upward & inward

Some new (and old) lessons from August. Ongoing administrative excellence is hard. Period. It takes constant tweaking and adjustment...and a whole lot of leading. Pray for the best as you prepare for the worst. People don't resist change, people resist loss. My bride's laugh remains contagious and refreshing - at the very same time. I am blessed. Believe it or not, there are 4 other candidates for president. Can you name them? The power of example is more noble than the example of power. (a variation of line that Former President Clinton used in his speech at the DNC) Man's plans are at the mercy of God's power (Republican Convention and Hurricane Gustavo) Good leaders seek order in the swirl of issues. Getting the right people in the right seats makes a HUGE difference in a ministry. When we focus our attention on anything in place of God, He is grieved. From the Love & Respect book I'm reading: Husbands crave respect from their wives. Wives crave love from the...

From the previous 3 Digging Deeper postings we now have: * The selected text (Acts 1) * 16 Content items * An outline of 2 summarized text divisions From these, we get to create a subject sentence and a lesson aim. Subject sentence. Keeping it simple, a Subject Sentence is a complete sentence of 10 words or less whereby a reader/listener with moderate Bible knowledge will have a reasonable idea where in the Bible the text can be found. I usually mix the content summary divisions together in order to produce the subject sentence. In this example, for this text I wrote the following subject sentenct: Jesus gives last instructions and apostles choose Judas’ replacement. So, why bother? This forces us to think critically about where we are studying in the Bible and to be succinct in our descriptions. If someone asks what the lesson is about, the answer can be short, sweet, and to the point. The aim of the lesson. If you are teaching (even if it's just yourself), the aim of the lesson...

The Shack, by William P. Young, challenged me in many ways. And, although I probably need to read it again to fully grasp my reactions to it, I offer these thoughts: The tragedy upon which the book is based was really hard to for me to deal with. I understand how the tragedy must be so very tragic, because of it's importance in the rest of the book as the father's anguish over the event is addressed. Still, this "Great Sadness" was at times overwhelming for me. The Trinity is presented in a very unique way, to say the least. And, because the Trinity is, for me, difficult to understand, much less describe, I hesitate to criticize. Regardless, however, anthropomorphisms (applying human characteristics to God) are always difficult when trying to represent the Spirit or the Father. With Jesus, it's more clear, of course. The unity of the Trinity, clearly represented in the book, is most comforting and appealing. The book's cover quote from Eugene Peterson equa...

From the previous installment of this Digging Deeper series, we have 16 content items to work with from our selected scripture found in Acts 1:1-26 . The next step is to separate the 16 content items into 2-4 meaningful sections. Why do this? Helps us develop the lessons, truths, and applications with more clarity Forces us to again think through the Scriptures with a bit more rigor If we use this for teaching or leading a discussion, then we can arrange the lessons in manageable chunks. How do we describe the sections? Using as short a sentence as we can, simply summarize the story or events of the section. It's that simple. Don't get hung up on perfection. Effectiveness is sufficient. Here is how I divided the 26 verses into 2 sections: Jesus gives instructions to His disciples and is then taken up before their eyes (v1-11) Matthias is chosen by lots to replace Judas the betrayer (v12-26) Next step: The Subject Sentence and overall Aim of the lesson.

After the first step of defining the scriptures for study , the next step to digging deeper is to develop a list of content items. Here are the attributes of content items: Content items boil down the Scriptures to pure facts Must be personally meaningful to the studier No more than 20 total Try to keep the content item brief to one line - abbreviations are okay, as long as you know what they mean. Content items can cover a part of a verse or multiple verses or chapters In our example, Acts 1:1-26 , I have developed 16 items: Author refers to former book about Jesus’ works, teachings, and instructions (v1-2) After Christ’s suffering, He showed Himself to many and continued teaching (v3) Once while eating: ‘don’t leave Jerusalem; wait for gift of Holy Spirit’s baptism (v4-5) Apostles asked: are you going to restore kingdom to Jerusalem? (v6) Not 4 u 2 know; rcv pwr fm Spirit, witness in Jerusalem, Judea/Samaria, ends of earth (v7-8) Jesus taken up before their eyes and they stared at Hi...

Today is my parents anniversary. 57 years ago, they began a journey together in which they're still progressing. Happy Anniversary, Bob and Marilyn Smith!!

I mentioned previously that I was going to share a Bible Study approach that I had been taught. This approach, which I had always called "homiletics" (with the result called a "homiletic"), has for years helped me prepare for preaching, leading discussions, teaching classes, and even generating a list of questions for others to review before discussions in a group setting. However, as I looked at the origins of the word, homiletics seems to be focused primarily on preparation for the delivery of a sermon (also called a homily). When viewed this way, I believe this limits the approach to just preaching as opposed to the benefits of personal application. So, as yet unnamed, I will attempt to describe this Bible Study approach simply as a way to dig deeper into the Bible in order to uncover lessons and truths before (finally) applying them in our everyday lives. To begin, we identify the scriptures we are going to study. This can be an entire book of the Bible or just ...