Personal Syllabus Final: THE LIST

"You will ever remember that all the end of study is to make you a good man and a useful citizen."  John Adams

As cool winds begin to blow and the autumn season unfurls, the need to prepare for new challenges naturally increase. Prudence requires inspection of one's home, car, and wardrobe to endure winter's punishing conditions. Likewise, creation around us offers reminders of this, as I observe squirrels gathering walnuts in our back yard. Not that they know what kind of winter we will have, though I suspect those squirrels who survived last winter are a bit more motivated to add to their reserves. What is vital is the needed discipline to fully prepare and not shrink away from the challenge.

Instinct drives the squirrels. In contrast, we humans need to think about it. Each one's situation varies. Those who are just getting started focus on ramping up, perhaps pursuing their first job. Others are facing loss of employment at an age that is most difficult to recover.

On top of that, the introduction of new technologies over the centuries has dramatically altered every aspect of our lives. Career aspirations are radically different from those even a few years ago. It's hard to peruse LinkedIn and fail to see some posting about refreshing one's skills, or that tomorrow's jobs have yet to be created. This places enormous pressure on the modern worker to constantly adapt to rapidly changing work environments and shifting job climates. If we are not careful, a personal growth syllabus could easily be dominated with job skills development. There is a season for developing skills, but I believe Christians need to be mindful of just how much time is devoted to careers.

Scripture does promote hard work as a value and moral obligation:

“For even when we were with you, we used to give you this command: “If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat.” For we hear that some among you are living an undisciplined life, not doing their own work but meddling in the work of others. Now such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and so provide their own food to eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10–12, NET)

At the same time, the Bible frowns on "selfish ambition":

I will not unpack these verses as I believe their contexts speak for themselves. Motives are clearly what separate the ideas, as is clear from a different word for "ambition" or to "aspire":

Thus, I want my aspirations and ambitions to line up with Christ's call on my life. This includes my career goals. It also means I wish to keep learning skills sharp. Having goals is very useful to that end, so below are my key goals through the end of next year (2015).

Key Growth Targets Through 2015

Academic. I have long embraced a philosophy of being a learner for life. This does not necessarily mean formal schooling. In fact, pursing a Masters of Business Administration (for example) would may not even fit into my rubric for academic target. MBA's are often thought of as career goals, which are absolutely okay. I would argue academic growth targets involve deepening knowledge in areas of study, such as philosophy or history. Below are some categories and books I hope to engage in for academic growth:

1. Philosophy: Dr. Ronald Nash's college text book Life's Ultimate Questions. I have already listened to several podcasts of his lectures. While Nash is not the final answer on philosophy, I feel that his materials offer a reliable introduction to the discipline insomuch as I desire to assimilate the important concepts.
2. Theology: there have been a number of theological items I have been engaging the last couple of years:

• I have wrestled for a while on exegetical handling of Genesis vis-à-vis origins. After writing a paper early this year I have discovered Dr. John Walton's research persuasive. He seems to uphold a high view of Scripture whilst also engaging in Ancient Near East cultural implications, specifically how ancient Hebrews would have naturally understood the language in Genesis 1 and 2. This is such a charged topic that further research is needed. 
• One book I started reading and frankly got stuck on was Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical-Theological Understanding of the Covenants. As the authors Gentry and Wellum describe it, "Although all Christians agree on basics, we disagree in details over how the Bible is 'put together.' Central to Kingdom through Covenant (KTC) is the construction of a metanarrative that we believe corresponds to Scripture better than that propounded by either covenant theology (CT) or dispensational theology (DT). We also sought to establish a methodology to determine which metanarrative is truer to Scripture." I think I need to regroup and engage this work further. I'd say these two theological issues will keep me occupied!

Career. I deliberately separated career growth goals. Most of us spend so much of our time here that it does deserve special attention. I consider this blog a transparent journal, but one needs to be a little careful when it comes to being vulnerable in this public age. Yet what I share here is already known by my boss.

1. Career Coach. I have decided to engage with a career coach. As I look back, I see that sometimes I have made choices that could have been better scrutinized. Frankly, we could all benefit from a coach or mentor in our lives. 
2. Career Resources. I am taking some time to listen to CD's we have in the office from Dr. Nido Qubein. Typically I am unimpressed with so-called motivational speakers. However, just with career coaching, I recognize that some unhealthy patterns of thinking have eroded my confidence. I want to listen (with a critical ear) to what he has to say and apply those parts I find helpful. Other resources via LinkedIn are certainly part of my catalog.
3. Career Exploration with a new blog. One thing I know I enjoy (as the length and frequency of my posts testify) is that writing is fun. I am exploring how I might take that to the next level. I have spent some money and registered my domain and created a new website (still in progress): http://trempertantrum.com. I felt it important to escalate my writing commitment. And there is something to individual brand development (though I don't care for that term). The new blog will expand on writing interests, exploring topics that could eventually be developed into a real writing project. If I could describe a dream at this stage in life, getting published and even engaging people in various forums would be exciting. I desire to prayerfully explore this and see if God opens a door (or a window).

I think these areas together will be an important collection of efforts for me. It will be interesting to see what God does with this, with various course corrections along the way. I don't control the future, but I believe in that future in a way that I haven't in a while. If today were to be the curtain call on my life, I still think setting out on this journey will honor God. 

Soli Deo gloria and shalom!

Personal Syllabus: Part 3A "Taxonomy of Learning and Application"

I am finding it difficult to write this new series I am calling "Personal Syllabus". One possible reason is that there are so many factors in personal growth as a Christian. There is certainly a spiritual component, where our tireless enemy actively fights against our surrender to Christ our Lord. There is also simple laziness. We can be lazy in our spiritual disciplines, and also lazy in how we use the mind God gave us. 

On the other hand, I tend to over-analyze things like this (as anyone who really knows me can attest). This topic has overwhelmed my thought processes. However, after some reflection this summer, I will offer a structure that might be useful. After all, the point of this series is to create a roadmap for growth. As I have said, this roadmap (syllabus) is unique for each person: one must honestly inspect their lives and even ask others where they might be ripe for growth. For me, the Apostle Paul confronts me in the area of knowledge:

“And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can approve the things that are superior and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9–11, HCSB)

This is a major reason why I attended seminary. It seems God knew what I needed. When I first entered seminary, I was presented with Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning (revised). A taxonomy is 

a "knowledge organization system," a set of words that have been organized to control the use of terms used in a subject field into a "vocabulary" to facilitate the storing and retrieving of items from a repository.   

(http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/Editorial/What-Is-.../What-is-a-Taxonomy-81159.aspx)

In other words, a taxonomy is a specialized dictionary used for a specific area of study. Now, stay with me! There is a point to this!

An example of a special dictionary (a taxonomy) is often used for those who study the the animal kingdom. The taxonomic structure of mammals, for instance, employs a significant number of fancy latin terms to systematically catalogue animal families (can you identify from the rodent family the Platacanthomyidae?). Scientists love to use taxonomies for the purpose of exacting precision. 

What is helpful for today's article is how Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning catalogues how people think and learn: it depicts a "cognitive process" that details how people understand concepts via increasing "cognitive complexity." 

This means that as we learn something new we go from a simplistic understanding to deeper understanding over time. Bloom's Taxonomy attempts to portray how our minds work when we learn. This is something we just do without realizing it. It happens from the moment we are introduced to something new to when we grasp a more advanced understanding. Then ultimately mastery of a concept or skill has its own unique life (and a true master knows there is yet even more to be learned).

Take a moment to examine this diagram in the Bloom's Taxonomy motif:

Honestly, at first I was confused as to why this was discussed at a biblical institute (just as you may be scratching your head). Yet as the years have gone by I have recognized the need to take time to reflect on the merits of a system of describing human learning.

Learning like this can indeed be translated to Christian discipleship and growth (see Luke 2:52 how Jesus grew in wisdom). Such growth is from the Lord.

All that Bloom's Taxonomy does is unpack the underlying process of learning. I believe that students of the Bible can review their own growth process with similar precision, and with God's help even confront roadblocks to their growth.

This is part of obeying Romans 12:2:

And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may approve what is the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God. (LEB)

My purpose here is not to get exceedingly technical, though I suspect I went a little overboard. As a former pastor, my desire is for God's Word to change the way you think. The Holy Spirit can effect changes in your attitude and actions through other means, but He primarily does that through the revealed Word of God. Thus, it is imperative Christians learn how to learn and grow in the Lord.

So let's put this together now: think of how you might take in a sermon. Initially, you are giving attention to grasping the meaning of what is being presented from the biblical text. This is somewhat automatic (at least the basic process of understanding). Often a preacher will tell you how to apply a given biblical text. This is well and good, but the pastor cannot present an exhaustive list of application. A good under-shepherd knows his flock and crafts his message to confront those things he prayerfully recognizes is needful in his local church. This characterizes a good sermon and a caring pastor.

Yet what about in your personal Bible study? How do you discern God's loving correction from what you have read (or heard in church)? Do you take the Scripture your pastor preached on and dig deeper to see where God may be calling for repentance in a specific area? How does one go beyond the typical lists people have (read the Bible more, prayer, give more, serve more)?

In the next installment (Part 3B), I will delve more deeply into application as a process. I'll examine how to go from a basic and somewhat shallow personal application to more of a transformational application process.

Personal Syllabus for Ongoing Growth

Vacations are usually very nice. Having just returned from a week in Wisconsin celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, this diversion was exceptionally sweet. The problem I find is in returning back to the routine. My schedule is simply not aligned with the life that I left behind for a short respite. All my lazy inclinations overwhelm my good intentions.

As a child I hated to see the back to school signs. It meant an end to carefree summers and a return to semesters filled with tasks.

Yet by the time I made it to college I saw it a bit differently. That first day of class when the syllabus was distributed, once I got over the initial shock, I got a bit excited for all that would be accomplished. I'm generally very task oriented. By the time I started seminary it was even exciting to see the list of books, papers, and projects that would be assigned.

The sad truth: I accomplish far more things when held accountable. I'm sure it's true for most of us. Few people are that self-motivated to complete goals without outside supervision or reporting. When we pay money for a college class, we feel compelled to do our best to complete the assignments and get the promised grades.

It occurred to me that I could write a personal syllabus for ongoing growth as an adult. Certainly from a Christian's perspective, studying the Bible consistently is easier when on a schedule. I still have many books still unread. And I still have more to learn about using my Macbook Pro. And I also listen to iTunes lectures often while driving to work. On top of that, I still want to write more on this blog on biblical theological concepts and practical things that fellow believers may find useful. With such a varied menu of things to accomplish in life, a personal syllabus laid out similarly to college courses do it would keep me a bit more on target.

Obviously, it's simply for my own good. Personal growth is an essential quality for all of us. I just wonder if I will take the time to identify all the things I feel I should tackle. If I do, how much should I include? How detailed should it be? This is something I'll have to ponder during the summer....perhaps by August I'll have my personal syllabus in place and will get to work on my academic plan. Let's see how this goes!