Rallying around Anna

One of our students, Anna Hamilton, has been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, and is currently at home under treatment.  This is a great concern for the student body as a whole, and a number of people - teachers and students alike - have gone into intense prayer as well as  having stepped up to raise money in assisting with the many expenses that proper medical care can cost.    One group is holding a small festival.  Some teachers are taking bids to let someone shave their heads.  I've decided to once again put on hiking boots and take a 50-mile walk while taking donations for Anna and her family.  I will be making the trek on Monday October 22nd here on the school grounds.  I am asking for pennies - a penny per mile - so that the half-dollars here and there can help the Hamilton family with expenses such a gas and food money while taking treatments.  So far the coins have been coming in steadily - in two days we have around forty dollars.  I have time - I'm going to get more aggressive in raising the amount.  I'd like to aim for at least three hundred dollars in funds for the family so they can handle transportation expenses and maybe a few McDonald's meals. 

This was a week of debates and the students held up well.  The topic was the deity of Christ, and they have learned that using the Bible as a resource for citing the doctrines of the divinity of Jesus is paramount.  The presentation was in a standard round by round construction, and there were a few stumbles around the way (I am trying to get them to stop beginning speeches with "okay," for one thing).  Overall, though, by the second day the teams were up to the task.  Today we will cover the teaching about Heaven.  It will be fun to see how they do. 

Next step: speeches

As of this week at Grace Christian Academy, I have added a "little extra" to our Bible teaching.  We have been studying a variety of subjects such as Islam and non-Biblical sources attesting to the life of Jesus, but our greatest thrust right now is on the doctrine of Jesus.  However, the method of teaching has changed for this week and part of the next:  the students will be teaching me.  Yes, it is time for them to learn a bit about speech. This will occur on and off throughout the rest of the year.

Our first speeches were 15 seconds long - the students spoke about Hebrews 4, Luke 4, the humanity of Christ, or key words such as "doctrine" or "deity."  Then immediately we will be moving into Jesus' plan of salvation, and each student will have part of a series of Powerpoint slides in order to tell me about a vital part of the Scriptural teaching of salvation in Jesus Christ.  These speeches will be twenty seconds long.

I find it vital for young people to be able to clarify and enunciate properly the clear plan of salvation; sadly, not enough teens know how to do this.  My current methodology is to not only teach the Bible truths but also instruct each student the proper way to stand in front of a group and share God's Word.

I'm not very popular right now for taking this course of action, but I feel it is a needful part of every Christian's life.  Learning how to speak clearly is a necessary talent for the Believer.  The students might complain a bit but they'll be able to use this training for the rest of their lives.

On another note, the students are learning the first chapter of John in Koine Greek, and the excitement and interest level has been very strong. 

The awakening

Shock to my system!  S has awakened and is one of the most dynamic members of his class.  I am not sure what spark lit him - either the movement of God or the threat of his parents or a teen-mid-life-crisis - but the effect is heartening to us all.  He is active in class Bible reading and in Konie Greek translation.

The Realization

We have been, as a class, watching the growing anti-American sentiment throughout the Middle East.  The attacks on the Embassy, fueled in part by the YouTube video containing statements considered slanderous to Islam prophet Mohammed, have led to a change of my teaching direction last week.  We did an intensive look at Islam, studying the various approaches toward the Quran and the way Islamic followers interpret the writings.  Numerous students have asked questions about the way we engage conversations with Muslims, along with questions about the violence that erupts among the extremist camps.

P is puzzled by the fundamentalist Muslim approach.  "How do they win followers, then?" J is intrigued by the hajj - the once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage as part of the five pillars of faith.  "are those all people in that picture of Mecca?"

"It sure is, " I answered.  "... heading towards the ka'aba, to walk around it."

"So many people in one place," she whispered.  "Really amazing."

And yet the unrest also has made the students aware of the realization of knowing the Scripture and how the Jehovah God is love, a concept puzzling to many Muslims.  They have also become aware of the reality of possible persecution in their lifetime, because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

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We talk about the doctrine of Christ, and the intriguing part will be in 1 Peter, whenever we discuss when Jesus went to the gates of the prison after His crucifixion, preaching.  This will be fun to teach, because of the unequivocal victory He exclaims to the demons of the underworld.  I love to teach it!

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"The thing I like about class so much," said J," is that we get to ask you a question and you take time to answer it, or at least try."

Yes, I try.  And I hope I am getting the answers the students need.

Open Line Friday

I'm back facing that familiar double-edged sword that many teachers encounter at this time of year: one blade is intense excitement over the progress made in these early stages, and the other is a flat-out fatigue.

For those of you who might not be aware of the Teacher September-Syndrome, it hits many of us and stays until our bodies can adapt to the pattern (and at my age it gets a bit longer each year).  The adrenaline rush of teaching and the gung-ho schedule drive a teacher to such a weary state that the face-in-the-dinner-plate position is not unfamiliar to members of said teacher's family.

Ah, but the rewards in the classroom!  P has gone from a flat-out 'F' to a fighting' 'C', and I see him grasping the concepts of the Godhead and the truths of the Bible.  L has learned to take his eyes off himself and work as a team and I see him taking notes that are actually legible...he's trying.

Then there is M, who is a step short of stunned by the Bible.  It's not an emotional excitement I see, but a sit-up-straight electrified intensity at most every word on the PowerPoint.  She is locked in on the target.  

Friday was Q & A time - I call it Open Line Friday, where I take questions from the students.  Queries ranged from the subject of angels to questions of how would a person get saved if he never heard the Gospel.  The questions were all intense.  So was the listening.

More to write later, but let me just say that this group of classes has a great potential.

The month's winner: Pi Kappa

Pi Kappa won the month of August, and so they win a free test credit (100 points to their grade) and an in-class party.  They earn points through numerous ways, but the most significant is the end-of-class game each day.  The day's lecture notes are used as quiz questions,  along with some pretty off-the-wall trivia questions.  The students may use strategy and wit, because some questions include betting their current points or even getting revenge on another team by taking points away.  Zeta Chi had a significant lead going into the final week of August, but couldn't hold off the onrush of teams wanting that top prize.  Beta Gamma actually tied Pi Kappa, but revenge points from two other teams pulled them into second place.  The competition gets pretty fierce. 
We all go back to zero and start the September run.  Epsilon Delta looks good in these early stages, but Omega Rho seems to be sneaking up on them...

Guzik on John 1:4

In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

John 1:4 is a breath-taking description of Jesus, titled "the Word.". Bible scholar David Guzik gives powerful insight to this verse:
In Him was life: The Word is the source of all life. The ancient Greek word translated life is zoe, which means "the life principle," not bios, which is mere biological life. This life is the light of men, speaking of spiritual light as well as natural light. It isn’t that the Word "contains" life and light; He is life and light.Therefore, without Jesus, we are dead and in darkness. We are lost. Significantly, man has an inborn fear towards both death and darkness.

Labor Day weekend

The three day weekend is promising to be as humid as the summer months; in fact, Jill announced that the weather report called for a full week of high temperatures and high humidity, broken only by one or two small rains.

Our studies in the classroom involve the doctrines of God among other things.  This has brought up numerous strong points of discussion, mainly in the names of God which describe His character.

Yahweh Maccadesham - "God who cleanses."
Yahweh Shalom - "God of peace."
Yahweh Raah - "God the Shepherd."

... many more that give our students the fact that God names Himself the mighty attributes that we can rely upon.

R came to me and told me of an atheist that is baiting her family over the internet.  She wasn't so much scared or intimidated as she was determined.  Determined to know the Scripture well enough to take on the attacks.

M is having a turn for the better, it seems.  At first he was the prime example of self-centered ness, but I see a crack in the granite.  His attitude is getting better and his interest in the deeper things of the Word seems to be coming along.

B is going gung-ho to go to the Theology Camp.  So is J.  They both have stopped me in the halls to see what else they must do to qualify.

N wants to go mainly because his family is comprised mostly of unbelievers and he wants to get answers for himself as well as have places in the Bible for references for their queries.  I have noticed in class that he is ready with an answer, or a question, for that matter.  Mark it down - this young man will be going with us to the Camp.

Pi Kappa won this month's competition among the class teams.  They get an automatic 100 on the September test and a party as well.  They have earned it.