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.

From Boy to Man by Dr. Al Mohler

In this 23 page e-book Dr. Al Mohler the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary gives 13 marks of what a boy should be before he should be considered a man.

As a father of three boys, I know that there are things that I need to be teaching them along the way. This booklet gives parents a helpful outline and it would be fairly easy to establish some long range goals based on these 13 marks. Other resources that I have read are just overwhelming in the sheer volume of material, but these are succinct, and given almost in outline form.

Too many of the males in our churches are overgrown boys in adult bodies. They lack spiritual maturity, and are ill equipped to handle adult responsibilities. Should there really be any surprise that many “men” are not willing to step into leadership roles, when we don’t prepare them when they are younger?

Mohler says in the article, “As defined in the Bible, manhood is a functional reality, demonstrated in a man’s fulfillment of responsibility and leadership.”

Click on the picture or here to read the e-book.

Background Check and Security in the Church; Part One

I sat down with my father some time ago, and over coffee we entered into a heated discussion about the education of my children.  We “discussed” public verses private schools, and homeschooling. As we waded into the sticky waters of the topic it became very clear to me that the school he was talking about and that he attended, was not the school that I attended.

We make decisions and values based on our life’s experience. His outlook was simply different even though we went through the same county educational system. His experience of education experience was radically different than my school experience. It was separated by over twenty years of radical change in a small rural Alabama town.

In those more than twenty years, segregation had been enacted, computers were introduced into classrooms, and the world had rushed into this small town. Now my children have dry erase boards that are controlled by the teacher’s computer, and internet is a daily part of my children’s lives. The world is no longer rushing into the classroom; today’s students can be anywhere and see anything that their heart’s and imaginations can take them.

But ever present with innovation, change, and advancement is man’s depraved heart to corrupt the most amazing and fascinating developments. The internet is a place of enlightenment and learning, but it is also a place of the worst of man’s corruption. Either are only a few key strokes away. As a boy, if I desired pornography I would have to convince my friend to steal it from his father, sell the magazine to me, and I would have to sneak it home in my backback from school. Today, my sons can simply type in “porn” and behold millions of web sites ready to give them man’s depravity for free.

I say all this to say, we live in a world that is exciting and innovative, and we are making huge strides toward making our world a better place – but as the innovation increases so does the danger. Those in church leadership have to realize that the church today has to be different than it was when they were growing up.

To focus on one of these major changes has to be in the area of security in the life of the church. Matthew 18:10 says, “Take heed that you do not harm one of these little ones, for I say to you their angels always behold the face of my Father.” If we do not change, and take steps to protect them, then we are negligent and responsible for harm that may come upon them.

Bill Hybels said “Today I believe the single remaining common interest or entrance point for non-churched people into the church is children.”[1] Children’s ministry is leading many churches to growth and God is using Children’s Ministry to bring people into the church so we should protect this door into our churches. Parents want their children to have a moral foundation even if they themselves do not follow God.

So as the spirituality of Americans continues to be open to discussions of Christ, we have to know that we have a very real and ever present enemy who seeks to steal, kill and destroy. 1 Peter 5:8-9 “Be self controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

Some Dreadful Statistics

  • There are between 250,000-500,000 pedophiles reside in the United States.[2]
  • Convicted child molesters who abused girls had an average of 52 victims each.
  • Men who molested boys had an astonishing average of 150 victims.[3]
  • The typical child sex offender molests an average of 117 children, most of who do not report the offense.[4]
  • It is estimated that approximately 71% of child sex offenders are under 35 and knew the victim at least casually.
  • About 80% of these individuals fall within normal intelligence ranges;
  • 59% gain sexual access to their victims through, seduction or enticement.[5]

As much as these statistics make us sick to our stomachs they can not with good conscience be ignored. We live in a world where there are people who seek out our children to do them harm. The church also tries to foster an atmosphere of acceptance and trust.  We want to think the best of our church family; no one wants to create an atmosphere of distrust.

We would like for the church to the hub of community activity therefore often times doors are left unlocked, hallways and restrooms are easily assessable and rarely monitored.  We want the community to know that in the church all are welcome.  But there are also monsters that appear in sheep’s clothing.  We must therefore be “shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” Matt. 10:16.

How can we then be open and accepting while at the same time protecting our most valuable asset, our children?  In most church-related sex abuse cases, the molester was a longtime member of the church, active in his/her community and liked by many. [6]

*this is part one of a three part article series.

[1] David Staal, Take The Challenge: Lead Up, Children’s Ministry Magazine, January/February 2003, p. 49.

[2] U.S. Department of Justice

[3] In a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health Dr. Gene G. Abel, Emory University

[4]The National Institute of Mental Health, 1988

[5]Burgess & Groth, 1984

[6] www.priority2.org/church.htm p. 10

The Importance of Christian Education

Early in the earth’s history God was man’s original instructor. Man’s classroom was the perfect Garden of Eden, and his teacher was none other than God Himself.[1] In the cool of the day God would come and talk and dialogue with Adam (Gen 3:8). Creation taught of God’s omnipotent power and immeasurable creativity. The fall (Genesis 3) taught man not only of God’s grace and mercy, but also of His holiness. God is the ultimate teacher; Job said, “Who is a teacher like him” (Job 36:22)? Michael Anthony and Warren Benson write,

God’s desire has always been to see His children mature in their faith and pass that faith on to subsequent generations. To accomplish that aim, He chose patriarchal leaders such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to model godly familial and national leadership. Soon after that, He gave us written instructions, known as the Torah, or Old Testament Law. Later, he commissioned priests, judges, and prophets with the task of instructing His people with the proper application of those laws to everyday life. Eventually, this task was given to synagogue leaders such as rabbis and scribes. After the Jews returned from exile, they established schools for the education of their children.[2]

This knowledge was not only to pass from parent to child, but from God’s people to the lost world around them. Genesis 18:19 says, “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him” (NIV). That promise was that Abraham would be a blessing to those around him, and that his offspring would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore (Genesis 12).

Later it was explained that his offspring are all those that have a saving faith in God. As the world surrounded God’s people, they would see God working in the Israelite’s lives, and they would be drawn to want a relationship with God as well. When they come to inquire, God’s people would need to know how to respond. If God’s people are to be a “lamp on a stand” that shines the light of God to the world, then their lives must reflect God’s character and their minds must be ready to “give an answer for the hope that they have” (1 Pet 3:15).

Acts 17:26­–27 says, “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” God has strategically placed Christians where they are, in the history of time that they are in, in order to bring a lost world to Him. But they must be knowledgeable regarding the doctrines of Scripture. Otherwise the church becomes doctrinally shallow and easily swayed by the deception of sin (Jas 1:8).

God chooses to work through the local church as the main avenue, other than parents to children, as the way in which to educate believers. Pazmino identifies the responsibilities of the local church as being “proclamation (kerygma), community formation (koinonia), service (diakonia), advocacy (propheteia), and worship (leitourgia).”[3] He points out that didache or teaching is not listed. Pazmino believes that “teaching serves as the connective membrane linking these five tasks to form a vital and living body of ministry and mission in the world.”[4] 1 Corinthians 12:4–7 says, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” Those who teach are in partnership with other Christians who have these different gifts from God. They should share these different spiritual gifts to bring depth and creativity to the teaching ministry of the church.

Whereas the methods that God has used to reveal Himself have changed throughout the generations, his desire to see His people grow and become like Him has not. Today this same responsibility of instruction has not changed regarding godly parenting. But also, the parents of children must be taught so they can mature and grow in Christ. If the local church is to be “the body” as described throughout the New Testament (1 Corinthians 12), it must be educated. God’s design behind education is that people would be taught how to become more like Him. Since the beginning of time, it has been God’s desire for man to populate the earth and to instruct those people on how to have a relationship with their Creator.

The ultimate purpose of all Christian education, then, is to bring those who are taught into a relationship with Jesus Christ, then to equip them to grow in this relationship for the rest of their lives, while showing others God’s purpose for their lives. This is actually given as a command in the Great Commission in Matt 28:18–20, “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (NIV).

All who have a saving faith in God should be educated in the doctrines of the Bible in order that they can impact their world around them. Clarence H. Benson said, “The progress and permanency of Christianity has been dependent upon a program of education.”[5]

One sees this importance early in the life of the church. Acts 2:42 says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Every pastor in the early church was expected to be an apt teacher (1 Tim 3:2), and most Christians were more than likely apt teachers (Acts 8:1, 4) as well. The importance of Christian education can be followed throughout all of history, with its foolish conclusions when education is lacking in the medieval period, and its great strides in discoveries during the Reformation and Renaissance. Looking specifically at the Roman Empire in history Anthony and Benson wrote,

The contribution of the great Roman Empire to the beginnings of Christianity cannot be overstated. The Son of God was born into a world that valued learning. The Hebrews had contributed an emphasis upon monotheistic and family-life education; the Greeks had provided an emphasis upon philosophic thought united under a common language; and the Romans gave the world a strong civil government with secure borders, commerce, communication, and stable means of transportation. Together these national and cultural contributions laid the foundation for early Christian church education.[6]

This shows that Christian education has had many influences that God has used to shape it into a method that is effective if taken seriously in the life of the family and church. It is the challenge of the teacher, guided by the Holy Spirit, to instill within the learner a desire to glorify the Lord with their lives. This is something that is caught as opposed to being taught. With Jesus being the ultimate example, His life never veered from His teaching. He never did anything that contradicted what He said. The teacher’s life should exude love for the students and for God, and their lessons are an overflow of a heart that has been in God’s presence continuously. Pazmino says, “The Holy Spirit inspired the initial writing and compilation of the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit also illuminates those who seek to teach the Scriptures or to be taught by them.”[7]

[1] Among these early disciples were: Adam, Eve, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Job.

[2] Michael Anthony and Warren Benson, Exploring the History and Philosophy of Christian Education (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2003), 17.

[3] Robert Pazmino, God Our Teacher (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001), 143.

[4] Ibid., 125.

[5] Charles Tidwell, Educational Ministry of a Church (Nashville: Broadman, 1982), 34.

[6] Anthony and Benson, Exploring the History and Philosophy of Christian Education, 98–99.

[7] Pazmino, God Our Teacher, 95.

"Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts." Rick Warren

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