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the lesson mentally but you don’t know it experientially. You must not only know your content but you must know your content by experience. This must be something with which you have personally interacted; something that you are in the process of living. There were two teachers who ap plied for a job in the public school system. One was an older woman who had been teaching for about 25 years. The other was a young lady who had recently graduated and had taught only one year. The superintendent hired the young girl in preference to the older wom an. The irate madam came storm ing into the superintendent’s office, remonstrating with him and pound ing on his desk. “Why, the idea,” she said, “ the idea of hiring this young girl in preference to me.” Over and over again she kept say ing, “Why, sir, I want you to know that I’ve had 25 years’ teaching experience. Finally, the superin tendent got a little tired, looked over the desk and said, “ Lady, you don’t have 25 years’ teaching experience. You’ve had one year’s experience repeated 25 times.” Experience ought to make you a much better teacher. But it can make you a worse teacher if you are not improving, if you are not learning more and if you are not experiencing more of that which you know. Know Your Methods To be effective as a teacher you not only need to know your pupils and know the Word by experience but you also have to know your methods. Your job in teaching is twofold. It’ s, first of all, to get the pupil into the Word and, secondly, to get the Word into the pupil. The question is: How do you do that? The answer to the “ how” involves your methods. There are two ways to serve a meal. I can come home at night and sit down to a beautiful table. M y dear wife has spread a fresh table cloth and arranged a centerpiece of flowers. Before my chair is a nice, 12-inch platter with a Texas T-bone steak. There’s a nice, little scoop of mashed potatoes with a sprig of
in lives is the content of teaching — the Word of God. You need to be a master of that Book. The teacher who ceases to study is the teacher who ceases to teach. The moment you say, “ Well, I know the Bible! Why, I’ve been studying it for years,” that moment you are be coming an ineffective teacher. When I was in college I had a professor who made a profound impact upon my life. I used to sit in his classroom on the very edge of m y chair. The man just held me spellbound. I used to walk by his home and see a little light up in his window. It didn’t make any difference how late it was. He was there poring over his books. I’d go by early in the morning. There he’d be again poring over those books. One night he invited a number of us to come to his house for a time of fellowship. As we were sitting around talking, I said, “Doc tor, I’d like to ask you a question. I’m profoundly impressed by the fact that you never cease to study. I’d like to know what is your moti vation, what is the real drive?” And this is what he said, “ I would rather have my pupils drink from a running stream than from a stagnant pool.” What do your pupils drink from every Sunday morning when they come to Sunday school? Are you really teaching or are you traffick ing in unlived and unfelt truth? I had a student say to me one day, “Dr. Hendricks, I committed the unpardonable sin in teaching. Last week I was preparing a Sun day school lesson on prayer for a group of high school kids. Man, I spent all week. I’ve never spent as many hours as I spent preparing that lesson on prayer. I had illus trations for it. I had an inductive approach to the Word of God where I got those kids involved in the thing. I had all kinds of things worked out. I got into the hour,” he continued slowly, “ and it just fell flat. It was just as if a bolt hit me from out of the blue and said to me, ‘Scotty, you’re teaching prayer and you never spent five minutes praying.’ ” Did you ever do that? You know
LONGTIME In October, 1894, the Lord used a converted rabbi, Leo pold Cohn, to establish the work which is now the Amer ican Board of Missions to the Jews, Inc. God has prospered and blessed this work. Sixty-three years is a long time — over two generations. Without blare of trumpets this work has faithfully gone about the King’s business and has tried constantly to bear wit ness to the truth. Our witness has been twofold: first, to the Jew with the message of sal vation through the shed blood of the Lamb of God; and sec ond, to the church with an earnest plea that the Jew shall be restored to the place which God assigned to him in His divinely appointed missionary program. The Lord has hon ored and blessed both of these testimonies, and it has been our delight to know that we are doing His will. W e say all of this not boast fully, but in humble gratitude to the Lord who has put us here and cared for us through the years. “ Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” The Chosen People is sent to all who are led by the Lord to contribute to this important work. AMERICAN BOARD OF.......... MISSIONS TO THE JEWS, Inc. 236 West 72nd Street, Dept. 8 New York 23, N.Y. Canadian Office: 39 King William St., Hamilton, Ont., Canada I do want to help the Jews. Here is $................... Use it as God directs, to make known the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ to Israel. Name.......................... ......... . Address....... ............... ............ .......... City ........................ Zone ...... State............
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The King's Business/October 1957
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