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Teaching is Taking Others Somewhere

11/6/2019

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If you were talk with most any seasoned teacher, they'd likely nod in agreement that the craft of teaching includes the idea of "taking others somewhere." This could mean helping them grasp new content, see things in a new light, practice new habits, change how they relate to others, and grow in virtue.

To play off this picture that teaching is taking others somewhere, here are a few brief tips I'd recommend to make this "trip" of teaching effective at helping the learner get from point A to point B.

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My 2018 Top 5 "Top Reading Lists of 2018"

12/24/2018

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Looking for some of the best biblical and theological books to read in 2019? Below I've collected and listed five "sources" that are worth listening to for some worthwhile reads.

My hope is that as you scan these lists, you'll find at least 2-3 books that strike your interest enough for you to pick up the book and dig in.

Click on either the image or the title below and you'll be taken directly to a page where you can see which books are on that particular list.

My Top 5 Reading Lists of 2018

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Christianity Today's 2019 Book Awards
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The Gospel Coalition: 2018 TGC Book Awards
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Verge Network - Top Books of 2018

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Sam Storms - Top 10 Books of 2018
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Tim Challies - The Collected Best Christian Books of 2018

Interested in more?

Below you'll find a few other links to related posts. Happy reading! 
  • 6 Books to Consider for the Reader You're Buying For (2018 Edition)
  • How to R.E.A.D. Books Well
  • The "Ministry" of Recommending Books
  • Building a Biblical and Theological Library? Here are 4 More Books for the Shelves.
  • My 2017 Top 5 "Top Reading Lists of 2017"
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Discipleship 101 (Luke 9:23-25)

10/30/2018

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In Luke 9:23-25, Jesus makes some bold statements about following Him. In a sense, these verses provide a “101 Class” on discipleship.  

“Disciple” is a word you’ll hear in church world a lot - and rightfully so. One of Jesus’ last commands is for the church to go and “make disciples” of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Making disciples who make disciples should be on the short list of priorities of every church.

The word disciple literally means “learner.” Don’t just think of a learner in some classroom environment, though. Think “apprentice.” Think “someone learning a skill or a lifestyle.” As followers of Jesus, we’re apprentices of Jesus. Or another way to look at it is that a disciple is someone who walks in the footsteps of someone else.

When I was in college, I went on a couple of backpacking trips in Colorado - one to fulfill some P.E. credit, and one as part of a team building experience for R.A.s. They were great: Get away from civilization, sleep in tents, see some awesome sights in the Rockies, and do a whole lot of hiking. And both times I went, the guide we were with reinforced the value of paying attention to the person in front of you. To watch where they stepped and to follow that same path. To literally walk in their footsteps as much as you could.

​As disciples of Jesus, then, we walk in His footsteps. And if the path He went on involved suffering and self-denial (Jesus tells us this in Luke 9:22), we can’t go around that ourselves or skip that part of the trail as His followers. Which is exactly where Jesus takes His instruction to us in Luke 9:23-25:

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Great Insight from Trevin Wax on Gospel-Centered Teaching

2/23/2018

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I love to teach. I believe that a healthy teaching ministry is vital to the life of a vibrant local church. And I want to emphasize a healthy, deeply-understood gospel centrality as I teach. 

Since that's the case, I'm grateful for how Trevin Wax - Bible and resource publisher at Lifeway Christian Resources - articulates what gospel-centered teaching looks like in this brief (less than 3 min) video clip. I'm including it here, both to circulate good content via this site, and to keep it for handy reference for the future! :)

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It's Not Too Late! A Review of the Top 5 Blog Posts Each Month, for the Last 6 Months

1/11/2018

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Based on the number of "hits" each month, here are the top 5 posts here on the Brookside Institute blog for the last six months - July 2017 through December 2017.

​Take a minute to scroll through the list below, and either catch up on things you may have missed or revisit things that were especially helpful.

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My 2017 Top 5 "Top Reading Lists of 2017"

12/28/2017

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Looking for some of the best biblical and theological books to read in 2018? Below I've collected and listed five "sources" that are worth listening to for some worthwhile reads.

My hope is that as you scan these lists, you'll find at least 2-3 books that strike your interest enough for you to pick up the book and dig in.

Click on either the image or the title below and you'll be taken directly to a page where you can see which books are on that particular list.

My Top 5 Reading Lists of 2017

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Christianity Today's 2018 Book Awards
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Desiring God - Top 17 Books of 2017 (Tony Reinke)
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My Top Books of 2017 (Jared Wilson, TGC)

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Top 10 Books of 2017 (Sam Storms)
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The Collected Best Christian Books of 2017 (Tim Challies)

Interested in more? 

Below you'll find a few other links to related posts. Happy reading! 
  • How to R.E.A.D. Books Well
  • The "Ministry" of Recommending Books
  • Building a Biblical and Theological Library? Here are 4 More Books for the Shelves.
  • My 2016 Top 5 "Top Reading Lists of 2016"
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Building a Biblical and Theological Library? Here are 4 More Books to Add to the Shelves.

11/13/2017

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A couple of years ago, I wrote a short post advocating the idea of building a biblical and theological "library" of books - a shelf (or shelves) with trusted books that can relied on to guide you in reading the Bible and navigating theological topics. Some of these are books to read straight through; others are books to keep handy as reference books and turn to on an as-needed basis. All of them are worthwhile.

I'm still a fan of the books I recommended in the initial post - even as I figured it's time to add a few more books to the list. If you're looking to slowly start building or adding to a biblical and theological library yourself, here are four books to add to the shelf:

Bible: Old Testament

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How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament: 12 Steps from Exegesis to Theology (Jason S. DeRouchie)

Bible: New Testament

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How to Understand and Apply the New Testament: 12 Steps from Exegesis to Theology (Andrew David Naselli)

Theology

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Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 3rd ed (edited by Daniel Treier and Walter Elwell)

Theology

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What Christians Ought to Believe: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine through the Apostles' Creed (Michael F. Bird)

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...
  • Starting to Build Your Library of Biblical and Theological Resources? Here are 8 Books to Get You Started
  • How to R.E.A.D. Books Well
  • The "Ministry" of Recommending Books

What books would you have included, that I didn't here? (Because let's be honest, there are lots of additional books that can be a part of a good biblical and theological library, that I didn't include here for space reasons.) List anything you'd add (and why!) here.
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A (Short) Collection of Reformation Day Resources

10/31/2017

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Happy Reformation Day! On this day, 500 years ago, Martin Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Chapel - the event that we now commonly look to as igniting the Protestant Reformation. 

Below I've collected a handful of resources that will help you understand a bit more about the Protestant Reformation and reflect on its ongoing significance. I encourage you to choose 1-2 links that interest you most and dig in. If you've got kids at home, consider bringing up some of the "big takeaways" with them, and inviting them into remembering the positive significance of the Reformation today. I've included a couple of accessible books that motivated learners can read.

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Retiring a Jersey: Moralistic Therapeutic Deism and the Gospel

8/1/2017

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If you ever check out the footer of this site, where we highlight the top 5 posts of the previous month, you'll have seen "What is Moralistic Therapeutic Deism? And How Does it Stack Up against Biblical Christianity?" has been on a #1 streak for a while (a long while!). And it's understandable why.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD) is often called the "default religion" of many Americans - whether they consciously articulate it or not. And MTD is definitely NOT a direct overlap of biblical Christianity.
 To understand the "background noise" that informs the perspective of many Americans - even American Christians - one needs to understand MTD.

If you've not checked out the post, 
you can do so here.

So as a nod to the popularity of this post, I'm officially going to "retire the jersey." I'll leave the post just as it is on the site and will include it in the "retired jersey" category of this site's "Library" page. However, moving forward I'll no longer include it in numbers 1-5 of each month's top posts (even though it continues to rank highly among the website "hits" for individual posts), thus allowing room for other posts.

Interested in other posts that have gotten a lot of traffic on this site recently? Click here to check 'em out!

Interested in seeing all of the "retired jersey" posts up to this point? Here they are:

  • Gregg Allison on the Importance and Role of Christian Education in the Life of the Church
  • What is Moralistic Therapeutic Deism? And How Does it Stack Up against Biblical Christianity? 
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The essential contribution that theology makes for the life of the church

7/29/2017

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I've mentioned a few times already on this site that theology is important in and for the life of the church, but that sound theology isn't the ONLY the thing a church should be concerned with. Here's one short excerpt from a previous post:
So a right theology is not enough - at least not if we define theology primarily in terms of what we KNOW at a cognitive level.  We also need to respond rightly - with faith, trust, awe, worship, and obedience" (We NEED Sound Theology. And We Need MORE THAN Sound Theology.
We need to keep this mind - in all the ways this quote highlights and more.

But I also want to keep my foot on the gas pedal of the important - essential! - contribution that sound theology does make in and for the life of the local church.

I love how Keith Johnson brings this out in his recent Theology as Discipleship (p. 77). Read this slowly:
We practice theology in order to guide the church as it thinks and speaks about God. This work is our specific commission. God has given us the task of bringing order to the church's language, and this task puts in a position of service rather than superiority. We are responsible for directing the church so that its prayer, worship, and preaching correspond to God's being and character. Our goal is to help the church become confident that its claims about God are true so it can teach believers within the church - and proclaim the gospel to those outside the church - in grace and truth" (Keith L. Johnson, Theology as Discipleship, p. 77).
Let's not abandon this "specific commission" Johnson calls us to. We need to champion theology, we need to create space to read and study theology, and we need to teach theology. As we do this, our posture is one of service. Our goal is to faithfully align with God's self-revelation in the Bible (no more, but no less) to equip the church in her prayer, worship, preaching, service, and witness.

The local church needs the essential contribution theology makes.

If you liked this post, you may be interested in...

  • We NEED Sound Theology. And We Need MORE THAN Sound Theology.
  • My Own Working Definition of Christian Theology.
  • Doing Theology is Important. But Watch Out for These Dangers.
  • 8 Starter Books for Building a Biblical and Theological Library.
  • 3 Ways Theology and the Local Church Go Hand-in-Hand.
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    Tim Wiebe

    Christian. Husband. Father. Pastor. Learner. Contributor. Reader.


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Top Five Posts from December 2020
#1 - Revelation 3:17 is a Scary Verse
#2 - How Do We Embody the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12? Look at Jesus.
#3 - What Did the Early Church Include in Their Training of Believers? 9 Categories of Catechetical Content
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