Tuesday, September 12, 2006

From Now On You Can Call Me "Professor"

I have some news that I'm happy about. I have often thought that one day I might like to try and teach at a Christian University, but I envisioned it being when I was a middle-age guy with my PhD. It's happening much sooner than that. Harding is going to give me a chance next semester. That either says good things about me (I'm reasonably talented and a good student) or it says bad things about Harding (they're desperate for teachers). Hopefully it's more of the former.

Starting this Spring, I will be an adjunct Bible professor (I'll still be preaching full-time at Rose Bud) and will be teaching a freshmen-level Old Testament Survey class. This will give me a chance to find out several things:

1. Do I like doing this, or would I rather stick with preaching for the rest of my life? Perhaps my life will always be some of both.

2. Am I any good at this? I may try and figure out that my talents don't line up well with what's needed in a professor. I might also find out the opposite is true.

And in line with the other two, hopefully:
3. What are my long-term plans for what I will do, where I will live, and what I will study? I've debated a lot whether I should stick around this area or look for ministry opportunities at other locations.

I'm very flattered to get the chance to do this, and am extremely excited. I'm sure I'll have plenty to blog about after I get this thing going. Right now I'm working on picking out what textbook(s) I will require, and what my lesson plans will be.

For any of you who had an Old Testament Survey class, what did you like most/least about what you studied?
Is there anything I should make an extra effort to include/uninclude?
If you could only pick one or two passages from the OT that need to be studied and emphasized, what would they be?

I'm confident that this will be challenging since it's new, but I intend to work my tail off to give these kids the best class that I possibly can. Please keep me in your prayers. This is a great blessing and a great responsibility. Posted by Picasa

11 comments:

  1. Danny9/12/2006 5:27 PM

    Well congratulations! That's exciting. I'm sure it will be lots of work, and I hope it's lots of fun too. Let us know how it goes.

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  2. Stoned-Campbell Disciple9/12/2006 9:22 PM

    Congratulations.

    Shalom,
    Bobby Valentine

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  3. Jonathan G. Reinhardt9/12/2006 10:24 PM

    Will you dare tell them that Genesis is a mythical text? That is the question. And what will it prove about above questions if you don't...?

    But I am very proud of you.

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  4. timwylie9/13/2006 7:05 AM

    Congratulations! That's a rough class for your first. Personally, I would spend more time on Genesis. I think I would focus more on the point behind each book than lots and lots of names and dates.(a la Cloer) Those are important but like me, they're just going to be remembered for a test and forgotten quickly because it's too much information to take in at once. Focus on main dates, themes, and the story and I think your students will get a lot more out of the class.

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  5. Anonymous9/13/2006 9:46 AM

    Do I hear more sermons from the OT coming, hehe. Nice, and congrats!

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  6. Anonymous9/14/2006 7:10 AM

    Great news! You'll have to let us know how that goes for you.

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  7. David U9/14/2006 11:20 AM

    Congrats! I had Avon Malone for OT survey. I know you will do a great job.

    DU

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  8. Anonymous9/15/2006 9:30 AM

    Well done, Mark. I'm sure you will have a great class(es). I would tend to not portray the, shall we say, eccentric techniques of our OT professor. I'm not sure how much that matches your pedagocial techniques.

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  9. Rick9/15/2006 11:46 AM

    Hey Mark,
    This is Rick Love. I just happened across your blog when I was searching for something in Searcy.

    If you are interested, check out our family blog at:

    http://www.lovefamilymissions.com

    Also, if you are in the mood for humor, check out my humor blog:
    http://ironyoflogic.blogspot.com/


    We are still in Searcy until Nov. so maybe we will see you around.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Unknown9/15/2006 3:22 PM

    hmmm... that is neat, what books are you using?

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  11. Mark9/17/2006 3:02 PM

    Thank you all for the comments and advice. I've been talking to one of my co-adjunts about how he does his class, and he is recommending to me that rather than make the kids read a hefty book along with the Bible, trying to sort out what they should or should not know for the test, he recommends me doing all the sorting, then presenting them with Power-Point presentations and fill-in-the-blank notes, so that they all know exactly what I think is important from different books. This is to encourage them to read the Bible more than reading about the Bible. I'm not sure exactly which texts I'll rely on, but this approach might work for me. I'm still thinking about it...

    Thank you all for the comments and suggestions.

    ReplyDelete

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