As a student in the Bible Teaching Principles class reflecting on what it means to be a Bible teacher, my focus since Saturday’s activity has changed. Coming into this class, my focus was definitely on the teaching aspect. However, while learning to become an effective teacher is certainly a valuable and worthwhile study, my focus since Saturday has shifted from the teaching aspect, to now the Word of God in my life as a teacher. Since Saturday’s activity, I have realized just how important my relationship with Christ is if I am to be an effective teacher. I can know and implement all the best teaching techniques, but if my personal walk with Christ is not where it needs to be, then my teaching will not be all that it can and should be. By doing various activities on …show more content…
However, after doing all of the sessions and spending time in God’s Word, I was amazed and humbled by all that God convicted me of and challenged me with concerning my personal walk with Him! All of the principles God showed me throughout each session, such as bringing all that I am into my relationship with Him, examining my level of intimacy and spiritual disciplines, and asking whether or not Jesus is the Lord of my life, were all things I really needed to be thinking about, regardless of if I were teaching or not. My relationship with Christ not only affects me personally, but also those I have interactions with, whether they are my students or not. God showed me that there is room for growth in my walk with Him, but that I do not have to do it by my own strength. God desires for me to know Him and if I am seeking to do that, He will reveal himself and give me the wisdom and strength I need to grow in these specific areas! Then, I will be able to use where I was, where God has brought me, and where I desire to be, to encourage, challenge and teach others about their personal walk with the
In the end, God guided me to APU because He wanted me to learn about Christianity and its purpose. I was fearful at first because I did not know much about God or faith. Several times, I was asked by several APU staff and students which church I attended, but in reality I had never been to church except the one time I had a piano recital. I became curious when I went to my very first chapel. I did not understand why Christians were so strong-willed and crazed about God. When I looked around me, people had their hands in the air with their arms reaching out. I did not understand how they could praise God, someone who cannot be seen with the naked eye, with so much love. Two weeks passed, and I still did not quite understand the Christian religion and its purpose. I remember clearly that one of the apex meetings that I had with my mentor, Phoebe, completely altered my understanding of the Christian religion. She told me the story of Jesus Christ, which I wish someone had taught me earlier. She said that God created all of us humans, but
I spent every spring and summer in middle school doing mission work and community service. I loved the opportunity that it gave me to build relationships and share my beliefs with people I didn’t know. Little did I know that this would pave the way for a life-changing experience that I would encounter one day. Each spring my church would host a missionary event called “The Ignite Project.” I felt an urge to join the group, recognizing that it was a calling to profess my faith in Jesus. These mission trips helped me to go out
I have a deep appreciation of Andy Stanley’s teaching approach, which involved several presentation steps; me, we, God, you, and we. [ ] As teacher, I learned, after applying this five step transitional approach, to move from personal experience to community understanding where God was the main focus of discussion. However, I found the HBLT approach to be more useful, particularly in my small discipleship studies being that it did not require a great deal of time to prepare the lessons, whereas, with the MWGYW ap...
The church must strive to have in place a biblical foundation to discipleship that relates to the millennial generation. All of the churches discipleship efforts should strive to build and foster authentic relationships. We are at a precarious point in the life of the church where the Christian community must come to a conclusion to rethink the efforts to making disciples. “Some (though not all) ministries have taken cues from the assembly line, doing everything possible to streamline the manufacture of shiny new Jesus-followers, fresh from the factory floor. But disciples cannot be mass-produced. Disciples are handmade, one relationship at a time.” In today’s culture the church needs new architects to design a way in which the local church community can foster and build authentic relationships that lead to discipleship.
My life is continually unfolding into a more global understanding of faith, religion and culture where I once thought all was wrong and evil if not strictly Roman Catholic. One of the ways I cultivate my outlook is to analyze the different ways people honor the dead.
Just what is theology? This question can have a wide variety of answers, from irrelevant facts about God thought up by men centuries ago, to complicated theories discussed by scholars. Typically, the average 21st century man does not consider theology as relevant. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Theology by definition has the characteristics of both expounding the truth, and impacting the believer with that truth (Himes, 2011). Therefore, theology and the church are intricately combined, in that the church embodies the revelation of God, and is reality, not theory (Himes, 2011). A personal practical theology must begin with revelation, not the individual (Himes, 2011), and proclaim the truth in a way that impacts, equips, and mobilizes the believer to make disciples in the genre of God’s choosing.
Most days, I study my scriptures three times. I begin my day by waking up at five thirty to attend a class at a local member’s home (We would go to our lo This year we are studying the New Testament. My attendance to class is voluntary, and I will continue to attend this class for the next three years. I love this class because it pulls out all the important things I need to learn, act upon, and opens my mind to other perspectives. Studying the scriptures in this class helps me grow closer to God, and I am astounded at the wonders that I learn of. I have a passion for studying the scriptures which exceeds my passion for all other activities I participate in. Through studying my scriptures in this class and on my own, I have been able to discover who I am, why I am here, and where I will go when this life is finished. Studying God’s words has answered questions no one else could.
Van Brummelen, H. (2009). Walking with God in the classroom: Christian approaches to teaching and learning (3rd Ed.). Colorado Springs, CO: Purposeful Design Publications.
Throughout this course we have discussed through the scriptures ways of helping our students learn and grow in God’s word. It is our duty to model God’s lessons in our daily lives and in our
The Bible student, laymen, or pastor will find the principles presented by Fee and Stuart helpful despite the weaknesses presented. The author’s contribution on how to interpret each of the different genres is especially beneficial. The Bible Student will have more knowledge of how to interpret God’s Word when finished with the work. Fee and Stuart achieve their goal helping the reader not only with interpretation, but with application.
According to MacCullough (2012), knowing key worldview questions and biblical answers, a teacher is more prepared to integrate biblical worldview activities into their lessons. Moreover, this can be accomplished with ease in Christian schools by integrating the Bible and lessons from the Bible into the lessons being taught. For example, MacCullough (2012) talks about student processing activities and how one story opened up a whole discussion on God and how as humans we can talk to God and that He talks to us through the Bible. Additionally, Dr. Sam Smith talks about those in public schools and how they can integrate biblical principles. He affirms, “We believe you can integrate biblical principles in the public school best by living your life as a model of Jesus Christ and by doing what you do well” (Smith, 2012). This is encouraging for those who choose to work in a public school because, although they are restricted in what they can say, they are still able to integrate a worldview. This can be done by letting Christ shine through them to their students. Similarly, this approach can and should be done in both public, private, and Christian schools. Letting Christ shine through should not just be for those times teachers are in a Christian environment, but in every situation that teachers encounter in their daily lives.
Bryant and Brunson have done a terrific job of assessing the pastoral ministry and giving sound advice, to the young or prospective pastor. The present author believes that this book should be standard in every pastor’s library. “God promises to be with his servants as they follow” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 16) The apostle Paul gave three rules to keep the pastor on the track of a good reward: “Fight the Good Fight; Finish the Race; and Keep the Faith.” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 240-242) The greatest joy for a pastor is to, “Finish well.”
For as long as I can remember, I have gone to church. My entire life I have known this concept of Jesus and who he was. And for some reason, that was supposed to be important to me. As a kid, I could tell you the majority of the Bible stories, after all, I heard them all the time. Even at a young age, though, I could tell there was more to the whole Jesus thing. It seemed that some people understood on a deeper level what all this church stuff was actually about. As I began to learn more about this Jesus, I began to question why he was important to me and what he had to do with the life change in the people around me.
This semester has proved to be a real awakening to what direction I need to be pursuing in my spiritual walk. I have learned so much through this course. Some of the things that I have learned that have become more important than they were in the past are; the need for silence, the need for community, the need for direction, and above all how utterly helpless we are when we try to “do” everything, including ministry without seeking God first.
The desire to study God’s word to obtain a personal connection is a pursuit for many believers. Beginning a course to study and engage with the word at a collegiate level can be overwhelming and intimidating. Even though one may read the word countless times during their lifetime, understanding the reading material academically and historically is a different concept to master. Personally, I was apprehensive about my overall ability to retain the information and comprehend the context of the scientific and historical aspect of God’s word. However, Tarwater wrote in a manner that was engaging and invited me into the historical importance of the words and understanding God. From beginning to end, Tarwater