8/24/05
Dr. Howard Wilburn
College History and Philosophy

Reflections:

It's inspiring to be attending a college with so much history, and knowledge and reverence for that history as well.  I can certainly feel the academic weight of the learned men who taught in the classrooms many years ago.  The one thing that stood out for me during this session, though, was Dr. Wilburn's last statement: Everyone is preparing for ministry.  What drove that point home was his description of the people for who most of the buildings on campus are named, and how many of them were not vocational Christian ministers, but in a sense, through their contributions to the college and in the larger sphere of the community, they were deeply involved in ministry.  One does not have to be a pastor or a missionary to be involved directly in ministry--they ministered with their resources and vision.

8/26/05
Dr. Charles Pettit
No Rules, Just Right (Christian Standards)

Reflections:

Admittedly this session was a breath of fresh air after reading through the Student Life Guide with all its rules and regulations.  Not that I'm rebelling against those rules in the least--but it's nice to hear something about their origin and the thoughts processes and principles in place behind them.  The points made during this session are very applicable to a variety of life situations and I am sure I will be coming back to them.  Very practical things.  It's interesting how the principles outlined have as much to do with our own heart condition and attitudes as they do with the relationships around us.  Understanding our own standards helps us understand how others arrive at theirs, and knowing that enables us to live in harmony more easily.

8/29/05
Mr. Paul Holritz
Making the Most of Your Quiet Time (Part I: Scripture Reading)

Reflections:

It is refreshing to hear principles on the subject of what can be such a formless activity sometimes.  In other words, oftentimes I will just plop open the Bible and start reading arbitrarily, eager to hear from God but without any methodology.  And as Mr. Holritz emphasized, it is not a ritual but a relationship, a necessarily organic thing, but as he also pointed out, it takes discipline on our part to meet with Him regularly and also to study His word diligently.  The methods outlined by which God speaks to us through His word are especially helpful.  I will certainly keep them in mind as I read the word and ask myself, "How is God speaking to me here?"

8/31/05
Mr. Paul Holritz
Making the Most of Your Quiet Time (Part II: Prayer)

Reflections:

Much as in the previous session, these are very welcome principles and truths articulated about a sometimes amorphous activity.  It takes diligence and perserverence, just as in any relationship, but the rewards are many times worth the cost.  God certainly thought so, and what a cost He paid to create an avenue for relationship with us.  That's the most awe-inspiring thing to realize, and definitely something that spurs me to not take the hard-won privilege for granted, but instead to get to know Him through fellowship and communication.

9/2/05
Mr. William Thompson
Welcome to Winston-Salem

Reflections:

Like the first lecture about the history of the college, this session impresses me with the amount of cultural heritage in our region, in a wider scope than just the college.  It is encouraging and inspiring to know that there are those who consider the study of the region's history to be a worthwhile and necessary endeavor.  Being a North Carolinian by birth, I have been aware of much of the state's heritage from an early age, especially things like the geography and economy, but it was still refreshing to hear the outline again and to observe the reactions of the non-Tarheels to the description of our state.

9/7/05
Dr. Clay Nuttall
Decisions, decisions!

Reflections:

Dr. Nuttall made two points during this session that really hit home with me.  The first is that knowing God's will is not necessarily the issue, but instead our willingness to do His will is.  I heard this and felt the pang of recognition, since I can recall many times when I would tell a friend or acquaintance, "I just wish I knew His will in this situation," when really I knew what I had to do, but did not want to do it.  That ties in with the second point that hit home: If our heart is right with God, what we want to do is God's will.  What that says to me, more than anything, is that God is predominantly interested in who I AM, in developing a character within me that seeks His will first, as opposed to what I DO.  So often we get fixated on the "doing" and forget that what we do and our circumstances can sometimes seems very ineffectual in human terms even through we're in the center of God's will.  It's a matter of knowing Him better and knowing His perspective on things so we can align ourselves the better with it.

9/9/05
Mrs. Lynda Seymour
Learning - Just My Style

Reflections:

Honestly I felt a lot of the instruction in this session was a little reductionistic and simplistic, at least as far as describing our personalities.  But Mrs. Seymour's point about studying smarter instead of longer was well-taken.  As a more visual learner I will most definitely be applying the principles mentioned and not only reading but highlighting what I read.  Thinking back on it, it actually makes a lot of sense--that IS how I learn.  When I make a list or write something down, for example, I will remember it so well that it's almost like a contradiction; in other words, I write it down so I don't have to write it down, if that makes any sense.  But it confirms my learning style and will be something I employ.

9/12/05
Mrs. Kathy Holritz
Manners Matter

Reflections:

This was a practical and very enjoyable session.  The class was very engaged and interested in the topics discussed, mainly because they involve relationships and are so important towards making good impressions with our friends and new acquaintances.  Mrs. Holritz's point about our manners being somewhat integral to our ministry was well-made, especially for those of us going into other cultural settings.  Letting our own cultural conventions become second nature helps us when it comes time to adopt at least some of a new culture in which we find ourselves.

9/14/05
Mrs. Nancy Epperson
The Amazing Memory

Reflections:

I think everyone in class today was blown away by Mrs. Epperson recitation of the book of James.  It was pretty amazing, and an excellent illustration of the application of her principle of memorization.  If nothing else it gave her a pretty high level of authenticity and credibility when it came time to discuss the techniques used to increase our memorization capacity.  And her points about the usefulness of memorizing scripture were well-made too, especially those having to do with our prayer life and also being ready to give an answer to those who question us.  As someone with an avid interest in apologetics, I agreed with that point particularly.

9/16/05
Mr. Paul Greve
The Green Stuff - Budgeting

Reflections:

Another very practical session, but one with less "good vibes" in the classroom than Mrs. Holritz's session on manners.  I think part of it had to do with the fact that money issues can oftentimes be much more serious that a simple manner faux-pas, and everyone in the classroom felt the gravity of the issues being discussed.  The overall point that I gleaned from the teaching was just to be sensible and responsible with the resources with which we're entrusted.  How that plays out involves maintaining a budget and living within our means, two things that are outside the realm of experience for a distressing number of Americans.  I do both of these things at the moment, and intend to keep doing them.  This session provided good impetus to do this.

9/19/05
Mr. Paul Greve
The Green Stuff - Credit

Reflections:

Being somewhat a necessarily precarious thing, credit was a difficult topic to discuss.  After all that talk last session about financial sensibility and stability, discussing credit seems almost counterintuitive.  But it's certainly necessary in our culture these days.  Mr. Greve went over some excellent and tested principles and guidelines for securing good credit and made probably his best point near the end when he talked about Biblical principles like not using credit unless absolutely necessary and paying off the balance every month.  This is something I have done and continue to do.  I appreciate Mr. Greve candor and emphasis.  It's something we all need to hear.

9/21/05
Rev. Skip Furrow
Friendship Focus

Reflections:

This session was particularly good for me for three reasons.  First of all, I am not the kind of person who makes friends very easily.  I'm not sure whether it's something in my demeanor or personality or just the kind of folks that I meet, but strong, lasting friendships have always been hard to come by (though I certainly have a few).  So Rev. Furrow's exhortation about the importance of friendship was good for me to hear.  Also, having just moved into the area, it was good to have friendship emphasized again to remind me not to isolate myself, as I am wont to do sometimes.  And lastly, the session encouraged me to apply effort and time to those strong friendships that I left behind in Chapel Hill (where I moved from) and that I wish to maintain.  Friendships take an investment, but are very much worth it, and they are something I do not wish to let slide in my life.

9/23/05
Dr. Steve Fowler
Time Flies

Reflections:

As a visual reader and learner, I liked this session.  I discovered that I do some things that hinder my ability to read and absorb rapidly, like a slight case of regression, but overall it was encouraging to find out that I already read and comprehend things very well.  In the interest of becoming even more proficient, I will be trying out the techniques mentioned, namely, "pacing" and "hopping."  It will take a concerted effort and a certain amount of discipline, but the benefits I believe will be very useful in many different areas.  Reading permeates so much of what we do that even a small increase in proficiency can save a lot of time and effort across the board.

9/26/05
Mr. Nathan Rasey
Interpersonal Relationships

Reflections:

I appreciated the informal nature of Mr. Rasey's talk and the biblical thrust of what he had to share with us.  He showed great wisdom in discerning that interpersonal relationships covers such a wide range of our experience that specific emphases would be too narrow in focus, so he shared with us biblical building blocks that retain their effectiveness throughout a wide range of situations.  One that hit home for me was sincerity--not that I've been insincere, but just to know how crucial it is to making a relationship work.  Trust is so vital, and by and large that something we're lost as men in our day and age and cultural setting.  Hearing it reiterated put it on the forefront of my mind again and made honesty, sincerity and trustworthiness a top priority of mine.  I can never emphasize it enough or exhibit too much of it in my life.