Humor

Just a Second

March 16, 2007 kensapp Leave a comment

One enterprising man asked the Lord, “Lord, how long is a million years to you?”

The Lord replied, “To me, a million years is like a second.”

The man asked, “Lord, how much is a million dollars to you?”

The Lord said, “To me, a million dollars is like a penny.”

The man asked, “Lord, may I have a penny?”

The Lord answered, “Sure, just a second.”

Icebreakers Ahead: Take It To the Next Level

This 170 page resource not only provides 52 of the world’s most popular group icebreaker activities and games, but also includes lesson ideas and discussion questions to smoothly transition into conversations about the issues common to most groups.

Click here to find out how to get your hands on this incredible resource!

Food for Thought

Good Morning, Lord

March 16, 2007 kensapp Leave a comment

“Somebody has well said that there are only two kinds of people in the world there are those who wake up in the morning and say, “Good morning, Lord,” and there are those who wake up in the morning and say, “Good Lord, it’s morning.”

Food for Thought, Resource Reviews, Teaching Illustrations

While the Boss is Away

March 15, 2007 kensapp Leave a comment

“To make the value of obedience just as practical as possible let’s play ‘Let’s Pretend”.

Let’s pretend that you work for me. In fact, you are my executive assistant in a company that is growing rapidly. I’m the owner and I’m interested in expanding overseas. To pull this off I make plans to travel abroad and stay there until a new branch office gets established. I make all the arrangements to take my family and move to Europe for six to eight months. I am leaving you in charge of the busy stateside organization. I tell you that I will write you regularly and leave I tell you that I will write you regularly and give you directions and instructions. I leave and you stay.

Months pass. A flow of letters are mailed from Europe and received by you at the national headquarters. I spell out all my expectations. Finally, I return. Soon after my arrival, I drive down to the office and I am stunned. Grass and weeds have grown up high. A few windows along the street are broken. I walk into the Receptionist’s room. She is doing her nails, chewing gum and listening to her favorite disco station. I look around and notice the wastebaskets are overflowing. The carpet hasn’t been vacuumed for weeks, and nobody seems concerned that the owner has returned. I asked about your whereabouts and someone in the crowded lounge area points down the hall and yells, “I think he’s down there.”

Disturbed, I move in that direction and bump into you as you are finishing a chess game with our sales manager. I ask you to step into my office, which has been temporarily turned into a television room for watching afternoon soap operas. “What in the world is going on, man?” “What do you mean, Chuck?” “Well, look at this place! Didn’t you get any of my letters?”

“Letters? Oh yes! Sure! I got every one of them. As a matter of fact, Chuck, we have had a letter study every Friday night since you left. We have even divided the personnel into small groups to discuss many of the things you wrote. Some of the things were really interesting. You will be pleased to know that a few of us have actually committed to memory some of your sentences and paragraphs. One or two memorized an entire letter or two – Great stuff in those letters.”

“OK. You got my letters. You studied them and meditated on them; discussed and even memorized them. But what did you do about them?”

“Do? We didn’t do anything about them.”

Source: Charles Swindoll, Improving Your Serve

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Creative Teaching Ideas, Improving Your Teaching, Youth Ministry

Effective Youth Bible Study

March 15, 2007 kensapp Leave a comment

To be most effective in your Bible study with youth:

Involve rather than inform
Suppose you had climbed a mountain and wanted to convey to your students the exhilaration of reaching the top and the relief at discovering that the grueling work was really worth the effort. Would it be better to tell them about your climb or take them to the top of the mountain with you? Taking them to the top would take more time than saying: “The results are worth the climb.” But which would impact their lives more deeply? It’s the same with Bible study: the more youth do for themselves, the more meaningful their learning becomes.

Listen rather than lecture
The one who talks is the one who learns. When you ask questions and make assignments that guide youth to express Bible understanding, they learn. It’s easy to let lectures go in one ear and out the other, but youth remember what they themselves say. They live what they commit to.

Direct rather than dictate
“Is this television program good for me?” “What is sin?” “How can I know the will of God?” Rather than telling youth what to do, guide them to Bible verses that address their questions. As youth make their own choices, they gain confidence in their ability to read, understand, and live the Bible for themselves. And they grow close to God who authored the Bible.

Be Active rather than passive
Youth tend to be full of energy. When there is an option to make things active, it keeps their attention and helps release their energy.

Make it cooperative rather than individual
Todays youth prefer to work in groups rather than as individuals. It takes off the pressure and allows the more quiet ones to contribute in a small setting that may not speak before the entire group.

Have a single objective rather than multiple truths
Choose one objective. Everything you do should reinforce, explain, support, clarify, apply to that objective.

Focus on changed lives rather than memorized facts
You don’t teach the Bible. You teach youth. It’s not what you have given them that matters, but what they leave with. Its not what you do, but what they do that evaluates an effective lesson.

Be an example in your expectations
Your attitude is contagious. If you like Bible study, your students will tend to like it also. If you present a learning activity with interest and expectation, youth will participate and like it. But if you say, “This was in the book and I know you will think it’s childish and dumb… “ they will think it’s childish and dumb. Expect great insight based on Bible truths. Your students will sense your expectation and fulfill it.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

Learn More…

Food for Thought, Improving Your Teaching

Teaching Children

March 14, 2007 kensapp Leave a comment

I tried to teach my child with books
He only gave me puzzled looks
I tried to teach my child with words
They passed him by often unheard
Despairingly I turned aside
“How shall I teach this child?” I cried
Into my hand, he put the key
“Come, he said, play with me.”

Anonymous

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Humor

Problems with Squirrels

March 13, 2007 kensapp Leave a comment

There were three country churches in a small Texas town: Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist.

Each church was overrun with pesky squirrels. One day, the Presbyterian church called a meeting to decide what to do about the squirrels.

After much prayer and consideration they determined that the squirrels were predestined to be there and they shouldn’t interfere with God’s divine will.

The Methodist group got together and decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God’s creations.

So, they humanely trapped the squirrels and set them free a few miles outside of town. Three days later, the squirrels were back.

It was only the Baptists who were able to come up with the best and most effective solution:

They baptized the squirrels and registered them as members of the church. Now they see them only on Christmas and Easter.

Icebreakers Ahead: Take It To the Next Level

Click here to find out how to get your hands on this incredible resource!

Improving Your Teaching

Building Bridges – Part 2: Where do you want to go? (Learner focused)

March 13, 2007 kensapp Leave a comment

Last time we looked at Successful Bridge Building and the importance of knowing your destination. Building bridges requires you to take stock of where you are and where you want to go. We mentioned that is must be in BROAD terms and set the DIRECTION you want to go. That moves us toward the destination. But the true destination is a change in the life of the student.

2.Goals tell what should happen to the learner, not the teacher!

Goals do not express what the teacher will know or understand.
Goals do not state what the teacher will do to teach the lesson or the course.
Goals tell what happens or will happen to the learner.

For example, the following statement tells what will have happened to the learner at the end of a course.

Knows the temptations of Jesus

Which of these goals describes what will happen to the learner rather than what the teacher will do to teach?

Understands the beatitudes of Jesus.
To increase the student’s understanding of the beatitudes of Jesus.

The Answer?
In number 1, the student obviously understands the methods of Bible study.
Number 2 tells what the teacher intends to do. You should have checked number one.

Get Help on Your Youth Sermons

Teaching Illustrations

Other Side

March 12, 2007 kensapp Leave a comment

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, “Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.”

Very quietly, the doctor said, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?”

The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side of which came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said, “Did you notice my dog? He’s never been in this room before. He didn’t know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing, I know my Master is there and that is enough.”

Author Unknown

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

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Icebreakers

Are your Icebreakers a SNORE?

March 11, 2007 kensapp Leave a comment

In group activities, icebreakers are those fun, energizing activities, which allow the participants in the group to get to know each other. They can also be used to introduce a topic, to facilitate teamwork, to get people engaged in a program, to loosen them up to start sharing feelings and ideas, or simply just for fun!

As the name suggests, an icebreaker session is designed to “break the ice” at an event or meeting.

What is the ice that needs to be broken?

They haven’t met each other before
They have never worked with you before as a leader, teacher, or trainer
They have never worked together on a project before
They come from different levels or have a different status in an organization (i.e. management, employees, teacher, students)
The group is not united and you need to break down inhibitions so they can bond together
The participants come from different backgrounds, cultures, perspectives, or have different perceptions of others in the group

Keys to Success

Simple
Non-threatening
Open ended
Relevent
Energizing

Simple
Your icebreaker needs to be simple enough for everyone to understand with a minimum of explanation. The simpler, the better. Many icebreakers fail because the instructions are too complicated and people have trouble understanding what they are supposed to do.
Is it easy for the participants to understand what they are supposed to do?

Non-threatening
Icebreakers should not make people feel uncomfortable. Most people aren’t willing to share their deepest feelings with strangers. That’s too personal. The best icebreakers, get the participants to engage each other at a simple level without revealing their life stories or things that are very personal.
Will the participants be comfortable with participating or contributing? How are the participants likely to react to the activity?

Open ended
There should be a variety of levels of response so that the uniqueness of individuals is allowed to be expressed. Through discovery they will often find that they are not so unique after all – that they do share something in common with others in the group.
Does it open up possibilities and establish a common playing field or does it stifle the group, close off the options, and reinforce the barriers?

Relevent
Choose an icebreaker that meets the needs of the group and contributes toward the purpose of the meeting. That purpose could be as simple as the introduction of strangers to each other or to get the participants to begin thinking about a specific topic.
Will participants feel that it is appropriate and worthwhile?

Energizing
Design your Icebreaker to energize. It should excite the group according to their level of activity. Highly physical activity might be appropriate for some groups while for other groups it may tire them out before you even start! Laughter, fun, creativity, and intellectual stimulation are almost always energizing!
Will they have fun and enjoy the activity?

With these keys, you can avoid the SNOREs of boredom in your next icebreaker!