Those who are called to teach should teach.

Recognizing this necessity, and perceiving that I had been given the honor to serve as Chaplain of the Christian Gamers Guild, I approached its Board of Directors some time back with a proposal.  The group had what might be called a "spare list", a Yahoo!Group which they had acquired years ago when it was part of E-groups, which they had hoped to use for a committee to review role playing games.  That committee's efforts had floundered for a long time, but the space had been preserved, largely because as the rules had changed over the years this had been grandfathered into the old rules--a lot of space for posts.

I had already set up the Chaplain's Corner, complete with four years of articles in the monthly Faith and Gaming series, but felt it was time to do something different.

What I proposed was that I use the space as a medium for a daily Bible class, a high-level intense study of the sort that I had taught to undergraduates years before, a careful exegetical study that would examine the Greek text in detail but hopefully make it accessible to laymen who knew no Greek.  I would begin with Paul's Epistle to the Romans, for a host of reasons including that I had already taught it and was in the midst of recreating my notes from that course.  It would be posted one verse per day, five days per week, so that it would be delivered overnight to subscriber participants each weekday morning; there would be a post on a lighter subject on Friday nights for the weekend.

That study in Romans has been completed.  Along the way our Friday posts have covered the draft of my book About the Fruit, three dozen stories and illustrations useful for sermons or teachings, and lyrics from Christian songs.

As of Sunday night, October 14th, 2007, the study has turned its attention to I Corinthians, moving through this epistle with the same snail's pace and meticulous attention as were given to the four hundred thirty verses of Romans.  Pastors from several denominations are present, and sometimes contribute, but the focus is always on the text.

You are invited to join.  The discussion is delivered through a Yahoo!Group; to subscribe, send an e-mail to this subscription address, then confirm your subscription when asked.  You will begin receiving messages with the next one sent.  The welcome letter will give instructions for finding the first messages in the series, if you wish to catch up.

I look forward to seeing you there.