Transformed Bible Club Reflection

While searching through the round, grey tables and plastic, purple chairs, we came up on the football player, Ethan Jerkowski. Abby and I, McKenzie, inquired him about his favorite things about the new school; without a thought, he responded, “The football coaches.” Continuing the questionnaire, we pursued further by asking him why. “I like that they actually care about us, and that they want us to get better as a team and as an individual.”

The first fifty years of the 20th century proved to be hard on Cedarville. The college’s trustees tried several times to revitalize the college before realizing Cedarville was not sustainable any longer. The trustees had to choose between finding a college to merge with and closing down entirely. While Cedarville’s trustees were facing this decision, the trustees at Baptist Bible Institute in Cleveland were looking for a

Professional football coach, Tony Dungy, is a man of honor and strength throughout his book “Quiet Strength”. Overall, “Quiet strength” is a memoir of Tony Dungy’s life which captures his discovery of what it means to be a Godly leader, on and off the field. In addition, Tony discovers that listening to God as well as those who he has put in his life will give him peace together with wisdom to get through his son's tragic suicide, and media struggles with players Personally, I connected with how Tony portrayed his son’s suicide in his book, considering the stigmas tied to suicide.

A little under two years ago, one day after basketball practice, I received a call from an unknown number. It was a 512 area code, and I was curious to see who it was. I answered the phone– it was the regional president at the time, Barrett Dover, inviting me to join BBYO Lonestar Region. Even though I didn’t know Barrett that well, or know much about BBYO at all, this call was what led me to join. This personal call went a long way; for I would not be here today if it weren’t for Barrett and the 92 years of Alephs before me who have invited others to join BBYO.

Young Men’s and Women’s Christian Associations combined physical education with religious instruction; appeared in every major American city by the end of the 1800s.

For this assignment the group that I observed was the Churches Touching Lives of Christ Bible study located at W Ave G Temple, TX 76504.The bible study group was small, it consisted of six adult group members in total. Each individual person had their own uniqueness about themselves and their contribution to the group. The leader of the group was a slender Asian male in his late forty’s who was well spoken and maintained order in the group while still delivering a short sermon to the group. Whenever a person would speak out of turn he would let them speak and when they were done he would publicly correct them and tell the other adult group members that they should wait their turn to speak and if they have a

The 152nd Annual Conference of the Grand Ole North Carolina Conference convened at one of the Conference’s historical churches, Clinton Chapel AME Zion in New Bern, NC. Reverend Dr. M. Luther Hill, its gifted pastor, and his great congregation were very gracious hosts and made everyone feel welcomed. They opened their doors on Sunday and ministers, adorned in their priestly, white robes, marched in to open this great Conference in High Church Methodist fashion. The service, filled with high spiritual elements intertwining the liturgical elements, connected our hearts to the ancient tradition of the Anglican Church; however, with an African American twist. Presiding Elder Lester Jacobs, of the Washington District, delivered a soul-stirring

The sermons given at Howard University’s Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel are known to liven up a calm Sunday morning. On the morning of September 18th, I expected the same caliber speaker that had graced the pulpit all of the previous weekends. What I didn’t expect on that Sunday was to see Michael Eric Dyson, a man whose name stuck a chord with most of the public. E even though his name had been on the itinerary since the first chapel service, I was still in shock to see him in person. I had seen him once before earlier in the year at Hampton University’s graduation. If his sermon was anything like his commencement speech, I reckoned that I was in for a show - and that I was.

Moreover, my exposure to an athletic environment for the past 14 years has instilled upon me leadership, discipline, core values, strong work ethics and time management. Accordingly, these components have been instrumental in my academic successes over the course of my educational journey. Furthermore, my strong religious beliefs and strong family support mean everything to me; therefore, I always have the necessary provisions to fight against the many negative challenges athletes encounter in our society. Nevertheless, one challenge still remains in forefront of some people’s mind, the fact that I an African-American man who plays college football, more than likely with mediocre grades. However, on February 1, 2017 at 12:00 p.m., the UTSA Honors College defined me as much more than an athlete. On this day, I was a UTSA Student with a 3.8 G.P.A. and an opportunity for acceptance into the prestigious UTSA Honors College, and by the way, I happened to play football. Over the course of my football career, I continue to encourage and demonstrate leadership and academic excellence as a way

Our goal is to help out in the freedom school in Mount Zion Methodist Church in Longdale. With a lot of courage and inspiration, I couldn’t wait. However, when I reached the church, I entered a comprehensive state of shock; I couldn’t believe my eyes. The freedom school was burned down. As a devoted Christian, I couldn’t believe that someone would burn down a church, the place of God! I stood there

After reading “Everyday Bible Study, chapters 6-9” I found that God wrote the Bible. The Bible is made up of 66 books and was written over a large time span and has many different Authors like Peter, Matthew, and Timothy to name a few, and all were from various parts of the world. Given that technology was nowhere near what it is today, communicating with each other or to conspire was not possible during their time; they all corroborate the same thing, that God wrote the Bible through Man. Man was inspired to create the Scriptures from God through the influence of the Holy Spirit; Scripture was not created by any human being, rather it was translated by God through the Holy Spirit to Man (2 Pet. 1:20-21 New International Version). “If Men Are Involved, How Are There No Errors?”

Professional football coach, Tony Dungy, is a man of honor and strength throughout his book “Quiet Strength”. Overall, “Quiet strength” is a memoir of Tony Dungy’s life which captures his discovery of what it means to be a Godly leader, on and off the field. Tony’s upbringing set him up for a lifetime of possibilities which allowed him to go farther than most. In addition, Tony discovers that listening to God as well as who he has put in our lives will give him peace together with wisdom through his son's tragic suicide, and media fiascos with players. Personally, I connected with how honorably Tony handled his son’s suicide, especially with the stigma in the christian community regarding suicide.

In examining my experience during the recent Cohort Intensives held at Payne Theological Seminary (PTS) in Wilberforce, Ohio; I was quite intrigued with how all of the scholars and guest speakers reinforced many of the initiatives I have already implemented in the context of my own ministry. Likewise, my time spent in class with my Cohort mentors Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie and Rev. Dr. Kenneth S. Robinson was both scholastically and spiritually invaluable. During the week-long Intensive class sessions with my mentors, I learned a number of new things about myself that I was not previously willing to address. In short, I had a moment of self-actualization that required some personal omissions on my part regarding my faith and yes some internalized oppression as labeled by author Gayraud S. Wilmore. Opening up in class and admitting a few of my own short-comings was nothing short of liberating. Suddenly, I felt as though I had an epiphany; that has given birth to a renewed zeal, mind, and spirit. For the first time in years I am certain that I am now moving closer to the apex of excellence where God intended me to be.

Throughout the bible, and reading it once more by Marcus Borg, a common idea as it relates to a religious experience, is that the Bible is a human product. Throughout chapter two, Borg continuously describes the Bible as being a product of humans. He explains on page 22 that he sees scripture through the lens of the Bible being a human product, meaning that it is the “product of two ancient communities” (22). He believed that what the Bible explains things to be are words from the communities of ancient Israel and the early Christian movement. “We cannot talk about God (or anything else) except with the words, symbols, stories, concepts, and categories known to us, for they are the only language we have”, made me think about the idea that

Christian Tradition course exposed me to the Christian Tradition based on Biblical and church history. The course taught me the differences and similarities of Christian Tradition from other major world religions. I learned about the significance of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Trinity based on the teachings of the Bible. The course also briefly covered 2,000 years of church history but with emphasis on the impact of the Council of Nicea, Council of Chalcedon, and John and Charles Wesley on Christianity. The professor emphasized the importance of the reformation that sparked a revolution in the church.