This month, it is five years since the first issue of Create a Learning Site (CALS) came out. That makes for a grand total of 60 issues. So this one, issue 61, will be a little different. I am not presenting a topic or wrestling with a Bible book. Instead, I revisit those months in 2014 when CALS was being birthed and reflect on the journey. And I have some ideas to offer related to the future.
First off, though, I want to thank you as the readers, especially those of you who have been with me from the beginning, but also those who joined later: thank you for opening your e-mail inbox to me! After all, this wouldn’t be much of a Learning Site without an audience. Thank you also for the feedback you have sent me over the years. Publishing or broadcasting on the internet can be a lonely exercise, but this has not been the case for me thanks to your words of appreciation.
The idea of this teaching (or learning) letter developed out of a time of crisis and disorientation. I had completed my Ph.D.; a few years later, a long season of leading the School of Biblical Studies in Germany had come to an end. So what would be next? What was the remainder of my life about? Part of the answer has been this monthly training letter.
I love doing this because I love learning. And I am amazed at the variety and scope of subjects that I have been able to cover over these five years. In terms of biblical studies and teaching books of the Bible, I have been all over the place, it seems. Virtually always, an issue has been the fruit of fresh learning, of digging deeper or even engaging with something for the very first time.
Basically, through Create a Learning Site, I have been sharing my journey of learning and discovery with anyone willing to read. This is what I will continue to do.
I have been rereading a pre-launch post, something I wrote and posted in April of 2014, before the first ‘real’ issue of Create a Learning Site came out. It lists six reasons why I started CALS. In summary:
- I love to study a subject and pass on what I learn.
- I can help others go deeper in their study and
understanding of Scripture. - To Create a Learning Site (see below).
- To build a bridge between sound biblical scholarship
and the church, and make valuable knowledge and insight available more broadly. - To help us think better.
- To provide something ‘in the middle’ between ‘simple’
Bible study and ‘serious scholarship’ for the non-specialist who wants more.
All of this still applies. Here is a quote from the original post explaining the third reason more fully:
To “Create a Learning Site”. There is a triple double aim [not a mistake] hidden in this name.
First, ‘site’ refers to this website that I am creating. But it also refers to any other place or space you and I make for study and learning.
Second, I say it to myself as well as to anyone reading it. It is what I am doing, and what I call you to do at the same time.
Third, it is a call not only to create such a site for ourselves, for our learning, but also for others, through teaching. In other words, this site is about biblical studies as well as biblical teaching. It seeks to equip both students and teachers of the Word.
As a birthday gift, to mark the occasion, I have chosen ten issues and turned them into an e-Book. You can download this book as a pdf-file. And you are welcome to pass it on to others.
Soon, I hope to have a second e-Book ready, with virtually all of the issues that have appeared over the past five years included, arranged by book and topic. I will make this available through Amazon for purchase, but for a limited time, it will also be available as a free download for CALS subscribers; you will get an e-mail once it is ready.
A few more ideas I am working on:
- A revised edition of the Digital Toolbox (a collection
of internet resources for studying and teaching books of the Bible). - My teaching on the book of Revelation, which I
recorded recently, as an online course. This, too, will be available for a
limited time through CALS free of charge. - A study guide for the book of Isaiah (and perhaps
another online course?).
And of course a monthly issue. So let’s continue to learn together!
Attribution
Choir: https://pixabay.com/vectors/choir-joyfull-gospel-cheering-305352/, CC0