alpha1

There are many countries where Christians face physical persecution -- and I cannot proclaim to know them all. What especially amazes me is that after the breakdown of Communism in the U.S.S.R. , Christianity has blossomed, clearly demonstrating that even decades of active oppression cannot destroy the Church. In the Western World (the Americas and Western Europe), persecution is much more subtle. Especially in North America, Christianity is no longer accepted as "the norm". In our community, even the Muslims, Sikhs and Jews find it difficult to understand how we Christians have accepted the banishment of prayer and religious teaching in our public schools! To my chagrin, I recently learned that the United Nations no longer recognizes Canada as a "Christian Nation"!

I think that the significance is that God and Jesus (as well as the Holy Spirit) are, in fact, one. I.e. the God in Three Persons is the one God. This may be difficult for some to understand, but it is perhaps the least of the mysteries that personify God the Creator, and our Heavenly Father.

We intend to be intimidated by our peers (in my case, scientists and engineers) whom we fear will scoff at our ideas, or ridicule us for our belief in God. Thanks to the Alpha courses, I have become more willing to testify to my faith, and much to my delight, I have found that many scientists and engineers with whom I converse share this faith.

I am not certain that I am posting this properly! However, I will introduce myself. I have been helping to lead various Bible Studies over the past few years. I never thought that I would be doing this, but the Alpha Course first conducted at our Church got me interested in leading studies. After taking the Alpha Course, I then helped to lead it several times, and followed on with "Life Worth Living" (Philippians), then "Heart of Revival" (Isaiah), and several others not tied to specific parts of the Bible. The first two had plenty of resources (video, participant guides and leader manuals), plus local training available (e.g. "Leading Small Groups"). "Heart of Revival" did not have video support, but I discovered a wonderful resource: "Unlocking the Bible" by Dr. David Pawson from Goodseed Ministries:http://www.goodseed.org/dvd043c.html and is available as a book and as a set of DVDs or VHS cassettes. My latest studies have been much more ambitious: Psalms, Acts and The Minor Prophets. While I relied heavily upon Dr. Pawson's videos, I had to search for other information and ideas for information to put the studies together. In the case of Acts, I found a video dramatization which proved to be more interesting to our group than taking turns reading the Scriptures aloud. Also, before leading the class, I took an on-line course from the World Bible School: http://www.wbschool.org/ which helped me in my preparations. I am now in the process of preparing a Study on the Book of Revelation. My main resource (in addition to the Bible, of course) will be Dr. Pawson's videos. However, before embarking upon my task, I felt it was desirable to take an on-line course myself. After a bit of searching, I have selected this one. I look forward to gaining a better understanding of this book before I start trying to help others do so.