MOOC Resources

On March 3rd I lead a session for educators at the iTrac Kansas conference on the usefulness of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC's) for personal and professional development. Here are some of the organizations offering MOOC's that I refer to:

https://www.edx.org/

http://plusacumen.org/courses/

https://www.coursera.org/

https://www.udacity.com/

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses

"Behold" = time to pay attention

Luke 2:10:

10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;

I’ve always loved the part of the Christmas story where the vast host of angels show up. There’s something about the way a calm and “normal” night was disrupted by the heavenly visitors that intrigues me. I imagine what it would have been like for the poor shepherds, minding their own business when the sky lit up. Talk about shocking. If it were me, I would have run.

Even more specific than the appearance of the angels, I’ve been drawn in this story to the angel of the LORD’s initial greeting, “Do not be afraid; for behold...” In more modern translations the word “behold” is not included. However, I believe this word is key to the story.

I have a friend named Dave. When we were younger, we both were volunteers in the same youth ministry. One year we were running a fall carnival with games, bounce houses and a wagon ride complete with hay bales to sit on. Dave, in an attempt at humor, stood by the hay ride all night shouting to any passerby, “HEY!” When they looked at him, he would point to the hay bale and laugh. Like Dave, Luke is drawing the reader and  grabbing his or her attention. “Behold” means “look” or “hey!” and there is a sense of urgency behind this word. The person speaking wants his or her hearers to pay attention.

And in this use in Luke’s gospel what was there to ‘behold?’ For the shepherds, the announcement is a sign of good news, of joy, a baby and messiah come to earth.

I was curious, were there other instances in the Bible where the word “behold” is used referring to the Messiah? I found two places which I believe serve as bookends for Jesus’ story. If this ‘behold’ in Luke is the central proclamation, the other two are no less significant.

The first is in Isaiah 42:1-4:

“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;

My chosen one in whom My soul delights.

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the nations.

2 “He will not cry out or raise His voice,

Nor make His voice heard in the street.

3 “A bruised reed He will not break

And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;

He will faithfully bring forth justice.

4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed

Until He has established justice in the earth;

And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

The first thing that hits me about this “Behold” is the picture of a Servant who looks a lot like Jesus: delighted in by God, full of the Spirit, and gentle in word and deed. His primary mission is bringing justice, a word used three times in this passage. We sometimes read this word through a North American legal lens, but the Hebrew perspective of justice is producing honorable relationships, bringing peace - shalom- to individuals and the nations. Most scholars would equate this Servant with Jesus.

The other bookend “behold” comes at the end of Jesus’ life from the mouth of Pontius Pilate in John 19:5: “Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Behold, the Man!’”

In each instance, the voice inviting the hearers to “behold” is not the person himself, but rather someone else inviting people to pay attention. Unlike the other two instances, here the “behold” points to a prisoner, and yet this is not dissimilar from the servant seen in Isaiah. Behold- here is one who came to sacrifice all to generate justice to the nations.

As we enter into the Christmas season and hear or see the word “Behold” in readings, carols, or greeting cards, may we pay attention and see the bigger picture:

A Servant bringing justice

A Savior and messiah

A Sacrifice for the nations

An unlikely activist

I'm an unlikely activist.

When I was a college student I was focused on preparation for ministry and ‘saving souls.’ My dreams, plans, and desires were how to be more effective in youth ministry, camps, mission trips, etc. I strove to be a person who made an impact, and what mattered was how the now impacted the ‘future coming glory.’

I recall one instance on my college campus where a student group was showing a film relating to to the actions of the CIA in El Salvador. At the time, I couldn't be bothered to go and see it, I wasn't into 'social justice.'

After a number of years in full-time ministry my story slowly began to change. Etched into my memory is a trip to Mexico, where our group lead a vacation Bible school (VBS), and one of the activities was a craft. On this day we had children glue beans and macaroni to a plate to make a picture. The VBS was held in a home and at the end we gave the leftover macaroni and beans to the hostess. As we were cleaning up to go back to our basecamp and American style dinner, I noticed the hostess sweeping the dirt floor to pick up the beans and macaroni that had fallen during the craft. It suddenly hit me that for her beans and macaroni were FOOD not craft materials. My North American cultural arrogance hit me hard. I determined at that point never to do a craft that included food items again.

My path toward activism continued to change after my wife and I went to Great Britain to live and work. My eyes were opened to a global world which was different than my sheltered American upbringing. I met followers of Jesus from a variety of cultures who thought and lived very differently to me.

While living in the UK I was able to travel to a number of countries, including Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was just after the war in the late '90's and I saw firsthand the devastation of extreme poverty. I had seen poverty in Mexico, but the depth of poverty in this war torn country was shocking.

That trip, and others around the globe like it, have shaped me in profound ways. My own naive college-student ideas of both theology and what 'social justice' meant has shifted.

In 2006 I heard about ONE and the work it was doing to alleviate poverty in Africa. My family had lived in the UK during the turn of the millennium when the "Make Poverty History" campaign began and at that time had tried to participate and promote it. Because the goals were similar, I signed up for ONE.

ONE is a bi-partisan organization which describes itself on the website ONE.org as: “ONE is an international campaigning and advocacy organization of more than 6 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa because the facts show extreme poverty has already been cut by 60% and can be virtually eliminated by 2030, but only if we act with urgency now. Cofounded by Bono, we raise public awareness and work with political leaders to combat AIDS and preventable diseases, increase investments in agriculture and nutrition, and demand greater transparency so governments are accountable to their citizens.”

As a point of entry into “activism”, with ONE it was easy to feel like an activist- the website is set up in such a way that all I needed to do was click and I was able to send a message to my congressperson on issues of poverty in Africa, mosquito nets, immunizations, and electricity. I was what some call a 'clicktavist' and it felt good to help.

My family moved to Wichita in 2013 and through conversation with the ONE headquarters I have become more involved. I agreed to the role of Regional Faith Leader (RFL) for Wichita. By this step I have moved deeper into activism.

The role of RFL led to me attending the ONE Power Summit in Washington DC at the beginning of March. I gathered with about 150 fellow ONE members from around the USA to learn more about the issues of global poverty to hear from policy makers from across party lines, and to spend a day on Capitol Hill talking to Senators and Congresspersons about issues of electricity, immunizations, and global HIV/Aids treatments. It was fun to visit Kansas lawmakers with fellow Kansans to talk about these issues.

I've come along way from college when I wouldn't see a film because it had to do with peace and justice. I now actively promote these issues because I see the Kingdom of God as much more than "pray a prayer so you can go to heaven when you die". I believe that the Church is called to make a difference here and now in this world. As Jesus says in Matthew 25:40: The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Please join me and the other 6 million ONE members from around the world by adding your voice to speak up for the world’s poor at ONE.org

I plan on writing more about ONE and issues of poverty in the future. Stay tuned.

Gift Exchange

⁷ But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸ This is why it^[a] says:

“When he ascended on high,
    he took many captives
    and gave gifts to his people.”^[b]

….¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4: 7-8, 11-13.

Gifts are something we exchange during this Christmas time. Have you ever thought about why we do this?

I suppose it could be due to the Wise Men. We all know they brought their gifts to Jesus. I also suppose it could be because of St. Nicholas, the real person, who lived in Turkey in the in the early 300’s and used his inheritance to help the sick, needy, and suffering.

Today’s passage leads us to a different place. Maybe we give gifts because Jesus also gave gifts to us. The gifts from Jesus include people: you and me, and the special abilities that we uniquely bring to our faith communities.

Here at Tabor College this year we exchanged gifts with one another. However we did something completely different than any gift exchange I’d ever experienced before. We exchanged the gift of prayer. Each person was given the name of a colleague in the office and invited to pray for that person and his or her family for a week. We were instructed to write down any verses, words, or pictures we had while we prayed for the person; and finally, at the “gift exchange” we shared those words, pictures, verses, etc. with the person.

I have to say this is one of the most memorable staff Christmas times I’ve ever experienced. I’ve loved the laughter of funny White Elephant gift exchanges, but for the impact and meaning, it will be hard to beat this year.

For whom can you give the gift of prayer? What true gifts can all of us give to those we love this Christmas?

Online Education- Today's Correspondence Courses

It was the summer of '84 and I was looking to add 6 units to my undergrad degree. We had an Apple II computer at home but the Internet was about 10 years away. With no other options, I took the equivalent of today's online class. I participated in two correspondence courses from UC Berkeley. One class was fantastic- "The World of Mystery Fiction" with Elliot Gilbert. The other I've completely forgotten.

I had workbooks and textbooks for both and as the summer progressed I would read the book and complete the assignments and mail them to my instructors. I would wait a week or so to get the feedback and then move to the next section in the course. It was sooo slooowww.

Fast-forward to today. In our interconnected world, students like I was who are looking to add courses, and students who don't want to attend a brick-and-mortar school at all, are turning to the internet for classes.

 I recently participated in a webinar that discussed this trend and backed it up with data on what online students are looking for in a school. Below is a graphic with a summary of the findings.
 
The Learning House, Inc.


Couple of thoughts: 
It appears that online programs are highly rated as valuable for both time and cost. I was also pleased to see that Theology was on the rise for graduate students since I'm working on an online MA for Tabor College.

If you're interested in finding out more, I'd encourage you to download both the 2012 and 2013 reports, they are definitely worth the time to read.

Or, one could always try to restart a trend and promote correspondence courses.