Friday, August 20, 2010

You Are a Teacher - Apples of Gold - August 20, 2010 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for August 20, 2010

“You Are a Teacher”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

“You don’t tuck in t-shirts.”

And with that short sentence, teaching was done.

It didn’t take place in a classroom.  It simply happened when a woman looked at a man across the way whose shirt was tucked in and said, “You don’t tuck in t-shirts.”

I wasn’t taking a fashion class.  I wasn’t researching men’s styles.  I was just in the right place at the right time and a teacher stepped forward and taught me something.

That’s an example of how we are all in the business of teaching. 

This is a primary, foundational structure of our existence – us teaching each other.

And guess what?  That’s the way God set it up.

Now to me, this is a bit frightening.  Why on earth He left the teaching up to us, I have no idea.  It sounds like a formula for disaster.  Nonetheless, that is what He did.

For example, Jesus taught His disciples, then promptly left them.  And what did He say before He left?  According to Matthew 28 He basically said, “Go, teach all nations, teach them everything I have taught you.”

God did the same thing in the Old Testament.  He personally passed the lessons on to Moses, but then left the rest of the teaching up to the people.  “Teach them to your children and to their children after them,” it says in Deuteronomy 4:9.

“What?  You mean You aren’t coming back to teach the grandchildren Yourself?”

No, He wasn’t.  God delivered the basics, then left the teaching up to the people.

That means it is up to people like you and me.  It is up to us to teach everything that must be known.

Thankfully here in America we make education a high priority.  We understand that every child born must be taken from scratch and taught everything.  We have a gigantic public education system for this purpose, plus a huge private education system.  We have massive libraries and a free flow of information, all for the purpose of teaching people everything they need to know.

Does it sound like everything is well in hand?

Well it isn’t.  Not at all.  Teaching people is a constant task that never stops and always needs improvement.

And honestly, there a million different things that need to be taught.

So what is my point today?

My point is this.  You are a teacher.  The things you know to be true and right you must pass on to others.

I have a friend who is a tax accountant, and he is on Facebook.  While others are posting what their cat had for dinner, he is posting tax wisdom.  He is using the platform of Facebook to teach people about taxes.

I receive e-mails from a man in Washington, D.C.  He teaches me what is going on with the FCC that might concern this radio station.  I don’t pay for the e-mail.  He doesn’t get anything from me, and yet there he is, going out of his way to teach me. 

I listen to a radio program called Family Life Today.  Each day they are on the radio, teaching me how to have a better family.

I am attending a Sunday School class that is teaching me all about the Old Testament.  How am I supposed to know all that stuff?  Thank goodness someone is taking the time to teach me!

I know very little about car maintenance, but guess what?  When I run into something I wish I knew, what do I do?  I go to the internet where some random stranger has taken a lot of time to create a video to teach me.

So today’s question is, what are you doing to teach people?  Everyone needs to be taught, and you know some things, so what are you doing to teach them?

This is especially true of older people, I think.  If you are in the 60 and up crowd, what are you doing to teach others? 

I knew an older man who had built his own house and learned a few hard lessons.  And you know what he did?  He often stopped by construction sites and tried to teach people what he had learned the hard way.

Another school year is starting, and it’s easy to lay the burden of teaching on the professionals.  But they can’t possibly do it all.  There is simply too much to be taught.

So the ball is in your court.  You know things, and you need to teach them to others.  You can teach them to your child or your grandchild.  You can teach them to people at church or a civic group, or you can put them online and teach the world.

But whatever you do, realize this today.

You are a teacher.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.



© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for
Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

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