July 2003

Building a Foundation for Ministry

Inductive Bible Study Methods

A building is only as strong as its foundation. The same thing can be said of ministries and organizations. God will continue to grant his blessing on the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ only as long as we continue to build our ministry upon the foundation of His Word.

250 men and women from all over the country joined Campus Crusade full time this summer. They joined us in Fort Collins, Colorado on the campus of Colorado State University for five intense weeks of training.

In my first role this summer I had an opportunity to dig some foundation footings in the lives of these new staff. During their first two weeks, all of the new staff took seminary level classes including a survey of Christian doctrine and an Inductive Bible Study Methods class. My role was to help teach Bible study methods to our new staff by coaching a group of 18 through some advanced Bible study methods.

Over the two weeks we took these staff through a process of studying one book of the Bible—Ephesians in this case. The main thing we taught them to do was to identify the author’s intended meaning in the passages they were looking at. We taught them to pay attention to the context of the book, the grammar of the book, the meaning of words, and insights in the commentary of scholars. In practicing these tools, we helped these staff to be able to discern meaning properly in the text, to apply it properly to their lives, and to begin to learn how to present it creatively and accurately through written Bible studies and through stage presentations.

The purpose of this class is two fold: First, the spiritual health of all of us on staff depends in great part to our continued work in the Word of God. We must study it for ourselves, understand it properly, and apply it continually to our lives. Second, we as staff want the things that we teach and our ministry to be patterned after a proper understanding of the Scriptures. The only way we can avoid error in our thinking and in how we do ministry is to be able to determine what is and is not in line with the teaching of the Word of God. It was such a privilege to be such an integral part of developing these new staff into competent ministers of the Word of God.

The Edge

The summers offer our undergraduate students a unique opportunity to be developed in ministry, and some of the most beneficial things that we do in the campus ministry occur during the summers. Many of our students go on summer projects (like what Shelly and I have done the previous three summers). But, what option do our students have who cannot take 12 full weeks away from their jobs or from summer classes?

The Edge was started to give students with little time an opportunity to take two weeks for theological development. My second role for the summer was to help lead this mini-project. 50 students from all over the country came to spend two weeks experiencing God through His creation, His people, and His Word.

The vast majority of their time was involved in taking theological classes alongside full-time staff, who are required to take certain theological classes as a part of their ongoing training. Our undergraduate students were able to take one of either “Bible, God, Holy Spirit” or “Humanity, Christ, Salvation” and one of either “New Testament Survey” or “Psalms”. These classes were taught by professors from some of the best seminaries in the country, and it was a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to get theological training that most people in the church would rarely have the opportunity to receive.

In addition to the classes, these students also got to experience the Rocky Mountains through a challenging hike and through whitewater rafting. They also had times to interact together over the classes they were taking, times for worship and one afternoon for an outreach in the community surrounding CSU.

Enjoying the ride out to Fort Collins, Colorado

Kids' Corner

It has been so much fun here in Colorado. Mommy and Andrew and I have done lots of fun things while Daddy’s been working. There is a farm where you can pet the animals and feed them, too. They even have a playground there. One of the horses snorted when I walked by and I didn’t like that very much. We have a pool at our apartment. It is so much fun to swim! Andrew and I have arm floats. I love it when Mommy lets me go and I float all on my own. I can even move around a little bit when I kick really hard. Still working on learning not to swallow the water, though!

Going to the mountains was so much fun—I hope we get to go back there again! It was fun to play in the snow and see the chipmunks come right up to the wheels of my stroller. I kept calling them “squirrels”.

-Lauren

Lauren hiking at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

The best thing about Colorado is that every playground has sand! We keep the sand toys in the car now so we won’t forget them. Mommy and Daddy have taken us on some bike rides. We even get to ride in the street. The last ride was the best—we went to an ice cream store and watched them mix M&M’s and candy in our ice cream. I saw my friends playing in the creek at the farm the last time we went there and I am planning on doing that next time we go—but don’t tell my mommy!

My 2 favorite things about the mountains were all the snow and the buses that we had to ride to get to the trail we hiked on. The snow blocked parts of the trail we hiked on and when Daddy drove way up the mountains there were walls of snow beside the road. We got to get on the snow and wear shorts all at the same time!

We had a parade for the 4th of July. We wore red, white, and blue, carried flags and decorated Lauren’s stroller. After we walked around the apartments with all the other kids we got to have red, white, and blue popsicles! We are going to see some fireworks tonight.

-Andrew

Andrew enjoying the scenery on Trail Ridge Road

Christmas in June around Bear Lake