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CHRISTIAN
Looking Ahead In Christian Ed ________________________
ed ited b y M a rg a r e t Ja cobsen , M *A . Associate professor of Christian Education, Biola Bible College Channels of Living Water by Lucy Campbell Assistant Professor of Education, Westmont College
W hat a privilege to be chosen of God to be a channel for His liv ing water, which He gives to meet the needs—physical, mental, so cial, emotional and spiritual—of our boys and girls! But is the water we are channeling living in their lives? It will never become alive until we as teachers mate full provision in God’s sight for our pupils. He has given us in Luke 10:27 a fivefold commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with- all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” This verse challenges every teacher to recog nize the needs of her children in all the five areas of experience and to make provision for meeting them. Living waters meet needs! Physical Difficulties Thou shalt love the Lord thy God . . . with all thy strength. It makes a difference if the one in whom you are interested has a hearing defi ciency and is self-conscious because his speech is not clear, or if his hear ing is not impaired and his speech is easy to understand. Has your list less child had a physical examina tion? Perhaps a physical difficulty is the cause of your discipline trouble. An Answer for Doubt Thou shalt love the Lord thy God . . . with all thy mind. Have you considered the mental state of the individuals before you? In conversa tion with them singly and in a group you can soon find out their fears, doubts, and conflicts. You are teaching them that the Bible is God’s Word, that it is the final au thority of truth and of standards of right and wrong. This fact they hear during one hour each week. Do you know what they are being taught about the Bible in the rest of their educational program? We owe it to them to present the facts we are teaching in such a way as to challenge their thinking. Let us
less these children are met with the Saviour’s wisdom and love, how can the “waters” ever live for them?—no matter how beautifully the lesson has been taught! Starved for Love Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart . . . How secure emotionally do your children feel in your presence? How needed are they? How indispensable do you make them? Children in our classes are starved for love and the understand ing of those who care. Do you know the emotional influences that are brought to bear by their friends at home? at school? on the radio? in the comics? on the screen? What ter rific forces there are to combat in this world of emotions! What satis fying, constructive experiences have you provided to supplant the unde sirable?—remembering that “ greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.” A Personal Faith Thou shalt love the Lord thy God . . . with all thy soul. What plans have you made for your children to meet the Lord face to face? It is im portant to teach about the Lord, but it is more important for our children to know Him personally. Your chil dren need to have their own private devotions, and for such a venture with the Lord they need help with planning. What Scripture shall they use? What answers to problems can they look for? What hymns are brought to mind? How can the truths they learn be shared with others? Since God has spoken to them, what shall be their response? Your children need to read the Word for themselves. They need to dis cover that being a Christian is a mat ter of allowing Jesus Christ to take control and to rule in their lives. They need to meet Him in prayer and to find themselves being used as channels for the rivers of living water.
allow—no, let us encourage them to ask questions. There are wonderful teaching opportunities in the ex pression of honest doubt. You may rejoice when a child says to you, “Why should I believe that that is God’s Word just because it is writ ten on that kind of paper?” There is no occasion for shock or surprise at such a statement. How will they ever find out how they can be sure that the Bible is God speaking to them if we never give them oppor tunity to speak their minds? Time! We must allow time for discussion and questions in our class periods if we would allow living waters to flow! But how can we keep these times in formal? They must not become dry, form a l, question-and-answer, you talk now occasions. The lesson that is vital and that produces life-giving experiences for children is the lesson that is built around solving a prob lem that has been discovered and is solved through discussion. You will discover riches unknown if you will begin, develop and bring each lesson to a conclusion— all with vital dis cussion. How did we ever get the notion that good teaching was meas ured .by how much a teacher could tell of what he knows in a given length of time? It would be far bet ter to cover a fraction of the subject matter intended and to help a child discover the basis of his mental con flict and doubt than to cover all of the material planned and allow chil dren to enter another week with un solved problems. Some Have Social Problems Thou shalt love . . . thy neighbour as thyself. What provision is made for the social adjustment of your children? Do you have the privilege of sharing in the life experiences of a shy child, a forward boy, a giggly girl, or a child who cannot tell the truth from a lie? How many times have you wished they would stay home so you could really teach? Un
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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