Tag Archives: education

Dream: Exterminate!

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Finally, the day has arrived!

Our garden has been infested with poke-lizards at least as long as my son has been alive.
A few years ago we decided to get rid of them.

First haphazardly, then more methodically, we have been trapping them, sealing up the boundaries of our yard, and destroying the warrens they live in.

Now there is only one place left for them to hide.
Time to set off the lizard-bomb.

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Redeeming Ares, Part 4: Chiron Feeding

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Continued from Part 3.

Prologue

“Go away, leave me alone!”

I am stunned.
Not just by the rude un-greeting.
But by the ramshackle hut Charon left me at
After departing the homely heaven of Hestia’s kitchen

“Fine!”
My twelve-year-old self snaps back.
“I didn’t want to get schooled by you anyway, you mangy old horse-man.
I’ll just sit here and eat the lunch Hestia gave me, until the bus comes to take me back.”

Suddenly there’s a loud but brief galloping.
The door opens.
Revealing an old
Disheveled
Yet still mighty
Centaur

Chiron

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DRAFT: Fruit Of the Cross

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Practicing to Become More Like Jesus

[A 12-week class I might build. Feedback welcome!]

As Christians, we all want to live and love more like Jesus. But books, sermons, Bible study, quiet times, and even counseling only get us so far.

To fully address our strongholds, woundedness and blind spots requires encountering Jesus in a supportive community that models how to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. In practice, not just in theory.

Fruit of the Cross (FOTC) is a 12-week online course, built around the Fruit of the Spirit, where we learn how to help each other identify and surrender those parts of our “flesh” that hinder us from growing closer to Jesus. By the end, you will be equipped and certified to host your own online or offline FOTC courses, using or adapting our free materials. You also gain membership in our missional social network, where you can continue to grow and plan with like-minded believers.

The course is built around active learning, inspired by Discovery Bible Study and the Minerva Project. Each week focuses on practicing a different Fruit-related learning objective, via:

  • a brief recording, which you listen to on your own time
  • a 2-hour live session where we encounter Jesus through His Word, Spirit, Body & Blood
  • an online chat community where we share questions, testimonies, and encouragement

The course is being developed via the Maven Accelerator Program in January 2022, and we hope to host our first cohort by Lent. Cost will be $14 per student, but scholarships and group discounts are available. For more information, please contact ernest.prabhakar@gmail.com.

TGR-S6E2: Loving the World as Jesus Does

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This week on The Great Reset, our Producer Ted Hahs shares his passion for loving the world (and each other) the way Jesus does.

How will we fertilize the potatoes necessary to nourish the Body of Christ to do His work in the world?

Q. How can we better recognize the awesomeness of the many people attempting great things for God?

P: Providing a platform for them to share their story and vision in order to garner support.

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TGR-S3E7: Great Works in Fish Bowls

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This coming Tuesday, August 18th (1pm PDT), the Biastes (and our new Biasta Janet) reflect on Season 3 as we discuss a concrete proposal for how to practice co-discipleship in Season 4.

Question: What in God’s name are we trying to do here?

Perspective

  1. Bring a greater experience of Heaven to all Creation, as we
  2. Publicly prototype, model & describe co-constructing networked communities of practice, where we
  3. Together find, refine & fulfill each member’s God-given calling, to
  4. Keep growing us all closer to Jesus; in love, likeness & living.
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TGR-S2E6: Reversing Education

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The Great Reset, Season 2, Episode 6

Perspective

  1. What if education is the wrong paradigm?
  2. What if that is actually the problem, not the solution?
  3. What if it can only work via Cultural Superiority, deliberately marginalizing some in order to elevate others?
  4. What if flourishing in the Kingdom of Man ultimately makes us enemies of the Kingdom of God?
  5. What if teachers are only supposed to show what we have learned, without requiring others to agree?
  6. What if by eating at the Tree of the Knowledge, we have cut ourselves off from the Tree of Life?
  7. What if God is giving us a chance to start over?
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TGR-S2E5: Unlearning Idolatry

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Next Tuesday, June 16, 2020 our Biastes public discipleship men’s group will continue using The Great Reset in Education as a lens to explore issues of racism and repentance in the wake of the Killing of George Floyd.

The Great Reset, Season 2, Episode 5

Question

How can we retrain ourselves to measure everything against the reality of Jesus Christ — instead of our own understanding?

Cf. Peter rebuking Jesus — and vice versa (Matthew‬ ‭16:21-25‬)

Perspective

Create systems where we are repeatedly:

  1. Emptied of our shame via the cross
  2. Submitting ourselves to be filled with power by the Holy Spirit
  3. Using those to connect transformationally with the Other
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Anjali’s Catechism: A Childlike Invitation to Spiritual Christianity

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Anjali’s Catechism: The Book is coming in Summer 2019.  Preview now.

The Invitation

Are you ready to:

  1. Embrace the One who created the universe as the Heavenly Father who loves you like Jesus?
  2. Submit your awareness, values, and goals to becoming more like Christ’s?
  3. Receive God’s Spirit, Word, and Body to reveal and heal the wounds in your spirit that hinder you from becoming like Jesus?
  4. Value God’s happiness, glory, and relationships more than your own?
  5. Practice generosity and vulnerability so others can see Christ in you?
  6. Surrender childlike happiness for the grown-up joy of loving like Jesus?

Lessons

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Christian Elementary Schools in the South Bay – 2013 Open Houses

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My son Rohan is now “4 and 3/5ths” and will be graduating from Hearts and Hands Christian Preschool in the fall.  We are wrestling with which school he should attend next.  The primary criteria are:

  1. Christian formation
  2. Academic challenge
  3. Convenient location

This appears to be Open House season, so I need to compile a list of candidates to start scheduling and ranking them.  I figured I might as well do it online in case others find it useful or have suggestions.
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LEAD! Part A: Thinking Theo-Logically

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The LEAD! Bible Study is a tripod, built on three legs:

  • theological education
  • character formation
  • skill development

While these roughly correspond to three 12-week “trimesters”, the larger goal is to incorporate all three aspects in each and every segment. The question thus becomes, what is the most effective way to integrate theological truth into the lives of lay leaders?

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LEAD! Leadership Enrichment and Development

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[Or maybe: Leadership Equipping And Development]

Good news! My pastor bought off on my proposal breaking next year’s Leadership Training into three 12-week semesters, structured as a focused bible study. We are using “LEAD!” as the working title. The initial draft syllabus is below.

The catch is that I am signed up to produce all these (though once we nail down the outline, perhaps I can get others to fill in specific pieces). I suppose I’ll start by just blogging appropriate bible studies and going from there. At least I have until September…

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CTE Light: Imago Christi

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In my Rules of War, I assert that the most important challenge is to “Know your Objective” — i.e., understand where you are going. Earlier, I stated that The Purpose of Comprehensive Theological Education was:

to equip leaders for a lifelong journey of bringing their “whole selves” (heart, soul, mind & strength) and “whole worlds” (family, church, community & marketplace) into ever-increasing alignment with God’s purpose (redemption, kingdom & glory).

There’s a more concise way to phrase that: conforming to the image of Christ, aka “Imago Christi”. I consider this the central tenet and purpose of Comprehensive Theological Education. Over time (I have no idea when), I hope to fill in other ‘CTE Lights’. Stay tuned…