Micro-Seminar Anyone?
I saw the picture attached to this post on Dave Black’s blog (Saturday, September 18, 2010 at 8:12 p.m.). The picture gave me an idea.
I liked the fact that people were sitting on sofas and love-seats. However, even in this more intimate environment, they are all facing the speaker. Now, for a seminar (and for some reason for church meetings), this is normal. But, I was thinking there may be a way to have an even more intimate and relational seminar.
So, I was picture a seminar (syposium, meeting, conference, who knows what to call these things) about a particular topic. People would be invited to prepare a paper/teaching/presentation/etc. concerning the topic. But, each person’s presentation would be limited to 15 minutes. Yes, that’s right, 15 minutes.
After a person makes his or her 15 minute presentation, the others at the seminar would ask questions for the next 15-20 minutes, while the presenter offers his/her answers. Note, this time would only be to ask questions about the particular presentation, not to add to the discussion. During the question/answer session, the presenter would be able to clear up any misunderstandings or vague parts of the presentation.
After the 15 minute question/answer time, there would then be a 30 minute time of discussion. During this time, anyone could bring up a topic related to the presentation. Again, the topic should be related to what was just presented, but during the discussion time, the options for comments would be broader. However, even during this time, each person’s speaking time would be limited to 3-5 minutes. In this way, many people would have a chance to speak and discuss the issue at hand.
Once the discussion time was over, the entire process would start again with another presenter on another (but related) topic.
Of course, the purpose of this (micro?) seminar would be different than most seminars. The focus would not be on the presenters and their presentations, but on everyone who attends teaching and learning from one another. Preferably, those attending would be from the same general geographical area (say Raleigh/Durham, NC – or wherever you are located). So, the micro-seminar would also build unity and relationships among the Christians in a certain area.
The picture above triggered the idea, but I see people sitting on sofas or love-seats or other comfortable chairs in circles all facing one another. The number of participants would probably be limited to 50 or so. Those presenting, asking questions, or commenting could stand or sit where they were, without need for a lectern or podium or even a sound system.
Preferably, the micro-seminar would include one or two meals that all participants would eat together, to further build relationships and discussion among the group.
I would pick a theme for the micro-seminar that would be beneficial to the church. Perhaps something like “Leadership in the Church.” I’m sure that are millions of other themes.
So, that’s my idea. It’s sketchy, but I think it can be beneficial. But, it’s not something that I can do on my own. Is anyone else out there (specifically in the Raleigh/Durham area) interested in helping plan something like this? Do you think it would be beneficial? What would you add, change, etc.?
(By the way, I’m not suggesting that this has never been done. I’ve never been part of something like this, though.)
Have We Met Before?
In my previous post (“Getting to Know You“), I asked my readers to introduce themselves. (So, if you haven’t done that, please jump over to that post and introduce yourself.)
Some of my newer readers may be interested in meeting some “older” (veteran?) readers. I originally asked my readers to introduce themselves about three years ago in a post called “Please allow me to introduce myself.” Also, in March 2009, I again asked readers to “Introduce Yourself.”
There are quite a few characters who stop by my blog from time to time. (You know who you are.) I’ve learned so much from everyone who has commented and interacted here.
So, if you want to meet some other readers, you can check out those posts.
Getting to Know You
Occasionally, I like to ask my readers to introduce themselves to me and to one another. This has always been a very encouraging exercise in the past. So, please introduce yourself in the comments here… even if you’ve never commented before.
Simple tell as much or as little as you want people to know about you. I will even accept anonymous comments.
I’ll get the ball rolling.
Hi. My name is Alan Knox. I’m 43 years old (or young, depending on which side of 43 you happen to be on). I grew up in Alabama (USA), and went to college at Georgia Tech in Electrical Engineering. I’m married to Margaret. We met in the fourth grade and grew up with one another. We have two children, a son named Jeremy and a daughter named Miranda. We’ve lived in Alabama, the Atlanta (GA) metro area, and (now) in Youngsville, NC near Raleigh.
I work in web development. I both work at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in their IT department, and I work for myself.
I’m a PhD student in Biblical Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. My PhD mentor is David Black. I’ve finished all of my seminars and course work, and I’ve had my prospectus approved. That means that the only thing left is writing and defending a dissertation. The title of my dissertation is “Mutual Edification as the Purpose of the Assembled Church in the New Testament: A Study in Biblical Theology.”
I’ve been blogging here for just over four years, and I decided from the beginning that I was going to focus on the church, primarily the meeting of the church. Why? Because I started this blog at the same time that I started my PhD studies, and in my PhD studies I was going to focus on the meeting of the church. But, there’s another reason. You see… I’m part of the church. And, I wanted to know what the church should do when we meet together, and why. So, as I study, I also try to live these things out. This is not simply an academic exercise for me… it is life.
I love blogging very much. The best thing about blogging is the interaction from people like you.
So… please introduce yourself also.
Bible Flashcards for Android
If you have an Android phone, there is a great (free) app called Bible Flashcards. The app contains flashcards for Greek and Hebrew, and it includes all necessary fonts.
I’ve used the app for Greek flashcards for the last week or so, and it works very well. One of the best things about it is that it includes the vocabulary (by chapter) for Dave Black’s Learn to Read New Testament Greek.
I have not work with the Hebrew flashcards yet, but if they’re as good as the Greek, I’m sure they will be very helpful.
So, if you have a phone with the Android operating system, you should definitely check out this app.
Concerning September 11
I think these words of Jesus are worth considering while we think about September 11. In fact, these are the words that I read during a special prayer meeting at our work place around lunch time that day:
As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. (Matthew 24:3-6 ESV)
“See that you are not alarmed.”
That day a Buddhist coworker came up to me and asked me why I was so peaceful while airplanes were flying into buildings (and we were on the top floors of one of the tallest buildings in Atlanta). I told my friend and coworker about the good news of Jesus Christ.
Various and Sundry
My wife, Margaret, and my daughter, Miranda, are hoping to start working with a local food pantry today. They met the lady who runs the food pantry last year, and this year our families are in a homeschool co-op together. They’re both looking forward to providing food for people who are in need. Margaret is encouraging me to get involved as well, especially since they need people who can talk to those who come to the food pantry. I hope it works out that I can help as well.
Greek Study Club was great! There were three people (one man and two women) who had never studied Greek before. There were also several of us who had studied Greek. For our first meeting, we talked about the format, and we took turns teaching the Greek alphabet. I was encouraged that several people said they like the idea that we would be teaching each other. And, if new people start in a few weeks, then the people who are just learning Greek will be helping to teach them.
The only thing that I have to say about immigration or burning Qur’ans is this: They will know us by our love.
Summer is almost over… and this was a crazy summer for us. My wife, Margaret, had a 10cm (benign) ovarian cyst removed. I went to Ethiopia for two weeks. My father found out he has prostate cancer, had surgery, and found out that the surgery did not remove all the cancer.
Speaking of cancer… BeckyLynn Black continues to struggle with cancer in a way that both admonishes me and exhorts me to trust God more.
I’m still working in web development, and it’s taking two jobs to make ends meet. I would prefer to be teaching in a college somewhere. (hmmm… trust God)
I have two speaking engagements in the month of October. I’m speaking about shepherding in the New Testament for an associational pastors breakfast, and I’m guest lecturing on the book of Hebrews for a New Testament class in a local community college.
I’m working on a couple of projects. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do both right now. So, I’m trying to decide which of the two to start first.
Well, that’s about all for now. Just a few thoughts that I wanted to share with my online friends. Feel free to share your thoughts, happenings, concerns, etc. in the comments.
The doctor told her she’s dying
It’s been a while since I’ve written about our friends in “The Neighborhood.” There are several reasons for that. One of the main reasons that we haven’t been able to spend as much time with them as we normally would.
In case you haven’t been reading my blog in a while, “The Neighborhood” is a low income, government assisted housing development in Wake Forest. Originally, one of our friends invited us to come meet some of her neighbors there. Eventually, we became good friends with many of those who live there.
One of the ladies that we met was T. When we first met T., she had just had surgery for breast cancer, and she had been diagnosed with emphysema. She’s been on oxygen the entire time that we’ve known her (about 2 1/2 years). For the last year or so, she has had an assistance program coming to her house a few times a week to help her out.
She called me last week. She was very upset. She’s been having an even harder time breathing, and she went to the doctor. She was not able to see her normal doctor. The doctor that checked her that morning told her, “You’re dying. There’s nothing we can do for you. You may have a week or two, or maybe a year, but you will die soon.”
Now, she’s under hospice care.
I stopped by one afternoon to spend some time with her. She actually looks very good – better than she’s looked lately. She doesn’t think she’s as bad as the doctor said. Who knows.
She told me that she knew that God was taking care of her, and that she was trusting God. If God decided she was going to die soon, then she would. If God did not want to die soon, then it didn’t matter what the doctor said.
She said that she wants to get stronger so that she can come meet with the church with us. I told her that coming to our meeting place on Sunday morning should be the least of her concern. But, I told her, I thought the church would want to come to her.
Her face lit up. She smiled really big. “Do you think they’ll come here?” she asked. “I’m not able to clean my house like I want to. I don’t look very presentable.”
I promised her that her brothers and sisters did not care what her house looked like (they would probably even clean it for her), and they didn’t care that she had not had her bottom teeth replaced yet, and they didn’t care that she couldn’t take baths as often as normal. I told her that the church would want to come to her, to encourage her, to pray with her, to sing with her, to help her through this.
I haven’t seen her this bright and cheerful in a long time.
Featured Slider or Not
I’m contemplating removing the featured slider from my homepage. If you have any opinions, speak now or forever hold your peace.
(The featured slider is the top part of my homepage that shows the large image, post title, and post excerpt, and automatically rotates from post to post.)
So, whaddaya think?
Technical Difficulties
I’m sure that most of my regular readers noticed that I’ve been having problems with the home page of my blog lately. Sometimes, the home page would only display a few posts, and sometimes it wouldn’t display any at all. The secondary pages and single posts pages were not affected.
After much searching and frustration, I discovered that the problem was caused by a plugin that I used to display “Related Posts” at the bottom of each post. Once I disabled that plugin, the problem was solved.
Then, of course, I had to find another plugin to display “Related Posts.” Well, I’ve found one, and I’m going to try it out for a while.
Thanks for hanging around in spite of the technical difficulties.
The Church and Shepherding in the NT
I’ve been invited to speak to a group of pastors (actually a local Baptist association’s pastors breakfast). My topic will be “The Church and Shepherding in the NT.”
The topic was suggested to my by the person who invited me to speak. He had read a few things that I had written about leaders and service in the NT. He said he thought it would be good to discuss the relationships between elders/pastors/leader and others in the church according to the NT. As he said, this would then lead to a discussion of the nature of the church.
So, thinking through these issues (leadership, service to others, nature of the church), what passages of Scripture do you think would be important to this type of discussion?