#45 Pay it forward, you may need it

We’re in a Gospel of John class on Monday evening taught by Dave and Pam Mann. They are a terrific teaching team, and it is impossible to get bored or even stray off track. They are of the see it, say it, hear it, do it school of educators. This is particularly good for older learners (i.e. anyone over 25) because we become like children with learning disabilities as we age.

Each member of the class got a notebook with reproduced pages of John (NIV), a list of assignments, yellow flash cards for memory verses, and blue cards for “snapshot” visual cues for all the chapters, a set of color markers for high-lighting major themes like “believe,” “glory,” “Father,” “world,” etc., a list of who, what, when, where questions to be answered for each significant section of each chapter and a CD with a dramatization of John. I have found the markers helpful; my husband hates them and won’t use them. I can’t memorize; he can. So there is something for every one. I’m not an aural learner at all, but after 4 or 5 times, I start to hear things I missed.

When Dave lectures, Pam writes the important points on white poster paper and attaches it to the wall. These points are kept on the wall from week to week. When Pam lectures, Dave just watches, because I think he isn’t sure what she might say or what joke she will tell.

This week she commented on something I’d never thought about. We’ve all heard and used the expression “doubting Thomas,” because Thomas was the disciple who had to be convinced of the resurrection by touching Jesus’ hand and side (John 20:25). Pam pointed out that in 11:16 Thomas was the disciple willing to die for Jesus when there was a plot to stone him (the raising of Lazarus story).