Over the weekend, I began searching through the "Discovery" communities. I want to see what was there, but I also was looking for a Men's Bible study society. I found two Christian groups of interest: one which boasted of "daily prayer and fellowship" and the other spoke of "five pillars of Christian manhood." Being a former Men's Pastor myself, I was interested to see how these communities had structured their lessons. From the beginning, the first community was a flop. None of the daily “prayer warriors or truth seekers" showed up Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or (as of 12:35 pm, Eastern) Monday to approve my request to join. The second community got back to me within minutes. I was approved and quickly climbed to Level 5 in the group; then it happened. I committed the two unpardonable sins: (1) Thou shall not read any Bible version other than the King James (KJV only) and (2) Thou shall not question the group leader about his beliefs. Let me provide a bit of information here: I was born again, baptized, and committed myself to lifelong study of God’s Word in 1968. Since then, I read a Christian book per month, and I read through a new Bible version every year. (Yes, I have 58 Bibles on my shelf.) I read English, Greek, and Hebrew texts. I have worn out two Strong’s Concordances and three Vine’s Expositions. Josephus, Roget’s, and other printed scholarly works are also on my shelf, and, yes, I have read them all. I have been a lay pastor for 58 years; serving as a youth leader, youth pastor, district director for Campus Crusade, music ministry pastor, children’s pastor, men's pastor, street ministry pastor, traveling evangelist, and international Creation science teacher. I have alphabet soup after my name: I have a master’s degree (M.S.) in science education; a master’s degree (M.Ed.) in education, emphasis in curriculum design and learning; a master’s degree (M.S. MT.) in medical technology; a bachelor’s degree (B.S.) in chemistry, with biology minor; and a bachelor’s degree (B.A.) in psychology, with a minor in history. In short, I am not a flake or idiot.

The Apostle Paul called Jesus the “last Adam.” As soon as God announced His approval of Jesus at His baptism, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be confronted by the Serpent. With every advantage and provision in the Garden of Eden, the first Adam succumbed to enticement. With no provisions except faith and the words of God for 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus remained resolute in the face of temptation. What mankind did not overcome in the Garden, the Son of God conquered in the desert. Today, we as Believers walk through a wilderness of our own, but Jesus has made us “more than conquerors.” He has made us sons and daughters of God Almighty, with all the power and authority that kinship provides. This is what I will be teaching in my classes this next year daily to my students. This is the common core of every course I teach and recorded class I produce.

39 visits and 4 members generated. I finished setting up my community and added my course bank to the classroom. At this point, I am going to continue and pay the annual fee. I can give it a year and see how much this generates.