Each of our hearts is an open book to Christ. And because His aim is to restore our hearts to their original design, He continually asks us questions to reveal the true nature of our heart. This is the process of spiritual formation. The question is, do we cooperate with him?
Jesus used an analogy from creation about how wine ferments and bloats a wineskin to explain the reality of becoming a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) and entering into relationship with God. Consider what dominant cultural views you think should be confronted today and go outdoors like Jesus did, and look for an analogy from nature to explain what you want to confront.
Here we begin a three part series, “3 Steps to Writing Well-Crafted Outdoor Bible Study Questions.” My single objective is to remove the “barrier of entry” to effective wilderness ministry by giving Christian outdoor leaders a topo map that leads to competence and confidence in the skill of crafting awesome Bible-reflection questions for the wilderness setting.
The wilderness is teeming with colorful stained-glass windows of sky colors that settle our souls into God’s presence and make boring doctrines relevant again. We need more leaders in the church who understand this and will step up and lead others into wilderness experiences to help them grow in worship and awe of their Creator.
Think about it: scuba diving takes me to the bowels of the earth into vast open spaces void of life. You can descend over spectacular ecosystems of coral reefs teeming with animal life from all parts of the food chain. I’ve come to learn that being able to attain neutral buoyancy is the key to easy diving.
