Jun 22, 2021 | Care Conversations
The Bible and Our Schools (part two)
Concerns relating to Coherence. Competence, Confidence and Capacity seem to introduce significant hurdles to an effective Biblical Literacy Program.
But there’s more!
There is the issue of CONFUSION. Many of our students may not come from faith backgrounds. Are we to treat students differently according to their belief?
There is the issue of CONNECTION – to what degree is a Biblical Studies Program meant to provide knowledge and literacy and to what degree is it to illicit a faith response?
How do we CONNECT Biblical Literacy development with all other subject areas? How does Biblical Literacy inform or CONNECT with our Mission and Service-Learning actions?
Becoming increasingly familiar with the Bible is meant to increase our knowledge and understanding, but also to elicit a heart response and to change our actions. How does that work?
Then there is the issue of CURRICULUM. How do we define the purpose of Biblical Studies and Literacy? What should be the sequencing? What about the assessment processes?
Where do we find the right support for Teacher development, when and how does training take place? Where do we find worthwhile resources? Who makes this happen?
These are just some of the more obvious questions and struggles that schools face in this area of developing Biblical Literacy.
Again, we need to banish despair, and look to hope. How important is it that we and our students know the God of the Bible? The answer to that question will determine how we will persevere to overcome the difficulties and to provide the best input that we can.
Blessings
Brian
Jun 22, 2021 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone
“Fear not”. Isaiah 41:10. The Bible consistently declares “fear not” or do not fear. “Fear not” is a very big statement for those of us on the listening end, but it is never made independent of the One who makes the proclamation: God! Every time God tells us not to be afraid, He also reminds us of who He is and what He will do.* It is a unique statement that only God can make. He is the only one capable of saying “fear not” because only He has all power and authority over every dominion, including fear and only God is able to deliver us from this unwanted stalker; fear!
When God says “fear not”, firstly, there is an assumption that we humans will inevitably feel fearful at times because we live in a shattered world where the broken pieces will leave their score marks on our lives when we face disaster, difficulty or disease. Suffering in any form or feeling threatened can make us wilt or cower in fear. Secondly, however, God knows that the job description of the enemy is to steal, kill and destroy us and one of the biggest weapons in the armoury of the enemy is fear. The enemy is lurking, ready at any given moment to unzipper and unleash a mountain of fear on us, with the definitive intent of causing us to shift our focus from God and on to the circumstances that threaten us. If he can lead us into the dark night of fear and make us feel like we are standing, shivering on the precipice of terror, he is well on the way to doing his foul job. The enemy will actively try to put the ball and chain of fear on us, causing us to question God, to feel like God has abandoned us, or that we cannot trust God. The enemy would also be extremely happy to give us that final push off the cliff that may cause us to reject God. Yet, God wants us to dwell safely in the wide open fields of His love, truth, peace and light, where He comes to us as our Maker and our Father, holds His lamp of promise up and illuminates our path with hope. God will use every circumstance to draw us close, nestle us under His wing of protection and remind us there is never a moment that He is not for us and will act on our behalf. The enemy may scare us with the weapons of his choice but the weapons in God’s armoury will blow the enemy out of the water every time.
God is aware we will feel fearful in this life when difficult situations press in. “Fear not” doesn’t mean we won’t feel fear. What it does mean is we must not turn the door handle and permit it entry so it becomes a “house guest”. We must actively shift our footing from being attentive to fear, to activating faith. Our confidence comes from knowing and trusting who God is and affirming the truth of His promises. Rise up! Take up the Sword of the Spirit and slash fear into pieces in the resurrection power of Jesus who came to destroy the works of the enemy. 1 John 3:8. Right there are two weapons you can pick up, declaring “in Jesus name, I will fear not”.
So, friends, get your “fear not” on today.
Best days to come.
Wen
*(take a moment to read as many Scripture verses as you can about God in relation to fear and you will see that God always reveals who He is and what difference He will make. For example Isaiah 41:10 God says fear not! Who is God? He is OUR God, bringing all He is to bear on our circumstances with his victorious right hand. What will He do? He will strengthen, help, and uphold us.
Jun 15, 2021 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone
In plain sight. Hebrews 4:13 tells us that nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is in plain sightto Him. This is both confronting and comforting. On the one hand, it is confronting to know that God knows and sees everything about our lives. We wonder, how can He love me if He sees the worst about me? Will I be enough? It is rather intense that He sees into every nook and cranny of our beings; every thought that crosses our minds and every move we make whether our intentions are good or not so good. He knows all the issues that make us feel like we are somehow wearing a dog tag of shame; things that are so painful that we hide them behind a vaulted door that no one can open, fearing rejection from God and others. He sees us wear our best badge of honour and our attempts to keep it well polished. He sees the nice things like acts of kindness and mercy. He sees the love and service we show to others. He sees the deep gashes on our hearts that have left lifetime scars that we believe define us and make us unlovely. He sees what we hang onto that we should let go. He knows the fears that assault us and put us in the grip of anxiety. He knows every breach of trust and how we navigate the murky waters of offense. He sees us when we are nice and when we are not nice. Everything is in plain sight to God.
On the other hand, it is an incredible comfort to know that whilst everything about us is in plain sight to God, nothing can make Him love us more or less. There are no shifting sands with God. The best and the worst about us do not deter or change God’s love and acceptance. This truth means the enemy can never find us crawling around the wide-open spaces of insecurity, wondering if we do better can we earn more stripes with God. No! We are found positioned, qualified and unruffled in the safety and shelter of the most high God. God’s unbreakable commitment to us puts a chain on every lion the enemy seeks to unleash upon us to undermine our faith. These lions may bear their teeth, making us fearful that God will stop loving us, protecting us or acting on our behalf unless we somehow prove ourselves worthy, but God has nullified every attack and accusation by loving us perfectly, in plain sight, knowing the best and the worst about us. On that note, I’m humbled and thankful that God loves us in plain sight.
So, friends, get your “sight” on today.
Best days to come.
Wen
Jun 15, 2021 | Hope_Tina
Contentment and Contrast
Contentment is a vertical posture before God that recognises God is enough. Contrast is a horizontal posture that covets others and things and concludes that God is not enough. Contentment and contrast are two postures that cannot dwell together. One will always cancel out the other.
In our last issue we saw that in a redeemed world, God is the only one who can ultimately satisfy us and as we grow in our understanding and experience of this truth, contentment is shaped as a vertical posture in our lives. God truly is enough. Yet there are times when we line our lives up and take a momentary peek through the lens of contrast and as we look across the horizon of comparison, we soon discover that our sense of contentment is sabotaged by discontentment. We open a window for the winter breeze of contrast to blow in and suddenly our sense of contentment begins to shiver in the light of what we begin to contrast our lives with and things we start to covet. Our posture of contentment shifts from a vertical one to a horizontal one.
Davis notes that “Satan and his demonic forces will assault the citadel of your contentment every moment of your life for the rest of your days on earth.” (Davis, 2019)[1] One of the strategies the enemy uses to undermine our contentment in God is contrast. Right from the beginning, the enemy began a process of contrast. In Genesis 3:1-7, we see this played out. The enemy sowed a thought of contrast into Eve’s mind, basically saying, “look at God, don’t you want to be like Him, knowing good and evil? There’s more to be had than what you currently have.” He struck a chord of curiosity by highlighting what they didn’t have and hooked them with a thought about what they could have. Contrast! From the moment Adam and Eve followed the pathway of contrast and they rejected God to get what they coveted, contentment was lost, and contrast commenced. Thank goodness that God is gracious and restores us to a place of contentment.
There are times I see this as I engage children. I recall a time where I had given my grandchildren a drink of Milo. The shape of the cups was different and gave the illusion that the wider cup had more than the taller cup. The child with the taller cup began to contrast the drinks, claiming the other got so much more. It did not matter how much I showed them they both got the same, the contrasting continued and robbed the child of the enjoyment of what had been given. Fulfilment and satisfaction were overshadowed by contrast. Look what happened to the sense of contentment the moment one child began to contrast what they had in comparison to the other. The disposition changed, complaints began, tears flowed, and a mindset developed that the other had a greater measure of milk and Milo.
Contrast puts us on a merry-go-round that continuously circles us to the same place of discontentment. It leads us away from the heart of God and causes us to conclude He has intentionally kept something from us where our spiritual coffers are left wanting. Contrast of our circumstances with others casts a shadow over the goodness of God.
Philippians 4:8 is an antidote to contrast. God tells us that things like contrast and envy start in the mind and to experience the peace of God we must focus on what is true, lovely, admirable, things that are excellent and praiseworthy. This is a Christ-like mindset that will lead us to the place of peace and contentment as we put into practice what we know to be true about God.
Friends, God will never undercut us or short-change us. He calls us to a hope that is anchored in His character of goodness. Our practice must be to cancel contrast by being content in God who is always more than enough.
Blessings
Tina
[1] Davies, A. (2019), The Power of Christian Contentment, BakerBooks.
Jun 15, 2021 | Care Conversations
The Bible and Our Schools
Let’s first of all agree that this is an area of school life that is not dealt with as well as we would like. There is a sense of dissatisfaction for all sorts of reasons.
Let’s look at some of those reasons.
Firstly, I observe a lack of COHERENCE.
There is not a clear understanding amongst teachers and staff as to the important of Biblical literacy in the school community. So, when we begin discussions, we become side-tracked by fundamental questions such as:
To what degree is it the school’s role to develop Biblical Literacy; isn’t that the role of the church and the family?
We come from different denominational backgrounds, whose theology do we emphasise?
Should Biblical Studies be a special curriculum, or should it be incorporated into all subjects?
Should all teachers (and even staff) be involved with Biblical Studies teaching, or should we see it as a specialist area?
These, and others, are legitimate questions, but we often use them as roadblocks rather than resolving the questions and moving forward.
Secondly, we readily admit to a lack of COMPETENCE, which is connected to a lack of CONFIDENCE.
Many teachers and staff feel that they lack the level of Biblical understanding to competently teach others. There is a degree of embarrassment. So, this coupled with the previously mentioned issue of lack of COHERENCE, can put the brakes on developing an effective approach.
The third issue that I note is CAPACITY. Where do busy teachers find the time to develop their understanding, devise curriculum and provide space in the timetable for actual teaching of Biblical Studies?
What is the relative importance of Biblical Studies when our daily schedules are packed with curriculum requirements determined by external bodies to who we owe major accountabilities?
It looks as though the problems are becoming insurmountable . . .
If we do not establish an interesting, rigorous, and engaging approach to the Biblical narrative, young people will be insecure when they experience various difficult situations and will have nowhere to turn for help.
Blessings
Brian
