I guess I can say I have a note  here, we'll go to the note. Know if the leader or members are allowed to correct other  members. Soon, the more intimidated members will stop contributing. If members are allowed to speak freely over time, the group often comes to the right conclusion. So this is again, as  opposed to like teaching. This is letting the group process work itself out. And even let's say 

someone says something wrong or not biblical. Well, that's interesting. Yeah, you might say,  He's not saying it's right. But that's interesting. Trust that over time, the group is going to  come to the right conclusions. What you want to do is honor that new person for trying, right? Right. He tried to answer it And he doesn't know much. So he gave the wrong answer.  Recognition here is key. And I've noticed over the years, so I recognize, like only the new  believers first time journey into wow, it's amazing, then that can be damaging to if I do that  too much, but I recognize the people who know something, and often the people that know  something, are your key leaders you're developing them. So you're trying to develop them  more. So it's understandable, you're gonna do that. But somehow to find that balance where  everyone feels great about being there, you know, and again, recognizing people, I've made  mistakes, early ministry where all of a sudden, somebody, it's a therapeutic thing, and then  the Bible study gets taken away by the therapy aspect of it. And I almost give the Bible study  away to that theme. This is a doctrinal Bible study. It's a Christian literacy Bible study. And  next thing, you know, every week, it becomes a support group. Okay, deal with the  dominator, questionater and self absorbinator Right. Okay. So, you know, if you have  someone taking over and dominating, if you were to confront them in the group, right, then  everyone gets offended. And then other people worry about you coming down on them, like,  wow, look at that leader. But if you call afterwards and you said, hey, you know, I probably  didn't explain this group, very good. Put it on yourself, don't blame them. But here's what  we're trying to do. And this is what I'm trying to do. And if you could help me, Bill, that would  be awesome. And you can help me by this, and this, and this, if you could just be more  encouraging and say, Look, our goal here is this. We're trying to get we're going to draw out  of people, we want people to grow gradually. And I appreciate all your insight. And, you know,  when you speak that, you know, it, I noticed that the Bible study when you have two  sentences, little thing, that's awesome. If you could do more of that, that would be good. You  know, one of the things I'm more and more is occurring throughout Christian Leaders  Institute, the college, the Alliance is that leaders that have been trained here, even taking this class, when they recruit leader, they have them join, because it's all free. You take a couple of classes, you take this one, and you actually watch this lecture. Yeah, yeah. Well, they see it  now. And you don't have to address anything because they've been trained, because they  saw this lecture. Oops, I can't be a dominator. Yeah. You didn't say it. I didn't have to say it to  him, we set it to. Of course, they are dominators. Anyway, so the this really helps them.  Alright. As the leader tried to verbally encourage participation, as much as great answers. So  again, the tendency of a leader, someone answers the question brilliantly, right. And you go,  wow, that was really great. And you do want it? Yeah, you want people to be encouraged. But  if you what if someone says something that's not that brilliant, and you say nothing, right?  See, the goal here is not just brilliant answers, but participation. Yes. And new people that  don't know very much. You want them to participate. They're going to know more at the 12th  week. Yeah. So it's a gradual process, and you want to, you want them to walk away from the  meeting going, I felt like I was part of it. I felt like I could contribute, right? Because the  number one thing that a new person new new to the faith or searching person, what they feel, is they don't know anything that they'll never catch up. They're not competent or  incompetent. They're not credible, and how they understand Christianity, and then they  always sort of cow down because they've never really learned they feel like it'll never happen. That's right. All right. Number eight. Don't waste time evaluating, criticizing and rewriting  questions that are less than perfect. Well yeah, we've seen that over 30 years? Wow, they  look at the question. It's a discussion question they go. A question should never be yes or no.  Or, you know, or I don't understand what that question is. The reality is in a group, people will  read a question. And often misread it anyway. And so what the goal is discussion and talking  about it, and if you end up, you know, absorbed with what the question is, what it could be or  what this one word and if you as a leader model that then that's what people are going to  spend rookie mistakes as early church planters way back in the 90s. Whenever we criticize  something, then we're creating the culture of criticism. It was instead of learning and  curiosity, it's looking at the questions as they look at you that way as a leader, right? Yeah, it's a very dangerous mistake. So even when someone in the group says that this is the perfect 

time as a leader, you know what questions are never perfect. What do you use? What do you  get out of it? Regardless of Exactly. Now, how would you read the question and share with the  board how you didn't write it, then all of a sudden, that becomes a critical environment. And  once you get a critical environment in your small group, nothing productive. That's we know.  All right. So last words of advice. The goal of leading a Bible study is group participation, not  teaching. Okay, so that I guess we've been saying this. There is a place for teaching and some teaching can occur, but use it sparingly because if all of a sudden you go into teacher mode,  then that enlivens all the other would be teachers. And soon, we're teaching over each other.  And we're competing teachers, instead of just participating. I remember when I learned  Christian literacy, they call it catechism back then. And I remember, one year, we had the guy who was teaching, and it was pretty much downloading the material. And I remember sitting  back in my chair, and barely staying awake through the whole thing. Then the next year we  teacher, and this guy engaged the material. In second, I thought he didn't know his stuff. I  was a little bit like, oh, you know, this guy doesn't even know what he's talking about.  Because last year's teacher told us all the answers and told us what to write down this guy.  But what do you mean by that, Henry? Oh, Vicki, what do you mean by that? And by the end  of the year, I was engaged with Christian literacy and learning. What does the Bible teach?  Because I took ownership in wanting to know the answers myself. So one of the one of the key ways to kind of get into this mode of thinking, when someone asks a question in the group,  see the answer, man is going to give the answer, right, the answer woman. And sometimes  you need to do that. But more often, all you need to do is turn it back. Right? Like I heard you  say, what do you think? What do you think? And you know what most people know. You can  support? Someone? Well, I don't know. That's why I asked. But nine times out of 10, they will  try to answer it. And that's what you want. Conversation. Again, it's a process of learning. It's  not an automatic learning. And the more you can get people to discover things for  themselves, the more it will stick. That's powerful. All right, try to create a culture of  acceptance, wonder, and acceptance. Everyone is accepted here, we're not gonna try to  make anyone feel out of let's say you had a seeker who doesn't even believe in Christianity,  and he might ask some very far out questions, and ones that might be pushing people right  and but you want that wasn't even I noticed to like, somebody is sort of a new Christian. And  then they got into the entire discussion. Somehow they read some books, his first book, they  read about Christianity. So now they come to the meeting, and they have an unbalanced  understanding of Christianity but it's all they want to talk about this. And yet, you're coming  with a Christian literacy class here that basically says, here's the 30,000 Few view, love we  have the future is important. And this book deals with it, but it's one of 11 lessons. It's not the whole thing. So you know, in somehow that those kinds of questions come in as a leader. You  have to be aware of how to keep it. Yes, you are accepted here. But here is still what we're  talking about another Do you don't want this combative? No argument to people always  arguing about post mill. All these things. So as a leader, you can you know, all these are very  interesting questions, and we're gonna get to that and we're going to explore that right telling you whether to be pre mill, mill or post mill, right. Let's just engage with the broad strokes of  30,000 view Yes. And fun. Wow, fun. Round of learning. If people go to a Bible study, and they  had a great time, they come back what are the what do they do next week they come back,  right. And so a lot of that fun aspect is where we're not arguing we're not fighting someone  isn't dominating. All right. Things that we're talking about someone isn't teaching for 15  minutes, all these things that we've talked about are what add adds to the fun. But as a  leader, too, you're creating that culture, right? Where you know, a joke, hear something  funny, something humorous. If you look at people talking anywhere, right? Within a minute,  someone is laughing, right? I don't care where are you on the corner, you're in the store, right. And so humor is part of who God made us to be. Right. So allow the natural humor that  happens between people to happen. Alright, so we come back to the purpose of a man's heart for deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out. That's the goal. So again, as  we're giving you this ahead of time, before we got started really bringing in yet but we're  saying this is something that you must know now, right? So that you can be aware of these  things as you're going into the book. So as we go into chapter one, go into Chapter Two 

origins all, by the way, on the subjects of the big questions, the big ones that people have,  this isn't like sometimes people think of darker, knows dry old doctrine, doctrine is really just  coming to the Bible and saying, What does the Bible have to say about this incredibly big  topic, right? I was talking to a senior pastor of a church of 15,000, locally, and another 30,000  online. And we're just talking to me, the luncheon I brought this book What is Christianity, to  show him because we just were publishing that and he looked at, this is the age where we've  ever go back to the exciting Christian literacy topics, again, if needed, needed now in you, as  a leader, have an opportunity to get it ground and deepened in your own heart, as a person of understanding, and then draw people out that they too can understand it. And one more thing is you can invite them to start at CLI as a new believer, you know, if you want to get further in this, who knows, they may become ministers themselves. We don't know how the Holy Spirit  uses the interaction. So in this class, as you learn, think of who you might invite to take this  class, right? Why not do it while you're doing it? reproduce it while you're, you're gonna be  doing this Bible study as you're taking this class. Right? Exactly. You don't have to finish the  whole thing. Get your spouse involved, get some children involved. Get your neighbor  involved, right? And so when someone asks about later lessons, you just say, Well, I haven't  looked at that. I love. I love instead conversation. That is fun. That's the playground. And the  more you lower yourself a little bit to the participants level, the more they want to contribute,  right. Well, I'm excited that you're here. I excited you're taking this class, I'm excited that you  may have the potential to reproduce and influence others.