Training

I sometimes joke that I’m one of a dozen people in the whole world who would pick young teens as my favorite age group to teach. They are always in flux and always challenging. They are never dull and rarely docile. They are going through physical, mental, emotional and spiritual changes, perhaps at a pace they will never achieve again. I don’t understand why this isn’t everyone’s favorite age group! NEW START YOUNG TEENS are entering a new stage of development. Like newborn babies, they are constructing who they can become and what their lives will be like in the...

Let’s face it. There are times in ministry when managing volunteers feels like your full-time job. Recruiting, training, retaining — it is NOT easy, but it has to be done. Out of desperation, ministry leaders can fall into the trap of “filing the slot.” We’ve all been there. But the reality exists: Some people, at best, are not a good fit; at worst, are dangerous to the mission. After a decade of ministry experience leading 450 volunteers on a month in-and-month-out basis, I have had my fair share of volunteer leadership challenges. I want to act as your guide. You...

It is rare that a child misbehaves for no reason. Children have needs that must be met. In their emotional and social immaturity, they seek to meet their own needs in ways that adults find inappropriate. Discipline is the process of helping children learn to meet their needs in appropriate ways or to deny their desires until they can be met at an acceptable time. The more teachers (and parents) understand the needs of children at various ages, the more we can anticipate a child’s behavior. Parents naturally understand that a baby needs food, sleep, and changing frequently throughout each...

When I meet a second grader, I always joke, “I spent two of the happiest years of my life in the second grade.” While most chuckle at the joke—I did repeat second grade. I was a child with a special need that wasn’t discovered until second grade. Being deaf in one ear, I was often scolded for not paying attention, and even cheating when I was looking at a friend’s paper to see what we were supposed to do. Once my handicap was discovered, life improved dramatically! Once my needs were addressed, I went from feeling unloved and picked on to...

Postmodernism is the culture we live in, and the prevailing thought of postmodernism is that religious truth is highly individualistic, subjective, and resides within the individual. What that means is that each individual determines what truth really is for themselves. If you doubt that, the next time you have a serious conversation with someone, don’t be surprised when you hear them reference the default statement of all postmodern spiritual truth thinking, when they say, “That’s just your opinion”. How that affects children is that after we have taught them the Bible, the culture will tell them the Bible is totally...