Revitalize Your Church

Tonight, I taught a class on Creative Journaling at the Hayward Branch of Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College. The students were great, and a fun time was had by all.

Words of wisdom from my friend, Barb Bennett, who serves as Pastor of Community Care at Westview Community Church in Manhattan (Kansas, that is.) On our blender, there are several settings, and depending on how we set it, we end up with a mixture containing chunks of fruit and ice-cream still identifiable, or the ingredients are liquefied and thoroughly mixed so none of the original items are recognizable. We all hear and read great words and ideas that others have created, and sometimes we "borrow" those things to share with our group. When we study we gather information from a variety of sources; sometimes we cannot even remember exactly where we first learned something. As you sit down to prepare a lesson, imagine all that information is being put into a blender, whirred around, and then poured out when you present the lesson. If your lesson still has identifiable "chunks" from someone else, you need to give credit to the person . We usually do this for direct qu...

I recently wrote this review of Ken Schenck's excellent book, Making Sense of God's Word , for Cross Reference: Dr. Kenneth Schenck, associate professor of religion at Indiana Wesleyan University, has written an insightful and concise guide for reading the Bible: Making Sense of God’s Word. Though one of the deepest thinkers in our tradition, Schenck handily simplifies the very complicated issue of biblical hermeneutics. Through a clear, step-by-step process, the reader is taught to move from the historical and literary context of a passage to life experience and today’s application. This is helpful guide is easily one of the best-ever books on interpreting the Scriptures. It will prove to be a valuable tool for teachers, preachers, and others concerned with “rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” (The book will be available for purchase in early 2009)

Teachers might not change the world in dramatic fashion, but we certainly change the people who will change the world. So who do you think said this?

Said one traveler to another: “I have come a great distance to listen to the words of the Teacher, but I find his words quite ordinary.” “Don’t listen to his words. Listen to his message.” “How does one do that?” “Take hold of a sentence that he says. Shake it well till all the words drop off. What is left will set your heart on fire." - Anthony deMello

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. —William Arthur Ward Got this from my good friend, Mark Gorveatte