Ecclesiastes 12:10

    In  Matthew 13:34 we read, “ All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable ”. The parable, a short story with a spiritual message, was the favored teaching method of Jesus. Even today, those who might not know much scripture probably know the gist of several parable.   Why?   If we look at the next verse, we are directed to Psalm 78. This psalm speak about making sure the next generation knows about what God has done. It tells of famous bible ‘stories. By these tales, they would grow and figure out how God works and how it relates to them.    That’s why we need to make sure our kids know those Bible stories. The examples, the trials, the up and downs, they help shape and guide us. Not only that but they stick with us.  If you want to remember something you create a story, as you travel down that path it reminds you of the lesson along the way.  These tales are not just ta...

  Robert Rosenthal came to teachers with a new test called the Harvard Test of Inflected Acquisition . This test he informed the instructors could accurately predict kids that would excel in the coming year. The test was administered and the teachers were given the names of potentially high-achieving students.  Rosenthal expressed to them that these kids were special and that even if they might not done well in the past they showed unusual potential for growth.    The test proved itself right. Those students it selected scored better and improved more. The 1st graders gained 27 IQ points as for only 12 for the rest of the class. In 2nd grade, the potentially high achievers gained 17 points versus only 7 by the rest of the class.   The result might be right but the test wasn’t.  Rosenthal selected the kids at random.  Nothing was different about them.   What really changed was how they were viewed by their teachers. Instead of seeing them as ...

  Here is an old saying worth considering: “Never trust a skinny cook”.   A friend of mine once said this at camp. That year our camp cook was a man of let’s say ample portions. That year we ate good. His remark was about how in a previous experience, the camp cook was a waify thing that didn’t seem to think you need much to get by. That year he didn’t eat so good.  Now consider a passage of scripture: In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. 1 st Timothy 4:6   In this passage, Paul is describing the traits of the man tasked with instructing the brethren. In order to do that however he must first be a man who is well fed himself. Fed on words of faith and sound doctrine. A man that is starved himself won’t be very good at feeding others.   That is why it is important that we take care to make sure t...

    Cunningham's Law is an axiom coined by Steven McGeady. It’s named after Ward Cunningham, the inventor of wiki software, who initially gave him the advice.  It states " the best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer ."   That doesn’t just work on the internet. People that would instantly shut up like an oyster if you asked something of them will open up if it makes them feel superior. We like to be right and are quick to let people know when they are wrong.   The problem is that isn’t the best way to communicate. When you jump on a person for their error they are just as likely to double down on the mistake than consider the truth. That’s why the Bible tells us in 2 nd Timothy 2:24-25, “ The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance lead...

Monday Morning Scattershooting while wondering why they call it a Fiat? Probably because if you get mad enough, you can throw one.    I always thought that Bible class numbers are a more accurate measure of the health of a church than worship attendance. I think it was Ira North that said “ as the Bible class goes, so goes the church ”.  But even those numbers can be off if we don’t make Bible class a priority in the church.  I've seen lots of churches that have poor class number because they don’t really make the classes worth attending. I’m focusing on adult Bible classes since if the adults come then the children will as well. [*] Here are some things that might help to fix that:              1. It’s all about the options.     If you only give folks a choice between one type of class and not coming, more people will take that choice to not come.  More classes make for smaller cla...

Monday Morning Scattershooting while wondering,  If violence is never the answer,what if the question is,“what is never the answer”. Then it is violence even though violence is never the answer    A sports radio station I listen to is known for having hot sports opinions. They like the host to have controversial thoughts on everything. “Jerry Jones the owner needs to fire Jerry Jones the general manager!”  “The Rangers need to get some pitching right now!” “The designated hitter is ruining baseball!”  While this may make for good talk radio, I don’t think it is the best way for a preacher to operate.  I see some preachers spending a lot of time trying to stir up controversy and conflict.  They are quick to throw in their two cents on every issue.  This may stir up the comment sections and boost their fame but I don’t think it much helps the cause of Christ.  Recently I ran across a fellow that was setting some bear traps [1]...

Monday Morning Scatter Shooting  while wondering  w hy I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes? Jeff Jenkins had a wonderful post ( http://thejenkinsinstitute.com/2013/02/top-10-things-preachers-love-about-preaching-at-least-the-preachers-we-contacted-for-this-article/ ) about the great things about being a preacher.  One item that wasn't on the list was how preachers get to work mostly with Christians.  As a preacher, my coworkers are Christians. My bosses are Christians. The people I have meeting with are Christians.  Now any good preacher has his dealing with the world but he does have a much better work environment than most of the average members do.  Preachers don’t have to deal with a lot of the worldly things that an everyday job does. The dishonesty, sexual talk, the three martini lunches, all the negative influence the world has on the market p...

Right after we moved to Arkansas, the kids succeed in there campaign to get a dog.  For several years, every birthday request and letter to Santa contained the request for a dog.  We had been resistant to the idea since we felt we didn’t have enough space in our backyard.  Once we moved however that excuse was gone and soon we found ourselves at the animal shelter picking out a dog.  She is a good dog but like most puppies she loves to chew, on everything!  At first I thought it would go away as she grew up but little by little everything in our back yard has been chewed up. I tried everything I could think of to discourage this habit. The last straw came a week ago when she managed to chew the electric wires to our air conditioning unit (I don’t know how she managed that without killing herself). So now she is in dog training to get it under control.  The dog was unaware of the danger she faced. Until she is trained, she will continue to put herself ...

  A student from Michigan State named Michael Shaffer recently discovered the largest prime number known to man. I would tell it to you but the number is 6,320,430 digits long and would need 1,400 to 1,500 pages to write out. When asked about his accomplishment, he said, “It's a neat accomplishment, but it really doesn't have any applicability."     It strikes me as amusing that he was so quick to dismiss his accomplishment. In order to achieve this feat, Shaffer linked together 211,000 personal computers together to form a supercomputer to pull of the 9 trillion calculations a second computing power needed to search for the number. The techniques he developed to find the number may be the real significance discovery.    I have often found teachers to have the same attitude that Mr. Shaffer had.  At the end of a year, they look back at and wonder “Did I really accomplish anything” and “Was the time and effort worth what they really learned”?  But...

   A recent survey by the National Study of Youth & Religion found that while many teens are active in religious groups, few are well educated about those beliefs, and therefore have a “shallow” faith. The study showed that while many teens had a belief in God and believed faith was important, many had a difficult time explaining how that faith made any difference in their lives.    I believe this study shows us the importance of Biblical education to growing in faith. As many have abandoned “Bible” class for classes more rooted in popular psychology and current fads, the spiritual development of their students has suffered. With out hearing God's word, faith does not grow. (Romans 10:17) Faith that does not grow beyond the basics is weak and shallow.    As we read in 2 Peter 1:5-8, “ But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to persev...

In December 1883, a man by the name of Stephen Girard died willing his estate to the City of Philadelphia. A controversial clauses of Girard's will established a college for impoverished white male orphans between the ages of six and ten years. The will specified the subject matter to be taught, limiting instruction to purely moral concepts of goodness, truth, and honor, and barring clergymen of any denomination from holding any post within the college and from visiting the premises. Some religious groups sued and the case went to the Supreme Court. The court was put to the task of deciding if keeping out denominational groups was the same as keep out Christianity and the Bible. The court ruled that the will was valid but while the denominational groups could be kept out, the Bible and Christianity could not. They said, “ Are not these truths all taught by Christianity, although it teaches much more? Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly ...

Many of us are trying to “eat right”, but it can often be difficult to figure out what is really good for you. Products have all kinds of healthy claims on the label but how do you figure out which ones are really true? Well, that is why the FDA has a website that lists qualified health claims so you can find out for yourself. For an example, do tomatoes help fight cancer? Well this is what they have to say about it, “One study suggests that consuming tomatoes does not reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer, but one weaker, more limited study suggests that consuming tomatoes may reduce this risk.” Well that certainly clears everything up! In religion much like our diets, many are also searching for real answers. But in many modern day religions they find half truths and contradictory advice. Their message is as convoluted and vapid as those FDA claims. Jesus was never that way. He spoke as one having authority. (Mark 1:22; Luke 4:32) His commands were clear. (John 8:24, Mark 16:16) He fo...