The Cookie Tree. “If you listen carefully you can hear the truth from the unlikeliest sources, especially from the unlikeliest sources, from an enemy, from a stranger, from children, from nuts, from overheard conversations, from stupid preachers… Are not great discoveries also made at the unlikeliest moments?” (Walker Percy, The Second Coming, p.181) One of my family’s favorite books …
Teaching Methods of Jesus – Conclusion. Jesus was a businessman, and His business was discipleship. He was a true entrepreneur in His teaching ministry employing a wide variety of teaching methods as He went from person to person, crowd to crowd, village to village. He chose to labor long and hard in the role of teacher, …
Teaching Methods of Jesus: Intellect. Sharpen the Intellect. Jesus was a rigorous thinker, He was a spiritual intellectual. He was able to outthink the scholars and professional theologians of the day. And He earnestly sought to renew the minds of His followers, of everyone who listened to Him. In Jewish homes, the parents were the first teachers, …
Teaching Methods of Jesus – Conscience. Nurture the Conscience. Down through history, well-trained intellects who haven’t developed a virtuous character have proven to be a danger to society and useless to the Kingdom. Smart but immoral, intelligent but morally clueless. Raw intelligence without a conscience courts disaster. A well-educated person includes the development of integrity, someone who …
Teaching Methods of Jesus: Imagination. Capture the Imagination. Very little learning will occur without forming mental images of something that isn’t present, and so the self-motivating inspiration of an energized intellect is crucial. The imagination is the intellect at play. It is reason listening to a story, or logic painting a picture. The imagination is also key …
Teaching Methods of Jesus: Introduction. Jesus Christ designed the human mind, the mysterious seat of consciousness of each person, and the pinnacle of creation. The brain’s unlimited complexity means there is no “brain expert.” The more we know about the brain, the more we discover we don’t know. We do know it is a muscle that …
The Teaching Style of Rabbi Jesus. “The Spirit of Yahweh will rest on Him: The Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and of reverence for Yahweh.” (Isaiah 11:2-5). Jesus was often called rabbi, or teacher. In truth, He was The Teacher. And everything He did as …
Teaching the Bible in Schools: A Radical Proposal. “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” (St. Jerome). Integrate the Bible. A case can be made that it is unbiblical to have a Bible Department, and unfaithful to have a Religion Department. When the Bible is seen as just another area of study, like Algebra or Chemistry, then the …
Summing Up: The Big Picture of a Christ-Centered School. Christ in the Center. “Jesus existed before time, matter and space. Everything was brought into being through him, and in him everything continues to exist, held together by him alone. He is the upholding principle of the whole scheme of creation, and in union with him …
Cultivating Wisdom at Home and School “You may be quite sure that in the last days there will be some difficult times. People will be… always learning, but never come to a knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:7) (Please read Luke 2:39-51). Because the chore of growing up is so difficult for all of …
The Effective Learning Culture for Home, School and Church. There is no such thing as a “brain expert.” The human brain is so complex, the most complex piece of creation in the universe, that there is no end to the mystery of how a brain operates. We learn from the latest research, but there is …
Incarnational Teaching. In the beginning was the Word… And the Word became flesh and pitched His tent with us… Full of grace and truth. (from John 1). Is there a better model for Christ-centered teachers than the Incarnation? Let’s think about this… Master teacher Jesus could have chosen any method whatsoever to communicate the truth …