by JOHN CARLINI
C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and a group of friends regularly met at The Eagle and Child Pub to fellowship and bounce ideas off one another. The main characteristics of the group were that they were writers and they were Christians. As a group, they collaborated, supported, and sharpened one another’s skills; in writing and living the good life. The Bible refers to this as “iron sharpening iron” (Proverbs 27:17).
Four of us have formed a reading group in which we have been meeting twice a month over the past year. Each person is reading different books and pursuing different goals. During our meetings, each person gives a presentation on a book they are reading, an intellectual or theological topic, or simply on what kinds of projects they are involved in. After each presentation, the rest of the group interacts with the presentation. Before moving on to the next presenter, the group prays for that person’s request. We have committed to praying for one another between meetings.
We have embraced a wide variety of topics; what kind of work Adam and Eve did before the fall, what kind of work we’ll do in heaven, the interaction of free will and predestination, quantum physics, different forms of epistemology and the nature of truth, recommitting ourselves to intentionally reciting the creeds and applying the Bible to our lives, memorizing Scripture, compassionate evangelism, spiritual disciplines, new designs for computer highways, and many other topics.
I have learned a great deal this year; and involvement in this group has caused me to grow as a person and as a Christian. I think I can speak for the others in saying they have experienced the same.
Since we meet at the church, we don’t have beer and crisps. We keep it to coffee.