I look forward to the start of the Bible studies with the Temple students. Tenth International Fellowship will be working with Tenth College Union on this effort. I am very excited as to the possibilities of such cooperation. The goal is to have multiple small group communities formed by college students that are centered on the written and living Word of God, empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit sprouting out across the student body. These groups are called "communities" because they are not going to be just study groups (though the study of the Word is central and essential). Here are some ideas about what these groups will seek to be. (1) They will be places where students will learn how to read the Scriptures. Through the process of study, students will learn how to observe, interpret and then apply God's Word with increasing skill to themselves and one another. (2) These groups will also be places where leadership and teaching gifts are put to the test. (3) These groups will be places of evangelization. Those who have yet to embrace Christ but are curious about his way can come into these groups and see for themselves brothers and sisters in Christ struggling to understand and bring their lives under the authority of the Word. There will be little place for superficiality. Tangible truth and aggressive love will be practiced. These groups may be the first places where non-believers will witness and experience a sliver of the larger church in action. (4) Above all, these groups will be places where the Holy Spirit will make his presence felt by the Word that he brings. The Word will take root and exert authority over thought and emotion and action; they will be places where the Word of God is lived out and not just taken in. What a joy it will be to have pockets of time and space in the context of the campus where the Lord is present by his Spirit, nurturing, instructing, and revealing himself to those who love him and to those who have yet to know him.
