When I was in the seventh grade I was introduced to the Baptist Study Course Book. Our family had moved from the Methodist church into Baptist life—baptism by immersion for all. We became wholeheartedly Baptist. Soon I was attending something called Training Union. This, I later discovered, was the discipleship and leadership training program for all believers. We each received little hard-covered gray books of our very own. Most of them were overviews of the various books of the Bible, with questions to be answered at the end of each chapter. All of the Study Course books were written by prominent pastors or seminary professors. Some of these books covered Baptist distinctives, beliefs, and church life. For many years I dutifully wrote out my answers to each question. By the time I was 14 years old I was being asked to help teach Royal Ambassadors, and then a Fifth Grade boys Sunday School class.
We usually held one church-wide study course per year, followed by quarterly studies in Training Union. In Oklahoma the thousands of teenagers who attended the Falls Creek Assembly each summer also studied these topics. In the seventies the Falls Creek books included the new songs of the times and were paperbacks with psychedelic covers designed to make them look “hip,” and all of the young people received official credit for completing the book. But many complained, adults included, that study courses were a lot like school work and participation went the way of Training Union. What remained became the January Bible Study, an annual opportunity to delve Biblically deeper together as a congregation.
Church-wide discipleship and leader development, I believe, have suffered from the loss of these deeper studies. Historically Baptists have turned discipleship and deeper Bible study over to the Sunday School, which is now going the way of Training Union for most church members. I encourage you to consider connecting to consistent study of God’s Word.
Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Grow Biblically deeper. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.
PS If you live in the area, I encourage you to participate in our Winter Bible Study on The Beatitudes of Jesus this week led by an outstanding teacher of God’s Word, Dr. Wendell Lang. Braden Park Baptist Church, 5th Street and Yale, Tulsa, Ok. Sunday January 13, 10:50 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. and Monday and Tuesday evenings, January 14 and 15, at 6:45 p.m.
Bro Darryl's Notebook 