Cedarville Magazine, Summer 2021

In 2019, one of Cedarville’s best-kept secrets went public: The Bible minor. Cedarville President Thomas White asked the Center for Teaching and Learning to professionally record the lectures from several classes of the Bible minor, with the goal of sharing the Word of God freely and proclaiming the Testimony of Jesus Christ to anyone who wanted to learn more. The Bible minor video project began with the second class in the five-course sequence, Old Testament Literature, and we have completed both the fourth and fifth courses, Theology 1 and Theology 2. Coming in the future will be The Bible and the Gospel and New Testament Literature. Since we began offering the classes online, the response has been tremendous. We have received many kind and gracious comments about the helpfulness of the Bible minor videos in the continuing spiritual development of individuals and small groups from all over the country. We’d like to offer their words as encouragement for how you might use these videos this summer and beyond in your walk with God. PERSONAL ENRICHMENT AND GROUP STUDY Many people use the Bible minor videos for personal enrichment, but others have taken it a step further and gathered friends together. Youth leaders have used the videos as a teaching curriculum and discussion starters in youth groups. Couples have gathered together in small groups, and many have organized Bible studies for women, seniors, and even whole church gatherings. One pastor organized the videos into an elective class for anyone in his church to attend. He hoped for 10 to 15 people and ended up with triple the number. Class members were responsible to watch a video on their own each week, and then they came together as a class to watch another and have a discussion about what they had learned. “The Bible minor videos have been such an amazing experience for our church, and we’re excited to launch into the next class this fall,” commented Tom Hogsed, Lead Pastor of The Summit Church in North Canton, Ohio. “We currently have about 35–40 people taking the class, and the feedback has been tremendous! Here’s an example of what people are saying: ‘This class has really challenged me! It’s hard to believe that I’ve been a follower of Christ for nearly 50 years and truly studied the Bible, but there is so much to learn! What a blessing!’” Another pastor who viewed the video classes wrote, “I pastor a small church in the Midwest and have been watching your class videos online while I eat lunch. I’ve only watched the first five videos, and each one has been incredible — you have blessed me far more than you may ever know. I believe every Christian needs this, and I definitely want my people to get it, so I’m going to turn it into several sermon series. I know your material is likely proprietary and owned by the school, but is there anything you can send me or I can go get that might save me time?” To that request, we responded with a hearty “Amen,” and sent him the full range of class notes and PowerPoint files we use in the videos. We are blessed to give these resources away for free for the building up of God’s church. We are blessed to give these resources away for free for the building up of God’s church. START WATCHING TODAY! You can view the Bible minor videos right now by going to cedarville.edu/BibleMinorProject . IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A WAY TO ENHANCE YOUR BIBLE STUDY THIS SUMMER, WHY NOT TRY THE NEW RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN THE BIBLE MINOR PROJECT VIDEOS? THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AROUND THE GLOBE HAVE ALREADY BENEFITED FROM THEM. Cedarville Magazine | 3