Tag Archives: lesson plans

Spicing Up Your Act

Whenever teachers go through the motions of a lesson plan in class, students notice this lack of energy. Sometimes you can be so focused on what your Power Point says that you forget to read the room. The most successful teachers year after year are able to spice up their act annually to connect what they’re presenting with real life situations.

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality), how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men. 14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, Matthew 5:13-14.

Prior to modern day refrigerators, salt was used to preserve meat. Subsequently, when meat was removed from salt prior to being cooked in the first century, salt was used to add flavor to meat as well. Yet, in the above passage, Jesus appears to be referring to the faith of Christians. When your faith, your daily witness becomes stale, you’re no longer a positive influence to other people.

Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your [z]moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and [aa]recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven, Matthew 5:15-16.

Jesus’ plan of action for preventing faith from becoming stale is by spicing up your actions. This begins by rejecting your old self and practices prior to becoming a Christian, Colossians 3:1-9. Then, once this becomes a daily priority, put on the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:16. As you learn to keep in step with the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:25, your actions will begin to resemble the salt and light Jesus desires in the Sermon on the Mount.

by Jay Mankus

Nobody is Listening

Every once in a while people are blinded by pride.  This overconfidence within the minds of individuals results in losing touch with reality.  Subsequently, as someone wanders off on a tangent, the audience initially listening quickly tunes out.

Making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; Proverbs 2:2.

There is nothing worse as a teacher than to be so consumed with what you are saying that you fail to recognize no one is listening.  Despite what you thought to be a flawless lesson plan has turned into a snoozer as blank stares and sleeping students force you to figure out what went wrong.  Although it may be humbling, sometimes you have to be open to an honest assessment from students.  While some comments may be inspired from impure motives, you will find blunt answers that reveal why nobody is listening.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God,’ Revelation 2:7.

After sharing a parable, Jesus often used the saying, “let him who has ears hear.”  This spoke to the stubbornness within human hearts.  If you think you are right, then you become oblivious to those who possess an opposing point of view.  Many who heard the powerful illustrations of Jesus often left turning a deaf ear, continuing on the current path they were on.  Therefore, if you want to know the truth why nobody is listening, you have to be open to change as the Holy Spirit reveals the next step, Galatians 5:25, to take in life.

by Jay Mankus