By now, you have probably seen the Chesapeake Bible College & Seminary International’s “ALIVE” campaign, featuring the upbeat song, of the same name, from Christian Rock group Brading. It’s a lively exhortation encouring us to be all that God has called us to be and that studying “to show thyself approved” is one excellent component in that mix.
What you may not realize is that it represents the battle cry, also, for the CBCS Online 2.0 Development team as they work to bring the college’s online curriculum to a mobile-friendly and time-friendly level.
Around 2010, the College, was has been serving students since 1977, began its first online studies effort – essentlially taking the existing printed correspondence courses and moving them, in PDF format, to an online format so students globally could access the materials without the delays and expense of shipping. Rapidly, several hundred students began working, via online courses, with the Bible College.
In 2015, the Board of the College, in seeing the growing interest in online studies, advanced the effort by approving the Online 2.0 Initiative – which would serve the College by making courses available online more fully and mobile-friendly so that studies via tablet and/or smartphones could be possible.
CBCS Online 2.0 is the name of the program given for the 2nd generation of online studies that is now available to the more than 450 students who currently study with the College.
It is built on a laptop/tablet/smartphone friendly platform that allows students to access and interact with the course materials in a “micro-time” concept.
In the familiar story of Jesus feeding the multitude, one of the key takeaways is that Jesus asked the disciples to gather the leftovers:
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” – John 6:12 NIV
It is clear that Jesus wanted us to learn that the “scraps” have value – and, in fact, considering the only started with five barley loaves and two fishes, it is amazing to consider that those scraps amassed to fill 12 baskets! And, once again, Jesus made “not enough” into way “more than enough.”
This is precisely the thinking in the micro-time approach of the CBCS Online 2.0 initiative. We all face relentless pressure for deadlines and “things that must be done” and put off our Big Goals for “when the time is right”.
We always have an idea that, at some point, life will slow down, and we can finally pursue that College Bible degree, that Ministry, etc., when the kids are grown, when the job settles down, etc., etc.
What “micro-time” studies allows us to do, is to study at along at our own pace and according to our schedule. It can be difficult to find a block of an hour or two to devote to serious study time, but usually we find ourselves with 15 minutes here and 20 minutes there waiting on the next thing that happens. What if we could use those “scraps” of time and apply it for eternal Kingdom building purposes?
This is the entire philosophy behind CBCS Online 2.0 – to provide students with a study portal that they can access on their mobile smartphone, on their tabplet, or even on their desktop and to set courses in a format that even a few moments, here and there, over time, will amount to 12 baskets full, as it were.
Now, a lunch hour becomes 15 minutes for a sandwich, but 45 minutes towars your College Bible degree. That time on mass transit, instead of reading posts on social media, for time towards your life goal of maximizing your knowledge of God’s Word. Even that waiting time for an appointment, can become study time.
The other benefit of the CBCS Online 2.0 plan is that you can work with our Financial Office to “pay as you go” – you can unlock a plan of “micro-payments” which can help make the already extremely cost-effective study programs at Chesapeake Bible College & Seminary, even more manageable. Seems like we can always find a few dollars for a cup of coffee or similar, but can be more difficult to come up with tuition college funds which usually are paid in a “big block”. With CBCS Online 2.0, the Financial Office can work with you to make the degree program work with ‘micro-payments’ – covering, if needed, even a few lessons at a time.
The key point is that “micro-time’ and ”micro-payments” with studies at CBCS Online, are a way to take advantage of those few quiet moments, when the kids are finally down for a nap, when you have a break on your job, or even a few spare minutes waiting in a line. The College uses the popuplar and widely based Moodle online Learning Management System in use by more than 100,000,000 registered users globally and the Development team is busy adding new online courses that can be studied on desktop, laptop and/or smartphone/tablet with the Moodle Appl.
Instead of waiting for the kids to grow up and go off to college, take advantage of the time God has given you today and remember the value of picking up those scraps of time on your way to your College Bible Degree. Visit ChesapeakeBibleCollege.com and/or call our Admissions Office at 410-634-9005.
By now, you have probably seen the Chesapeake Bible College & Seminary International’s “ALIVE” campaign, featuring the upbeat song, of the same name, from Christian Rock group Brading. It’s a lively exhortation encouring us to be all that God has called us to be and that studying “to show thyself approved” is one excellent component in that mix.
