I might have mentioned this to some people, but my sister is taking a two-year break from school/work to attend a bible study school in Southern California. I'm actually not sure how to describe it (it's called the Full Time Training). It's not exactly a seminary because its purpose isn't to train people to have careers as ministers, priests, etc... - After graduating, some of the students do go on to serve full-time all over the world, but many go back to graduate schools or work full-time. I wouldn't call it a school of theology either because the students (trainees) go out to preach the gospel, meet with Christian students on campuses, and join small group meetings. I guess it's interesting because it's a comprehensive way to be constituted with the truths in the bible, experience God as life, and mature in the Lord. Anyway, I had a three day gap in my crazy summer so I decided to go visit my sister and some other church friends who went there. Plus, I wanted to check it out for a few days.
They call it "short-terming." Basically, you go for however long you want and attend the classes and follow the schedule of the training. Which, by the way, is kind of intense:
6 AM: Wake up, contact the Lord, dress, clean room
7-7:20 AM: Breakfast
7:20-7:55 AM: Morning Revival (This is a time of prayer, reading the bible, etc...)
8-9:30 AM: Class 1
9:30-9:45 AM: Break
9:45-11 AM: Class 2
11:30-12 NOON: Lunch
12:15-2:45 PM: Fellowship with team/Gospel Preaching
3-4 PM: Rest
4:15-4:45 PM: Study
4:45-5:45 PM: Greek Class (so you can read the original bible manuscripts)
5:45-6:15 PM: Dinner
7-9:30 PM: Meeting
10-10:15 PM: Prayer in homes
10:30 PM Sleep
It's funny. I was expecting to feel really awkward there because I'm usually weirded out by the idea of places like this, but it felt pretty normal from day one. Sure, there are some weird/annoying people but I didn't meet anybody more eccentric than the sort of people you'd find at CAL (refering to the students, not to people off the streets). It definitely helped that I knew some people there. If you asked me 6 months ago if I could see myself at a place like this I would have laughed in your face, but I'm really considering doing something like this in the future.
A little background: I grew up Christian, but I definitely wasn't the best Christian. I read the bible as a kid, went to church, etc...but as I got older I think I just wanted to be "normal." I probably realized at some point that some "religious" people can be a little (or a lot) odd, and if you know me at all you probably realize that I don't like to stick out. Also, I didn't like the connotation of being someone who was overbearing or proselytizing. As I got older, God began to play less of a role in my life - my time in the word and prayer decreased, and I kinda just went to church meetings as a ritual. I believed that God was real because of biblical evidence and how He worked in others, but God was never really real to ME. That changed over the past year.
So it seemed like a good time to try this bible school (that's what I'm going to call it) out. Here's my take on my three-day training experience: the depth of the truth in the classes was unlike anything I've seen (I'll post some bits later), gospel preaching for the first time was interesting (I like talking to people, but I've never talked to strangers about God before), and I want to learn Greek now. The environment of the Training is pretty strict (I forgot to mention that internet access is limited to mondays and phone use is limited to breaks - open to fellowship, though) and there aren't TVs, but it's pretty effective at ensuring that the people who are there mean business.
I guess I just wanted to get this outta my system and clarify any unusualness in my behavior during the past whatever span of time. I'm not crazy. It's just that this is the most satisfied I've been in my life and I don't want this feeling to fade away.
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