3 REASONS TEACHING JUST MIGHT BE YOUR CALLING

BY MATTHEW LYNCH

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

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If you’re reading this, you’re probably motivated to become a teacher. You may be so passionate about math, science, or literature. Or perhaps you simply enjoy being around and helping children and teaching them fun things.

Take a second and think about it: Why do you want to be a teacher? The answer, whatever it may be, outlines the reason you are called to teach. A calling implies a deep-seated belief that teaching is the only profession that makes sense for you to pursue, but it is much broader than that. It can be as simple as a nudge toward the teaching profession from a former teacher, or as complex as a lifelong passion for supporting the children of your community. Now let’s take a look at the most common reasons people decide to become a teacher.

1. A desire to work with young people. A popular reason for going into teaching is a desire to work with children. Some people simply like working with children because of their lively, curious, and idealistic nature, while others want to play a role in building America’s future. If you talk with your peers, you’ll probably find that many of them are entering or switching to teacher education programs because they want to “nurture the future,” in the hope of creating a better world for upcoming generations. Teaching is one of the most direct and effective ways of having a positive influence on future members of society. According to the National Education Association (NEA), roughly 7 of 10 teachers enter the profession to work with young people. The same research also indicates that most teachers remain in the profession because of their desire to improve the lives of their students and other children.

Like the countless number of teachers who came before you, you may have a sincere appreciation for the unique qualities of youth. Teaching appears to be a highly satisfying profession: based on NEA studies, 68% of teachers “certainly would” or “probably would” choose to teach if they had the choice again.

2. An interest in subject matter and teaching. Some people have a desire to teach stemming from a desire to impart meaningful knowledge to students, which can be incredibly satisfying. Your enthusiasm about a particular subject, because of your inherent passion for it, may turn out to be infectious. Having a passion for what you are teaching will encourage your students to be passionate about it as well, which will assist you greatly in teaching the information. You may also be passionate about the process of teaching and learning in its own right. Pedagogy, the art and science of teaching, may be a personal interest of yours, or you may be interested in working with children who have special needs and offering them better opportunities to participate as valued members of society.
3. Influence from former teachers and family. Some of you decide to become teachers after one or more positive experiences with a former teacher. Others become teachers because of family influences, particularly when a family member is a teacher or the family holds the teaching profession in high regard. You may have been encouraged to choose teaching by that one special teacher you admired when you were in school. According to a survey conducted by the NEA, 31% of the respondents indicated that the influence of a primary or secondary school teacher was the main reason they chose to become teachers.

Teachers also provide a valuable service to society and hold a respected position. Parents, especially, place great trust in teachers by entrusting their children to the care of teachers for the school day. Because teachers are in contact with many students, recognition of the service they provide is unavoidable. Prominent members of the community, such as politicians, bankers, and doctors, will often publicly laud the teachers, and star teachers are often featured in local news.

What made you feel like teaching was your calling?

A Harvest of Righteousness

Saturday, March 30, 2019

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”

James 3:1–18

Every living thing that God made, both plants and animals, has the capacity to reproduce itself. But as great an impact as that has, from the beginning that ability was limited. Nothing creates something that is different from itself. “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so” (Genesis 1:11). If we want a harvest of corn, we don’t plant tomato seeds. If we want oranges, we don’t plant apples. If we want giraffes, we don’t start with lions.

The same principle is true in the spiritual world. There are many people who want to experience the benefits and blessings of the good fruit of righteousness in their lives. But they are continually reaping a very different kind of harvest which they do not enjoy. The seeds we sow determine the harvest we reap. There are no exceptions to God’s divine law. It will remain in effect until the end of the world. “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22).

The reality of harvest places a great responsibility on us to carefully consider what we are planting day after day. The future is not determined by our wishes but by our seeds. Those who desire righteousness and peace tomorrow must sow those things today. Wisdom reminds us that the future of every harvest is determined by our present actions.

Today's Growth Principle: 

Knowing that you will reap tomorrow what you are sowing today, take care what seeds you plant.

Strategic Success =)

Repost (view of the day): An Excerpt from the Book of Og Mandino

I will Love the young... for the faith they hold

I will Love the old... for the wisdom they share

Salt + Pepper: An Excerpt from the Book of Og Mandino: I will greet this day with Love in my heart  and how will I act? I will Love all manners of men for each has qualities  to be admired ...

CURRENT RADIO SERIES The Source of Our Strength   CURRENT TV SERIES At the Cross

“But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” —2 Peter 3:13 On December 2, 1942 in the late afternoon, a group of U.S. scientists huddled together on an abandoned football field near the University of Chicago, and there produced for the first time in human history controlled nuclear fission chain reaction. Just three years later President Harry Truman gave the order to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. That bomb leveled two-thirds of that city, and what the world saw at that time was devastation like we've never seen before, and I pray we never see again. With the explosion of that atomic bomb and the other that followed, a new age came to the world, the Atomic Age. When they experimented with the bomb in New Mexico, a scientist watched it, tears coursed down his face and he cried out, "Oh, my God, we have created hell!" The prospects for global destruction are greater than ever before. It's not just the preachers and the evangelists that are saying this now, but the social scientists and the nuclear scientists and the ecologists are all predicting devastation in our times; that a final holocaust is coming. And we wonder is there any hope? But the fact is there is hope for the Christian. There is a new world coming. And while this world as we know it will one day explode with fire, it will not be at the hand of man, but it will be at the hand of God, and the same fire that destroys this current age will fashion a new age and a new world order in which righteousness dwells forever.   THE SAME GOD WHO CREATED THE WORLD IN THE BEGINNING, NOW CONTROLS THIS WORLD AND HE'S IN CHARGE OF IT. Not Just for the Young Friday, March 29, 2019 by Dr. Paul Chappell “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:20–22 If you grew up going to church, youth camps, Christian school, revival meetings, and teen rallies, you almost certainly heard many messages on the topic “Flee youthful lusts.” That is vitally important, and never more than now as our culture goes deeper and deeper into tolerance and promotion of sin. But this vital warning is not just for young people. Though the Bible does not tell us how old Timothy was when he received this final letter from Paul, according to church history and tradition, he was probably at least in his forties and may have been fifty years old. Yet Timothy still needed to be reminded to flee youthful lusts. While it would be nice if temptation left us alone once we got old enough, that is simply not the case. Though they may take different forms, the same basic evil desires remain in our hearts. Even as adults who have walked with God for years, we are still at risk from youthful lusts, and we must remain on guard. The devil is willing to lay traps that will not spring for years or even decades. He is faithful and consistent in his evil work, and he is not discouraged if we resist temptation today. Even when Jesus resisted him, Satan only left for a time. “And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season” (Luke 4:13). Today's Growth Principle:  Age is no protection against temptation, and we can never afford to let down our guard against sin.

The Christian Life is Like a Marathon

CURRENT RADIO SERIES The Source of Our Strength   CURRENT TV SERIES At the Cross

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” —Hebrews 12:1 Everywhere you go today, people are jogging. Everywhere you look people are pounding on the pavement. And that’s good because we need to have healthy bodies and temples that glorify our God. But what I’m really fascinated by is concerning those great athletes that we call marathoners.  Those men and women, who run 26 miles, 385 yards. This isn’t just a little jog in the park; but this is a competitive race. The Christian life is a marathon too.  It is not a 100-yard dash.  The Christian life is not to be lived in spurts and jumps and stops and starts, but it is to be lived like a great racer running to the finish line. Too many people think of the Christian life as being a dream.  But rather the Christian life demands discipline.  So often in our convenience society, we look at the Christian life as a blast, when the Bible tells us that the Christian life is a battle. We’re in a war; we’re in a race and the bullets are real and casualties are high.  I’m not talking just about the entrance into the race, but I’m talking about the endurance that is required to finish the course and to run the race. The Bible says to run that we might win.   WE’RE NOT COMPETING AGAINST EACH OTHER, BUT WE ARE TO RUN THE RACE THAT IS SET BEFORE US.

Giving up When You’re Winning

Thursday, March 28, 2019

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”

Hebrews 12:3–6

At the highest levels, chess is as much about managing the overall event strategy as much as which piece to move where in a single game. Still the chess world was stunned during the 2018 World Championships, when the defending champion, Magnus Carlsen, ended the final game by offering his opponent a draw despite having a marked advantage that meant he had a good chance to win. Carlsen apparently feared making a mistake that would cost him the game, and knew that his position in a tiebreaker would be stronger. This proved to be the case, and he retained his world title. But many experts and other players criticized Carlsen for giving up and accepting a tie when he could have won an outright victory.

That sometimes happens in our spiritual life as well. We accept less of a victory than God has provided because we would rather give up than fight. There is no ambiguity about the promise of God. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”(James 4:7). The reality is that many Christians are living in close proximity to the devil and temptation rather than watching him run away—not because God’s promise is untrue, but because they are not willing to resist and remain in the battle. Each time we yield to temptation we are losing a battle that could be won if we were willing to fight and win.

Today's Growth Principle: 

Do not settle for less than the victory God has promised because you are not willing to fight the devil.

CURRENT RADIO SERIES The Source of Our Strength   CURRENT TV SERIES At the Cross

“And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” —Hebrews 11:39-40 We are called to courageous commitment to Jesus Christ.  Everyone who has trusted Christ as Savior is called into a battle, and at times it is not easy.  As a matter of fact, at times it is very difficult, and we face foes that we could not imagine. We face obstacles that are seemingly impossible. Sometimes we’re called upon, not to be passive, but to be proactive for the cause of Christ.  And when we do that, it requires commitment God uses a Hines 57 variety of people.  God uses garden-variety kinds of people, all kinds of people.  Some of the people that here in Hebrews chapter 11 were cultured, and others were very common.  Some were wealthy; some were not wealthy; some were very poor.  Some won great victory; some experienced great defeats. But God used all of these people in different ways and what brought them together and what put them in God’s Hall of Fame here in Hebrews 11 was their faith and their common commitment.  We are inspired by that commitment. God is not limited by our personalities.  God is not limited by our predicaments. God is not limited by our possessions or our lack of possessions.  God can do anything through people who are available to Him, because our God is the same.   GOD IS NOT LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WHO JUST HAVE A GREAT ABILITY, HE’S LOOKING FOR AVAILABILITY. The Race Is Won Wednesday, March 27, 2019 by Dr. Paul Chappell “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1–2 Over the years I’ve watched a number of different kinds of athletic competitions, both in person and on television. When I was young, Alvin Dark was a member of our church, so we got to go see the Oakland A’s team that he managed play baseball games (from really good seats). I’ve watched our children and now grandchildren at sporting events over the years. If you get there early enough, you will usually see members of the team or competitors getting ready by stretching and warming up for the event. But in all the years I’ve watched these events, I’ve never seen an athlete come back out on the field after the game or race ended to stretch and warm up. Jesus came to the world and lived a perfect life, completely fulfilling the will and purpose of His Father. He defeated Satan, died on the cross, and was resurrected after three days in the tomb. He settled forever the outcome with a resounding triumph. And the Bible tells us that when His work was completed, Jesus sat down. He is not “warming up” or getting ready, because the battle is over. We have not yet seen the final victory. We still face trials and temptations on a daily basis, and will as long as this life endures. But the outcome is settled. The seated Saviour is our guarantee that that battle has already been won. Today's Growth Principle:  Jesus Christ has already won the ultimate victory, and it is our responsibility to claim it and live in it.