Reading: Experimental Youth Ministry Handbook, Experiential Methods and the Bible (27 – 34)
So this is one of those assignments that say we are only supposed to write about eight sentences on for the blog portion and then the comments are supposed to be about four to six sentences. Good one Jeremy! That’s pretty funny since I don’t think anyone of us having been anywhere close to that!
Anyways, The Bible has so many similarities to youth ministries and how they are run today. Jesus taught in three different ways for people to be able to understand what he was trying to convey to those listening to what he had to say. The three methods were parables, object lessons, and initiatives which were all uncommon ways of teaching or learning back in the day. Jesus understood how people learned (duh cause he made us) enough to seriously revamp the way he talked to people and listened to people. He knew that people knew the law and the commandments, what they should do and what they should not do, but Jesus wanted to take them away from that and have them put into practice what they know.
He started off with parables, which is very similar to a story. The difference is, according to the reading, that a story has a more entertainment goal while a parable may be entertaining yet strongly conveys a point the teacher is trying to make. This is how people still learn today, especially youth. How often do you hear kids in school say “now how does this apply in real life?” or “where will I use this outside the class room?” it is the same deal today. Teens want to have a practical application of the ancient book that grandma used to read every night to the fast paced, real world that they live in every day.
The second way Jesus communicated was through object lessons. This was and is a great tool to use because it places an image in the head of the learner that can very rarely go away. Another reason I like this method is because it provides for teachable moments instead of the traditional “classroom” setting. Teens learn the best when they are doing so it makes sense to teach them in settings that they can actually apply things that they are told. I mean Jesus was just walking around town and saw some flowers. He then began to tell them that God looks out for them why you would think He would not look out for you. Teachable moments!
The third way the book talks about this is through initiatives. These are activities or situations that challenge people and create places for people to learn and grow. It’s a very effective for teens and young adults to be faced with these situations. They allow creativity problem solving skills to emerge through the person. Jesus did this often with his disciples and then taught them a lesson through it. Like the time he said to them how are you gonna feed these people? And the walking on the water illustration God used to help them solve problems and be prepared to deal with difficult situations.
God used these creative and experiential methods to teach the people that followed him, why should we do anything different?
Think of one of the lessons that you were taught that sticks out the most to you. How does it compare?
To youth and family ministry the Bible give different method of teaching people .One way of teaching people was though deminstration like Jeremiah with the yoke around his head.To create parables from what people know and what they are sourounded with.Jesus uses stories to get around peoples defences and teach them what they need to know.With youth and family ministry we need to come up with new and creative ways to get messages to our teens or kids. The need to know how to deal with this generation in their language .
This might sound trite and a little strange, but one of my favorite teachers growing up was my first grade teacher. The reason that I liked her so much was not that we got to sing songs before class like Baby Beluga in the Deep Blue Sea or that we raised gerbils and I got to take one home with me (although those things certainly didn't make me dislike her). I liked her rather because she took time to invest in me. When she saw that I was bored with the reading lessons (thanks to my dear brother who decided to help me learn to read before first grade) she let me go out in the hall to read more difficult books and do projects related to them. I see it kind of like the initiative lessons that Jesus taught. Mrs. Monfort gave me assignments that would challenge me to grow rather than letting me stay and be comfortable where I was.
This greatly impacted me in several ways: First, I learned that I was unique enough to be given special attention. Second, I learned about the concepts in the books in unique ways that helped me to recall the information (like building clay models and having a tea party...).
Wow.... I just compared my first grade teacher to Jesus - I bet that she would be honored :)
Kind of like Liz, I had a someone who made a huge impact on my life by using instruments like object lessons to portray the message. My Jr. High youth pastor did exactly what our book encourages youth pastors to do. Each week we wouldn't just sit around and listen to what God said about...school, family, friends..etc. Instead, he took the time to take each lesson and first apply it to his own life. He would tell us stories, and provide an object lesson so that we could better comprehend what he was trying to teach. I remember one time he had a table of "chocolate" milkshakes and gave each of us one. As we drank them we realized that they were made of cat food, bacon grease, and cocoa powder. We nearly passed out, but he used this to demonstrate the danger of false teachers and how Satan disguises himself as good while his intentions are evil. That lesson will always be with me because he used something so insanely powerful to get the message across.
I think that being challenged unconventionally opens new window of opportunity for our youth to grow. :)
As Porter told us, there are many ways to communicate to teens as youth leaders, but the big thing is to not throw the bible at their face. Jesus new people inside and out and did more than just tell them right from wrong. We are to learn from the way Jesus communicated with those He came in contact with. One of my greatest role models is my long time youth pastor. Its hard for to even think of him as my youth minister actually, because he is more like a brother. He became such a strong example to me by simply building a relationship with me. He has never thrown the bible at my face but when the time was right taught me through lessons and activities. If we only learn to get away from our own "methods" and truly focus on the way Jesus communicated with others, we can make a great impact on teens!
Hmm.... Well, since everyone is talking about their favorite teacher, I guess I'll talk about my mom. There's one lesson she taught me (several times) that I'll never forget. When I would get really mad at my twin sister or start yelling at her (occassionally I punched her and then she'd pinch me and then we'd both get in trouble...lol) my mom would make us hug eachother until we settled down. Now, if we had been extremely rebellious children we wouldn't have listened to her, but of course my mom knew us well enough to know what punishments would be effective. Umm.. I guess this is kind of like the initiative method of teaching that Jesus used - my mom put me in a challenging situation in order to learn a lesson: When you are really mad at someone, remember that you love them and then at least you will calm down. Or something like that.
Well, what Porter had said is straight and to the point of answering the questions, so really I don't think that there is much to say. However, I do think that it is important to remember that these methodes were used in the Old Testament times too; so really these types of lessons were probably used more often than what we think, along side of rote memorization lessons.
I also think that we need to continue to remember that everyone learns differently and there will be some who do not learn from these methods. Also, as great as these methods are we must also remember that they can become over used if used all the time. We need to make sure that we keep variety within the teaching setting as well.
Toby hit the nail right on the head when he says that we need "we need to make sure that we keep variety within teaching settings".
I'm sure that if everyone thinks about teachers that they've really liked, they can think of someone who absolutely hated having them... The same is true about teachers that you really don't like at all. I'm sure other people really appreciate them.
For instance, I really like Sanders, but most of the rest of you hate his classes... I just get a lot out of his appreciation for ideas presented in class, and his devotion to teaching.
My favorite teacher in high school was my physics teacher. EVERYONE wanted to take physics because he was such a great teacher. The reason: he was constantly telling us stories. Some of them were really off-the-wall and random, but others really illustrated his points. Because of him, I find myself constantly explaining things with analogies and examples.
I love the different ways people have been affected by there teachers they have had. I have many teachers who have affected me so well with there style of teaching. Though not at the time. I had a basketball coach of mine that comes to mind. He used to irritate me so much with his talk of how a man should present himself and how spotsmanship imitates politeness in life. But what I realize now are that the most teachable moments he had with us were the times when he prepared us for life. Giving us what real life is, not shielding us from the truth. This way of teaching us at the times outside of class as well as in them is what mattered most. I really appreciate and thank him for that. I'll remember those moments more than any others. They are what remind me that I'm always teaching.
I love how Nate started us off with structure. He was basically stating the structure that Jesus would have to teach the people. And obviously, like he said he created us so he should know the best ways to help us learn. Now a days, i feel like we are getting soooo focused on community and a more relaxed kind of growing (note: not saying this is wrong or bad) that we sometimes may forget how important a somewhat structured teaching can be. Just like Nate outlined the three different ways of teaching in his first post i think that as youth pastors, leaders, teachers, or whatever, it is very important to have some sort of outline or some kind of thing that we can take a look at as a reference. For an example in class. I think it is alot easier when we need to learn things if the prof gives us some sort of outline/PPT to follow. Our generation is getting very visual and im sure the generation under us is going to be even more so. so i would say that the mix of community/creating relationships where we can grow and learn from eachother + the ability to teach with structure as Jesus did is very beneficial in childrens or youth ministries.
I think that we must say that Jesus used very experiential methods when it came to teaching. His parables are prime examples of this type of teaching. As somebody who has prepared Sunday School lessons and sermons, I can easily picture Jesus walking by a farmer in his fields for example, tossing around some seed. From that Jesus goes, "Huh, that would make a great illustration." The rest as they say is history.
This is of course without even considering the fact that He used examples from people's everyday lives, things they would have seen on a daily basis.
And yet again, that is ignoring the fact that He lived with those He taught for three years and slept, ate, used the bathroom, joked, and got in arguments with those He taught.
I agree with Toby and Seth in that theses methods are great but we do need to make sure that we do not abuse them and wear them out because some do not learn that way. I try to look at teaching and preaching methods like i do working out... if you constantly do the same thing over and over again your body gets use to it and your improvement and growth starts to level out. That is why it is important to change it up everyonce in awhile to keep your growth increase. same thing with teaching, you teach the same way all the time and the kids get board.
I believe it's important to recognize these three methods because we are people who are going into ministry. Just like in the last chapter when we learned about theory, we need to learn to grow off of those who have gone before us, and who better to go off of then Jesus?
If i can learn to teach the way that Jesus did, I think I'm doing what God wants me, too.
What is important to remember is that we cannot simply cycle through these methods on a schedule or select one randomly when we're late on preparing a lesson. Contextualization in regards to the group we are ministering to is a big task, but one that is needed. Ultimately, it will help our ministry.
Nate gave a great structure of this chapter for us to look at as a group. We need to recognize how Jesus did his ministry so that ours can begin tolook more like His.
[Sorry this is so close to the deadline.. I just got back to campus from driving back from home!!!]
When I think on Jesus' parables, I remember how he once said that he used parables because we wanted the ones who really followed him deeply (the disciples) to understand it as where the rest of the audience is left to wonder what just happened. And I think Jesus liked being that disappointment for people who thought the Lord some just hand feed them the answers. Even when asked about heaven from the disciples, Jesus doesn't give a diffident answer. He thinks of a way to say it so that the people of his time could understand it. He says it is like a feast, like a big family meal. I suppose what we would like to hear is "Oh heaven is pretty sweet. It smells like a strawberry field and feels like spring rain, but there is a shortage of chairs . . . yeah" (if you don't get that joke, its ok, just ignore it). Jesus was frustrated when the Disciples could not even understand the things He was saying. If I remember correctly it's like, how long have you walked with me and yet you still don't understand the basics? Jesus seemed to be (not hate me for this) a disappoint in the eyes of those around him. The people who demanded miracles did not receive them; the higher ups wanted to talk to him, but he eats and talks to the impure; he teaches, but does so in a way that not many understand; He is the savior, but has to die; He is all powerful and the servant of all; He is the Rabbi to his disciples, but cleans there feet; He came to rule, but not to destroy the Romans; He dies, and to many peoples disappointment (including Lucifer) he comes back. Jesus did not seemed concerned with being a people pleaser.
Reading: Experimental Youth Ministry Handbook, Experiential Methods and the Bible (27 – 34)
ReplyDeleteSo this is one of those assignments that say we are only supposed to write about eight sentences on for the blog portion and then the comments are supposed to be about four to six sentences. Good one Jeremy! That’s pretty funny since I don’t think anyone of us having been anywhere close to that!
Anyways,
The Bible has so many similarities to youth ministries and how they are run today. Jesus taught in three different ways for people to be able to understand what he was trying to convey to those listening to what he had to say. The three methods were parables, object lessons, and initiatives which were all uncommon ways of teaching or learning back in the day. Jesus understood how people learned (duh cause he made us) enough to seriously revamp the way he talked to people and listened to people. He knew that people knew the law and the commandments, what they should do and what they should not do, but Jesus wanted to take them away from that and have them put into practice what they know.
He started off with parables, which is very similar to a story. The difference is, according to the reading, that a story has a more entertainment goal while a parable may be entertaining yet strongly conveys a point the teacher is trying to make. This is how people still learn today, especially youth. How often do you hear kids in school say “now how does this apply in real life?” or “where will I use this outside the class room?” it is the same deal today. Teens want to have a practical application of the ancient book that grandma used to read every night to the fast paced, real world that they live in every day.
The second way Jesus communicated was through object lessons. This was and is a great tool to use because it places an image in the head of the learner that can very rarely go away. Another reason I like this method is because it provides for teachable moments instead of the traditional “classroom” setting. Teens learn the best when they are doing so it makes sense to teach them in settings that they can actually apply things that they are told. I mean Jesus was just walking around town and saw some flowers. He then began to tell them that God looks out for them why you would think He would not look out for you. Teachable moments!
The third way the book talks about this is through initiatives. These are activities or situations that challenge people and create places for people to learn and grow. It’s a very effective for teens and young adults to be faced with these situations. They allow creativity problem solving skills to emerge through the person. Jesus did this often with his disciples and then taught them a lesson through it. Like the time he said to them how are you gonna feed these people? And the walking on the water illustration God used to help them solve problems and be prepared to deal with difficult situations.
God used these creative and experiential methods to teach the people that followed him, why should we do anything different?
Think of one of the lessons that you were taught that sticks out the most to you. How does it compare?
To youth and family ministry the Bible give different method of teaching people .One way of teaching people was though deminstration like Jeremiah with the yoke around his head.To create parables from what people know and what they are sourounded with.Jesus uses stories to get around peoples defences and teach them what they need to know.With youth and family ministry we need to come up with new and creative ways to get messages to our teens or kids. The need to know how to deal with this generation in their language .
ReplyDeleteThis might sound trite and a little strange, but one of my favorite teachers growing up was my first grade teacher. The reason that I liked her so much was not that we got to sing songs before class like Baby Beluga in the Deep Blue Sea or that we raised gerbils and I got to take one home with me (although those things certainly didn't make me dislike her). I liked her rather because she took time to invest in me. When she saw that I was bored with the reading lessons (thanks to my dear brother who decided to help me learn to read before first grade) she let me go out in the hall to read more difficult books and do projects related to them. I see it kind of like the initiative lessons that Jesus taught. Mrs. Monfort gave me assignments that would challenge me to grow rather than letting me stay and be comfortable where I was.
ReplyDeleteThis greatly impacted me in several ways: First, I learned that I was unique enough to be given special attention. Second, I learned about the concepts in the books in unique ways that helped me to recall the information (like building clay models and having a tea party...).
Wow.... I just compared my first grade teacher to Jesus - I bet that she would be honored :)
Kind of like Liz, I had a someone who made a huge impact on my life by using instruments like object lessons to portray the message. My Jr. High youth pastor did exactly what our book encourages youth pastors to do. Each week we wouldn't just sit around and listen to what God said about...school, family, friends..etc. Instead, he took the time to take each lesson and first apply it to his own life. He would tell us stories, and provide an object lesson so that we could better comprehend what he was trying to teach. I remember one time he had a table of "chocolate" milkshakes and gave each of us one. As we drank them we realized that they were made of cat food, bacon grease, and cocoa powder. We nearly passed out, but he used this to demonstrate the danger of false teachers and how Satan disguises himself as good while his intentions are evil. That lesson will always be with me because he used something so insanely powerful to get the message across.
ReplyDeleteI think that being challenged unconventionally opens new window of opportunity for our youth to grow. :)
As Porter told us, there are many ways to communicate to teens as youth leaders, but the big thing is to not throw the bible at their face. Jesus new people inside and out and did more than just tell them right from wrong. We are to learn from the way Jesus communicated with those He came in contact with. One of my greatest role models is my long time youth pastor. Its hard for to even think of him as my youth minister actually, because he is more like a brother. He became such a strong example to me by simply building a relationship with me. He has never thrown the bible at my face but when the time was right taught me through lessons and activities.
ReplyDeleteIf we only learn to get away from our own "methods" and truly focus on the way Jesus communicated with others, we can make a great impact on teens!
Hmm....
ReplyDeleteWell, since everyone is talking about their favorite teacher, I guess I'll talk about my mom. There's one lesson she taught me (several times) that I'll never forget. When I would get really mad at my twin sister or start yelling at her (occassionally I punched her and then she'd pinch me and then we'd both get in trouble...lol) my mom would make us hug eachother until we settled down. Now, if we had been extremely rebellious children we wouldn't have listened to her, but of course my mom knew us well enough to know what punishments would be effective. Umm.. I guess this is kind of like the initiative method of teaching that Jesus used - my mom put me in a challenging situation in order to learn a lesson: When you are really mad at someone, remember that you love them and then at least you will calm down.
Or something like that.
Well, what Porter had said is straight and to the point of answering the questions, so really I don't think that there is much to say.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do think that it is important to remember that these methodes were used in the Old Testament times too; so really these types of lessons were probably used more often than what we think, along side of rote memorization lessons.
I also think that we need to continue to remember that everyone learns differently and there will be some who do not learn from these methods. Also, as great as these methods are we must also remember that they can become over used if used all the time. We need to make sure that we keep variety within the teaching setting as well.
Toby hit the nail right on the head when he says that we need "we need to make sure that we keep variety within teaching settings".
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that if everyone thinks about teachers that they've really liked, they can think of someone who absolutely hated having them... The same is true about teachers that you really don't like at all. I'm sure other people really appreciate them.
For instance, I really like Sanders, but most of the rest of you hate his classes... I just get a lot out of his appreciation for ideas presented in class, and his devotion to teaching.
My favorite teacher in high school was my physics teacher. EVERYONE wanted to take physics because he was such a great teacher. The reason: he was constantly telling us stories. Some of them were really off-the-wall and random, but others really illustrated his points. Because of him, I find myself constantly explaining things with analogies and examples.
I love the different ways people have been affected by there teachers they have had. I have many teachers who have affected me so well with there style of teaching. Though not at the time. I had a basketball coach of mine that comes to mind. He used to irritate me so much with his talk of how a man should present himself and how spotsmanship imitates politeness in life. But what I realize now are that the most teachable moments he had with us were the times when he prepared us for life. Giving us what real life is, not shielding us from the truth.
ReplyDeleteThis way of teaching us at the times outside of class as well as in them is what mattered most. I really appreciate and thank him for that. I'll remember those moments more than any others. They are what remind me that I'm always teaching.
I love how Nate started us off with structure. He was basically stating the structure that Jesus would have to teach the people. And obviously, like he said he created us so he should know the best ways to help us learn. Now a days, i feel like we are getting soooo focused on community and a more relaxed kind of growing (note: not saying this is wrong or bad) that we sometimes may forget how important a somewhat structured teaching can be. Just like Nate outlined the three different ways of teaching in his first post i think that as youth pastors, leaders, teachers, or whatever, it is very important to have some sort of outline or some kind of thing that we can take a look at as a reference.
ReplyDeleteFor an example in class. I think it is alot easier when we need to learn things if the prof gives us some sort of outline/PPT to follow. Our generation is getting very visual and im sure the generation under us is going to be even more so. so i would say that the mix of community/creating relationships where we can grow and learn from eachother + the ability to teach with structure as Jesus did is very beneficial in childrens or youth ministries.
I think that we must say that Jesus used very experiential methods when it came to teaching. His parables are prime examples of this type of teaching. As somebody who has prepared Sunday School lessons and sermons, I can easily picture Jesus walking by a farmer in his fields for example, tossing around some seed. From that Jesus goes, "Huh, that would make a great illustration." The rest as they say is history.
ReplyDeleteThis is of course without even considering the fact that He used examples from people's everyday lives, things they would have seen on a daily basis.
And yet again, that is ignoring the fact that He lived with those He taught for three years and slept, ate, used the bathroom, joked, and got in arguments with those He taught.
I agree with Toby and Seth in that theses methods are great but we do need to make sure that we do not abuse them and wear them out because some do not learn that way. I try to look at teaching and preaching methods like i do working out... if you constantly do the same thing over and over again your body gets use to it and your improvement and growth starts to level out. That is why it is important to change it up everyonce in awhile to keep your growth increase. same thing with teaching, you teach the same way all the time and the kids get board.
ReplyDeleteI believe it's important to recognize these three methods because we are people who are going into ministry. Just like in the last chapter when we learned about theory, we need to learn to grow off of those who have gone before us, and who better to go off of then Jesus?
ReplyDeleteIf i can learn to teach the way that Jesus did, I think I'm doing what God wants me, too.
What is important to remember is that we cannot simply cycle through these methods on a schedule or select one randomly when we're late on preparing a lesson. Contextualization in regards to the group we are ministering to is a big task, but one that is needed. Ultimately, it will help our ministry.
Nate gave a great structure of this chapter for us to look at as a group. We need to recognize how Jesus did his ministry so that ours can begin tolook more like His.
[Sorry this is so close to the deadline.. I just got back to campus from driving back from home!!!]
When I think on Jesus' parables, I remember how he once said that he used parables because we wanted the ones who really followed him deeply (the disciples) to understand it as where the rest of the audience is left to wonder what just happened. And I think Jesus liked being that disappointment for people who thought the Lord some just hand feed them the answers. Even when asked about heaven from the disciples, Jesus doesn't give a diffident answer. He thinks of a way to say it so that the people of his time could understand it. He says it is like a feast, like a big family meal. I suppose what we would like to hear is "Oh heaven is pretty sweet. It smells like a strawberry field and feels like spring rain, but there is a shortage of chairs . . . yeah" (if you don't get that joke, its ok, just ignore it). Jesus was frustrated when the Disciples could not even understand the things He was saying. If I remember correctly it's like, how long have you walked with me and yet you still don't understand the basics? Jesus seemed to be (not hate me for this) a disappoint in the eyes of those around him. The people who demanded miracles did not receive them; the higher ups wanted to talk to him, but he eats and talks to the impure; he teaches, but does so in a way that not many understand; He is the savior, but has to die; He is all powerful and the servant of all; He is the Rabbi to his disciples, but cleans there feet; He came to rule, but not to destroy the Romans; He dies, and to many peoples disappointment (including Lucifer) he comes back. Jesus did not seemed concerned with being a people pleaser.
ReplyDelete