Structure of Meetings

If doing in a group...

In an ideal scenario, you will allocate two hours for your meeting. Even better, add an extra hour to eat a meal together to create a deeper, more comfortable dynamic. Here is a sample agenda:

OPENING HELLOS: 15–20 minutes
VIDEO: Approximately 25 minutes
DISCUSSION: 45–60 minutes
PRAYER: 15 minutes
KICK EVERYONE OUT OF THE MEETING LOCATION: 60 seconds(30 seconds if you choose to invest in a fog horn)

TYPE A PERSONALITIES, HERE ARE TWO THINGS TO NOTE:

• The Post-Video Pontification is designed to give you a series of discussion questions to be used after watching the session only if you or your group needs a prompt. Don’t try to answer them all. You’ll exhaust yourself.*
• The remaining sections are for you to ponder at home. It’s all optional. The sections are all different so you can find what seems interesting to you and fill it out at your own pace and preference.**

Here is the dictionary of sorts for all the different elements you will encounter in this study. Refer back when confused. Additionally, since this study was initially formatted as a DVD box-set, with many "extra" items in the box (coasters, buttons, pencils, etc.), some things may be referenced in videos or journal, but they are unnecessary to have a meaningful individual or group study. Additionally, there are short videos to view, if you choose, that give brief explanations for doing the study as a leader, a group, individually, a Type A personality, etc. Those can be found HERE. The password is "start".

Pontification

After watching a session take a few minutes to sit in silence and look over your notes (so take notes). Jot down any points that stand out to you. There are questions that I’ve pulled from the content to spur further thinking. You don’t have to answer them all or in any particular order. There's some good thought provoking stuff there.

Scripture Says

Dietrich Bonhoeffer discipled many young men by helping them learn to ponder and ingest scripture beyond just reading it. One exercise he had them do was to read one verse over and over until something stood out to them.

Similarly, I hope that we too can really engage God’s word, even if it’s just one verse at a time. In the “Scripture Says” section, I will be listing any of the verses that were mentioned in that week’s video. I want to encourage you to read the entire chapter surrounding the mentioned verse, write it out or speak it out loud over and over, and pray for discernment to understand it better. After you do that, if you want to dig in deeper, there are great online commentaries and apps available. I also enjoy the ESV study Bible for short commentaries and a history of each book.

Let's Do This!

I think the title is pretty self-explanatory. You read what I write and then try to put it into practice throughout the week. If you have any insights, there will be space to write them down. If you don’t “do” the Let’s Do This section, this book will self-destruct. It knows, trust me.

Points To Ponder

These sections will be what some might call “homework” based on the topics my pops and I discuss in the video. But since the word “homework” has caused me to have a gag reflex since the age of seven, I am going to put your mind at ease if you have the same bile-filled reaction to anything sounding like it might be graded.

Non-homework instructions to follow if you so choose:

• You don’t have to do them in any particular order.
• You don’t have to write out your insights, but it probably will be helpful for you in the long run.
• You don’t have to do all or any of them, but I believe they will help you as you strive to be introspective and mature as a human being. oh, you don’t want to be mature? Fine, then. Be that way . . .

See If I Care!

Extra Points To Ponder

I love art. And I love the unique ways we can process and learn through it. That being the case, I’ve included creative work from many of my talented friends throughout this project. The Extra Points to Ponder involve mulling over their contributions if you get time to watch these extra segments.

Right Brain Recreation

In this section, I will give you something creative to do. Trust me, you are going to want to do this. Not only will it benefit your overall depth and maturity, but it will also make passersby in a coffee shop think, “Wow, that person is deep!” when they see you NOT working on a computer.

Oh, and furrow your brow—that will help you look even cooler. Trust me. These furrowed-brow wrinkles I carry are here by choice. Even if you don’t feel like a creative person, I strongly believe this practice will help you. If you don’t trust me, trust Tony.

Tony Buzan, author of Using Both Sides of Your Brain, writes, “When people were encouraged to develop a mental area they had previously considered weak, this development, rather than detracting from other areas, seemed to produce synergistic effects in which all areas of mental performance improved.” A few simple techniques, when deliberately practiced, can give the mind that edge by providing it the agility to move from left to right brain as the need arises (1).

In a 2010 article published in Urbanite: Baltimore, the effects art has on the brain are explored: “Arts evoke emotion, [Mariale] Hardiman points out, and the role that emotions play in laying down long-term memory (and thus learning) is well-established. Our brains take in enormous amounts of information each day and prioritize data to be stored in both short- and long-term memory. First priority is information related to survival, such as perceived threats. Second priority is emotionally tinged data. Most new information is lost within twenty-four hours, unless the brain has a strong motive for converting it to long-term memory and rehearses or repeats the data to effect an actual change in the physical structure of neurons, a process called long-term potentiation. Arts integration, with its emphasis on repetition of information through both cognitive and emotional brain circuitry, theoretically helps facilitate that process.” (2)

(1) Manjul Bajaj, “cross-Train Your Brain,” Life Positive: Your complete Guide to Personal Growth (2003), http://www.lifepositive.com/Mind/ Personal_Growth/cross_train_your_brain12003.asp

(2) Deborah Rudacille, “This Is Your Brain on Art,” Urbanite: Baltimore (September 2010): 56–57, http://issuu.com/urbanitemagazine/docs/september2010_issuu