Great Word Picture

“The Word of God is like cool water from a canteen. During the most difficult times, it brings relief and a feeling of renewal that allows us…to accomplish any mission set before us.” -- retired Marine Corps Commandant Charles C. Krulak

The All-Important Hook

Bruce Johnson, a pastor, has written two related articles about introductions and hooks. Read these:

The Number One Mistake Most Preachers and Communicators Make

How to Fix the Most Common Preaching/Communication Problem

This second article outlines a step-by-step process to analyze an audience and identify their felt needs – the key to creating a great hook.

Great stuff! I recommend you print these and put them in your files. Plan to reread them again a few months.

Choosing Your Lesson Material

The reason why this cartoon is funny is because there's more than a grain of truth in it.

How many times have you had a good story or joke or "hook" line, and then wondered how you could use it?

My advice -- put that in your journal or notebook, and let it simmer. Don't force material to come together. Let the Holy Spirit remind you of things at the right time.

Start with the Biblical text. Many, many theological errors and false teaching result from a well-intentioned teacher starting with a joke or story and scrambling to find even the flimsiest connection with a verse.

P.S. The picture came from a weekly Church Laughs list from Christianity Today. You can sign up to get these for free -- another good source of ideas and illustrations for your classes!

Copyright 2005 Robertson and Christianity Today International/BuildingChurchLeaders.com Used with permission.

Contest -- Win a free copy of Teach the Bible to Change Lives

How would you use this picture as an illustration for a class or small group?

Send your idea to info@teachtochangelives.com by August 30th. I'll give away a free copy of my book to the best entry.

Ask, Don't Tell

I worked through the Gospels again recently, as part of my effort to read the whole Bible in 30-40 days (See my book if you want an action plan on how to do this -- it will change forever the way you look at the Bible!)

This time through I paid specific attention to how Jesus interacted with people.

Jesus, the very Image of God, did not insult anyone's intelligence, but expected them to THINK. Even His enemies. How do I know this? Because he almost never gives people an answer, but instead asks them questions or tells them parables so they discover the answers.
We should do likewise as Bible teachers and witnesses for Christ.

Let's be great askers -- of the Lord in prayer, and of men and women by questions that help them to think.

Fun

Maybe someday this will be your search engine of choice!

Short hiatus

I will be taking a week or so off from posting, while I turn my attention to other things. Teach to change lives!

Catalyst for Change

Good teachers are catalysts -- they promote positive change.

In chemistry, catalysts are substances that speed up a reaction, or make it happen with less energy input. The reaction or change can happen at a slow rate, or at a low frequency.

God uses Bible teachers to catalyze life change in the people He loves. He uses teachers to help people understand more, put things together faster, get practical ideas that will help them grow into spiritual maturity.

You are a powerful catalyst in the hands of the living God! Let him use you to change lives. Get excited about what the Holy Spirit is doing to honor Jesus and the Father!

Great Bible teaching is hampered by 7 deadly problems

Every teacher has to face off and overcome 7 deadly problems in order to teach the Bible to change lives. I put together a free six page report that outlines the problems and tells you how to overcome them.

There is a "half" problem that you should also recognize!

Check it out at
http://www.teachtochangelives.com/7Problems.pdf

If you think you're immune, think again. My teaching ministry has been hit by more than one of these!

Great Armstrong quote

I remember watching Neil Armstrong step out on to the moon. We were crowded around the B&W family TV in 1969, transfixed by what we saw. You probably remember what he said: "One small step for man, one giant step for mankind."

But I learned only recently what Neil Armstrong said to a joint session of Congress later that year.

"To those of you who have advocated looking high we owe our sincere gratitude, for you have granted us the opportunity to see some of the grandest views of the Creator."

Could you use that as a teaching illustration or in an opener?

How do you find quotes and stories like this? You can find out one free way (let Google do the heavy lifting for you!) at

http://www.teachtochangelives.com/alerts.pdf

Power of words

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind." -- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Getting ready to speak

Perry Noble shares how he gets prepared for a sermon. This is worth reading because he outlines an excellent, iterative process that
allows room for God to speak to him
helps him tailor it to the needs of the audience
engages others to help him shape the message

It's about 2 pages, and I recommend it for teachers. I really liked this section:

"Let me be very up front--I believe in being prepared--and being prepared as a speaker involves a lot of time. This has not always been a conviction of mine...I used to sort of have the attitude that I would get up to speak, have a passage in mind, read it--and then "let the Spirit move me" in whatever direction He wished.

But since that time I have discovered that the moving and working of the Holy Spirit is not limited to a one hour window on Sundays. The Holy Spirit moves me to always be thinking about the message that I will be speaking on--He is present with me in my times of study--He is present with me as I am preparing and running through the message in my living room--and He is present with me as I present the message.

I can honestly say that every message that I speak is Spirit led--I usually have about 90% of what I want to say in mind when I step out on stage to speak every Sunday--and He always moves and gives me about 10% more than I had planned to say.

I believe God honors those who honor Him through loving Him and the people who are going to be in attendance. How do we honor God & those people--if we are the speaker--it means that when we step up--we are prepared. I am guided by the conviction that people are willing to give me 30-40 minutes of their time every week...and I do not want to communicate in that time that God is boring or meaningless--so I prepare."

That's a great message for teachers to hear and live by. Your teaching ministry is a God-thing, a work of the spirit. But you need to cooperate, and that means work.

Promote Bible reading

By now several million people -- of all ages -- have read the latest Harry Potter book. Many of them read it in the first twenty-four ours. They sat transfixed, absorbed, putting off sleep or food or other distractions to focus on the prize. They turned page after page, hungry with desire to see how the story works out.

You don't see this happen with the Bible very often.

But the Bible is far, far superior to a Harry Potter book. It's God's very Word to us. It's a love letter from the Lord to us. It's the message of hope in this world, the most wonderful story of redemption ever told!

I remember reading the whole New Testament in three days after being challenged to actually read what I was criticizing. I was transfixed, absorbed, astounded, and awed. This Jesus was not like what I had imagined. And later, after accepting Christ, I read verses like John 16:23 and ran into my roommate's room to wake him up I was so excited. "Do you know what this says? Wow!"

I think there are two (and a half) reasons why few people get excited about reading the Bible like millions do for a Harry Potter book.

1. The majority of people -- even Christians -- perceive the Bible is hard to understand and dull. Let us repent of how we as contributed to this perception! Dads, pastors, and teachers all need to give the children and adults in their charge an accurate picture of the Bible. We frequently voice concern about "dumbing down" Scripture, and we should. Let us be careful about making the Bible seem like a book only experts and weirdos would enjoy.

2. Very few people have models or coaching on how to read large amounts of Scripture, in order to develop breadth. Nearly all Bible studies push for depth. Which is important. But love for the Bible also should lead us into breadth of study. We celebrate people who read the Bible in a year, or even a chapter a day. That's good. But we would also do well to challenge people to read the Bible over and over again. I outline specific strategies to help people read the Bible in 30-40 days in my book, Teach the Bible to Change Lives. I get gasps of "you've got to be kidding" when I lay out this challenge. But people (of all ages) who take up the challenge consistently tell me it has transformed their view of the Word, and of God. Dads, pastors, and teachers need to lead the way and model this.

The half-reason is that Satan cares not a whit if people read Harry Potter or watch CNN or clean their garage. He just wants to steer people away from the Word of God, and from prayer.

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will work powerfully in the hearts of His people, and give them an unquenchable desire for His Word. May it begin with dads, pastors, and teachers everywhere!

The Bible is the coolest, most wonderful book in the world. Settle that fact in your heart, and everything else will fall into place.

Imagination exercise

From surveys and educated guesses, I believe most of my readers are teaching in comfortable, often suburban churches in the US.

Let me stretch your imagination a little bit. How would your teaching be different if you were teaching in a poor country? In a missionary setting where many people have never heard the Gospel?

I suspect you immediately thought about the less important things -- setting, equipment, education level of your students, the temperature or insect population.

But how should your teaching be the same? What are the key things to focus on? Content. How to help people learn. Using illustrations. Sharpening yourself to have a deeper understanding (breadth and depth) of God's Word.

Use this kind of imagination exercise to teach your very best, no matter what the setting.

Want to promote learning? Promote talking.

"I often don't know what I really know or think until I hear myself in conversation with interested and positively-focused folks." -- David Allen

David Allen (of Getting Things Done fame -- a book I recommend) has hit upon an important truth about how many people learn.

Most learners will remember a small fraction of what they heard. But they will remember virtually everything they said. Speaking reinforces and sharpens fuzzy thoughts. I'm sure you know some people who rattle on, and they may even say they're "thinking out loud." This is all good news for learning.

So as you are preparing lessons, engineer opportunities for your students to speak. Challenge them to paraphrase a passage, summarize a point, or give two reasons why they like this passage. Their retention and understanding will skyrocket.

Are there exceptions to this pattern? Certainly. But they're relatively few people who learn better without their voice being engaged.

P.S. By the way, as I discuss in my book, Teach the Bible to Change Lives, speaking out loud promotes greater understanding of Scripture. That's why I recommend reading the Bible aloud as you study it -- you'll engage more of your brain, and you're much more likely to comprehend it.

Training the Mind is Important

John Piper has some excellent thoughts here. He is talking about training children to read and think critically, which I applaud. Keep in mind that many adults today have not really learned how to read well and think through Scripture. (This wasn't something they emphasized on Sesame Street.) No matter what age, nor current skill level, we all have room to improve. 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' (Matthew 22:37)

I've reproduced the FreshWords article here; you can get a copy at Desiring God. (Better yet, sign up to receive Pastor Piper's sermons and writings by email each week -- no charge.)


Thoughts on the Significance of Reading
July 13, 2005
I was reading and meditating on the book of Hebrews recently, when it hit me forcefully that a basic and compelling reason for education—the rigorous training of the mind—is so that a person can read the Bible with understanding.

This sounds too obvious to be useful or compelling. But that’s just because we take the preciousness of reading so for granted; or, even more, because we appreciate so little the kind of thinking that a complex Bible passage requires of us.

The book of Hebrews, for example, is an intellectually challenging argument from Old Testament texts. The points that the author makes hang on biblical observations that come only from rigorous reading, not light skimming. And the understanding of these Old Testament interpretations in the text of Hebrews requires rigorous thought and mental effort. The same could be said for the extended argumentation of Romans and Galatians and the other books of the Bible.

This is an overwhelming argument for giving our children a disciplined and rigorous training in how to think an author’s thoughts after him from a text—especially a biblical text. An alphabet must be learned, as well as vocabulary, grammar, syntax, the rudiments of logic, and the way meaning is imparted through sustained connections of sentences and paragraphs.

The reason Christians have always planted schools where they have planted churches is because we are a people of THE BOOK. It is true that THE BOOK will never have its proper effect without prayer and the Holy Spirit. It is not a textbook to be debated; it is a fountain for spiritual thirst, and food for the soul, and a revelation of God, and a living power, and a two-edged sword. But none of this changes the fact: apart from the discipline of reading, the Bible is as powerless as paper. Someone might have to read it for you; but without reading, the meaning and the power of it are locked up.

Is it not remarkable how often Jesus settled great issues with a reference to reading? For example, in the issue of the Sabbath he said, “Have you not read what David did?” (Matthew 12:3). In the issue of divorce and remarriage he said, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female?” (Matthew 19:4). In the issue of true worship and praise he said, “Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have prepared praise for yourself’?” (Matthew 21:16). In the issue of the resurrection he said, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone’?” (Matthew 21:42). And to the lawyer who queried him about eternal life he said, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” (Luke 10:26).

The apostle Paul also gave reading a great place in the life of the church. For example, he said to the Corinthians, “We write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end” (1 Corinthians 1:13). To the Ephesians he said, “When you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:3). To the Colossians he said, “When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea” (Colossians 4:16). Reading the letters of Paul was so important that he commands it with an oath: “I adjure you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brethren” (1 Thessalonians 5:27).

The ability to read does not come intuitively. It must be taught. And learning to read with understanding is a life-long labor. The implications for Christians are immense. Education of the mind in the rigorous discipline of thoughtful reading is a primary goal of school. The church of Jesus is debilitated when his people are lulled into thinking that it is humble or democratic or relevant to give a merely practical education that does not involve the rigorous training of the mind to think hard and to construe meaning from difficult texts.

The issue of earning a living is not nearly so important as whether the next generation has direct access to the meaning of the Word of God. We need an education that puts the highest premium under God on knowing the meaning of God’s Book, and growing in the abilities that will unlock its riches for a lifetime. It would be better to starve for lack of food than to fail to grasp the meaning of the book of Romans. Lord, let us not fail the next generation!

Saying "Any questions?" does not count as being interactive

With few exceptions, people don't learn much in straight lectures and speeches. If you're interested in maximizing learning, make your lesson times interactive. Ask questions (and wait more than 2 seconds!) to give people a chance to interact.

Saying "Any questions?" and plowing ahead one heartbeat later does not count as being interactive.

Give interaction time.

You'll cover less ground, but people will get more out of it. My rule of thumb: don't talk more than ten minutes without creating interaction.

Learning from Robert Murray M'Cheyne

You would do well to print off these quotes from Robert Murray M'Cheyne, and ponder them for a few minutes today. Let me highlight a few that should especially touch Bible teachers.

"Get your texts from God—your thoughts, your words, from God. In great measure, according to the purity and perfection's of the instrument, will be success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God. A word spoken by you when your conscience is clear, and your heart full of God's Spirit, is worth ten thousands words spoken in unbelief and sin."

"Depend upon it, it is God's Word, not our comment upon God's Word, that saves souls."

"Take heed to thyself. Your own soul is your first and greatest care. You know a sound body alone can work with power; much more a healthy soul. Keep a clear conscience through the blood of the Lamb. Keep up close communion with God. Study likeness to Him in all things. Read the Bible for your own growth first, then for your people. Expound much; it is through the truth that souls are to be sanctified, not through essays upon the truth. Be easy of access, apt to teach, and the Lord teach you and bless you in all you do and say. You will not find many companions. Be the more with God. My dear people are anxiously waiting for you. The prayerful are praying for you. Be of good courage; there remaineth much of the land to be possessed. Be not dismayed, for Christ shall be with thee to deliver thee. Study Isa vi, and Jer i, and the sending of Moses, and Ps li 12, 13, and John xv 26, 27 and the connection in Luke 1. 15,16. . . . . "

God's Word

"God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it--no matter what."
-- Hebrews 4:12-23, The Message

Which teaching model do you use?

Unless you're delivering a sermon, make your Bible teaching interactive. Ask questions. (WAIT for responses.) Use dialogue back and forth to help people understand key points more deeply. Use illustrations. Ask questions. Express emotion and passion from an authentic, Spirit-ssaturated heart! Ask questions. Speak right into their chests! This is the Jesus way of teaching. This is the way to dramatically increase learning, retention, and life change.

This morning I heard a great descriptor for the alternative model of teaching:

"Sit-n-git"

:-)

What Bible study tools are the best for you?

Great Bible teaching begins with great Bible study.

But there's a lot of confusion about what tools are thebest to help teachers like you study the Bible. I put together a 12-page report that gives you a checklist on the best Bible study tools for your library.There's only one essential tool, and three tools youshould have. I tell you exactly WHY these are the best. I also give you my recommendations on some other usefulbut not essential tools you might consider.

Check it out at http://www.teachtochangelives.com/toolschecklist.pdf

One of the most important things I try to do in thisreport is put the use of these tools in context. There's alot of marketing "hype" out there designed to make youthink you'll become SUPER Bible TEACHER if you just get this.

I'm only recommending tools that are going to help sharpenYOU. I believe that YOU are the tool that God uses tochange lives.

Also, in this report I explain the fundamental problemwith most study Bibles and computer Bible programs. I'm notopposed to anyone using these, but I'm got some specificrecommendations about HOW to use them.

Again, this free report is at
http://www.teachtochangelives.com/toolschecklist.pdf

Leave 'em hungry

All of us who are humbling studying and praying to put together lessons tailored for our students at this time have to wrestle with the question: "How much do I try to cover in this lesson?"

There's no hard and fast answer, because it depends enormously on the students and the setting. If you are working with a group of mature Christians who are accustomed to good group discussion-study for 2 hours and have prepared for the class -- you can probably pack a lot in. If you have a 10 minute devotion opportunity with Jr. High students during the half-time of the SuperBowl, you'd best keep it simple and relevant.

There is a principle, however, that I think all Bible teachers should keep in mind: Keep 'em hungry for more.

Prepare for less content, with such quality and clarity, that leaves them feeling that you could have shared more with the class. Their retention will be much higher, and they will look forward to future classes.

You can invite them to dive deeper on a topic on their own (and give them a starter to do this outside of class -- put suggested reading or questions to consider on your handout).

During the class time, leave space and time for the Holy Spirit to work.

Mark Twain famously wrote a long letter to an acquaintance, closing with comments like this: "I'm sorry I have written you such a long letter. I did not have time to compose a shorter one."

It takes some effort, dear teachers, to pare down your lessons to the best stuff. This means that you can't share every great insight the Lord has given you, or show off the depth of your knowledge about this Bible passage. But this isn't about you, it's about your students, and glorifying God. Teaching to change lives means giving your students content set up to maximize their retention and comprehension.

Simple tactic to stop private conversations -- and three alternative tactics

If you're teaching a larger group, you will find that some people tend to have extended private conversations going on. I'm not talking about just one or two quick sentences shared back and forth in whispers, probably related to the class topic. This is when two people seem to be having an extended conversation (I've seen one go on for 15 minutes) and they aren't paying any attention to you or anyone else nearby.

Even if it is not disrupting the class overall, but it's likely to be distracting to you.

Here's a simple tactic which usually ices these cold:

Continue teaching, but go stand near them for a time.

I have found that my physical presence usually quells the conversation without me saying anything about it at all.

Now if you're teaching environment doesn't give you that option, then the next thing to try is making eye contact. That may not be very effective if they're really engaged.

You can also ask them a direct question -- it's even better if you know one or both of their names. "Bill, did you have a question or an observation to share?"

A tactic that can be very effective is to stop talking, wave off questions, focus your eye contact on the conversing pair, and wait. In about 30-45 seconds even very engaged conversationalists will recognize something changed and look at you. Then say, gently, "Thank you." And continue the class.

If you use either of the latter two options, be sure to follow-up outside of class with them. Remember, they are not the enemy. You're simply trying to manage the teaching environment so everyone has the best possible opportunities to learn. It could well be that their conversation was more important than your lesson. If that's true, they just need to move out of the class area to have it, out of consideration for others.

Keeping the Presence of God

Easy believism is deadly.

Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon titled "Keeping the Presence of God," John Piper writes about this sermon:

"Oh, how different is the path of Christian maturity pointed out by Edwards and the path most Christians walk today. There is a kind of cavalier attitude toward our security today. There is little trembling. Little vigilance and earnestness and caution and watchfulness over our souls. There is a kind of casual, slack, careless attitude toward the possibility that we might make shipwreck of our faith and fail to lay hold on eternal life. We have the notion that security is a kind of mechanical, automatic thing. We prayed once to receive Jesus. We are safe and there is not place for “working our your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). That is not what Edwards sees in the Bible.
Therefore he pleads with his people, and I plead with you, to “keep the presence of God.” It is not automatic. "


Even very popular books like "The Purpose-Driven Life" are contributing to easy believism. I think Rick Warren has been used mightily by God, and am glad so many people are growing through his 40 day outline. But I agree wholeheartedly with Nick Jackson's comments in "A Purpose Driven Death." Here's an excerpt:

"Our seeker sensitive methods are failing as we widen the narrow gate with pluralistic, doctrinally illiterate converts. We are essentially raising an army of functional humanists who are becoming living stones in a giant ecumenical Tower of Babel.
How, can we go from “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” to “God has a purpose and plan for your Life?” We are standing on the shoulders of giants like Whitefield, Edwards, Spurgeon, Luther, and Calvin.
The Great Commission does not say, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever, Rick Warren has commanded you.” There is no simple formula for revival. We all thought Mel Gibson’s “Passion,” would save America and be as big as the second coming, but we are still murdering 4,000 babies a day and are about to allow men to marry men in America. Either we repent of our compromised Christianity and cleverly packaged Christian Humanism or we will see persecution (God’s method of church growth) come to America that will make Foxe’s Book of Martyrs look like a children’s book.
Friends, This is not a quick fix. We must rediscover the ancient pathways. We must first start by repenting in our own hearts and lives, and build our house on the Rock of Jesus Christ. We must build off the time tested methodologies from the Bible and not the latest New York Times Best Seller."

Let us be sober teachers of the Gospel, humble and working hard to keep the presence of God.

Getting Past Spiritual Constipation

My observation is that nearly everyone wants to make a difference in this world. I believe God has wired us to be creative, expressive, useful, contributors,

A big problem for many Christians is that they're constipated -- they're taking it in, consuming more, gorging themselves on input -- and there isn't much coming out. Constipated people are pretty uncomfortable people. The solution is not to run around and find more input, or even different input. The solution is to serve others, to create, to love and rejoice and worship with your whole life.

If you're not seeing changed lives as a result of your teaching ministry, and you're getting down, remember that people are wired to be changed and to grow. Pray and teach to help people find our their purpose and calling in life. Remind them that a lot of teaching is about equipping so that they can use what they learn.

Teaching is a Craft

I occasionally hear from people who say they don't need to learn any more about teaching, because they've been doing it for a long time and have it down.

Teachers who think they've "arrived" are not Great Bible teachers.

Great Bible teaching is a craft. We must always be working at our craft. As we mature in our craft we begin to coach others about Bible teaching -- this becomes a new means of learning for us.

I have friends who hold black belts in karate and tae kwon do. They tell me they've learned a lot more about their martial art after they got their black belt than all the time leading up that certification. I had a similar experience after getting my Eagle Scout award at age 13. I'm learning more about Bible teaching now (after I've written a book on it!) than ever. I'm still in the foothills, heading up in the real mountains.

We are called to be artisans. Bible teaching and disciple-making are not a repetitive, assembly-line, high-throughput mass manufacturing operations. You cannot automate this work. Bible teachers must work at managing themselves and sharpening their skills all the time, in order to co-labor with God to produce individual masterpieces of changed lives.

And this is work. It doesn't just happen. Working at your craft is a "long obedience in the same direction." Developing your skills takes patient, persevering endurance. It's not a sprint event, but a marathon ministry.

The journey of a great Bible teacher is worth it.

If you need some regular encouragement and ideas, sign up for free weekly teaching tips by email at http://www.teachtochangelives.com/optin.htm

Teach to change lives!

Matching vocabulary and audience

A key to successful teaching is understanding your audience and matching your vocabulary and illustrations to meet their needs. This is fundamental communication.

John Stott talks about "quadruple thinking" in his excellent book on preaching, Between Two Worlds. This looks like this:

1. the speaker thinks about what he/shewant to say
2. the speaker thinks about how the other persons will hear it
3. the speaker re-thinks what he/she wants to say
4. the speakers re-shapes what he/she says so that the others will understand it and receive it.

This takes some work. One of the most deadly things to communication is assuming that we understand the other person's perspective.

The book is very good, I recommend it if you do a lot of teaching to different audiences.

On Civil Authority

One question that may come up with your students is how Christians are to honor civil authority -- even ungodly civil authority. John Piper has an excellent sermon based on Romans 13:1-7 that is worth keeping in your files. It's titled "There is No Authority Except from God."

Praying the Word

Renew your prayer life by praying the Word of God back to the Father. Take His promises and use them as the basis for prayers.

Using the Bible as the foundation for your prayer life keeps you from mumbling and stumbling.

Could you teach this prayer strategy to others? If not, how could you get ready to teach it?

Better yet, incorporate this kind of praying in your regular Bible teaching lessons. Demonstrate how to pray effectively to your students.

Why I Recommend the Thompson's Chain-Reference Bible

One question I get asked -- a lot! -- is what study Bible I recommend. I decided to write up my answer in detail. Check out why I recommend the Thompson's Chain-Reference Bible.

More answers to questions from Teachers

Periodically I survey hundreds of Bible teachers, asking for their most burning questions. I picked seven recent questions and wrote up my answers.

* How to understand the Bible better
* The most effective way to teach teens and pre-teens
* How to know if you're being "pushy"
* Great resources for teaching from the New Testament

Check out my free report at
http://www.teachtochangelives.com/answers2.pdf

Truth for Teachers

True, the grass withers and the wildflowers fade,
but our God's Word stands firm and forever."
Climb a high mountain, Zion.
You're the preacher of good news.
Raise your voice. Make it good and loud, Jerusalem.
You're the preacher of good news.
Speak loud and clear. Don't be timid!
Tell the cities of Judah,
"Look! Your God!"
Look at him! GOD, the Master, comes in power,
ready to go into action.
He is going to pay back his enemies
and reward those who have loved him.
Like a shepherd, he will care for his flock,
gathering the lambs in his arms,
Hugging them as he carries them,
leading the nursing ewes to good pasture.

Isaiah 40:8-12, The Message

Making Eye Contact

Great Bible teachers make eye contact. It's a necessary connection if you are going to see changed lives.

This isn't too difficult in smaller groups. (Usually teachers who struggle to make eye contact in smaller groups are struggling with a fear. See my special report on overcoming fear at
http://www.teachtochangelives.com/fear.pdf for the help you need.)

In larger groups you need a strategy to make eye contact effectively.

You don't want to just pick three people. You don't want to go from person-to-person-to-person in a sequential pattern. You don't want to spend all your time on one side of the room and ignore the other areas.

Try out this strategy, which works well in groups up to about 120: Pick three or four people in different areas as your anchors. (Be sure to pick people who are making frequent eye contact with you.) Rotate your eye contact to these people every 45 seconds. But as you rotate to the next person, shift to somone who is sitting near them. What happens is you gradually are making eye contact with more and more people who are around your anchor persons.

(By the way, you really can't do this eye contact strategy if you're reading from a prepared script. You need to be very familiar with the text and you main ideas that you want to get across. That kind of preparation is at the heart of great Bible teaching!)

Moral vs. Holiness

Dennis Prager has some good insights in his column, "We are not just animals" about the distinction between moral and holy. This will sharpen your thinking about holiness.

Straight Talk for Teachers

"I can't impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead. He is about to break into the open with his rule, so proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don't ever quit. Just keep it simple.
You're going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food--catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They'll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you--keep your eye on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God's servant." -- 2 Tim 4:1-5, The Message

Quote of the week

"There is no once-a-week Bible vitamin." -- Kelly Gifford

That will preach! (Or as my Southern friends say, "That dog will hunt.")

What's Stopping You?

If you're going to be a great Bible teacher, you need to saturate yourself in the Word of God. It takes time. You can fool yourself if you like and think if you read the notes in your study Bible that you've done all you're supposed to. But steep yourself in the text, meditate on it, pray through it, read it aloud, ask questions of it, write out your meditations. This is the path to becoming a disciple-making, Spirit-breathing, life-changing teacher.

So what is stopping you?

There may have been several thoughts that came to your mind as you read the first paragraph, all starting with "But..."

What is stopping you from carving out an extra 20 minutes today and reading the Bible? And doing this again tomorrow. And increasing the time?

Analyze what's stopping you, and decide to get moving again.

Writing and Teaching

Many times, but not always, God puts together writing and teaching skills in the same person. If you're in that group, you'll appreciate what Carl Henry taught to Bruce Johnson about being a writer:

"You see, the difference between an amateur writer and a professional is that an amateur writes something and says, 'Oh, that's good!'. But a professional always thinks, 'That could be better,' because the essence of good writing is rewriting." And then came the clincher, "Bruce, the only thing that stops a professional from continually rewriting a piece he's written is a deadline."

What Would Jesus Ask?

Great Bible teaching is interactive. Notice how many times Jesus uses questions to teach people.

When you're getting ready to teach, one of your most important tasks is identifying the best questions you should ask. What questions will bring out the best learning for this class at this time?

Here's an idea that has really helped me: Ask yourself, "What would Jesus ask the people in this class?" The answers might not come quickly, but God will provide. You'll be amazed at the penetrating kinds of questions you are led to.

What are your burning questions?

I have a passion to help build up teachers. What are your burning questions about teaching the Bible, working with students, preparing lessons? Write me at info@teachtochangelives.com and let me know.

Overcome fear

I wrote a free special report about overcoming fear. Check it out at
http://www.teachtochangelives.com/fear.pdf

No Bible teacher is immune to fear, but everyone can learn to overcome fear.

Reminder about free teaching tips

You can sign up to receive free weekly teaching tips by email from me at

http://www.teachtochangelives.com/optin.htm

Quote of the Week

"There is not one square inch of life of which Jesus Christ does not say, 'It is mine!' " -- Abraham Kuyper

How's Jesus doing with the square inches you occupy?

John Piper Sermons

John Piper, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, is a deep thinker, prolific writer, and always worth your time. I praise God for Pastor Piper and his willingness to tackle tough topics biblically, and deeply.

The church has made his entire sermon collection available online, no charge. What a fabulous resource for teachers everywhere!

I know that not everyone reading this adheres to a Calvinist perspective on salvation, but I highly recommend this sermon: "For Whom Did Jesus Taste Death?" You may read this and say, "Amen" and praise the Lord even more deeply. Or it may cause you to scratch your head and ponder a while. But you can't read this honestly and not be affected.

Pray for hunger

One of the most pressing needs to take before the throne of all Grace is for hunger for His Word. Ask the Lord to create a passionate, unquenchable hunger for the Bible in the hearts of your students. May they move from Bible reading as just another task to be done to an attitude of desperation -- only the Word is life!

And let this begin with you, dear teacher.

Worship First

It's critically important to worship before you teach. Your heart needs this. Your mind needs to be aligned with God. You must do this to be a large and clean conduit of God's love, grace, and knowledge to others.

And this is true whether you are teaching a Sunday morning class, a weekly Bible study, leading a small group, working with youth on Wednesday nights, or any other teaching venue.

Worship before you teach-- this is a bedrock principle for those who would teach the Bible to change lives.

Worship means giving God what He is worth. So praise Him with some prayer and song. You can do this aloud in the car on the way to the meeting. Or pray and sing in your mind, quietly, if circumstances are limiting. Let verses about God's power and might come to mind. See Calvary's magnifence, and let your heart be humbled. Confess any sins. Be cleansed in the blood of the Lamb.

Worship opens the doors to life-changing power.

Analysis of Biblical Illiteracy

Here's a detailed analysis of Biblical illiteracy in the American church today. Sobering. Pray over what you read hear, dear teacher, and ask the Lord to show you what to do differently.

Most encouraging idea: "Americans will have a better chance of becoming theologically literate when we replace the paradigm of theological study as intellectual exercise, with that of the worshipping community in which students and mentors work together.”

Lord, raise up teachers for your flocks!

Preparing to Teach

Earl Palmer has a great 5-page article, "Preparing Yourself to Teach." He covers the key ideas of studying a Bible passage so that we have textual fluency, and considering ways to be more "people fluent" so we can reach our audience. I also liked his ideas about managing your schedule.

Even though he is a pastor, lay teachers will also get some good ideas here.

How do I find all this stuff, anyway?

One question I've been asked is how I find all these resources and references to Bible teaching. Several ways. I pay attention as I'm reading and hunting on the Internet. I do specific searches, and monitor especially rich web sites. And I use Google News alerts.

If you don't know about Google News alerts, check out this free report (PDF format). You can save yourself a lot of searching time, and the service is free.

Get Vines Expository Dictionary -- great bargain price

Quick plug for a great book at a terrific price.

Can Women Teach Men?

Here's a topic that generates considerable heat in some churches. Paul wrote to Timothy that women should not teach or have authority over a man. (2 Tim 2:11-12).

I think Jill Briscoe has some good things to say about this concern. Check it out.

Not everyone should be teaching, man or woman.

Getting back into the swing of updates!

I am so honored and delighted by the sales of Teach the Bible to Change Lives and the signups for my weekly teaching tips. God is good, and may His Word work powerfully through teacher everywhere!

But I've been so busy writing up new tips and working with customers that I've fallen behind updating this blog.

Great Resource for Questions

Great questions are the lifeblood of great Bible teaching and discussion. Even the best teachers, though, occasionally get stumped or dry or stuck in a rut.

Here's a terrific resource you should get: the Serendipity New Testament for Groups.

Out of print now, copies are dirt cheap. You can pick them up through Amazon starting at 45 cents for used copies and $4.50 for new. Click here to see their listing.

This Bible has discussion and discovery questions aligned with every passage in the NT! It's an amazing work, a real contribution for teachers and small group leaders everywhere. I thumb through mine periodically and get ideas on how to engage people with the passage we're studying.

(Remember to prayerfully submit any questions you're considering to the Lord. Don't be a slave to any material outside the Word itself. )

Prayer Notebook

It's critical for Great Bible Teachers to pray for students. There are no changed lives for Christ without prayer!

Here's an excellent "how to" article about making and using a simple prayer notebook. Consider a section for your class(es). Take a camera along to one of your sessions and take a picture of them, then put the picture in the notebook.

I really like the last sentences in the article:

"Ruth Bell Graham says, 'The tragedy of our day is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.' Using a prayer notebook can help prevent unoffered prayer—even for those at the end of your prayer list."

Teaching Principle through Discussion

Good Bible teaching is interactive. The more your students are engaged, the more they are likely to learn and retain.

If you want to teach a key principle or concept, don't give it out right away. Go through the supporting verses or passages, and shape the discussion by asking questions -- see if the students themselves can identify the principle. This is particularly important for topic studies.

Teach the Bible to Change Lives is available!

I'm thrilled to report that my new ebook, Teach the Bible to Change Lives, is now available. Check out this terrific resource at http://www.teachtochangelives.com.

You won't want to pass up this opportunity for the ebook and three exclusive bonuses during this introductory price period.

If you would like to get a free 4-part minicourse on The Four Elements of Great Bible Teaching, sign up at http://www.teachtochangelives.com/4minisignup.htm

Also, you can sign up for a free weekly teaching tip at http://www.teachtochangelives/optin.htm

Effectual Ministry

I recently heard a men's speaker use a great phrase: "speak into their chests." Great Bible teachers should be speaking into the chests of people, not tickling their ears!

Here's an old joke with a serious point:

A minister died and went to heaven and ahead of him at the Pearly Gate was a guy
in sunglasses and a leather jacket and the guy said to St. Peter. "I'm Joe
Nestorenko, cabdriver of Las Vegas." Saint Peter gave him a golden robe and
golden staff and then it was the minister's turn. "I am Elmer Lundberg, pastor
of Zion Lutheran for forty five years." Saint Peter gave him a cotton robe and
wooden staff." "But that man was a taxi driver? and he gets a golden robe? and
golden staff?" And St. Peter said, "Up here, we go by results. While you
preached, people slept; while he drove, people prayed."

The issue is whether your ministry was effectual. Does your ministry change lives?

If it doesn't, then you need to seek the Lord and His ways.
1. Repent and be right with God. "Apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)
2. Seek God's power in you, through you, and in your students. "Apart from me you can do nothing."

With God, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)

Leading Dynamic Discussion

One of your responsibilities when teaching is to lead good discussion. You're not doing a sermon. You aren't doing a lecture.

Here are 10 tips for leading a dynamic discussion. (These were sent to me by an acquaintance, but I haven't found the original source.)

Serve as a facilitator, not a lecturer. Your goal is to encourage personal interaction and self-discovery. Avoid being overly directive or too passive.

Focus on what Scripture has to say, not your own ideas and opinions. Point group members to Scripture and allow the Holy Spirit to make application according to each members need.

Maintain an atmosphere of love and acceptance. This can lead to open discussion. Never put down a person’s comments or contributions.

Ask simple, clear, open-ended questions. Questions should have several possible answers and simply answerable by a “yes” or “no."

Don’t force anyone to talk. Do encourage involvement by calling on reluctant participants by name. (This also helps control the overly talkative.)

Acknowledge responses when appropriate.

Ask follow-up questions. This may help clarify a general or vague answer.

Deal with incorrect responses and comments . You may try asking, “What do others think?” or “Does everyone agree?” Avoid telling the member that he or she is wrong.

Keep the discussion on track. If new issues are raised, suggest that they be tabled and returned to after the current discussion is completed.

Summarize main points periodically. This will help keep the group focused.

Application to Date My Daughter

Todd Wilson has posted a hilarious application for prospective dates for his daughter.

There's a difficult path to negotiate that simultaneously covers
* protecting our children
* helping them mature and become independent
* rightly understanding our changing relationship with them

If there were universal rules and timetables that covered all this, we wouldn't need the Holy Spirit.

Be Wary of Reductionism

As a trained scientist I tend towards reductionism -- break things down, bit by bit, and see how to relate and work. Find the critical elements. Reduce the whole into parts that can be individually understood, with (unjustified?) confidence that we can comprehend the whole by adding up our knowledge of the components and how they relate to one another.

The Bible and God's story do not submit to this kind of analysis well.

Eric Evers challenges my thinking in a recent post. He calls reductionism "modernism" and expertly connects this to the way we operate in the Church today:

"Modernism breaks things to find out what they are. And so it misses the whole; it fails to see the interaction, the interdependence of the parts. It does not see interlocking webs of systems, but reduces things to atomistic bits and linear chains. And in so doing, it leaves the path of wisdom.
Think of how we do this in churches. We focus on the individual apart from family and community. We analyze conflicts in terms of scapegoats and "problem people" rather than discern the deep, underlying issues. We set up clear, simple 1-2-3-home linear discipleship processes, instead of seeing faith development as complex, multi-vectored, and multi-layered. We abstract people's "spiritual lives" from the rest of their lives, rather than seeing the "spiritual life" as the sum total of all of one's being and doing. We break the white light into its component parts, but don't know how to reassemble it."

Evers also describes the alternative:

"Biblical faith sees reality as whole fabric, though twisted and torn by sin. Scripture witnesses to a complex, interdependent cosmos and a God who is intimately, freely, and self-givingly involved in it. The Bible gives truth in narratives because reality cannot be broken down into component parts. "

So as Bible teachers let us be wary of reductionism. We can coach people on how to "rightly divide Scripture" in order to understand how we should live lives worthy of the Gospel. But our teaching needs to emphasize the whole of the Gospel, not only little bits.

About Those Fabulous Names!

Ever wondered how to pronounce a Biblical name? Check out this great resource:
http://netministries.org/BBAsics/bbbott.htm

Click on a name and you'll hear it pronounced, and get a phonetic guide. Very slick.

Basic teaching tip -- practice saying names and places aloud. You want to be able to read through Scripture without stumbling, uh-ing, and apologizing.

And what do those Hebrew names mean? Here's are two sources to check:
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/bibl.html
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/judaism/a/hebrewnames.htm

How's Your Jesus Nut?

I learned yesterday that the key nut that holds a helicopter rotor blades on the shaft is called the "Jesus Nut." Seems like an apt description of something that keeps the whole thing together and running safely. See Hebrews 1:1-9.

So how is your Jesus Nut doing?

If you're a teacher, then you need to be making decisions that keep you close to Christ. Invest time (more than you think you have) in prayer and the Word. Read deeply, and read widely in the Bible. Remember that you are the tool that the Lord will use. He is going to give you the right words at the right time in the right way for the right people -- and they will bear fruit for the kingdom, fruit that will last.

Life in Three Dimensions

Eric Evers has a nice devotional on "Life in Three Dimensions" that would make a nice short study for you to use. Walking in faith is lived in the midst of the real world. The three dimensions are

Life lived with others : generosity
Life lived with God: worship
Life lived with the self: self-denial

Living in all three dimensions makes a full life.

Using Picture and Diagrams

When it comes to communicating information, pictures save time -- they can communicate a lot of information quickly, and they can create clarity. You should use word pictures and images and simple diagrams to move information from your head into your someone else's.

I won't dwell on word pictures here. Many of you have lots of experience with this.

But let me encourage you to use simple diagrams more. Use a whiteboard or overhead transparency as you teach. Put words in boxes, and draw connecting arrows. Draw simple graphs. Use wavy and straight lines. Use multiple colors. It doesn't have to be elegant -- think "back of the napkin."

Before you use words, ask yourself "What could I do with a visual to make this point?"

Why do I emphasize this? Because research in the last few years has confirmed that our brains are wired to understand effectively through pictures. Also, we're in a visual age. While I may have some opinions about the loss of appreciation for poetry, the fact is that very few people learn effectively only through listening in American culture. This is particularly true for people under 45, who have grown up in rich audiovisual environments most of their life.

Work for Illumination

"In your light we see light." Psalm 36:9

A lot of marketing is about titillation, not illumination. Let's look at the word definitions.

The word titillate means "to excite another, especially in a superficial, pleasurable manner. " The root word actually means "to tickle." Titillation presumes the audience is not very deep or valuable -- they'll move on when they find a better tickler.

In contrast, the word illuminate means "to provide intellectual or spiritual enlightment and understanding." The root word means "to light up." Illumination presumes the audience is one of mutual respect.

Great Bible teaching is about cooperating with the work of the Holy Spirit so that the Word of God lights up others.

Paint a compelling picture

Josh Hunt's latest newsletter inspires teachers to paint a compelling picture of John 10:10: "I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full."


Here's an excerpt:

"If you are a teacher, this truth informs your job. Your job is to incite desire. Your job is to paint a picture of the John 10.10 life that is so compelling people want it in spades. They want it so badly that it takes their breath away. They can’t quit thinking about it and they are willing to give up everything to have it. Only those who want John 10.10 like that will have it. Your job is to incite that kind of desire.
Too much teaching is about what you ought to do, or should do. It is about what God wants you to do. Or, in some cases, it is not about us at all. It is about the history or Israel, or kings and prophets and poets. Many lessons don’t touch life.
But, if they do, they are all about “ought” and “should”. That is not the kingdom. The kingdom is about desire. It is about want. As you teach, make them want. Make them want John 10.10 more than anything. Make them want John10.10 enough to give up everything. Paint a picture so compelling, so captivating, so intriguing that it takes their breath away. Make them want it. "

Interpreting Scripture

Letters from Babylon has a useful tidbit on the value of context in interpreting Scripture.

Getting over Fear in Teaching

There are three ways to get over fear in teaching situations:

1. Keep perspective: this is the Lord's business, and you are His tool
2. Remember that the students want to like you
3. Be prepared

Let me talk more about #2, because it's often the one that helps teachers the most.

Psychological research has shown that audiences really want to like the speaker. They feel much better about being there in the first place.

You can help your students like you by having a conversation with them, rather than speaking "at" them as if they were distant alien beings. Use words, tempo, and story that are authentically you and come from your own experiences. Your tone of voice, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact convey a sense of how important the students are to you.

Is EPIC in our future?

If you're interested in communication and information sharing trends, then watch this 8 minutes flash movie and prayerfully meditate on the implications.

http://oak.psych.gatech.edu/~epic/

The movie is fictional, but a number of people argue the trends are real. I'm not sure EPIC will exist by 2014, or what fraction of the planet's population would be able to use it.

Does it remind you of the Tower of Babel? How would it change our communication strategies for the Gospel? I think tell-a-person is still going to be the most effective communication means, because the premium on real relationships only increases in a world that includes EPIC.

Quote of the Month

"Your opinion and 27 cents will get you a refill at Dairy Queen. Don't give people your opinion. Give them the Word of God."

-- Neil Cassata, a "cowboy minister" in Groesbeck, Texas

Pressing On

It's common for teachers to get discouraged, bogged down, and stalled. That's one reason why you need to be systematically in the Word and prayer, and organize a prayer team for your teaching ministry.

Teaching is hard work. Relish in this, rather than moan or brag about it. It's the calling you have received. It requires persistence to press on, even when obstacles come up.

Consider the friends of the paralytic in Mark 2:1-5.

" A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

They had faith that Jesus would heal the man. (v 5) But they were not deterred by a unmoving crowd! They pressed on and found another way to connect the power of the Jesus with the person who needed it. That's what you do as a Bible teacher.

The Timing of Change

Great quote from John Maxwell: "When it comes to change, there are three seasons of timing: People change when they hurt enough that they have to, when they learn enough that they want to, and when they receive enough that they are able to."

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Readers and Listeners

People are wired differently for learning. Some of your students will learn much faster by reading than by listening, others really need to listen rather than read. Therefore I recommend you create some form of handout for your classes, to give people support for their listening, and to give some reading material for those who like to read. Plus, in this video-saturated generation, a handout can help keep focus on the lesson.

Seems obvious, but we need to do things consistently well.

Athanasius

John Piper has written a fascinating biography article about Athanasius -- worth the time. Pastor Piper compiled a few lessons from the life of Athanasius. #6 jolted me out of my chair:

6. Don’t aim to preach only in categories of thought that can be readily understood by this generation. Aim at creating biblical categories of thought that are not present.

I'll be chewing on this thought for a while.

By the way, dear teacher, if you haven't been subscribing to John Piper's sermons and writings by email, you should sign up. This is terrific, mind-challenging and heart-stocking stuff.

Sticky Message --> Changed Lives

Terry Storch writes about the power of the message of the Gospel at his church, and the need for good communication to help people respond to the message:

"The Fellowship Epidemic- Ed [senior pastor] is God's messenger. You will hear Ed say that if the message is boring don't blame God, blame the communicator. Ed works very, very hard at his communication and spends almost all of his time focused on honing and improving his communication. Why? The messenger is what makes The Gospel spread. Next, the content. The content is important. God's word... it does not get much better than that. But that is not all. You can not get by with just opening your Bible and expect it to "just work". Why? Well, keep reading... the quality must be at a level that it creates "stickiness". Stickiness will make it memorable, and if it is so memorable it can create change. Life Change! So sticky that the life changing story of Jesus Christ can truly evoke a decision of life change."

What are you doing to increase the quality of your teaching so your key points are "sticky" and lives are changed?

Fundamental Building Blocks for a Great Lesson

Sturdy, useful buildings need a good foundation. Sturdy, useful Bible study lessons are built on the foundation of the Word and prayer. But what do you build on this foundation? What fundamental elements go into a great lesson?

I’m going to lay out a completely non-secret plan that I use all the time. Almost every lesson I’ve given in over twenty years of teaching is crafted on this plan. It’s repeatable. It’s durable. It works.

Opener
Begin with a good “hook” to bring people into the lesson, get them hungry for the big meal ahead, and ready for some life-change application to come.

A small number of focus points
My grandfather used to say, "If you don't want people to learn anything, try to teach them everything." (I doubt he originated this idea.) I’m sure you’ve been in a situation, maybe a high school or college class, where the teacher just piled on the content and you came away with…nothing. Your brain just shut down when it was overwhelmed. Good teachers work with human psychological realities, not against them -- pick fewer focus points and drill them home.

How many is the right number? That depends on your class. Limit yourself with one to three, my dear teacher, hold yourself in! If there are more items, then pick three for emphasis and only highlight the others. You aren’t going to exhaust the depth of Scripture in any lesson, so there’s no cause to feel badly about not covering it all.

You want to engage the class to discover these focus points by asking good questions. Where possible, illustrate these focus points by stories, props, and metaphors.

Life Application
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) The revealed Word of God will have an impact on us, and not return empty to the Speaker. (Isaiah 55:11) Identify at least one life application messages for your students. Great Bible teachers teach for changed lives, not just piling on head knowledge that does not also affect our hearts and actions.

Closer
Wrap up the package and make it easy to take home – or take to heart. This is often a quick summary with a final challenge to further growth in Christ. Sometimes an open-ended question or thought for reflection through the week.


That’s it. Opener, small number of focus points, life application, and closer.

When it’s done right, my students didn’t identify the different building blocks – they just flowed and worked together. But every student should have one or two take-aways that Christ can use to change their life. They don’t leave saying, “Wow, wasn’t Glenn’s opener great today? Best hook he’s had for months.” They leave thinking about the application, or at least some new understanding of biblical truth.

"Whew, That's Over!" -- Not

Have you ever finished teaching a class and said to yourself, "Whew, that's over!" ? Or heard someone else say it with gratitude?

Your job as a teacher is not over when the formal part of class is done.

Let me repeat that again: Your job as a teacher is not over when the formal part of class is done.

Your job now is to continue praying for your students, these dear souls whom the Lord has entrusted to you in some measure. Pray that their lives would be changed as they discover new life in Christ. Pray that the Spirit would continue to prick their conscience and reveal to them the way they should go. Ask the Lord to make plain the good works He prepared in advance for them to do. Pray that the key points of your lesson would have lasting impact in their lives. Pray that they would in turn teach these things to others around them.

Let's say that you're teaching an adult class each week. Your students might be getting 50 hours of instruction and discussion and group prayer time per year. (Some watch more TV than that in 2 weeks.) That's it.

Your prayers, dear teachers, will amplify the effects of those 50 hours, by the powerful working of God in their lives. Keep on praying for all the saints!

Do We Need More Bible Study Guides?

My answer is yes -- LOTS more -- but not the printed kind.

I counted eight (eight!) different study guides for Ephesians at a local Christian bookstore. The store has a whole section devoted to these materials, with cases and cases in the back room. There are booklets, books, videos, DVDs, workbooks, and laminated summary sheets. The sales clerk excitedly pointed out their growing collection of Spanish-language translations from the bigger publishing groups.

I'm grateful that the Lord has gifted those who created these and those who can mass-produce them.

But we need Bible study guides of a different kind -- qualified teachers capable and willing to teach the Word of God. My dream is to see the Lord raise up a new generation of teachers who will wrestle with the Word directly -- no outward props -- and bring teaching that meets the precise needs of a class at a particular time. Teachers need to bathe their study in prayer and ask the Lord of Heaven to move hearts and minds to greater understanding and application of the truth.

All these study guides will sit on shelves useless unless people step forward and use them effectively. All these outward props can go away.

Yes, we need lots more Bible study guides, but of the redeemed people kind.

Pump up the volume!

I've written before about the need to speak loudly and clearly. This is a personal area I need to work on! Cliff Atkinson suggests doubling the amount of enthusiasm you think you should have in a presentation -- exaggerate your tone, stresses, and pauses. Overcome your resistance to greater inflection because you don't want to come across as "fake" or "cheesy." This is part of the difference between a conversation and a presentation -- you have to increase the energy and volume to overcome the greater distance between you and the listener(s).

Salty Teaching

Jesus was tough and tender. The strong Biblical examples of the prophets and apostles should guide our teaching. Teachers in the Church, men or women, young or old, need to be tough and tender, bold and gentle, salty and illuminating. (My other blog, Be Bold, Be Gentle, is about fleshing out this theme as husbands and fathers.)

Doug Giles has a challenging column today, "Got Salt?" An excerpt:

To be a faithful salt dispenser for Christ, you and I must have the
resilient thick hide and attitude of a bulldog to maintain faithfulness to His
call, even, or especially, when it means saying that which might cause
consternation.

My ClashPoint is this: Man … do we need a group of believers
who are not men-pleasers and who do not buckle to the demands of Generation Duh.
When Christians, especially ministers, cease to be piquant provocateurs, then
the villainous will fill the vacuum. Yes, I blame our world’s problems on the
tame, timid, and tepid religious person who will not stand for what he
supposedly believes when it means there might be conflict.

I do not blame Playboy, Las Vegas, the gay agenda, Air America, or whomever for our societal
tooth decay. I blame the "righteous" ones who will not shamelessly proclaim
truth in such a way that it is persuasive, provocative and preserving. Yes,
churches that do not seriously stand for truth commit institutional suicide and
effectively marginalize themselves, rather than being the salt-shaking organisms
God has called them to be.

Bible Atlas

EBible Teacher makes a nice collection of Bible maps and templates available for free, as well as many tips for using PowerPoint effectively while preaching and teaching. Recommended.

Understanding Adult Learners

This comes from the TEACH Resources Newsletter , pulled originally from the
Adults tend to have a problem-centered orientation to learning.
Emphasize how learning can be applied in a practical setting. Use case studies,
problem solving groups, and participatory activities to enhance learning. Adults
generally want to immediately apply new information or skills to current
problems or situations.

Evaluating your teaching

Josh Hunt has a good article about evaluating your teaching and thinking through improvement opportunities. Here are the key questions:

Passion. Did you present the truth with some conviction?
Practical. Did you give specific application that can be applied to life this week? Did you teach for a verdict?
Humor. Were there points when the group laughed together?
Personal. Did you touch them where they live? Were you open about where you are at?
Involvement. Was everyone interested and with you? Did you have a good number of people participate in the discussion?
Preparation. Were you well prepared enough to present the lesson with confidence?
Background. Did you bring some interesting background not evident from the casual reading of the text.
Introduction. Did you grab their attention at the first?
Inspiration. Did you attempt to inspire them to do what you wanted them to do?
Focus. Did you have one or two "big ideas" that you attempted to drive home throughout the lesson?

Read the whole article, there are some excellent suggestions. And sign up for his free newsletter.

More on non-verbal communication

Various studies demonstrate that only a small fraction of communication occurs in the exact words we use. Maybe 85-90% of communication comes via tone of voice, gestures, touch, eye contact. Use this to teach so you create the best possible situation for God to change lives.

Let's consider what we know of Jesus.

His words, recorded for us in the Bible, have transformed millions of hearts. If Christ's "10%" communication can do this, imagine how powerful his presence must have been. Peter, suffering persecution, didn't just remember the words "I tell you, you are Peter (rock)". Peter remembered the tone of voice, the facial expression, perhaps the way Jesus gripped his shoulder, and the phenomenonal look into his eyes.

How can the Lord use your Christ-transformed, genuine-from-the-heart tone of voice, touch, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact?

Eye Contact

Shakespeare understood that the eyes are "the windows to the soul." The eyes are a specialized extension of the brain. Eye contact is critical in teaching. "Teachers who make eye contact open the flow of communication and convey interest, concern, warmth and credibility." (from a short guide to improving nonverbal communication) Some tips for adult classes and small group teaching:

• Talk to your students, not your Bible, your notes, the whiteboard, or the ceiling.
• Good eye contact does not mean staring or gazing. Those are likely to make a person uncomfortable and lose their concentration -- and less likely to understand the material or participate in discussion.
• Good eye contact is three to five seconds on a person if they are not speaking to you, and full attention when they are. (If they're making a comment to the group, you may not have to keep eye contact on them all the time.)
• Don't flit your eyes around and try to hit everyone for 0.2 seconds. That's not meaningful and only reinforces any nervousness you already have!
• Watch your students as well as listen to them. Look for signs of being bored or being lost.
• Avoid focusing only on your "best" and "worst" students.

If you work at appropriate eye contact, you will find participation increases and your job as a teacher is easier. Eye contact is an avenue for changed lives!

Other recommendations? Add a comment, or contact me at beboldgentle@yahoo.com .

"Rawthenticity"

Every teacher should read Chris Busch's comments about the necessity to be relevant and be authentic -- he fuses these into "rawthenticity." He says this is essential for the post-emergent culture, but I'd argue it's always been essential, and always should be -- it's the Jesus style of teaching!

Here's the core section:

Some observations about relevance –
Each of us is somewhat irrelevant to at least some segment of the population. You choose (by intention or default) those you target for relevance.
Many people haven’t had the teachers (or have ignored them) that I did to alert them to their own marginal relevance. Find some.
Listen to your target audience, be it business, church, education. . . It’s the only way to stay relevant.
No one is relevant to every one, but you can adjust your thinking to be relevant to the culture as
a whole and to your target audience specifically.
Relevance is all about the way you think. That can change if you want it to.

A few thoughts about authenticity –
In this context, being authentic
requires a willingness to be transparent in your dealings with others. You’re
the same “on stage” and off. Your words and behaviors are synomic.
A person who is bad but honest about it is preferred over the person who pretends to be good.
Being authentic is the cornerstone of being relevant.
Credibility is the currency of the culture.

But read the whole 2 pages to find out the amazing story of where he learned this. :-)

Subscribe by Email

Several people have asked if I can email them whenever there is a new post. I just loaded Bloglet to make this easy -- sign up in the form box in the left column. Enjoy!

What Questions Do

There is no fruit from Bible teaching unless you ask questions. Scan through the four Gospels and note how many times Jesus used questions to promote understanding. I believe we are biologically and spiritually wired to learn best when responding to questions.

Ed Young has said that the right questions
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So as you prepare to teach, one of the most important questions you can be asking the Lord and yourself is "What questions should I ask to promote understanding and retention?"

M'Cheyne's Systematic Bible Reading Plan

I collect Bible reading plans. It's nice to change plans every couple of years, just for variety. I recently learned about Robert Murray M'Cheyne's reading plan he developed for his congregation in Scotland in 1842. The plan is excellent for families and individual reading -- there is daily designated reading for each -- and covers the OT once and the NT twice in a year.

The best part, however, is M'Cheyne's introduction, outlining the dangers and advantages of systematic Bible reading. Reading this is a terrific blessing itself! Download the PDF file .

What's Hard to Believe?

I enjoyed Marvin Olasky's blogpost about responding to people who can't believe the amazing miracles in the Bible. Good teaching strategy here!

"One reader sent me a letter apparently floating around on the Internet that begins this way: "Dear Believer, You asked me to consider Christianity as the answer for my life. I have done that. I consider it untrue, repugnant, and harmful. You expect me to believe Jesus was born of a virgin... women come from a man’s rib... the entire world was flooded, covering the mountains to drown evil... the Nile turned to blood... people were cured by the sight of a brass serpent... Jesus walked on water...If you believe these stories, then you are the one with the problem, not me."
The reader asked how I'd answer such an attack. My quick response goes like this: "Make another list of unbelievable-sounding stuff. For example, I'm typing on something hardly bigger than a book, with no wires attached to it, and what I type (or photograph, or videotape) will be sent through the air to you so you can see it almost instantaneously. Or, I can send a box to India through the air on a piece of machinery weighing hundreds of tons so that the person in India can have it tomorrow. Biblical miracles sound crazier than that only if we think the material is real and the spiritual unreal. On such matters, presuppositions determine believability."


Read the whole thing, and interesting comments from readers.

Using Humor

The Lord invented humor, it's not a bad thing. But humor needs to be used appropriately and skillfully in teaching the Bible. I'm sure you seen speakers attempt to use humor and fall painfully flat.

Done well, humor can lead to critical insight, and may be the reason a student remembers something much later on. (We're wired to strongly link humor and memories.)

John Beukema wrote a nice article in Leadership Magazine about using humor while preaching. Check it out, the ideas will help your Bible teaching no matter what setting you're in.

Meanings of Words and Names

There are specialized Bible dictionaries available online that may be useful to you.

Interested in looking up the meaning of names (often very significant)? Go to BibleGateway's Dictionary section, select "Hitchcock's Bible Name Dictionary" in the drop-down list, and enter the name (or look up alphabetically). You'll find out, for example, that Habbakuk means "he that embraces; a wrestler."

The same dictionary area has Eaton's Bible Dictionary on the drop-down list. The entry for predestination, for example, tells you about the Greek word used, the six places it's used in the Bible, and related verses. It's a nice comparison with Nave's Topical Bible.

A little Google searching will show you some other online dictionaries. Very helpful to have in your toolkit!

Both Breadth and Depth

Great Bible teachers need to study the Bible in both breadth and depth. This takes intentionality. I recommend you create "seasons" of study where you focus on either breadth or depth.

Breadth. There is a terrific need just to read large amounts of Scripture. Many people think reading the Bible in a year is "God's design for great Christians." If the Bible is truly the coolest, most wonderful book in the history of the world (and it is!), then pour yourself into it and read it in 30-40 days. It will take you about 2-3 hours a day. But I guarantee you that you'll never be the same.

Write me at beboldgentle@yahoo.com if you'd like a reading plan to do this. Free.

The key principles for breadth of study are

• work through large sections of the Bible or the whole Bible, fairly quickly
• look for God's big themes, and how things connect through the Bible
• be intentional to keep going -- don't get stalled in details (just note them, so you can come back later for another study)

Depth. You will never exhaust the depth of the Scriptures. Read a short book like Ephesians every day for a month, and keep notes on what you learn. Keep going even if it seems dry for a couple of days. Spend 10 days in Romans 12. Look up all the cross-references to a passage or verse that grips you. Check it out in multiple translations (use BibleGateway to make this easy). Read the passage out loud -- it slows you down and you will hear new things. Play the "Not" game - what does the verse NOT say?

The key principles for depth of study are

• repetition -- go after understanding again and again, confident that the Lord has more to teach you
• reflection and meditation -- let it dwell in you richly

And always pray for God's guidance as you study, both breadth and depth. Your aim is to know the living Word, not be a dry, dusty, life-choked theologian.

Be bold, be gentle, and enjoy God's Word. It is His Word to you, today.

Gap-filling teaching

I thought this was interesting commentary from Joe Carter. Note the request for "gap-fillers" and think about how adult sunday school, small groups, and other teaching opportunities can be helpful.

"The average New England churchgoer of the 18th century listened to some15,000 hours of sermons in his or her lifetime, notes Joshua Davey. Comparethat to the 1500 hours of lectures are involved in obtaining a bachelor'sdegree and it's becomes clear why early American evangelicals were so muchmore knowledgeable about theology than we are today.Davey points out that if a modern churchgoer hears between 1 -1.5 hours ofsermons a week for 75 straight years they would only accumulate 3,900 hours.

I think Davey is being overly optimistic. While most church services maylast about an hour, less than half that time is spent listening to a sermon.If Rick Warren were to break out an hour-long homily the pews at Saddlebackwould likely be empty come the next Sunday! Davey makes some important points about the important need for political preaching. And while I whole-heartedly agree, I think it would be a start just to have more preaching. I don't have much hope that the typical evangelical liturgy (music by the choir/praise band-offering by the ushers-sermon by the preacher-football game by the NFL) will change within my lifetime. American evangelicals are a product of our culture and our MTV attention spans simply couldn't handle a Puritan-length sermon.

But that's where bloggers can come in. There is a definite need for "gapfillers", teachers and preachers who can provide small doses of instructionfor the rest of us between the 20-minute sermons we get on Sundays. Societyhas changed from the 18th to 21st centuries; we need to adapt accordingly. We should use the new technology for both the spread of the Gospel and teaching of the church. After all, this generation's Jonathan Edwards may besitting behind a computer rather than standing behind a pulpit."

A big area Joe didn't mention is what we do in our homes -- formal devotion times, simply reading God's Word at the dinner table, living out Deut 6:6-7.

Recommended Book: Heaven

Randy Alcorn has done a tremendous service to us all by writing Heaven. He's constructed a wonderful picture of the thrilling, fabulous place where we want to be. I appreciate his biblical scholarship. Alcorn first builds the case for an intermediate heaven that exists now, and a final eternal heaven that is centered on the New Earth. A lot of things "clicked" into place for me as I read this book. Alcorn also has many chapters addressing common questions about heaven (e.g., will I know people, will my pet be there, will we worship all the time, what will our bodies be like).

I've encountered a number of teenagers and adults who think heaven is going to be a perpetual church service like the ones that "bore them to death" here. Absolutely not! We're not going to be disembodied spirits floating around on clouds strumming harps forever. Satan has gotten enormous mileage out of these lies.

Get it, read it, teach it. There is great material here for classes. Heaven, by Randy Alcorn.

Concentration

Concentration is a key element to effective Bible study, which is a requirement for great Bible teaching. Without concentration, your effort is dissipated. Concentration literally means "to stay within the circle."

Push yourself to concentrate. Get rid of all the other distractions. Focus.

Illustrations that help

Props matter. Stories matter. These things can illustrate a Bible lesson so your students will have greater understanding -- or retention. Here's an excellent (and free) resource for your toolbox: Sermon Illustrations database from www.bible.org