IF YOU ALREADY DO, OR PLAN ON ATTENDING AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY:
Take Christian Life, Faith, and Ministries with Bruner. His teaching styles are kinda like another friend of mine... Braner. Hmmm..... Bruner and Braner. They should do something epic together. ANYWAYS... BRUNER is one incredible professor. He said that about 5 years ago, he used to teach the way every professor did... until his daughter was born. Almost immediately he realized that he's teaching the young adults that will one day educate his daughter. That is his motivation for what he does in the classroom. And it is spectacular. I'm learning Christianity in a way that is kicking my butt (in a good way). He's taking everything I've learned to this point and turning it inside out and upside down. He encourages us to think for ourselves, not to believe what he says necessarily. But he makes good points. Today, he totally blew my mind in coming to the conclusion that while we get closer to God, we become more at peace, but also have more and harder challenges. So it is possible to go through harder struggles and challenges, and be more at peace. He talks about throwing our (fishing) nets on the starboard side instead of the port side (like Jesus told the fishermen). This is pretty much what his class is like. He's teaching me things in a completely different way. I thought I knew what Christianity was all about. I know nothing. And it's good! It will give me more to learn. His biggest pet peeves (spelling?) are Christian cliches... like "I'm on fire for God" or "God First" etc... Not that they are wrong, but we like to pretend that we can figure out little things about Christianity. We are designed to want to figure everything out. But once we figure something out, it becomes a mathematical equation. We like to think we can figure it all out. It's stupid. Even the way we pray... "Oh Lord, God Almighty. You are love. You give us what we need when we ask. We praise you O Lord." Do we even know what we're saying? I know I'm a victim of this. Christianity equals struggle and challenge. Obviously... but it's so much more than we think. I've never learned about Christ like this. And it's only been the 5th actual class. He's a smart guy. The first day, he came off as SUPER intimidating. He said stuff like, "This class is only for those who are willing to work incredible hard." "You will probably fail this class if you don't work." "A lot of you are going to drop this class today". The second day, he walked in saying... "Look's like my scarecrow technique worked. 10 people dropped the class. I'm glad I have only those who are serious about their faith now." It turns out that the only thing you have to do to pass the class is read the books and do your part in a group project. I'm so glad I decided to stay another day. I am so excited to see where this goes throughout the semester. So, If ever you're going to attend APU, TAKE THIS CLASS!!!
