Bishop's Law of Minimums

I recently had met up with a colleague, Dr. Wes Fondren, who I dearly love, but had not seen in a long time. He mentioned "Bishop's Law of Minimums", so I thought I should preserve it here.  It is a bit long, but some may find it worth the read.

Everyone follows the Law of Minimums out of necessity.  We cannot put all our energy and effort into low-value mundane tasks, or else there is nothing left for important demanding work.

As a prof, I intentionally follow the Law of Minimums.  I figure every class has at least three major groups:

1)      Those who will learn despite what I might do.

2)      Those who will NOT learn despite what I might do.

3)      Those who do NOT know whether they are in group 1 or 2, and that is where we have to focus most of our efforts.

Group #1 deserves more than minimum attention by merit.  Group 2 gets minimum by their own preference.  Group #3 gets the most attention, because they offer the biggest potential payoff.

University freshmen have figured this out, whether they realize it or not.

When students convince themselves something is WORTH the effort, we get more than minimum effort.

Ways I convince myself of the worth of some material:

Interesting presentations:  novelty, excitement, changing stimuli.  This can be done by:  a) small group tasks perceived as enjoyable, worthy, exciting; b) peer teachers; c) rotating teachers; d) using strategic videos (there are some good ones now).

Maxim:  Maximal learning requires Maximal Engagement.  Students have to be engaged.

But this must be founded upon topics of interest: 

·       Sex

·       Alcohol

·       Wealth

·       Social issues including social media.

(Dr. Fondren has a long student-generated list.)

There must be incentives including:

Grades

Rewards (e.g. perfect attendance and a B or better= no Final exam.  That works for me to get students in class).

I have a talk about how to raise your GPA 1.0 requiring NO nights or weekends working.  I can send if interested.

Crucial role of Relationship

As Dr. Fondren can tell you, building RELATIONSHIP with students is crucial to getting them to do what they need to do.  He is an expert at this and can give a lot of good direction.

To Be honest, I don’t know how to resolve this.

An Exegetical Question on Evangelism

I was recently in a discussion with a dear Christian friend about evangelism.  I do NOT have the gift of evangelism.I FULLY understand its importance, its necessity, its preeminence in Christianity.  But that last bit, why is evangelism preeminent in the American Christian Church?

In my conversation, I related two passages of Scripture near and dear to my heart.  The first is Luke 10:25-37, and the second is the familiar story in Mark 10 and Luke 18, that we know as "The Rich Young Ruler" story.

The common point in BOTH stories is that the two key players (behind Jesus of course) come to Jesus and ask him pointedly, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Any trained evangelical in the USA would respond to such a question by sharing, "The Four Spiritual Laws (now called KGP - Knowing G^d Personally)", or "The Bridge Illustration", or, "The Roman Road to Salvation". But, take notice, Jesus did NOTHING remotely similar to these.  Instead he asked the lawyer, "What does the Law say?" and when the Lawyer responded with, "Love the L^rd your G^d with all your heart, soul mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself", Jesus did NOT correct him, but merely responded, "Do this and you will live!".  Odd answer??  No, Jesus is saying that IF you could keep the law, you would inherit eternal life... but an honest and accurate response is, "L^rd keeping the Law is impossible, what's another option?"

When the Rich Young Ruler asked the same question, Jesus said, "Keep the Commandments!".  "All these I have kept from my youth up!", the young man replied.  One more thing you lack, said Jesus, sell all you have and give it to the poor, and come follow me...".  And the young man went away sad, for he had much wealth!

I gave those two stories as evidence that Jesus came to heal the spiritually sick, but those who were "perfect" already had NO need for a Savior.

My Christian buddy responded by summarizing three parables: one about a shepherd who left the 99 sheep to seek the lost sheep, one about the woman who lost 1 of her 10 coins and searched for it, and the last one, The Prodigal Son, where a man had two sons, and lost one temporarily.  My friend's point was that these parables ALL underscore the need for evangelism.  I know those stories, but have a wholly different interpretation.

In my view, the sheep refer to those following Jesus already, the lost coin, could be the same, but the Prodigal Son was a son!!  So, I think these parables all MIGHT speak to our diligence is seeking to rescue someone who is a Believer, but who has wandered from the fold.  Each of these parables seems more closely related to restoration of Christians into fellowship, not evangelism.

So what's your view??

More Reflections on Luke 15

In the last post, I shared my struggles with the tensions between Evangelicalism and Discipleship. This may be our collective mistakes in attributing more value to those with the gift of evangelism, and less value on people who are gifted differently.  I am pretty confident this is a mistake and contrary to several clear Scriptures.

But looking at the three parables here, the Shepherd's lost sheep, the widow's lost coin, and the Father's prodigal son.  This last parable, it occurred to me many years ago, is badly titled, and this matters because the title takes us in the wrong direction.

So, the context is king, and what is the context that led Jesus to share these three parallel stories.  The Jewish leaders (Pharisees), were criticizing Jesus for eating with, fellow-shipping with sinners. A LOGICAL response would be stories explaining, not the sheep, the coin, the son, but Jesus, the Christ!  That is, Jesus probably would NOT be talking about evangelism, but his own heart.

Sooooo, let's re-read the story, and focus on:  1) The Shepherd, 2) The widow, and 3) The Prodigal's father.  What do we see?  NOT the lost sheep, coin, son, which may be Believers, but on Jesus.  Jesus who seeks the lost, Jesus who was "about His father's business", day and night, and Jesus who "killed the fatted calf" over one sinner who repents.  That sinner may be a Believer who repents, or a Poor Lost Soul, who repents of his sin, and accepts the Christ for the FIRST time.

So, in my view, the KEY story of Luke 15 is The Christ, his love and forgiveness for ALL- the Christian and the non-Christian alike.

What say ye?

Life Review- My Mother's Last Days

My Mom died, as she wished, peacefully and at home.

Mom, like Dad, suffered from multiple forms of cancer.  She fought a good fight, but in the end, cancer took her. But, I want to review how she arrived at the end.

In her last days, she lived in the only home the youngest 4 boys ever knew.  She had hired care-takers during the week days and nights, but weekends the boys would stay with her.  It was my opportunity to stay with her the weekend before she died.

I clearly recalled Mom calling out in the night wanting water.  I am sure among us 5 surviving boys, that she had brought us water in the night on many occasions.

When she called, I heard her clearly, and scrambled to carry her a glass of cold water.  after a few sips she thanked me and went to sleep.

Thank you L^rd that: 1) I heard her call out, and 2) That I had the Blessed opportunity to return this very small favor to my Mom who had served so much over her 84 years.

Thanks be to G^d for this Blessing, and for blessing us all with a terrific mother!

Life Review- My Father's Last Days

My dad was a barber, and one of the most popular guys in our home town. I worked in his barber shop most every Saturday from about age 8 until I think I was 15.  A big earnings day for me was $5, but those were 1960 dollars!

My dad was a "morning person" who woke up early most days.  He started work at 0630 I think.  On most days, he worked until 6 PM. Wednesdays he closed at noon and often went trout fishing that afternoon.  He worked a lot of hours, but Sunday afternoons, when the weather was decent, we often went over to the family farm bordering the Etowah River and walked from the NE end of the farm to the SW end.  On these excursions he taught us the names of the trees and bushes, and occasionally showed us where rabbits had made a little home in the road bank. We picked muscadines and sugar berries, and black berries in season.

My Dad's most memorable trait was telling jokes.  As a barber he had a steadily-changing audience. What amazed me most on Saturdays was hearing him tell the same joke 10-12 times, with my Dad laughing just as heartily on the 12th time as he did on the first telling.  His customers, knowing his penchant for jokes, kept his supply pretty fresh, and Dad only retold the best ones.

Dad's personality was always upbeat.  He was a positive, cheerful person. His first bout with cancer was prostate cancer, and he weathered that storm with hardly a waiver. He eventually contracted bone cancer and was bed-ridden for about three years.  His usual jovial attitude perished and he was pleasant, but not near his old jovial self.  That is until... the last 3 months of his life.  During this period the old happy Dad returned. He seemed to have more energy and recounted to us for the 75th time some of his old favorite jokes. It was a bit strange, but we all were thrilled to see our "old dad" back again.

At the end of the 3-month happy period, our father passed to his eternal home. He went peacefully, and his funeral was a good time to recount our own favorite  recollection of dad jokes.  And many people did just that.

That unusual 3-month period at the end of Dad's life was a real gift from G^d.  Thanks be to Him!

Our Job Description

I just read a blog post about Jesus' job description for his Followers.  Before I share her analysis, let's take a minute to imagine what it might say.

Maybe Jesus wants "A capable man or woman to win many souls to Christ."

How about, "Jesus seeks man/woman to study the Bible for hours, pray for hours, and spend the rest of their waking hours preaching."

What do YOU think it might say?

Here's what this Christian lady decided:

"Jesus is seeking surrendered person to rest in Him and enjoy Him. Position requires cooperation with the Holy Spirit to do the work for the day. Must love Bible. Singing on key not required."  Heather Holleman

I like that!  Cooperate with the Holy Spirit.  Don't initiate, simply watch the Spirit and help as we can.  Doesn't sound so tough now, does it.  

Now let's live by that a while and see how it goes...

What could Possibly Go Wrong??

What could Possibly.Go.Wrong?

When we ask that, we are usually thinking the answer is..."nothing".

But we seldom think this through.  Invariably there is something that can go wrong, and often does.

A Scripture verse this morning reminded me of a story from Lexington Park Baptist Church, MD, where we were members from 1974-77.

Dear sweet Brenda was helping teach a children's Sunday School class. The children's activity for that Sunday, involved "fishing" for Bible verses.  In this activity, to create interest, the child would use a small fishing rod with a clothespin attached to the line.  The child would "cast" their line behind a little screen where an adult would clip a little Bible verse for the child to retrieve and take home.

Innocent, right?  Nothing could possibly go wrong, right.  Think about it. See if you can imagine ANYTHING that could possibly go wrong with this simple, innocent activity.

No really, use your imagination.

Come up with anything?

Now, here's the rest of the story.

A little girl was visiting the Sunday School with her family for the very first time.

The innocent lass dangles her "hook" over the screen and retrieves her simple little Bible verse, which is randomly picked and attached to her line.

And the random Bible verse that she takes home to her visiting family:

Bring an offering!"  Which could have been taken from Ps 96:8  or  I Chronicles 16:29.

So, keep that in mind the next time you ask that question.

Many Hands Make Light Fun

Early this Saturday morning, a small team of almost 30 folks assembled to move 10 yards (each yard =27 cubic feet) of mulch from the trailer we hauled it in on, to the playground behind our Congregation, Grace Church.

The day before, I had gone with Ted S to pick it up from the largest sawmill I have ever seen.  What an operation!

I was really impressed at how many 18-wheelers were coming and going in just the few minutes we were there.

270 cubic feet of mulch is a LOT!  I had no idea how long it would take us to unload it and spread it on the playground, but was prepared for a sweaty day.  In fact, I went ahead and ran for 30 minutes before we began at 0700 sharp, since I'd be getting nasty anyway!

Well, by the time everyone got there, we had about 30 folks, counting kids, participating.  Everyone was enthusiastic, and as fast as we could get it unloaded, someone else had it spread, and another wheelbarrow was on its way.  We got it all unloaded and spread at under an hour!

Many hands make light work, and many hands make fun work; therefore, many hands make light fun.  No one was exhausted, though all worked hard!

And, that's WHY, or part of why, G^d put us together in a Body- His Church.

Thanks be to G^d!

No job, No holidays, No days off

This is an adjustment.  And I wasn't totally aware it was coming.  for the first time in about 60 years, I have NO externally-fixed schedule in August.  I retired in June, but the summer didn't require any adjustment, since I haven't taught summer school but a couple of times in the last 12 years. So setting my own schedule is typical... until mid-August when universities go back to classes.

To be precise, I didn't teach in 1991, when we were living in a suburb of Houston, Clear Lake, and I was working at Johnson Space Center.  I was busy enough there, and I certainly had a schedule to keep.  It was a pretty productive, and certainly educational, time.

But this August, I had NO schedule.  Now Brenda and I had several things we had to do.  We are still unpacking boxes from our move down from VA. We are helping Campus Crusade Student ministry with logistics for a retreat and for a cookout. I have been meeting with folks about ministry in different locales, and still helping a few students navigate graduate school.

I am team-teaching Sunday School, with two other profs, and I enjoy that.  About three times this summer I gave talks to the International Navigators summer meeting, and I gave one, and have two more scheduled, talks at the academic-year "lunch and learn" meetings of the Navigators.

But, as I write this, it is Labor Day, traditionally a big holiday falling right after the first couple of exhausting weeks of class.  I ran 40+ minutes this AM, mowed the grass, and hoisted some stuff into the attic. I pulled a few weeds, and helped Brenda sort and stow some stuff in one of our guest bedrooms. So, a pretty typical holiday schedule, it just doesn't feel like a day off- off from what?  Retirement?  Nah.

So those of you laboring away, 20, 30, 40 or more hours a week, I hope you enjoyed the holiday.  I know you will look forward to the weekend, but, for me, everyday is a Saturday. It's kinda neat, but still takes a bit of adjustment.

So, whilst you continue to work, enjoy yourself and enjoy your days off!  Blessings,