(17.) On the Classroom as a Craftsman’s Workshop Where each student is an apprentice in the craft of learning. “Apprentice,” from the French word for “learn,” and from the Latin word for “apprehend.” THE STUDENT. An apprentice in the art and craft of learning; to learn how to learn, but also to learn the idea of …
(18.) On Teachers as Diamonds Six Different Facets of the Excellent Teacher. Every classroom teacher is a diamond in the rough, an unfinished product, no matter how well-trained or experienced. There is always room for improvement, and teacher development happens until the day of retirement. Even master teachers have not arrived, and are still in …
Jesus and Sinners: The Lost Son Thoughts on the Parable of the Prodigal Son – Please read Luke 15:11-31. “Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near Jesus to listen to him teach. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and even eats with them.’ So …
(19.) On Teachers as Live Wires “In terms of the world’s sanity, Jesus was crazy as a coot, and anybody who thinks he can follow Him without being a little crazy too is laboring less under a cross than under a delusion.” (Frederick Buechner) What did Jesus mean when he declared that His followers were …
(12.) Thoughts on the Christ-Centered Middle School “Outwitted” “He drew a circle that shut me out – heretic, rebel, a thing to flout But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in.” (by E. Markham) 1. CHANGE. Pre- and young adolescents (roughly 10-15 year olds) are experiencing …
The Meaning of Glory. “The whole earth is full of God’s glory!” (Isaiah 6:3) GLORY: the weighty splendor of God’s personal presence; GLORIFY: to acknowledge and applaud the reality of God’s presence in the world; to make his presence heavier, clearer, more obvious, more credible, less hidden; to live in a way that preserves God’s …
The Mystery of Glory. We worship you for your holiness, we give you thanks for your goodness, we praise you for your glory! Glory: the weighty splendor of God’s personal presence. The bottom line is that the weight of God’s presence outweighs the world; His presence is more substantive and heavier than the universe. As …
A Whimsical Dictionary of Surprising Influences. Z is for Zacchaeus – The main character in a brief story in Luke 19. He was a rich embezzler with good climbing skills. Zacchaeus was a tax collector for the Roman IRS, a Jewish man with no conscience who got wealthy by collaborating with the hated Roman occupiers. …
A Whimsical Dictionary of Surprising Influences. Y is for Yahweh – “So Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I go to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I tell them?’ Then God said to …
A Whimsical Dictionary of Surprising Influences. X is for Xerxes – An unlikely savior of the Jews; the moody, insecure King of Persia in 4th century BC; one of the protagonists in the book of Esther; was also known as Ahasuerus; his name means mighty man. Hmmm. Xerxes was a two-fisted drinker who always seemed …
A Whimsical Dictionary of Surprising Influences. W is for Wait – An activity motivated and sustained by hope; an unlikely source of satisfaction and fulfillment. An empty, passive exercise in resignation? No. An ulcerating, thumb-twiddling act of idle impatience? Nope. The listless art of biding one’s time? Ditto. Most of us don’t know what waiting …