It's really fun to go through those I have noted and (at last) SHARE them! Hopefully a few of these are able to tickle some of your funny bones.
Two BEST Lessons
These were the two funnest lessons I have taught so far and I think it's all because of the imagination we were able to use and manipulate. I LOVE the imagination these students have. AMAZING!!!
During math:
Honey-berry-oogalees eating the DELICIOUS honey berries!!!!
It was kind of an idea I made on the spot -- through inspiration from the textbook. I didn't know they would throw themselves so entirely into the idea. The students turn into honey-berry-oogalees (imaginary creatures) and they want to eat the honey berries (wooden hexagon blocks) SO much!!!
But, someone has been sneaking into the basement and TAKING the honey-berries, what will they do?!
They must solve the math problem: how many honey berries did the other oogalee take based on the number of berries left?
When the “honey-berry-oogalees” are sleeping, I get to choose one to go sneak the berriers while I tell them what they are dreaming that "night." (It's usually about the DELICIOUS honey-berries.) Please keep in mind that (OF COURSE) all this MUST be done with a certain “British/crackly/bear” accent.
(OH!! Delight! Delight!! I get to act, they get to talk loudly, and then they learn some stuff too.)It was such a thrill!
The second funnest lesson -- The Magic Tissue Box
Once again, I didn't think I could engage them so intensly, but once I saw the opportunity I RAN with it. It all began when I was just trying to show them (and I think the concept was actually lost because of the thrill of the magic tissue box,) that a number subtract the same number always equals zero. I had them write their number on a piece of index card, I wrote that same number on the other index card, and had another index card with "zero" (written in marker) already inside the tissue box. I pretended to toss the two index cards in the box while I "mixed" the cards up inside the box. When I pulled out the marker-zero card with no other cards remaining (I stuffed them into my pocket -- illusion) they were agog! Students were springing from their seats. They were amazed. They wanted to inspect the box. They couldn't prove my trickiness, however.
But then, (I hadn't thought the next part through,) I needed to show them that a number subtract zero was still the same NUMBER!!! I said my magic tissue box could do that too, but of course it could NOT. (I still had the marker zero inside the box). Somehow, though...I squashed all the necessary cards into my pocket and pulled out the number card. They were astounded and I was hyped up. I don't think I will ever pull that one out again.
Boy, boy, BOY! Two boys were pretending to play Star Wars attacking games while they waited in car-line. One was pretending to hold "the force" over the other (no contact between the boys) and the one being "choked" by "the force" actually looked like he was being choked. He actually sounded like he was being choked. His face was turning red and purple, his eyes were rolling in the back of his head, and his hands were held out as if he were trying to defend himself. All this without ANY contact from the other boy!! I have never seen such amazing skills. Boy.
As I walked one student to the office to wait for his mom after school one day he started to speak to me,
"Mrs - Miss - Mrs - Miss Martin?"
Teacher: "Yes?"
Student: "I would much rather call you Mrs. Martin."
Teacher: "Why?"
Student: "Because you should be married."
Teacher: "Why?"
Student: (short pause) "Because you are old!"
Teacher: "OLD?! How old to you think I am?!!"
Student: "Ahh...sixty-six."
Teacher: "You think I am sixty-six?!"
Student: "Yeah, you're older than my mom."
They will often give me bits of their snack and place them as offerings on the overhead. I have tried to stop such practices, but they are persistent. Once, when there was a rather large amount of snack-offerings sitting on the overhead, I asked, "What are you doing?" One of the students replied, “we are trying to make you fat, Miss Martin.” Oh, thank you.
After a recess discussion between students:
“Is fire-flashman real?"
"Is that him flying through the sky?”
"No, he is not real. He is not flying through the sky. That is an airplane. Walk to class." (My business response.)
“Guess what I have for snack Miss Martin?" (She pulls out a baggie of a cut-up chocolate chip mint power bar.) "Look at these BAD BOYS!! Yum, yum!”
“Mew, mews – here they are!” (She likes talking to the picture of kitties on her homework folder when she gets it out to turn it in.) "Good bye mew mews!"
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Funny Stories: Volume Two
This is the story of when we won the chapel banner for the first time. Let me first tell you that we had NOT won the chapel banner for months. This was necessary and right because we had not been able to sit still in the pews during the length of chapel. We were given the chapel banner this particular Wednesday because it had been too long and all the other classes had received it once...some had already receieved the award twice. As Mr. Lugg held up the banner, spoke the words of, "and this week we have awarded the chapel banner to...1A!"
SHOUTS of acclamation, bodies JUMPING out of their seats. My brain trying to think through a strategic plan of opperation: get students to the classroom.
They walked ahead of me outside the church and were waiting on the sidewalk.
As I approached them I heard the sound of words being chanted amongst them, “We won the chapel banner! We won the chapel banner! We won! We won! We won the chapel banner!!”
A riot! A riot! They will be swept away in the hype and energy of this chapel winning. Silence the crowd. Administration cannot witness a first grade riot! Quickly, I marched them across the street, past the other classes, down the stairs, and into the privacy of our classroom where they continued their crazy celebrations.
Do not fear, I did discipline them and tell them of their need to have self-control and not boast in their victories...but it was humorous to witness.
My drawings have "GREATLY" improved since the beginning of the year. This class is a group of artists. I have a few very good drawers. This means, I have high expectations to meet when doing illustrations and this also means that illustrations can be very useful during lessons. They capture the attention quickly and easily.
When I made them into soldiers for the Lord, I made armor for them to earn for their soldiers to wear. As I showcased my hand-designed armor (innerly sweating from the pressure of professional Star Wars/military-playing BOYS looking at my attempts to draw ARMOR and the need to IMPRESS them because this was supposed to be motivation for maintaining self-control), they began to ooh and awe at my ability to draw and design armor. I was delighted!! I may have found a new career!!
Hairy man Esau was another DELIGHT of mine to draw. They were SO confused about who Jacob, Esau, Issac, Rebekah, etc were. They had NO idea which ones were girls and which ones were boys. I decided to draw a picture on the whiteboard. I told them I was only going to draw stick people. (They expect nothing more from me. The real drawings are made by them. They understand this reality.) It was so much fun to hear their reactions as I used a red marker to draw Esau and then proceeded to cover his entire body with fuzzy hair. HAHAHA! I then, to my horror and delight, drew the game he had killed before coming in and selling his birthright. It was great. The deer was also a stick-like figure, hanging upside down. Before a boy even shouted out, "where's the blood?!" I began to draw the blood pouring from the animal's wound. HAHAHA! Proof that these boys are training me proper. From that lesson on, whenever we spoke of Esau, they need to see the man with the fuzzy red hair.
The FIRST time I drew something for them, it was a treehouse to show them how to write their letters properly. It was not meant to be an exact drawing. It had a roof, a couple lined walls, a trunk, and some branches to hold it up. As I went on to teach the handwriting lesson, a boy stopped me and said, "Wait Miss Martin! It's going to fall down. The branches won't hold it up. You need to make more branches." That was soon met with, "yeah, yeah, you need more branches." As I began to appease their needs for structurally accurate drawings, I was then told, "NO! That's not a BRANCH! That looks like a giraffe!!"
Can't please 'em. The treehouse is either not sufficiently supported, or it looks like a giraffe. Hmph.
Humorous Quotations:
“Miss Martin, I was just not MADE for singing. I was not made for this.”
“The Loud says to sing praises to His name. These are songs to praise Him. You will sing.”
Student: “I will be an inventor and I will invent a machine that tells the past and the future!
Teacher: “Oh?! But man does not know the future. That is for the Lord alone.”
Student: (smiling twinkle in his eye,) "Oh, yes."
This circumstance came upon us under GREAT distress.
Student: “NO!!! NO!!! Recess is not over. We must STOP TIME!! We must stop TIME!!!!” (arms flying, high, wailing voice.)
Teacher: (calmly, always calmly,) “You cannot stop time. The sun passes time, and you cannot control the sun.”
Student: “Well, then we will need to unite all mankind to build something that will reach the sun and stop it. We must STOP TIME!!!”
Teacher: (firmly, often it must be firmly -- especially with visions of Babel dancing in my mind,) "No, mankind is not powerful enough to stop the sun. God is the One who controls the sun. We cannot do what God can do."
Tears continued, but slowed as he re-entered the line heading to class from last recess.
SHOUTS of acclamation, bodies JUMPING out of their seats. My brain trying to think through a strategic plan of opperation: get students to the classroom.
They walked ahead of me outside the church and were waiting on the sidewalk.
As I approached them I heard the sound of words being chanted amongst them, “We won the chapel banner! We won the chapel banner! We won! We won! We won the chapel banner!!”
A riot! A riot! They will be swept away in the hype and energy of this chapel winning. Silence the crowd. Administration cannot witness a first grade riot! Quickly, I marched them across the street, past the other classes, down the stairs, and into the privacy of our classroom where they continued their crazy celebrations.
Do not fear, I did discipline them and tell them of their need to have self-control and not boast in their victories...but it was humorous to witness.
My drawings have "GREATLY" improved since the beginning of the year. This class is a group of artists. I have a few very good drawers. This means, I have high expectations to meet when doing illustrations and this also means that illustrations can be very useful during lessons. They capture the attention quickly and easily.
When I made them into soldiers for the Lord, I made armor for them to earn for their soldiers to wear. As I showcased my hand-designed armor (innerly sweating from the pressure of professional Star Wars/military-playing BOYS looking at my attempts to draw ARMOR and the need to IMPRESS them because this was supposed to be motivation for maintaining self-control), they began to ooh and awe at my ability to draw and design armor. I was delighted!! I may have found a new career!!
Hairy man Esau was another DELIGHT of mine to draw. They were SO confused about who Jacob, Esau, Issac, Rebekah, etc were. They had NO idea which ones were girls and which ones were boys. I decided to draw a picture on the whiteboard. I told them I was only going to draw stick people. (They expect nothing more from me. The real drawings are made by them. They understand this reality.) It was so much fun to hear their reactions as I used a red marker to draw Esau and then proceeded to cover his entire body with fuzzy hair. HAHAHA! I then, to my horror and delight, drew the game he had killed before coming in and selling his birthright. It was great. The deer was also a stick-like figure, hanging upside down. Before a boy even shouted out, "where's the blood?!" I began to draw the blood pouring from the animal's wound. HAHAHA! Proof that these boys are training me proper. From that lesson on, whenever we spoke of Esau, they need to see the man with the fuzzy red hair.
The FIRST time I drew something for them, it was a treehouse to show them how to write their letters properly. It was not meant to be an exact drawing. It had a roof, a couple lined walls, a trunk, and some branches to hold it up. As I went on to teach the handwriting lesson, a boy stopped me and said, "Wait Miss Martin! It's going to fall down. The branches won't hold it up. You need to make more branches." That was soon met with, "yeah, yeah, you need more branches." As I began to appease their needs for structurally accurate drawings, I was then told, "NO! That's not a BRANCH! That looks like a giraffe!!"
Can't please 'em. The treehouse is either not sufficiently supported, or it looks like a giraffe. Hmph.
Humorous Quotations:
“Miss Martin, I was just not MADE for singing. I was not made for this.”
“The Loud says to sing praises to His name. These are songs to praise Him. You will sing.”
Student: “I will be an inventor and I will invent a machine that tells the past and the future!
Teacher: “Oh?! But man does not know the future. That is for the Lord alone.”
Student: (smiling twinkle in his eye,) "Oh, yes."
This circumstance came upon us under GREAT distress.
Student: “NO!!! NO!!! Recess is not over. We must STOP TIME!! We must stop TIME!!!!” (arms flying, high, wailing voice.)
Teacher: (calmly, always calmly,) “You cannot stop time. The sun passes time, and you cannot control the sun.”
Student: “Well, then we will need to unite all mankind to build something that will reach the sun and stop it. We must STOP TIME!!!”
Teacher: (firmly, often it must be firmly -- especially with visions of Babel dancing in my mind,) "No, mankind is not powerful enough to stop the sun. God is the One who controls the sun. We cannot do what God can do."
Tears continued, but slowed as he re-entered the line heading to class from last recess.
Funny First Grade Stories: Volume One
I have had some funny stories this year.
With the great possibility of making no one laugh...I will type them anyways. My fear is that, "then I found twenty dollars" or "you would have to be there" will need to be attached to many of these, but my blog IS entitled, "Miss Martin" and it was supposed to be a place where I wrote of my school dealings, and these kids are HUMOROUS! So, let me tell you...
They are very much into Star Wars. This is a conversation I overheard while two boys SHOULD have been finishing their work during morning recess:
Student One: “We need freedom.”
Student Two: (serious and ready for a conversation)“Yes, we do need freedom.”
Student One: (suddendly, he turns his body with great energy) “The viceroy has invaded earth!”
Student Two: “What?!” (turns around,) “they are NOT real!” (Turns to me,) “He thinks they’re alive. They’re just plain old MOVIES!”
Then after lunch recess with the same two students, I hear more mumblings and rumblings about Star Wars.
Student Two: “Miss Martin, will you tell him that he is NOT a Jedi?! If you were a Jedi, you would NOT be at school because you would be too smart. You would have already been at the academy. You are NOT a Jedi!”
Student One: “I have come from another planet. I am fighting…”
Wise words of the teacher, “You are not a Jedi. That is just pretend.”
Student One: Shock.
Student Two: Smiles.
Our day continues on.
Other quick quotations:
“You look very cute.”
“Thank you, my mom likes to doll me up.”
As we are getting ready for P.E. one student comes up to me to show me his blue, biker-like shirt, “This is my spy shirt,” he says with great excitement.
After a lesson in which I spoke of such things, a student approaches me in earnest, “I am part artist, scientist, and secret agent.”
During a lesson in which I was about to teach a difficult and slightly boring concept, I wanted to energize them and get them excited about learning. I began in this manner:
“I am about to teach you things that Miss Israel is teaching the THIRD graders and things Miss Brown is teaching the SECOND graders. Would you like to learn those things?!!”
I waited for an excited and resounding, "YES!!!" and was shocked when I heard one small voice call out from the crowd,
“No. No, I don’t want to learn what they are learning!”
Suddenly, other small voices started echoing this leader, “No, I don’t want to learn it!”
The protests began to gain momentum.
“We won’t learn it!”
Their cries were unifying. It was a mob of protesting six-year-olds -- wielding slightly sharpened pencils!
Internally, part of me was laughing, while the other half was franticly trying to think of a way to be sure they WOULD be learning it – and not trampling their teacher underfoot.
Calmly, I moved to ding the bell.
This would control the mob.
ding, ding
It did.
“Well guess what?! You must learn it NOW for first grade because we will be learning it THIS year and using it THIS year and so you MUST learn it and you are GOING to learn it!”
(I emphasized the necessity of learning this information with the use of my hand-shaped pointer waggling in front of their faces.)
Almost immediately there was a hushing of the crowd with just a few groaned complaints.
They were ready to learn it.
I had disassembled this mob and would never again use "next year" as motivation for this group to learn. (Least they have not realized what the power of a unified mob could do for them.)
Just you wait, second grade!!
With the great possibility of making no one laugh...I will type them anyways. My fear is that, "then I found twenty dollars" or "you would have to be there" will need to be attached to many of these, but my blog IS entitled, "Miss Martin" and it was supposed to be a place where I wrote of my school dealings, and these kids are HUMOROUS! So, let me tell you...
They are very much into Star Wars. This is a conversation I overheard while two boys SHOULD have been finishing their work during morning recess:
Student One: “We need freedom.”
Student Two: (serious and ready for a conversation)“Yes, we do need freedom.”
Student One: (suddendly, he turns his body with great energy) “The viceroy has invaded earth!”
Student Two: “What?!” (turns around,) “they are NOT real!” (Turns to me,) “He thinks they’re alive. They’re just plain old MOVIES!”
Then after lunch recess with the same two students, I hear more mumblings and rumblings about Star Wars.
Student Two: “Miss Martin, will you tell him that he is NOT a Jedi?! If you were a Jedi, you would NOT be at school because you would be too smart. You would have already been at the academy. You are NOT a Jedi!”
Student One: “I have come from another planet. I am fighting…”
Wise words of the teacher, “You are not a Jedi. That is just pretend.”
Student One: Shock.
Student Two: Smiles.
Our day continues on.
Other quick quotations:
“You look very cute.”
“Thank you, my mom likes to doll me up.”
As we are getting ready for P.E. one student comes up to me to show me his blue, biker-like shirt, “This is my spy shirt,” he says with great excitement.
After a lesson in which I spoke of such things, a student approaches me in earnest, “I am part artist, scientist, and secret agent.”
During a lesson in which I was about to teach a difficult and slightly boring concept, I wanted to energize them and get them excited about learning. I began in this manner:
“I am about to teach you things that Miss Israel is teaching the THIRD graders and things Miss Brown is teaching the SECOND graders. Would you like to learn those things?!!”
I waited for an excited and resounding, "YES!!!" and was shocked when I heard one small voice call out from the crowd,
“No. No, I don’t want to learn what they are learning!”
Suddenly, other small voices started echoing this leader, “No, I don’t want to learn it!”
The protests began to gain momentum.
“We won’t learn it!”
Their cries were unifying. It was a mob of protesting six-year-olds -- wielding slightly sharpened pencils!
Internally, part of me was laughing, while the other half was franticly trying to think of a way to be sure they WOULD be learning it – and not trampling their teacher underfoot.
Calmly, I moved to ding the bell.
This would control the mob.
ding, ding
It did.
“Well guess what?! You must learn it NOW for first grade because we will be learning it THIS year and using it THIS year and so you MUST learn it and you are GOING to learn it!”
(I emphasized the necessity of learning this information with the use of my hand-shaped pointer waggling in front of their faces.)
Almost immediately there was a hushing of the crowd with just a few groaned complaints.
They were ready to learn it.
I had disassembled this mob and would never again use "next year" as motivation for this group to learn. (Least they have not realized what the power of a unified mob could do for them.)
Just you wait, second grade!!
Classroom Questions
What is the acceptable noise level?
Why do I have to follow the standard “norms” established by other teachers?
What things could they build?
What could they squash at their desk?
How can I use their creativity? – We need to do explorations.
OH! Wouldn’t THAT be fun!!! (Idea?!)
What do 6 year old boys NEED to be doing? I have looked to Almanzo Wilder, as pictured in Farmer Boy, as an example of what boys should be doing. But I don’t think his example is possible to imitate.
Here is what I can see and use:
They MUST move. How can I tire ‘em out? How can I teach them how to expend their energy and then come inside ready to concentrate?
I have tried turning them into soldiers for the Lord. I have tried wall-sits, push-ups, sit-ups, jogging around the room, hand-claps, and dance steps. I think the rhythms in the dance steps have been the most successful because that takes concentration AND movement. And the beats change -- double time, quarter beats, etc.
But, in fact, that's the real irony: how can Alicia Martin teach a person to CONCENTRATE??
hahahaha
Wait! I can concentrate. Just like that orange juice concentrate. It reminds me of a nice smoothie at Jamba Juice. I always go with Katherine. There was that one time we laughed so hard we couldn’t go to sleep. Our energy was bouncing off the walls. Bouncy balls are so amazing. I was once tempted to buy a “how-to-make-your-own-bouncy-ball” kit. I thought that was an unwise use of my money. Stewardship is an important thing. God has placed us as stewards on this world. We are stewards of more than just our money. We are stewards of the souls of others. I really like Ezekiel and how he was steadfast as a steward/shepherd. Just imagine how good our Shepherd is. How can we be a shepherd like Jesus was? We need to be others’ and heaven focused. Like I said, I can concentrate. Concentrate?? Concentrate… has a nice ring to it.
Why do I have to follow the standard “norms” established by other teachers?
What things could they build?
What could they squash at their desk?
How can I use their creativity? – We need to do explorations.
OH! Wouldn’t THAT be fun!!! (Idea?!)
What do 6 year old boys NEED to be doing? I have looked to Almanzo Wilder, as pictured in Farmer Boy, as an example of what boys should be doing. But I don’t think his example is possible to imitate.
Here is what I can see and use:
They MUST move. How can I tire ‘em out? How can I teach them how to expend their energy and then come inside ready to concentrate?
I have tried turning them into soldiers for the Lord. I have tried wall-sits, push-ups, sit-ups, jogging around the room, hand-claps, and dance steps. I think the rhythms in the dance steps have been the most successful because that takes concentration AND movement. And the beats change -- double time, quarter beats, etc.
But, in fact, that's the real irony: how can Alicia Martin teach a person to CONCENTRATE??
hahahaha
Wait! I can concentrate. Just like that orange juice concentrate. It reminds me of a nice smoothie at Jamba Juice. I always go with Katherine. There was that one time we laughed so hard we couldn’t go to sleep. Our energy was bouncing off the walls. Bouncy balls are so amazing. I was once tempted to buy a “how-to-make-your-own-bouncy-ball” kit. I thought that was an unwise use of my money. Stewardship is an important thing. God has placed us as stewards on this world. We are stewards of more than just our money. We are stewards of the souls of others. I really like Ezekiel and how he was steadfast as a steward/shepherd. Just imagine how good our Shepherd is. How can we be a shepherd like Jesus was? We need to be others’ and heaven focused. Like I said, I can concentrate. Concentrate?? Concentrate… has a nice ring to it.
Surprised By Boys
I am surprised at their imaginations and creativity. I thought girls were more creative than boys, but I am beginning to think the opposite. “My boys” (as I will call them for short) think of much more interesting things to turn their pencils, erasers, blocks, etc into. (Even in my third and fourth grade Sunday school class they think of really good and inventive systems of doing things.)
I am surprised at how much they like to talk. I thought girls were the ones who needed to talk all the time. I now disagree. Boys have a tongue power of their own.
I am surprised at how VOCAL they are. I had heard that boys make noise when they play, but now I have heard it and have known it. Never will free choice time be the same again.
I am surprised (how COULD I be??) at how wiggly they are. No self-control. No desire to gain self-control. They just want to have fun and move and make noise and destroy what they build. (How do I harness this power for their learning and my good?! Now I need some of their powers of creativity!)
I am surprised at how much they WANT systems in place.
I am surprised at how aware they are of the engineering of structures (humorous story to follow).
I am surprised at how they are able to tire me out by lunch time – (it’s only because I can’t join in their silliness with them. I must be controlled. Controlling craziness – mine as well as theirs – is quite tiring. But I know if I start wiggling and laughing like they do, I will lose all control of the classroom for EVER! No good.)
I am surprised at how much they like to talk. I thought girls were the ones who needed to talk all the time. I now disagree. Boys have a tongue power of their own.
I am surprised at how VOCAL they are. I had heard that boys make noise when they play, but now I have heard it and have known it. Never will free choice time be the same again.
I am surprised (how COULD I be??) at how wiggly they are. No self-control. No desire to gain self-control. They just want to have fun and move and make noise and destroy what they build. (How do I harness this power for their learning and my good?! Now I need some of their powers of creativity!)
I am surprised at how much they WANT systems in place.
I am surprised at how aware they are of the engineering of structures (humorous story to follow).
I am surprised at how they are able to tire me out by lunch time – (it’s only because I can’t join in their silliness with them. I must be controlled. Controlling craziness – mine as well as theirs – is quite tiring. But I know if I start wiggling and laughing like they do, I will lose all control of the classroom for EVER! No good.)
The Failure
Why do I post this? I am not sure, but I do and here it is.
I failed to share the Gospel today. There was a woman at the Barnes and Noble bookstore. She was browsing books in the “Spiritual” section. The thought came across my mind to go over to her and just tell her that the New Age stuff could not save her. Jesus is the only way! But the words were a muddle in my mind and I didn’t think that God could want me to go interrupt her solitary reverie!?
Idiotic response. Let her burn in hell then, I might as well have said.
I have been praying and praying for her. May the Lord reach her soul even though I am a failure! The Lord does not need me, but perhaps He desired to use me? (God is sovereign.) And yet I also failed to fulfill my responsibility to preach.
I have just finished the book I started months ago, “Revolution in World Missions” by K. P. Yohannan. The beginning was better than the end. His overall point in the book is to try to convince you to support native missionaries rather than to go on the mission field yourself (speaking to the Western-rich culture, that is) for good, practical reasons I could expound upon at a later time. Throughout the vast majority of the book I agreed with his theological statements and the ideas expressed therein. He seems to be training them up to search the Scriptures, to know how to exposit the Scriptures, and then to go out and makes disciples and build up churches.
Why am I not doing this? Why could I not go up to that woman and tell her that JESUS CAN SAVE YOU! Four words – that’s all that was needed. I didn’t need to be eloquent. I have looked like a bigger idiot for obnoxious things I have done than if I would have just gone up and said those words. I don’t follow through. My biggest sin issue in life.
DISGUST! I even left the house having just read the first two chapters (and introduction) of “The Gospel and Personal Evangelism” by Mark Dever. I intend to finish that one sooner than I finished K. P.’s book. But what is the point of all this reading if I am not going to APPLY it? Something within me (my flesh!!) is afraid to apply it. WHY?!?! WHY!?!?!?! If only it would burn in my being as did God’s Words within Jeremiah. (Then I would just be a miserable, miserable creature.)
Sure, I tell my students about Jesus. That is safe. At times I communicate little bits to parents. That is my duty. Am I ready to shout it in the grocery store? Am I ready to stop the person at the bookstore? Am I willing to sit at the bus stop and talk to people? Apparently not.
How do I start these conversations?
How can I be so foolish?! Alicia Martin has trouble starting conversations?!! Purposeful conversations, yes. Idiot. Are you ashamed of the Gospel by which you have been saved? Do you believe in the REALITY of the Gospel by which you have been saved? For what have you been saved but to further the kingdom of God?!!
Why would the Lord choose to keep me longer on this earth when I fail? Perhaps to train me. Why bring me Home now when I am not fully refined? I pray that He would refine me. I want to be bold as a lion. I want to be able to stand on the rooftops and preach it to all those who pass by, but I am too concerned about the way I would appear to others. I, in fact, worship the opinion and approval of others toward me.
Repent and follow the Lord more fully.
Stop grieving the Holy Spirit by whom you have been sealed for the day of redemption! He is your power and He is the one who saves. We must be faithful to PREACH.
FAITHFUL to preach.
But I am faithless.
Yet, He is faithful.
As I read in Ephesians 3:16-21 because of the link in the Shepherding Weekly that made me read on Mr. Weinberg’s blog, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” Oh that I WOULD comprehend the dimensions of His love given for me! That I would be motivated by this reality in order to PREACH His word. That He would work this in me!!!!! I can’t even imagine preaching boldly. Will He do it? How much is it His working and my responsibility? How much of me is just sitting and being unwilling to move? (But, He doesn’t need me to preach. His desire is that I am fully satisfied in Him – not in my ability to perfect myself.)
It’s easy to preach the Gospel in easy circumstances: to homeless people, in the classroom, when people ask, when you know the Lord is pressuring you and you can do no other, but I need to be faithful in ALL.
Through prayer and supplication let our requests be made known to God. With THANKSGIVING! It is difficult for me to offer thanks at this point – thanks for my failure? I am sure I am will fail again. How can I give thanks for this wickedness? No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man, but God is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able. Thanks for His character. Thanks that He IS faithful and will continue to use me and grow me. Thanks that He is SOVEREIGN and in CONTROL of all those He will bring to salvation. Thank You, Lord, for being in control. Thank You for preserving those You save! Thank You for Your salvation!!! Thank You for your birth as a LOWLY creature! Thank You for revealing Yourself to us. Thank You for loving me. Thank You for the patience You show towards me. Thank You for preparing me for some work. Thank You for giving me the Holy Spirit. Thank You for convicting me of my sin. Thank You for cleansing me of all unrighteousness and taking my sin away as far as the east is from the west. May I forget myself. May I fall at Your feet in worship.
Oh wretched man that I am, indeed!!!
But there is therefore now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are His children! If we are children, then we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, IF indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Likewise, the Spirit helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit HIMSELF makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. All works according to HIS PURPOSE.
He is the One who works. We can only and MUST only work out what He has worked in. I know what I am fighting. I am fighting my will to do it my way. Let the Lord work. Be faithful to serve Him.
Be faithful!!!!
Rip off the flesh and put on His righteousness.
(Rip = tear, make to bleed, experience pain, suffer, lose my life for the sake of gaining His, deny my own pleasures, take away, temporarily break down, undo, pull with a strong force in order to break apart.)
So what am I ripping off?
Comfort…I think.
I failed to share the Gospel today. There was a woman at the Barnes and Noble bookstore. She was browsing books in the “Spiritual” section. The thought came across my mind to go over to her and just tell her that the New Age stuff could not save her. Jesus is the only way! But the words were a muddle in my mind and I didn’t think that God could want me to go interrupt her solitary reverie!?
Idiotic response. Let her burn in hell then, I might as well have said.
I have been praying and praying for her. May the Lord reach her soul even though I am a failure! The Lord does not need me, but perhaps He desired to use me? (God is sovereign.) And yet I also failed to fulfill my responsibility to preach.
I have just finished the book I started months ago, “Revolution in World Missions” by K. P. Yohannan. The beginning was better than the end. His overall point in the book is to try to convince you to support native missionaries rather than to go on the mission field yourself (speaking to the Western-rich culture, that is) for good, practical reasons I could expound upon at a later time. Throughout the vast majority of the book I agreed with his theological statements and the ideas expressed therein. He seems to be training them up to search the Scriptures, to know how to exposit the Scriptures, and then to go out and makes disciples and build up churches.
Why am I not doing this? Why could I not go up to that woman and tell her that JESUS CAN SAVE YOU! Four words – that’s all that was needed. I didn’t need to be eloquent. I have looked like a bigger idiot for obnoxious things I have done than if I would have just gone up and said those words. I don’t follow through. My biggest sin issue in life.
DISGUST! I even left the house having just read the first two chapters (and introduction) of “The Gospel and Personal Evangelism” by Mark Dever. I intend to finish that one sooner than I finished K. P.’s book. But what is the point of all this reading if I am not going to APPLY it? Something within me (my flesh!!) is afraid to apply it. WHY?!?! WHY!?!?!?! If only it would burn in my being as did God’s Words within Jeremiah. (Then I would just be a miserable, miserable creature.)
Sure, I tell my students about Jesus. That is safe. At times I communicate little bits to parents. That is my duty. Am I ready to shout it in the grocery store? Am I ready to stop the person at the bookstore? Am I willing to sit at the bus stop and talk to people? Apparently not.
How do I start these conversations?
How can I be so foolish?! Alicia Martin has trouble starting conversations?!! Purposeful conversations, yes. Idiot. Are you ashamed of the Gospel by which you have been saved? Do you believe in the REALITY of the Gospel by which you have been saved? For what have you been saved but to further the kingdom of God?!!
Why would the Lord choose to keep me longer on this earth when I fail? Perhaps to train me. Why bring me Home now when I am not fully refined? I pray that He would refine me. I want to be bold as a lion. I want to be able to stand on the rooftops and preach it to all those who pass by, but I am too concerned about the way I would appear to others. I, in fact, worship the opinion and approval of others toward me.
Repent and follow the Lord more fully.
Stop grieving the Holy Spirit by whom you have been sealed for the day of redemption! He is your power and He is the one who saves. We must be faithful to PREACH.
FAITHFUL to preach.
But I am faithless.
Yet, He is faithful.
As I read in Ephesians 3:16-21 because of the link in the Shepherding Weekly that made me read on Mr. Weinberg’s blog, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” Oh that I WOULD comprehend the dimensions of His love given for me! That I would be motivated by this reality in order to PREACH His word. That He would work this in me!!!!! I can’t even imagine preaching boldly. Will He do it? How much is it His working and my responsibility? How much of me is just sitting and being unwilling to move? (But, He doesn’t need me to preach. His desire is that I am fully satisfied in Him – not in my ability to perfect myself.)
It’s easy to preach the Gospel in easy circumstances: to homeless people, in the classroom, when people ask, when you know the Lord is pressuring you and you can do no other, but I need to be faithful in ALL.
Through prayer and supplication let our requests be made known to God. With THANKSGIVING! It is difficult for me to offer thanks at this point – thanks for my failure? I am sure I am will fail again. How can I give thanks for this wickedness? No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man, but God is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able. Thanks for His character. Thanks that He IS faithful and will continue to use me and grow me. Thanks that He is SOVEREIGN and in CONTROL of all those He will bring to salvation. Thank You, Lord, for being in control. Thank You for preserving those You save! Thank You for Your salvation!!! Thank You for your birth as a LOWLY creature! Thank You for revealing Yourself to us. Thank You for loving me. Thank You for the patience You show towards me. Thank You for preparing me for some work. Thank You for giving me the Holy Spirit. Thank You for convicting me of my sin. Thank You for cleansing me of all unrighteousness and taking my sin away as far as the east is from the west. May I forget myself. May I fall at Your feet in worship.
Oh wretched man that I am, indeed!!!
But there is therefore now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are His children! If we are children, then we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, IF indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Likewise, the Spirit helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit HIMSELF makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. All works according to HIS PURPOSE.
He is the One who works. We can only and MUST only work out what He has worked in. I know what I am fighting. I am fighting my will to do it my way. Let the Lord work. Be faithful to serve Him.
Be faithful!!!!
Rip off the flesh and put on His righteousness.
(Rip = tear, make to bleed, experience pain, suffer, lose my life for the sake of gaining His, deny my own pleasures, take away, temporarily break down, undo, pull with a strong force in order to break apart.)
So what am I ripping off?
Comfort…I think.
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