Monthly Archives: October 2011
Bullying…
Bullying is something most children grow up dealing with to some extent. Even though one party is being physically “hurt”, bullying is physically, mentally and emotionally painful for everyone involved. Bullying is a response to deeper issues within an individual. So…
What can parents do?
Get the whole story.
Could your child be instigating some of this? What type of bullying is it (physical, verbal, cyber, emotional, racial, or sexual)? These are questions parents can find out by simply talking to their child (Tip: Don’t provide answers for your child. Meaning, don’t fill in the blanks for them. Let them tell the story. If they are having trouble recalling, simply give them time to remember. When you interrupt with your own guess, they may take your answer and use it as part of the story even if it wasn’t). I would write down the story so if you need to refer to it later you have it. Include date and time information.
Create Space.
Encourage your child to tell the bully (if you deem it safe) to stop and to steer clear of the bully when it is not necessary for them to be together.
Talk to the Parent.
Call or talk at school with the parent of the bully. Let them know what is happening and ask them to speak with their child about ending their bullying. If your child has fault, please acknowledge it so the parent does not feel like their child is being attacked. It is human nature that we are more inclined to listen when we feel like the person talking is being fair in their evaluation.
Go to the Principal
If bullying persists, approach the principal and let him/her know the steps you have taken. It would help to bring the written story from step one so the principal has the whole picture.
***A disclaimer here is that if the bullying is causing serious harm, I suggest approaching the school immediately. Parents are ultimately the judges of how serious the situation is. If you feel uncomfortable or uncertain, go straight to the school.
12 Ways to Study God’s Word… (Part 3 of 3)
This is our final post on Bible study methods. I hope these have been helpful to you as a parents and possibly something you can pass on to your child now or someday. Enjoy these final four methods.
The Book Survey Method
In the book survey method, you get a telescopic view of a book of the Bible. By doing this step first, you understand how the pieces of the book fit together. It helps you ensure that you won’t mistake the forest for the trees when you study the book further through the next few methods.
The Chapter Analysis Method
Next, you focus your study on a particular chapter from the book you just surveyed. Through this method you’ll look carefully at each paragraph, sentence, and word in the passage you are studying. As you study the chapters of the Bible in this way, you’ll limit outside help and ensure that you’re getting your won insights on Scripture.
The Book Synthesis Method
This is the natural conclusion of this set of methods. After you’ve looked at the book as a whole and then analyze the different chapters within it, you’ll conclude by putting the book and all of the insights you’ve gained back together again. It’s a particularly important step after you’ve torn the book apart in the chapter analysis method.
The Verse-by-Verse Method
In the 12th method you take a particular verse of Scripture and study it in detail by asking particular questions, looking at cross-references and paraphrasing each verse. You can either use this study to work systematically through a passage or combine it with the topical method to look at all of the Scripture related to a topic.
While we know studying God’s word is crucial to spiritual growth we know that these methods will take time, discipline, and possibly some study tools. Stay tune for future posts on devotionals that we recommend for your child. We will try and have all our contributors chime in so you can find an age appropriate tool that works for your kid(s).
12 Ways to Study God’s Word… (Part 2 of 3)
Yesterday we posted 4 or 12 Bible study methods that I spoke on in our senior high Sunday School class a few months ago. Here are 4 more and come back tomorrow for the final 4.
The Biographical Method
This one is pretty self-explanatory. It involves picking a biblical character and studying his or her life as presented by Scripture. But it isn’t just about storing information on the person. The reason you study biblical characters is to see why they were spiritual successes or failures. Once you discover that, you can either emulate what made them spiritually successful or avoid what made them fail. With more than 3000 biblical characters, this form of Bible study offers an almost endless supply of opportunities.
The Topical Method
In many ways this is like the thematic study, only more extensive. When studying the Bible topically, you typically attack a broad subject in Scripture (or in a specific book of the Bible)—like prayer or sin. Also, unlike a thematic study, you ask every question you can muster. What you get at the end is a broad idea of what the Bible (or a book in the Bible) says about the topic.
The Word Study Method
Many of the great doctrines of Scripture revolve around a single word, such as grace, atonement, or faith. This study method allows you to focus on what some of these words mean in the original language. The method requires more reference books than the other studies, because you’ll need sources to be able to uncover the meaning of the biblical words in the original languages. The method is based on two things. First, the meaning you find from a word must be based on the original languages. Second, context must give you the ultimate meaning of the word you’re studying, not the English translation.
The Book Background Method
This method helps you get a good feel for the background of the biblical passage or book you are studying. You do it by focusing on understanding the history, culture, geography, and political events surrounding the passage. Of course, this method is highly dependent upon collecting quality Bible study reference tools.
12 Ways to Study God’s Word… (Part 1 of 3)
Here are the different ways to study God’s word that I spoke about in our senior high Sunday School a few months ago. This is not an exhaustive list but a good start and I thought this might be helpful for you as a parent. They are not mine and I am not sure where I picked these up but I hope you Enjoy them.
The Devotional Method
This method sets the foundation for all of the others. If application is the ultimate goal of how we’re to interact with the Bible, then this method may be the most important for our spiritual lives. It involves taking a passage of Scripture and prayerfully meditating on it until the Holy Spirit provides a concrete application. It’s so important that it’s a part of every other method I teach.
The Chapter Summary Method
This may be the easiest of the Bible study methods to use, and you need very few extra biblical resources to do it effectively. Using the method, you’ll get a general overview of a chapter. You can use the method to systematically go through God’s Word or you can pick various chapters that are of interest to you.
The Character Quality Method
We’ve all got areas of our lives that need work. Using this Bible study method, you can work on positive character qualities that you need to improve (such as honesty, humility, and diligence) and negative ones you need to avoid (such as pride and greed). Unless you really understand a character quality, you’ll never be able to develop it in your life. Through this method you’ll focus on one character quality, look at how biblical characters lived it out, and look for ways to build the character trait into your own life (or avoid it).
The Thematic Method
This study method involves taking a biblical theme (like interceding for others or “the hand of the Lord”) and asking no more than five predetermined questions of the relevant biblical texts. This is another Bible study method that requires few reference tools, with a Bible and a concordance being the most important ones. It’s a great method to use when you’re preparing a Bible study or mentoring someone. It’s also a nice first step before digging into a more thorough topical study.
Come back tomorrow for four more methods.
Guest Post: The Praying Parent
By Gayle Ozartun
Prayer is the most powerful tool we as Christians have. My walk with God has been soaked in prayer from the beginning. When my husband and I were married for two years, we decided it was time to start a family. My siblings all had several children so I figured it would be a piece of cake for us. I was wrong. In the next seven years, we sought out the LORD through study and prayer. People all around us were having babies so I would get discouraged. Because I had hope in Christ I would pray for His favor and that He would grant me a child. He encouraged me through His Word over and over.
After seven long years and many doctor appointments filled with testing and waiting, we found out that God was going to grant us our prayer threefold! Carrying triplets is a high-risk appointment! I went into pre-term labor at the beginning of week 20. Our church family diligently prayed for us and I definitely prayed without ceasing. I ended up on bed rest for a total of nine weeks, most of which were in the hospital. I spent my nights singing praise songs and praying over my precious bundles of joy. My doctor, through medicine, was able to keep me from prematurely giving birth before week 29. At twenty-nine and a half weeks my wonderful children arrived!
I had one child that had absolutely nothing wrong with him except a little jaundice. My other son and daughter needed to be on a C pap to help them breathe. My son was on a ventilator and on the third day my daughter’s lungs collapsed. The hole in her heart was not closing and she had three bacterial infections and needed blood transfusions three times. In the midst of this, I spent my days going to each one and singing over them and praying for them. Our church family had been constant in praying for them. While my family fell apart over all of this, I had complete peace. I knew that my God had His hand upon them and I didn’t need to fear. Not just daily, but all day, I prayed over them.
Finally, after forty-one days my beautiful sons got to come home. On day fifty-five, my beautiful baby girl came home on a monitor. During the time that she was in the hospital, I was not able to hold her much at all, but now she was all mine.
As they grew, I found myself fearing about sickness, disease, and even snakes!! I have learned from God’s Word that He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power. As I started to fear over the possibilities, I became aware that I have been given power over it by my Father in heaven. I began to pray against all of the things that I feared might happen to my children. When I did that, all fear was gone because I knew that they were in God’s hands. His promises and perfect love cast out fear so completely! I clung to and still do to Luke 10:19 which says, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.”
My point is this: When in fear, pray!! He will give you indescribable peace if you just lean on Him. God is greater than our biggest obstacles and storms and even the monsters in our closets. Trust Him.
Recommended books: Stormy Omartian, “ Power of a Praying Parent” book and workbook (Stormy Omartian has written several other books on prayer that have been very helpful to me as well.)
Bertie Holmgren
Beth Fontana
Brandon Early
Erin Blume
Josh Afram
Luke Uran
Teresa Hubbard
