When I was in college at Arizona State University, I majored in history and secondary education.  My history classes were great.  My education classes were a joke.

The education classes were influenced by Alvin Toffler’s book, “Future Shock” which claimed that there was so much information to be learned that classes shouldn’t focus on learning facts but how to garner facts.

That sounds logical, but the problem is that if kids don’t learn facts, then they’re not inspired to gather facts.

My education classes were all about getting teams together to do projects.  Using grades in schools was derided in favor of making sure no one fails.  It was basically socialism, suppressing initiative and rewarding group effort.

In my history classes we learned lots of things that we could teach others.  In my education classes we learned almost nothing.  The college in the area with the best reputation for educating teachers was Grand Canyon College, a Southern Baptist school, because it taught teachers how to teach!

With kids going back to school, let’s support them in learning things that they can tell others.  Let’s teach them so that they can teach others, just as Christ commanded in  Matthew 28:18-20.

Sunday I’m preaching on “Learn to Tell” from Acts 26:13-29.  We’ll talk about “Hear Christ’s Call,” verses 13-18; and “Tell What You Learn,” verses 19-29.  The passage depicts Paul standing before Governor Felix, King Agrippa II and his sister, Bernice.  It was an august company!  Little did the people know that the most famous person among them would be the short little Jew from Tarsus in southern Turkey.  Join us as we hear him teaching us what he learned!

Love,

Jim Meek