God Knows My Name!

Have you ever thought about how personal our God is? We understand that God is omniscient – all knowing. That means, among other things, that He knows our names, our personality traits and our “quirks.” Each of us had to come to God by faith in Christ, personally, for our salvation. And God continues to deal with us personally and individually.

In our TCE courses, we often remind our students of the importance of personalizing their teaching. We encourage them to avoid using terms such as we, us and everybody. Though inclusive, those terms are impersonal and may not communicate to a child the relationship God desires to have with him or her. Instead, we say “God loves you; you have sinned; Jesus died and rose again for you.” When they trust in Christ as Savior, we teach them to remember on their hand, “I (Jesus) will never leave you (child’s name).”

Recently, a testimony came across our desk that was a beautiful reminder of two things: how important it is for a child to know God in a personal way and how far our loving God will go to reach out to His children.

Our thanks to Emily Ramsdell, CEF director in Syracuse, NY, for sending us this wonderful testimony. It comes from one of her teachers, Gail Buel, who teaches an after-school GNC. Her club was beginning the Wordless Book Visualized lessons to go along with a witnessing emphasis using the Wordless Book bracelets:

Last week we began teaching the gold page, which is about Heaven. One of the illustrated pages contains pictures of "things that will be in Heaven,” including a picture of the Lamb's Book of Life.

One of our little girls, Alicia, grade 2, was listening so intently to the teaching. When I said that each person who has placed their faith in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins will have their name written in the Book of Life, she smiled to think her name was there since she had made that decision, but then frowned and raised her hand.

When I called on her, she said she was very sad because she just knew that her name would not be spelled correctly in the Book—apparently, this has been an ongoing problem for her, and she had tears in her eyes and a quivering little lip as she told us all about it. After reassuring her that Jesus knew how to spell her name and giving her a hug, we moved on, but she seemed unconvinced.

After the lesson, we moved on to the review game provided with the lesson. Around question #7, Mr. Drew called on Alicia to answer a question and she got it right - this entitled her to pick a special card from a stack, at random, and to say whether the picture on the card would be something that would be in Heaven, or would not be in Heaven.

Alicia leaned over to pick a card, turned it over, and was staring at a picture of the Book of Life! She proudly announced the correct answer and then called out in disbelief, "Mrs. Buel, look! My name is in the Book, and it is SPELLED RIGHT!"

Sure enough, I looked, and there was her name, "Alicia", along with a list of other names, on the pre-printed card! What an incredible gift God gave to that little girl that day in club – we were all so happy and rejoicing with her over this small miracle! He is in the details of our lives, every day, all the time! Praise the Lord!

Isn’t that a precious testimony? How special of God to provide such reassurance to Alicia!

This could be a great illustration in some of your TCE classes. Obviously, it could be used in TCE Level 1, when you teach the sessions on How to Lead a Child to Christ. It could also be used in teaching Counseling a Child for Salvation or Encouraging the Newly-Converted Child.

In TCE Level 2, this illustration might be used in teaching Developing the Child’s Appreciation of God, Bible Lesson Preparation and Presentation (related to applications) or Basic Needs of the Child.

Beyond its illustrative value though, this testimony should be a joy and comfort to your own heart. God knows you, individually and personally, and He delights in assuring you of His love. As He said to Israel: “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine” (Isaiah 43:1).

Tommy's Story - A Cyber Testimony!

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We are excited about the students in our first TCE Level 1 course at CMI Online! God blessed us with eight students to be our historic first class. Included in this class is a missionary to the Ukraine and one to the Philippines. Our online instructors report that the students are doing well and progressing toward completion of the course on March 13 and eventually, their certificates.

As part of the online version of the TCE course, students are required to evaluate their teaching experience through a journal. In one of their assignments, students had to journal about their experience in sharing the Wordless Book. One student wrote the following testimony and gave us permission to share it with you. The child’s name has been changed for privacy purposes.

A nine year old boy sat in front of me. He was happy, restless, looking all around the room. His mother sat next to him, helping me with the Wordless Book chart, as I had asked her to track me so I wouldn't forget the Bible verses or links.

I presented the gold page and Tommy talked about treasures. He likes the color of the page and when I mention that in Heaven, where Jesus lives, the streets are paved with gold - well, he wants to go there. I circle back to how much God loved the world - and we are in the world, yes? He nods and I tell him how much God loves him and wants him to be in Heaven forever with Him. I tell him that Heaven is a beautiful, precious place - but one thing that can't be in Heaven is sin.

He mentions sin is something that hurts God. I agree and we talk through the dark page. He says that when you hide something that doesn't belong to you, it is wrong. His mother pipes up with stealing someone's toy and not telling them you were the one who took it. Tommy gets it. We discuss the "want to" sin nature that Tommy can understand. He is looking around the room but when I tell him that God wants you, Tommy, to go to Heaven - and that He has a wonderful plan so Tommy can enter Heaven and live with Him forever, he looks straight at me and says, "I want to go to Heaven."

I show him the red page and tell him that God sent His only, perfect Son to come down to earth; that He shed His blood and died on a cross (Bible verse); that after three days he rose from the dead and after awhile, He went back to Heaven. All because God loves us - you and me - so much. I ask him if he would like to become a child of God. (Bible verse that leads to the clean page) And he does.

At this moment, I am compelled to turn away for a second because I am overwhelmed that God would use this leaky vessel to witness to this little guy. I also need to ask him some questions and also share with him that it is a decision between Tommy and God. When he answers all the questions and says yes, he would like to be a child of God (he says, "and not a child of the devil!") we pray together and God escorts Tommy into the kingdom.

Now both his mother and I are in tears. I learn that Tommy has had a difficult life; no father; an angry spirit; in many different schools. And still, God calls Tommy His own. What a privilege to share in this moment.

What an amazing learning experience for this TCE student – to see how God can use even our “practice” presentations to bring a child to Himself! This was a life-changing moment for the student, for Tommy’s mom and, most especially, for Tommy! Do you suppose one day he will look back on his childhood and testify that he came to know Jesus as his Savior in a TCE class?

Never forget that, as an instructor, you are doing so much more than just teaching classes or satisfying your IOT requirements. When you teach a TCE course, you are adding to the great and ever-growing army of child evangelists who are reaching children and expanding God’s kingdom around the globe! Could you be doing anything more exciting?!

Please pray for our CMI Online courses. We have encountered extraordinary levels of spiritual opposition in nearly every step of this program’s development, but our God is great! Along with praying for the courses, remember to direct people to them if their circumstances will not allow them to attend your local course.

We have added a new feature to our sidebar called CMI Online News! We will keep this feature updated regularly so you will know what’s currently being offered and what’s coming up in our online training. Please be sure to check out this feature – and use it as a prayer guide.

Whether you are a local instructor, an LTI or an online instructor, we are all in this together! We are a family! Let’s support one another with our prayers and encouragement as we seek to train others to reach the children!

Illustration Appreciation - part 4

“I need a good illustration for this class – somebody help!”

Have you ever felt like that? We know the value of using good illustrations to inspire and motivate our students, but it’s not always easy to come up with just the right story, statistic, testimony, poem, song or other item that will say exactly what we want to communicate.

Pastor Leslie Flynn says there are lots of good illustrations out there: "The aspiring communicator must be a close observer of life. An inexhaustible store of illustrations abounds everywhere, even in the common things of life." The trick, of course, is knowing where to find them—and what to do with them!

In our previous three posts on the subject, we discussed why we use illustrations in our teaching, what makes a good illustration and what to avoid in choosing and using illustrations. In this final post, let’s consider where to find illustrations and how to organize them.

Finding Illustrations

 Personal Experience There is no better illustration than that which comes out of your own experiences. When you draw stories and examples from your life, you are sharing more than just a good illustration—you are giving your students a glimpse into your world. Think of the lessons God has taught you in everyday experiences, in your family, in your travels and in your ministry. Chances are many of your students have had similar experiences and can relate to your example. Get into the habit of writing down the lessons God teaches you so you will have them to draw from in your teaching.

 Reading Keep illustrations in the back of your mind when you are reading books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, blogs and even cartoons. Historical and biographical reading can provide a rich source of illustrative material. News articles can offer statistics and stories that are localized and current. If possible, clip or highlight material that can be used as illustrations. Try to get those illustrations into a file as soon as possible before they are lost or forgotten.

 Observations Look around you! Life is full of things from which illustrations can be drawn. There are illustrations to be seen in nature, in the animal kingdom and in the lives and experiences of others. Think of all the illustrations the Lord Jesus drew from the natural world (seeds, fish, the wind, birds, etc.) and from people (the prodigal son, the woman with the lost coin, the shepherd searching for his lost sheep, etc.). Jesus used what His audience was familiar with to get His point across.

 Children Since we are a children’s ministry, you should definitely be aware of children around you and be watching and listening for things they say or do that could illustrate a point. The Lord Jesus did this too, as we well know, in Mark 10 and Matthew 18. What better way to illustrate content in your TCE classes than to draw those illustrations from the lives of children!

 Resource Material There are an abundance of resources available that provide quotes, stories, testimonies and other illustrative materials. You can purchase many good illustration books at Web sites such as http://www.cbd.com/. Just type “illustrations” into the search box and you will get pages of resources. Following are four examples from the CBD Web site.

To make it even easier, we placed the covers of these four books in the sidebar on the right under "Illustration Resources." Just click on a cover and you will be linked right to its page on the CBD Web site where you can get more information or even order it at CBD discounted prices.

• The Story File: 1,001 Contemporary Illustrations, by Steve May, Hendrickson Publishers, 2000. (includes book and CD-ROM)

• Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes, by Charles R. Swindoll, Thomas Nelson, 2009

• 1,001 Quotes, Illustrations, and Humorous Stories for Preachers, Teachers and Writers, by Edward K. Rowell, Baker, 2004

• Practical Bible Illustrations from Yesterday & Today, by Charles H. Spurgeon, Amg Publishers, 1997.

There are also Web sites where you can download free illustrations. Most of these sites have illustrations arranged alphabetically by topic. You may want to bookmark a few of them for quick reference when you need to find an illustration.

www.bible.org/illus.php

http://www.sermonillustrations.com/

http://www.preachingtoday.com/

http://www.sermoncentral.com/

www.higherpraise.com/illustrations/a.htm

www.geocities.com/christianillustrations

http://www.sheepcribone.blogspot.com/


Organizing Illustrations

How many of us have heard a good story or testimony, jotted down a key word or two on a scrap of paper, then either lost the paper, or couldn’t remember what the story was from our sketchy notes? How frustrating! Once you find a good illustration, you need to record it in a way you can easily retrieve it when needed.

 Write it down Keep a small notebook or voice recorder handy to make note of illustrations when you spot them. Be sure you record enough information so you will remember the key thought. Even if you don’t know how you will use it at the time, a good quote or story is always worth writing down for future use.

 Keep a file You need to develop a system that works for you. If you know the particular class in which you want to use the illustration, either file it in a folder for that class, or type it into your lesson plan as soon as possible.

If you’re comfortable with the computer, you probably already have a folder for each of your TCE classes containing your lesson plan, PowerPoint and other materials. You can put an illustration file in each class folder or just enter the illustration directly into your lesson plan. You might also want to keep a general “Illustration Pool” folder, where you can accumulate illustrations for future use.

If you’re not that comfortable on the computer, keep a file folder in your office for each of your TCE class sessions and deposit illustrations in the appropriate folder. You can also have a miscellaneous folder for illustrations you’re not sure where to use.

However you choose to organize your illustrations, try to make regular deposits in your illustration files. Occasionally, you need to go through your lesson plan and consider adding a new illustration, or changing out an old one. Updating your illustrations keeps your teaching fresh and current. Leslie Flynn says, “Illustrations stored for ready withdrawal will make us richer communicators of the Word.”

We trust this series of posts has been helpful in reminding you of things you already knew about illustrations, and perhaps challenging you in areas you had not considered. If you have further suggestions or ideas about finding and using illustrations, click on the Comment link below and let us know!

Illustration Appreciation - part 3

In his book, Come Alive with Illustrations, Leslie Flynn says, "The best illustration is one that is given not to be seen, but to be seen through." This is great advice, but often not heeded. Sometimes we can be in danger of our illustrations overpowering our message!

So far in our discussion on illustration appreciation we have considered why we use illustrations in our teaching and what it is that makes a good illustration. Today we turn our attention to some dangers: What should we avoid in choosing and using illustrations? How can the wrong illustration—or the right illustration presented the wrong way—be deadly to our teaching? Are you wandering into any of these danger zones?

• Don’t announce your illustrations If you have the right illustration in the right place, you don’t need to announce it. Dr. Howard Hendricks gives the following example:
  
  "Never start an illustration by saying, ‘Now, I want to illustrate this point, because it's a very important point, and I was reading in the Bible the other day, and I came across an illustration out of the life of Elijah, and it was a real grabber, and I want you to see it, 'cause it'll drive home the point.’
  
  In all that piffle I haven't said anything, but I've consumed a lot of time. How much better to say, ‘One morning Elijah's servant awoke him early…’”
  
  In other words, just proceed from your point directly into the illustration. Announcing an illustration focuses the audience on the illustration instead of the point being made. This is especially true when using an illustration as your introduction. You never want to say, “Let me begin this class by telling you this story…” Just go right into the story!

• Don’t apologize for your illustrations Nothing will sabotage your credibility faster than planting doubts about the value of your illustration! Starting your illustration with apologies like, “This isn’t a very good illustration of this point but…” or “This story may or may not help you understand what I’m trying to say…” tells your audience you are not sure of your own teaching!

• Don’t over-explain your illustrations You need only a brief word or two to help your audience connect the illustration to the point being made. Don’t insult their intelligence with lengthy explanations of the “moral of the story.”

• Don’t use an illustration just because it’s a good story Remember, your illustrations should enhance your main point. You may have heard a wonderful story or exciting testimony, but if it does not enhance your topic, save it for another class session.

• Don’t get stuck on one type of illustration If you always use statistics or always use poems, etc. your teaching becomes predictable. Remember that different students respond to different types of illustrations. Strive for variety! Take a look at several of your class sessions and see if you are over-using a particular type of illustration.

• Don’t use too many illustrations Illustrations are like windows, giving light to your subject, but too many windows produce glare! Remember your main point is what you want your students to remember, not your illustrations. If you take most of your class time sharing illustrations, your students will not get the information they need.
  

Hopefully, this discussion has given you food for thought. If you have wandered into any of these danger zones in using illustrations, make plans to avoid them next time you teach.

Next week we’ll chat about how to find good illustrations and how to organize your illustrations to make your preparation for teaching more efficient. If you have comments on this subject, please click the “comment” link below and let us hear from you.

Illustration Appreciation - Part 2

There is an Arab proverb that says, “The best speaker is he who turns ears into eyes.” Helping the listener picture the point we are making is a key to effective communication. The word “illustrate” means to illuminate, put luster upon or make clear. Someone else said it this way: “Illustrations are like the windows in a house—they let the light in”

Illustrations do not just illuminate truths taught; they also give those truths sticking power. According to pastor and illustration collector, Leslie Flynn, “The difference between acceptable and exceptional communication is often a good illustration which clinches an important truth in the listener’s mind for years.” Flynn goes on to say, “Illustrations can enlighten, prove, paint, arouse, appeal to the mind, stir the emotions and persuade the will.”

Of course, the wrong illustration, too many illustrations or an illustration presented in a wrong way can detract from your communication. So, what is it that makes a good illustration? Following are some guidelines from Leslie Flynn:

• Good illustrations are fresh and timeless – While illustrations drawn from classic works have their place, some can become dated and stale in the re-telling. Be especially careful of illustrations that are popular with a lot of teachers or preachers. If, from the first sentence your audience recognizes the same old story or quote they’ve heard many times before, your point will be lost.



• Good illustrations are relevant to the subject – Even though an illustration is compelling, it may not be relevant to what you are teaching. Consider what point the illustration makes and whether or not it will help shed light on some aspect of your subject. If not, file the illustration to be used another time with a more appropriate subject.



• Good illustrations are relevant to the audience – Take a look at those you are teaching: Are they mostly men or women? What is the average age? What is their general understanding of your subject? Answers to these questions should guide your selection of illustrations. When your students can personally identify with the illustration, they will be more likely to be moved and challenged by it.



• Good illustrations are accurate - If you are using statistics as an illustration, be sure they are as current and correct as possible. If you are sharing a testimony, be certain that the names, dates and facts are accurate. Also, try to verify that the story is true! If anything is doubtful in an illustration, don’t use it.



• Good illustrations are brief – Remember, the illustrations are the windows – they are not the walls! Illustrations that are too long are hard for your audience to follow and they may lose the point you are trying to make. If you want to share a story that is long, edit out the extra details and tell just the essence of the story that helps to make your point.



• Good illustrations do not reveal confidences – Sharing a conversation or someone else’s personal experience without permission is morally and ethically wrong. Even a positive testimony should never be used as an illustration without the permission of the person involved.



• Good illustrations do not seek to exalt self – If your illustrations are consistently about you—how you accomplished something; how you “saved the day”; how you did right when everyone else did wrong—you will soon damage your credibility. Your illustrations should shed light on your subject, not draw attention to yourself. Certainly, from time to time, you can share how God used you in a particular situation, but do not over use such illustrations. Occasionally, it is good to share with your audience a time when you did not succeed, so they will know you are human just like them!

• Good illustrations have variety – Remember, illustrations can be any number of things such as stories, testimonies, poems, quotes, statistics, etc. Try to vary the type of illustrations you use from class to class. Don’t become predictable to your students (“We’re reaching the end of the class session—must be time for the poem!”).
  
  Hopefully, these guidelines will help you in determining the best illustrations to use in your classes. In our next post, we will consider some things to avoid in choosing and using illustrations. These are dangers that can be deadly to your teaching! So, come back to the Café next week for part three of our series!

Illustration Appreciation

There are a number of ways you can tell if someone is an IOT:

They have excessive back pain from carrying large manuals

They get excited when the office store has a sale on page protectors

They respond to pretty much everybody by saying, “You could strengthen that next time by…”

They cannot do anything in public without first giving focus questions

But if you want to know if a person is a really good IOT, check his or her illustration file. We IOTs have a definite appreciation for illustrations!

In our TCE courses, we communicate a lot of information and train teachers in specific skills. However, our goal is to go beyond just giving teachers head knowledge. We want to reach their hearts and ultimately see change in their actions as a result of our classes. To accomplish this, we want to use illustrations that are well chosen and appropriately placed in our lesson plans.

A good illustration can drive home a point and stay with our teachers long after the class is over. The right illustration can even be used of God to change people’s minds.

For example, when you teach classes like The Importance of Conversion, helping teachers see the lostness of children, you may occasionally have someone question whether or not children are sinners. There is a definite trend in our culture to downplay the issue of sin—especially as it relates to children.

The strongest argument you can make for teaching that children sin comes, of course, from Scripture. We must remind teachers of the universal truth found in verses like Romans 3:23 and Romans 3:10.

But we can further illuminate this truth through illustrations. Statistics and stories can help solidify this point for many of your teachers. Many times, you can find such illustrations in the news media.

For instance, last April, Russ Bynum of the Associated Press reported a story from Waycross, GA about a group of children who planned an assault:

A group of third-graders plotted to attack their teacher, bringing a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and other items for the job, police said Tuesday. The plot by as many as nine boys and girls at Center Elementary School in south Georgia was a serious threat, Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner said.

"We did not hear anybody say they intended to kill her, but could they have accidentally killed her? Absolutely," Tanner said. "We feel like if they weren't interrupted, there would have been an attempt. Would they have been successful? We don't know."

The children, ages 8 and 9, were apparently mad at the teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, Tanner said. A prosecutor said they are too young to be charged with a crime under Georgia law.

School officials alerted police Friday after a pupil tipped off a teacher that a girl had brought a weapon to school, Tanner said. Police seized a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape, electrical and transparent tape, ribbons and a crystal paperweight from the students, who apparently intended to use them against the teacher.

The scheme involved a division of roles, Tanner said. One child's job was to cover windows so no one could see outside, he said. Another was supposed to clean up after the attack.

"From what I understand, they were considered pretty good kids," Martin said. "But we have to take this seriously, whether they were serious or not about carrying this through, and that's what we did."

Using a current, real-life illustration like this one drives home the point and increases retention. If you can find news articles from your local area, the effect is even more pronounced.

Some of you are new IOTs, just starting to gather illustrations for your class sessions. Others of you have been teaching TCE courses for some time now. You may have an extensive illustration file. But maybe you’ve become a little rusty in this area. Perhaps you’ve come to rely on illustrations you’ve been using for years.

Over the next several blog posts, we are going to take a closer look at this area of our teaching. We will consider what makes a good illustration, what criteria to use for choosing illustrations, how to use illustrations effectively in our teaching and where to find illustrations that have impact. Hopefully, whether a new IOT or a veteran, these upcoming posts will help us all increase our illustration appreciation!

The Hand-Off

January is not just the first month of a new year. In America, this is also the month for football playoffs and the Super Bowl! Here at the Café, we realize that we have a number of instructors, both male and female, who enjoy an occasional inspirational thought from the sports world. So, as an equal-opportunity blog, we want to share the following, especially for the athletically-minded men and women in our IOT family!

Being somewhat athletically challenged, however, we can’t take credit for the ideas in this article—they come from Stan Toler’s leadership newsletter. We have adapted his points to fit our ministry as IOTs. So, sports-lovers, read on!

In football a successful hand-off from one player to another could mean the difference between a win and a loss. As an IOT, mentoring your students gives you a similar opportunity and a similar responsibility. Someone needs your hand-off; someone needs the wisdom of your training and life experiences. What will you hand-off? Hopefully several things:

1. Faithfulness By choosing to cheerfully share your time and energy with your students, in spite of crowded calendars and pending duties, you will teach them that people are more important than projects.

2. Affirmation By accepting students for who they are rather than for what they should be, you will teach them that acceptance is a mark of leadership.

3. Patience By sticking with the game plan no matter how many times students fumble, you will teach them that a mistake is a bridge to improvement rather than a road to failure.

4. Encouragement By handing out some "Attaboys!" (or “Attagirls!”) to your students, you will teach them that appreciation is an important incentive to reach goal lines.

5. Openness By being honest about your students’ strengths and weaknesses, you will teach them that learning to accept yourself makes you more effective with others.

Leadership isn't just about Super Bowls; it's also about the playoffs. It's about successfully executing plays along the way. You're here, as an IOT, because someone made a good hand-off. And someday, someone will stop in the middle of their ministry and remember you and thank you for being their player-coach.

As we launch into another year of training teachers to reach and disciple children, let's be aware of our responsibility to hand-off what God has given to us. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

"Pass on what you heard from me . . . to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others" (2 Timothy 2:2 MSG).