Drew Boswell

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Review and Repetition; The ZIP PLOP Method by Daryl Dale

Daryl Dale is a children’s pastor in CT and was very influential to me at Children’s Pastor’s Conference that I attended in 2002. He placed the following article in his curriculum for the years while he published his own curriculum. Since it is out of print, and defiantly worth reading by all educators, I have reprinted it below.

“The human brain remembers what it understands and what is repeated. Bible stories and concepts are selected on the basis of the child’s ability to understand the primary truth in the story. It is through teaching the child learns the real meaning and application of the Bible story. It is through repetition learning is stored in the child’s long term memory and retained. It is almost impossible for a child to remember our Bible lessons without repetition and review.

Those who study how learning takes place in the brain describe our minds having two parts: a short term memory and a long term memory. The short term memory remembers new facts and concepts for about ten seconds and then forgets them unless they are repeated. When you hear a phone number, person’s name or directions to a store that information will be lost unless you write it down or repeat it in your mind several times. Each time we repeat the information in our mind we will remember it a little longer. With repetition and use new knowledge is moved into our long term memory and remembered for months or even years.

The ZIP PLOP method of teaching is all too common in church classrooms. Imagine the child’s brain as being a tunnel that stretches from ear to ear. This tunnel is three inches square and nine inches long. Pretend each Bible lesson is a three-inch-block. Every week we teach a new lesson and push a new three inch block into the child’s head.

However, after three blocks are in the child’s brain, what happens when the fourth lesson is put in? It plops out. If week after week the teacher continues to push new lessons into the child’s brain without review, the material almost literally goes in one ear and out the other. However, each time a Bible concept is reviewed it is prevented from escaping the mind and stored more securely in the long term memory of the child.

Sometimes the review and repetition may seem cumbersome and unnecessary. However, with review the learning of the children will be multiplied many times. Remember this little poem:

If it is important enough to teach,

It is important enough to review.

It is important enough to learn,

It is important enough to remember.”

A suggestion is the get the sentence strips at educational stores and write your review items on them, (part of the item on one side, and the conclusion on the back). By adding a few every week during a particular topic of study, you will greatly improve your students recall of specific items of study, memory verses, names, places, etc. It only takes a few minutes to do, and you can make it fun.

My Recurring Nightmare

I have a recurring dream that has been terrifying. The kind of dream where you awake covered in sweat, breathing hard, and thanking the Lord that it was only a dream. It has nothing to do with drowning, clowns, or falling (well sort of).

It begins with me being at a Christmas party. There is the sound of music and various sounds of being at a party (clinking of silverware and dishes, the crackling of a fire, laughs, conversations, little feet running, etc.)

The room that I find myself in is beautifully decorated with Christmas apparel. There is yard after yard of garland, golden balls, bells, and thousands of lights. The room is dark but light by the tiny white lights and candles. The room has a feeling of home and it is when I have taken in the beauty of the room and am comfortably sitting by myself that I realize that she is there.

I always enter the dream sitting in this place and there is a knowledge that she has just passed through the room even though I don’t remember what she looks like or how I know her. Lingering in the room is the smell of her perfume from her presence only moments before and now I hear her whisper from the darkness of another room to join her.

I don’t really have to move, only let go. Let go of everything and deeply and slowly inhale. It is then that I begin to drift. At the moment when I know that I have smelled too deeply of her perfume and at the point of taking like changing actions, I have a moment of clear thinking.

It is at this point that I glance down to find my feet bound in some ancient crudely fashioned chain. I yell “no” as loud as I can – but the sounds of the party continue, no one hears me. The chains begin to pull me into darkness, and I yell one more time, “I am not his!” I glance to my right and see a warriors’ helmet perfectly crafted for my head, and I can almost make out the shape of my face in it’s front. It was made in the depths below, and comes back as if I remember wearing it in some distant battle, and had forgotten of its dusty existence.

I yell one more time, “I am His!” All parties concerned know who I mean when I say, “His.” There is no need to mention His name, and I am almost ashamed to mention it considering my predicament. Then the chains release, and I am awake.

The battle is never really for my soul, for it already belongs to Christ. The battle is for my effectiveness. Who am I fighting for and how effective will I become? My fear is that I will be led away by a temptation; that I will smell too deeply of her perfume, and be led away into darkness and ineffectiveness – even fighting for the Evil One and not even know it – that the helmet already fitted for my head will be returned once more.

The temptress’s perfume fogs the mind and lulls one into sleep. Her desire is for you to smell deeply, and cast everything aside – let go, and not to consider the cost.

That’s my nightmare.  Her perfume has always been just a room away.

Solomon tells his son that wisdom is what will keep him from destroying his life. I pray that God gives us all nightmares and constantly remind us of the cost of lacking wisdom. Proverbs 2:17-22 “So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words, 17 who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; 18 for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed; 19 none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life. 20 So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it, 22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.”

The Third Temptation of Christ; Matthew 4:8 (Selfishness)


Matthew 4:8 “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

The taking of Jesus by the devil and going to various places was supernatural – so that Jesus can see the vast numbers of people. What is Satan trying to accomplish by showing Jesus the multitudes and “ethne” of people?  What is the temptation for Christ? As a man he had only seen those people in his geographic region. So now he sees the “multitudes” (Matthew 28:17 ff.) We see the short cut (avoid the cross) here in the beginning of the book, and we see the real plan in the end of the book (the horror of the cross).

Satan has the temporary authority to possess the nations; to give them away or to keep them as the “ruler of this world” [1] and “the whole world lies on the power of the evil one.”  The world has believed the Father of lies and its’ own glory would have been worshipping false gods, and all sorts of wicked and evil things. Were all these evil and wicked people worth Him dying a cruel and horrific death on a cross? Jesus saw it all and still died for it anyway.

Romans 5:8 “. . . God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Jesus saw a world in need of a Savior. Satan intended to tempt Christ by showing Him the multitudes (in sinful rebellion) but it only reinforces the mission that the Father has sent Him on – to redeem all of the world. All of His creation desperately needed a Savior, a Redeemer.

That redemption would come at a price. Since the beginning, something/someone would have to die, and His blood must be shed. [2] Satan knows that Jesus, in order to redeem the world has to die under the wrath of the Father. He had an idea of what the Father’s wrath will be like – he will himself experience it one day.

The temptation for Jesus is selfishness; for him to save himself the pain of the cross and to hell with everyone else.

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

Satan knows his time is limited, and that the Father’s wrath is coming – therefore because Satan hates the Father his desire is to take the multitudes (the ones who the Father desperately loves) with him.

For Jesus to worship Satan would be a shortcut around the cross. He would save the world and Himself the pain only momentarily. God’s wrath would still be stored up against mankind, and the sin problem would not have been dealt with. The world would still be in need of a Savior – and now the only One who could have saved them would have sinned in selfishness, [3] a Holy God would still be separated from sinful creation. No restoration would have taken place, and no intimacy regained. Nothing but time would have been gained. Man does not need more time to destroy himself with sin, nor does he need more time separated from His Creator who infinity loves him.

If Jesus had worshipped Satan and avoided the cross, it would have meant doom for mankind. Spiritual shortcuts never accomplish what faithful obedience eventually does. If you are tempted to take the spiritual shortcut, let me point you to Jesus and allow Him to illustrate why this is true. You cannot do what God has created you to do if you constantly take spiritual shortcuts and try to live this life by your own rules. If you have failed this temptation, I am right there with you. I have been selfish time and time again. But let’s journey this next distance of road together knowing that it doesn’t work.

Matthew 20:27-28 “. . . and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. Thank you Jesus for being selfless and faithful.

 

[1] Jn. 12:31; 1 Jn. 5:19.

[2] Genesis 3:20

[3] Romans 2:5, 5:9

Just Say “No” to Precious Moments Bibles; Choosing the Right Bible for your Children

Jessica could not understand why her ten year old daughter kept leaving her Bible at home, or at church, or under her bed. Margaret had always been a very responsible child, and had read that Bible cover to cover hundreds of times since they gave it to her at her baby dedication.  So mom sat daughter down for a talk about responsibility and taking care of ones things.

But not long into the discussion it became evident that Margaret loved her church, Sunday School class, and even reading the Bible — but the Precious Moments Bible was too “babyish.” Jessica knows that after this talk with her daughter that she needs to buy her a new one, but after over an hour in the Christian book store looking at over forty children’s Bible she doesn’t know which one to buy.

Where to Begin?

When we are discussing choosing the right Bible for us or our children, they generally fall into three categories:

  1. Literal translation. Attempts to keep the exact words and phrases of the original. It is faithful to the original text, but sometimes hard to understand. Keeps a constant historical distance. Examples: King James Version (KJV), New American Standard Bible (NASB).
  2. Dynamic equivalent (thought for thought) translation. Attempts to keep a constant historical distance with regard to history and facts, but updates the writing style and grammar. Examples: New International Version (NIV), Revised English Bible (REB).
  3. Free translation (paraphrase). Translates the ideas from the original text but without being constrained by the original words or language. Seeks to eliminate historical distance. Readable, but possibly not precise. Examples: The Living Bible (TLB), The Message. [1]
As an adult I personally prefer the English Standard Version (ESV) study Bible, but this is not the best choice for my children (right now). They are not ready for all the study notes, maps, and almost five pounds of weight! Younger children will begin with a “free translation” such as The Beginners Bible by Zondervan and as they mature move toward a “dynamic equivalent” translation with study notes or graphics.
Can My Kids Read It? 

1) The first thing (other than doctrine of course) to consider is readability.  If your child is reading on a first grade level and you give him him a Bible written at the seventh grade level it will be a struggle for him to read it. The child may grow frustrated and will dread “having” to read the Bible.  The best Bible for your child is one that they can read all by themselves. Which means that parents should be evaluating if their child’s Bible is age appropriate every year.  It may also be too easy because they have outgrown it.

How Will It Be Used? 

2) Another thing to consider when choosing a Bible for your child is how it will be used.  If you are focused on encouraging them to have a devotional time at home then you may give them a devotional Bible. These types of Bibles will more than likely only have some of the stories of the Bible such as The Bible in 365 days. But when they get to a worship service or even Sunday School they may not be able to find the specific text that is being studied that day. So if you are about to load up the minivan and go to church you may want to encourage your child to grab
their 252 Backpack Bible or something similar.

It will also be easier for your child to have the same translation that is being taught from.  (Sorry, “KJV only” people). You can also ask their Sunday School teacher which translation they use — this may be helpful in your decision making process.

Is It Cool? 

3) Also consider if it is a Bible they would want to read? This is what I will refer to as the “coolness” factor. Margaret didn’t want to carry around a pink Precious Moments Bible because it was not cool for her to do so.  It may be a full dynamic equivalent and contain all of the Bible but it’s Precious Moments. So, not only does the doctrinal content matter, but if you want your kids to carry and habitually read their Bible then you have to consider the outside cover.

David C. Cook publishing knocks this idea out of the park with “The Action Bible.”  It is the Bible written as a comic book. Simply awesome. Also, swallow your pride and consider that what you think is cool, may not be what your kids think is cool. It may be worth a trip to the local Christian bookstore with your child and pick it out together. If you do this regularly, it could be a way for you to discuss your child’s relationship with Christ.

If you are really confused, that’s ok. The big idea is that you are seeking to guide your children toward God, and he will bless your actions. Remember to lead by example; let them see you reading your Bible, and discuss with them what you are reading. Also, one of the best ways to make this habit stick is for the family to have a regular time of Bible reading and prayer.

 


 

 

 

 

[1] see http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Bible/BibleType.htm

"For by grace you have been saved through faith." Ephesians 2:8

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