Our First Class

       Phil & I had our first class today.  We had 4 students.  We were so glad to see all of them.  God was gracious in sending them to us.  

        We jumped into the lesson which asked, "Who is the Real Jesus?"  We talked about how Jesus is the unique Son of God.  Jesus believed that about Himself and those around Him came to believe it too.  I think it's really important for young people to start understanding why we believe what we believe.  I know that when they go out into the world they will be faced with people who don't believe, and they will need to be prepared for what others may say.  

Growing up and living in the South, knowing and accepting things from the Bible is pretty natural.  We live in the Bible Belt, and it is part of our culture.  When you leave the South, however, people question your beliefs and say that you believe these things solely because you have been raised in that culture.  The Southern culture is also stereotyped as being less educated than other sectors of our country.  Young people may not have been exposed to any well-educated people who believe what they believe, and that could be a stumbling block for them at times.  We discussed that there are many scholars from all across the country and world who have made it their life work to explain why the claims of Christ are trustworthy.  

Our church library has the book, The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel.  Lee was an atheist whose wife accepted Christ.  His job was being an investigative reporter, so he applied his work to his objections to the Christ and interviewed scholars about all the problems he saw with believing in the Bible and what it had to say about Christ.  His intent was to prove to his wife that Christianity was foolishness.  In the end, he came to accept Christ, and his finding are published in this book.  It is a great resource and an easy read for anyone who wants to really dig into the truth of our beliefs.

          We are off to a good start.  How can you go wrong when you begin by affirming that Jesus is who He says He is?  It can only get better from here.