Our New Small Group

On Sunday evenings this Spring, some 8-10 college students & a couple of recent grads venture over to join us @ the house for our 1st college small group meeting in way too long. Well, except for last night when 100% of the car owners in the group was out of town...

Lisa & I are VERY excited about it! We have dearly treasured small groups & the friendships made there in the past. And thus, we are very much enjoying this group too.

Our official material for this group is a blend of (a) The Bible, and (b) Business for the Glory of God: The Bible's Teaching on the Moral Goodness of Business, by Wayne Grudem. (Take a wild guess where I met the folks in our group...*smile*)

It will surprise nobody who's read me for very long that I am a huge fan of Dr. Wayne Grudem's teaching. A major theologian with a great heart for ministry; great combo! Dr. Grudem's undergrad degree is in Economics from Harvard. (His Ph.D. is from Cambridge...which means he has graduated from schools that I'm barely qualified to drive past!) This particular book of his is from a life-long passion he has to see faith integrated into the Business world (a passion shared by me as a Business School professor). Note the subtitle above: "on the moral goodness of Business"...It's his thesis--and mine!--that the business disciplines & practices are in & of themselves morally GOOD according to the clear teaching of Scripture. They are not just morally neutral, and are definitely not morally bad...morally good. (Although certainly--as Dr. Grudem notes--the various aspects of Business offer serious temptations to sin)

And thus, our small group of students who are/were students in Business at my university. They're *great* folks; the kind who continue to give me hope for the future. (Aside: I've said it before, & will again...anyone who totally despairs of the future needs to meet more college students!)

But here's the kicker for this group that just delights me to no end: every single one of them grew up somewhere else besides North America. Rwanda, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Russia, Sweden...I've never led a small group like that before, and we are just *loving* it! I am SO thankful for God's providence in my job, that places such great students in my path who are fun to hang out with & who are in a perfect place to try to sort through how their faith intersects their career paths.

Loving God's Providence @ the moment,
bb

(p.s. - Just a short one this time. You're welcome. But be forewarned; the muse has shown up a *lot* recently. You should see the "drafts" folder here. *smile*)