Tip #6: Jesus Film

Author: Bob Patterson, weibp@aol.com 4/25/00

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Tip #14: Teacher's Reward  "There is no reward like that found in teaching!"  This is especially true when I got the following letter from a 64 yr. old Albanian who speaks 5 languages and says he has never heard of God or the Bible as taught in the WEI lessons. His background is having grown up from a 2 yr. old orphan into "The System" of Communism where he was told where to go to school, what to study, and what job he was to do.

Author: Bob Patterson, weibp@aol.com                                   Return to Top

Tip #15:  Teaching English to a Texan The quantity of consonants in the English language is constant. If omitted in one place, they turn up in another. When a Bostonian "pahks" his "cah," the lost r's migrate southwest, causing a Texan to "warsh" his car and invest in "erl wells."

Source: off-the-church-wall

WORLD BIBLE SCHOOL MAIL SYSTEM
(In-Countrv Mail Box Addresses for 9 African Countries)

WEI lessons are welcomed in the WBS mailing system.

The World Bible School Mail System is for in-coming mail from targeted nations only. This system has been put in place to assure a reliable way for students to get their mail back to their study helper in a timely manner that keeps them studying and interested. We only provide this service for the countries listed below. All mail is handled by WBS workers and so there are no other people handling the mail or causing any other delays.

If you choose to use this service, you simply show the address below for your students return address in-country. The mail is collected and posted to Cedar Park, TX for sorting and shipping on to the teacher. You must use your WBS Code # on all mail, (especially the answer sheets) or it cannot be returned to you as the Code is the only way we have of knowing whose mail it is. If you do not have a WBS Code # for your congregation, you can call and we will assign one for use by WBS teachers in your congregation. The Code # is free of charge and is assigned by state as shown: (TX-001). Please put the proper address on all mail and use your CODE in all Teacher boxes (Red Boxes on all lessons) in the appropriate places and in the small box on the bottom of each answer page.

U.S. Postal Regulations require a U.S.A. return address on the outside of the envelope of anything that IS mailed to a foreign country. Please always put Your USA Return Address on the OUTSIDE (upper left-hand comer) of each envelope mailed to your student, and NOT the in-country address below.
 

For more information about this service you can contact us at: 512-345-8190 or by writing to: World Bible School Mail System, P.O. Box 2169, Cedar Park, TX 78630. For update, www.worldbibleschool.net

Teachers ask hard questions, both English and Bible. I have published my answers on the web. You may review these answers and use them as you need. You may disagree with the answers. Feedback is always welcome and to be appreciated.

When you have Q/A to share, send them for review and sharing.

Click here to go to that page.

Bob Patterson, weibp@aol.com

Dear Student,

Let me tell you about your Bible.

The Bible has two major parts. They are the Old Testament and the New Testament. The OT was originally written in Hebrew. The NT was originally written in Greek. Jesus spoke Aramaic, the language of Israel in AD 30. The Bible has been translated into many languages, literally hundreds of languages. It is the oldest book in the world. It is the world's best seller. Every year, more people buy the Bible than any other book in the world.

Your Bible has been translated from the original languages by using only 500 words. This is to make it easy for you to read. This is why it is called the Easy-to-Read English Version of the Bible. There are many English versions as a result of continuing language research. As changes in the English language occur newer translations are issued.

Do you know that you can buy a Bible in almost any language?

The word "Bible" means "book of books." In the OT, there are 39 books; in the NT, there are 27 books. This makes a total of 66 books in the entire Bible. You can find a list of the names in the first pages of your ETR Bible.

One way to learn the names of the books is to make groups of them. The OT has 5 groups. The groups have the number of books like this: 5, 12, 5, 5, 12 just like the fingers on your hand. The first group is called the "Pentateuch" because there are 5 books in it. We are familiar with the meaning of "penta" from Intel's Pentium, the 5th computer processor that they made.

Here are the groups of the OT:

5 books of law tell the story from Creation to the nation of Israel.
12 books of history tell the history of Israel.
5 books of poetry and proverbs.
5 books of major prophets are major because they are long.
12 books of minor prophets are minor because they are only a few pages.

WEI's books 1 and 2 are stories from the Pentateuch.

In the Garden of Eden, God told Eve that "Someone" would come and crush Satan's head. That "Someone" is Jesus. When Jesus came, Satan was angry. He had Jesus killed. Jesus died. He was buried. After 3 days, God raised him from the dead. Jesus came out of the grave. He was alive again! He walked; he talked; he ate; he was human; he was alive again! Amazing! Satan could not keep him in the grave. Satan's head (the seat of authority) was crushed. He lost his power forever.

Before Jesus came, the story about him is in the Old Testament (OT). After Jesus was born, the story is in the New Testament (NT). You will find that the OT has many more pages than the NT. The story of Eve and the promise of "Someone" who would come is in the OT; the story of Jesus being raised from the dead is in the NT. Jesus is the "Someone."

The idea of a "Testament" is the same as that of an agreement. The OT is the agreement of God with his people before Jesus. God made an agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then, when Jesus came, the Old Agreement was finished, and a New Agreement or New Testament was given by God. We live under the New Agreement or NT.

Now, you can look at the NT.

There are 27 books in the NT. They can be remembered by the number of books in each of 5 groups -- 4, 1, 14, 7, 1.

4 books tell the story of Jesus and are called the "good news" or gospels.
1 book tells about the followers of Jesus and the establishment of his church.
14 books are called Pauline Letters because they were written by Paul.
7 books are called General Letters and are written by Peter, James, John, and Jude.
1 book is called Revelation. It was written to Christians who were being persecuted.

WEI's books 1 and 2 are taken from the OT -- creation to Isaiah. WEI's book 3, "The King has Come," is taken from the gospels plus the book called "Acts." The lessons in WEI's Advanced books are taken from all of the NT books. They tell of God's plan for forgiving your sins. They tell about God's people today.

The Bible is often called the "Scriptures." Each book of the Bible or Scriptures is divided into chapters. Each chapter is divided into verses. This is so that we can find "references" or "passages" in the books as they are called. We can easily find the "passage" again by using the book, the chapter, and the verse. If I tell you to find John 3:16, you can find the page number in the index for John, then you can find the chapter and the verse. Try it.

You will find in the front of your ETR Bible a few pages that tell the story of the entire Bible. In your Bible, it is called the "Preface." I suggest that you read this story.

The Bible was written by about 40 men over a period of about 1,600 years. The stories cover a period much longer that that. The writers did not know each other. But, there is only one story -- Jesus is coming, Jesus has come, and Jesus is coming again. The Bible says that the words were "God breathed" which means that he gave the words to the writers. It is God's Word. In it are no contradictions. There is only one story and it can be believed. God wrote it.

You can believe the Bible because it is true. How do we know that it is true? Here are some reasons:

1. No other book has ever been written by 40 men over 1,600 years without contradictions within it. Only God could do this.

2. It claims that God wrote it. We would expect this.

3. The message makes sense. It tells us what every philosopher wishes to know.

4. There are many prophecies in the OT. All of these came true. How could that be?

5. Science continually proves the Bible to be true. For example, the Bible told us that the earth is suspended in space before science discovered it to be true. How did the writer know this fact? (Job 26:7).

6. There was a man who died, was buried, and he came out of the grave to walk the earth again. Men from Galilee witnessed his ascension into Heaven. He believed the Bible to be true. It is a story about him. His name is Jesus. He is our King!

The reason the Bible was written was to tell you about God, where you came from, who you are, where you are going, and that God loves you dearly. It tells us how to be saved from our sins and be right with God so we can eat of the Tree of Live and live forever. It is a book of Peace, Joy, and hope.

When I read an important book, I mark special words and places so that I can easily find them again. I suggest you mark your Bible in this way. Use a pencil or a pen that does not come through the paper. Be neat and careful. When your Bible is old and torn, you can have another one.

Read your Bible everyday and think about it every night. When you follow Jesus, you will be happy on the earth and you will be ready when he comes again to take you to heaven with him.

May God bless you,

Bob Patterson weibp@aol.com

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Tip # 30: On Teaching

by Dr. Bill Patterson

    Jesus was recognized as a Teacher from God (John 3:2). He is our Master Teacher and He expects His followers, by reason of growth, to become teachers. (Hebrews 5:12). Our Great Commission is to make disciples/learners (Matthew 28:18-20) and this calls for teachers.

    A serious mistranslation in most English Bibles is James 3:1, "Let not many of you become teachers." The original (Greek) actually says, "Let not many of you continue to teach," action in progress is to be stopped for many were stumbling not knowing what they were teaching; they would receive "heavier judgment" (see also 1 Timothy 1:7). Their tongues or teaching would get them and others, like ships, in troubled waters.

    It is important not only to know how to teach but also what.

    Jesus was the Master Teacher because of at least three things: 1) He Himself was the subject — "Come learn of Me;" 2) He understood the learner — "He Himself knew what was in man" (John 2:25); and, 3) He knew and used all of the methods of teaching, especially those that would make learners think — questions, stories, discussions, visual aids, even argument or debate.

    With all of this said, what makes a growing Christian a growing Christian teacher? First, he must know the subject, the truth, doctrine which is "all that I commanded you" (Matthew 28:20). Understandably, this takes Bible study: much regular serious study.

    Likewise, the effective teacher will know his/her students. We teach learners not lessons. This takes establishing a warm friendly and loving relationship. In a real sense a teacher is a mentor, a friend and wise counselor, a trainer.

    Since we teach learners, we need to know something about how learners learn: the process, the dynamic, of learning. Putting together all these three areas of which Jesus was Master, we will do well to recognize the three domains of learning: head, heart, hand. Or, as educators put it: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Too, we will do well to realize that there are two stages or levels of learning in each of these domains. In the head-cognitive it is Acquaintance and Understanding: awareness and objective reasoning by which we grasp eternal and essential truths.

    In the heart-affective domain it is Insight and Decision: our feelings along with subjective activity such as attitudes, values, beliefs, commitment. The hand-psychomotor domain is the Living and Empowered levels: doing-action-experiencing and joyful strengthening (to keep on learning/growing).

    When the growing Christian learns to work with these dynamics of teaching-learning (the two go together), he will see that this is the basis of getting to know God. First, we learn about God's will (Colossians 1:9). Then, as we progress through the levels up to and into Living, we are "increasing in the knowledge of God (v. 10). In this level we come to know God experientially for we experience "God who is at work in you both to will and to work" (Philippians 2:13).

    Unquestionably, becoming a Christian is an awesome experience. Then becoming a growing Christian is a perpetual challenge to grow in our Christian life.

                                    — Bill Patterson
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To purchase "Growing Christian Teacher" study books as well as others contact Bill at ACCEBILL@AOL.com .COM. Write for information. Some are taking his courses by email.

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Tip # 31: Ideal Teacher

Dear Teachers,

Who was your best teacher ever? Is there such a thing as the Ideal Teacher?

I'm convinced there is no single Ideal Teacher, because students' needs differ at every age and stage. There might be three ideal types, though. The great elementary school teacher, the great middle school and high school teacher, and the great college professor.

What makes them great?

I've been asking that question a lot lately, trying to understand what makes a teacher great. I've talked to all kinds of people, from little kids to busy adults to teachers of teachers. From their answers I was able to distill a list of traits:

Great teachers ...

*    make you feel special.
*    teach you how to learn.
*    inspire you with their passion.
*    engage your whole being.
*    keep you focused.
*    open you up to new experiences.
*    have no agenda.
*    make the complicated simple.
*    give clear explanations.
*    show you how everything ties together.

Can all these traits be found in one teacher? Yes, Jesus is the "Master Teacher." Editor note.

And you know what? Now that I think about it, maybe there is one trait that separates great teachers from those who are merely good: this ability to open doors and give you the power to walk into new worlds on your own. That's what I'd say, anyway. What would you say?

Source: Microsoft Encarta.

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 Tip 35:  Is spelling important? Believe it or not! you can read it .

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the! rghit pcl ae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Such a cdonition is arppoiately cllaed Typoglycemia.

:)-

Amzanig huh? Yaeh and yuo awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt

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