What's the point?

It has been a while, to say the least, so I decided to write a new post. Recently I enrolled in a course called "Measurement and Evaluation". It was the next in the series that I am taking towards my Trainer of Adults certificate. Tonight I have been working on my assignment for tomorrow, and I thought that it is about time that I sit down and share with you what I am about to share with the class tomorrow.

This is where the world of learning and development crosses paths with the teachings of Jesus.

I have been spending some time looking at how the learning and development aligns with the teachings of the Bible. Specifically, I have been looking at the purpose of being a Christian, and how God enables us to live out that purpose by obeying his commands.

One of the questions that took me a long time to answer is "How can you ensure that your learning and development program is successful?". That is a tough question to answer, however, over time I learned about the Kirkpatrick model. In the Kirkpatrick model, you can assess a learning and development program within four areas:

Level 1: Reaction - To what degree participants react favorably to the learning event.

Level 2: Learning - To what degree participants acquire the intended knowledge, skills, and attitudes based on their participation in the learning event.

Level 3: Behaviours - To what degree participants apply what they learned during training when they are back on the job.

Level 4: Results - To what degree targeted outcomes occur, as a result of the learning event(s) and subsequent reinforcement.

Like any good CEO, Director, Manager, Team Lead, etc, I am specifically am interested is the results (Level 4).  What are to be the results of the church?  The best answer that I have heard on this question was answered by Dr. Don Kirkpatrick himself, the inventor of the Kirkpatrick model.  In a brief conversation with him, Dr. Kirkpatrick mentioned that the Great Commission can be looked at as the results.

Matthew 28:16-20:

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.  When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.  Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

But how do we reach those results?  That is where the behaviours come into play.  What are the behaviours that are required to obtain those results?  I think this is best answered in the Greatest Commandment, as follows:

Matthew 22:36-40:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

So according to this scripture, loving God is #1, and loving your neighbour is a close #2.  What is love?  Let's take a look at the famour Love Chapter: 

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.

As far as learning goes, there are so many topics that fall into here, but you'll notice that what is important should align with the behaviours to ensure that the results are obtained.

Lastly, the learning environment should be setup in such a way that ensures that the learners have the best opportunity to absorb the information.

Pretty neat, eh?  So what's the point?  To me, the point is the Greatest Commission, which is enabled by the Greatest Commandment, which refers directly back to the Love chapter - all of which Jesus provided the ultimate example of through His death on the cross for our sins.

Ethics and the Professional Role

This last semester I have been taking a class at Conestoga College, called Ethics and the Professional Role. I'm taking this as part of the Adult Learning program as I'm working towards an Ontario Certificate. When I first enrolled for the class, I couldn't think of how it would relate to my life. As the course went on however I realized how following the Bible allows for me to develop my own Code of Ethics. Tomorrow I will be going through and formally writing my personal Code of Ethics as an assignment. I have in the meanwhile thought about how the ethics taught within the Bible apply directly to my life. Most people in the class that I have talked to have never thought of a Personal Code of Ethics. When I look at my life, I realize how much of my own ethical standards have already been developed (and how far I am from achieiving said ethics). One of the first steps towards creating the ethics is determining who the stakeholders are: your spouse, your family, your friends, your parents, siblings, enemies, strangers, etc. Each time I think of one of these groups I think about how the Bible teaches me to act towards them. In a blanket statement, I am to love them all, using the definition of love that I have previously written about. Additionally, there are other passages that relate to each one. I can't think of where they are off hand, but tomorrow I'll be going through each one of these to see how I am to treat each of these takeholders. Some examples I can think of is "Honour your mother and father", "treat women who are younger than you as your own sister", "Treat women who are older than you as your own mother", "pray for your enemies", "Love your neighbour", etc. Anyway, it will be an interesting assignment and I believe I will learn a lot by going through it.

People. They're imperfect. But I'm learning to love them.

Over the lasr while I have been evaluating what I find important in life, and the answer keeps coming back to God #1 and people #2. During my conversations with some dear people to me I realized just how much this perspective has changed my life. During a tense conversation at work I was able to laugh at myself at how I was getting worked up about what I thought at the time was really important, but in view of the priorities wasn't important at all. After all, isn't the person that I'm talking to in any discussion the most important part of the conversation?

The same held true during a recent conversation I had over lunch the other day. We shared our weaknesses. And laughed at just how funny we as people can be when we lose sight of what is really important - loving God.

I'm more in love with God as ever and as a result it is causing me to love His imperfect people even more. Loving God and focusing on Him has also allowed me to be comfortable with myself - self-confidence is no longer important (thanks to love not being self-seeking) which is funny because that means that in the end I can live with confidence.

I guess in the end loving God allows me to love others even with their imperfections, and also aloows me to do the same with me.

Love, you're seriously messing me up!

I'm continually being amazed by this message of love that has been on my heart this last year. It came up again this morning in church.

The message related back to finances, and at the end of the message the question "what can we do with our finances" (or something to that degree) came up.

I started to think of the greatest and second greatest commandments and used he same definition for love. Then I asked myself, how can my finances reflect the greatest commandments?

Heres what happened. I started asking the question "How can my finances allow me to be patient with others, kind towards others, not envious of others, not proud towards others, not rude to others, etc".

Wow. I'm stunned again. While I don't have an answer for each one of those statements, others speak loudly. The same could be done with other resources such as time as well.

I have so much to learn about love!

Love in a college classroom

I am really excited for tomorrow.

Over this last week I have been attending a Facilitation Skills class at a local college. This is the first course that I have taken towards a "Trainer of Adults" program. I'm hoping to complete this program over the next few years.

As it is right now, I am a high school graduate and had never really entertained the thought of taking any post-secondary school until a colleague of mine had mentioned it. After I was given this idea I thought it would be wise for me to complete this program.

So here I am now, on the eve of my last full day of my first course.

Why am I so excited for tomorrow?

I am excited because tomorrow will be the first time (ever) that I will be talking about the teachings of Jesus - how He has asked His followers to love our neighbours. My final graded facilitation will be about the attributes of love - the love is patient, love is kind, does not boast, is not proud, etc.

As far as I know, there is only one other fellow Christian in this course (and maybe one other one based on some comments she made earlier, although I'm really not too sure where she is at). The rest are all regular people.

I am very curious as to how well a message of love will be received by the class. Will that message get rejected? Will it be accepted? Will anyone want to know more of what I have to say? Will any relationships extend past the classroom, and into every day life?

I can't wait to share this message with them!

Dream with me a little

It has been a busy month now that I am back to work. I feel a lot different now then I did before I left work. I think I've grown a lot spiritually over the last year, but mostly within the last three months. I realize now just how much I had pondered the things of God while I was off work.

So what's so different? I think it comes down to the way I'm looking at people. What I mean is that I think I've finally gotten past what is displayed on the outside. While this may be something a lot of you will think is easy, this for me is something I've struggled with all my life.

I never could get in with the popular groups in grade school, all the way through high school. I barely got in with the unpopular groups too. Even after becoming a Christian, I struggled with trying to fit in for the first while.

However, over time, God has been working on me. I'm even to the point now where I am pretty comfortable getting up and speaking in front of audiences. I'm pretty sure I like it, which I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't be comfortable with. Strange, I know.

And now I have this dream. Is it God inspired? Maybe, maybe not. I'd like to think it is. I picture myself operating an organization that helps Christians with their faith. But not necessarily a church. Maybe more like an evangelist or something. It's not too clear yet. I guess I've only taken the dream as far as running the odd Saturday seminar now and again, where Christians from the area could attend. I'd take everything I've learned about learning and development and apply it to this one day seminar. Over time I'd like to enable others to then take over the program, so I could build different seminars. All the while I'd have the chance to love all those who attend the program, and help them to love everyone hey come in contact with.

So that's the dream as it currently sits - which is a lot clearer than it was even 6 months ago.

In the meanwhile, I'll continue to work at my present dream job. I am truly loving the work that I am responsible for.

Try, try, and try again

It has been roughly a week and a half since I had written about food controlling my life. I thought it would be worthwhile to provide an update on how I'm attempting to overcome this battle.

While this might look like a weight loss challenge, it definitely isn't. Although I will admit I step on the scale probably too often - and then I have to remind myself why I'm being more careful with the foods I'm eating.

This also isn't a "look how much I lost", but more of "this is what I have experienced" and "this is why God is awesome" kind of a post.

For the first couple of days I struggled a lot. I went to the cupboards and fridge more times than I care to remember. Each time, however, I was able to resist the temptation by both remembering the consequences (excess food = self-seeking = sinning towards God) and secondly by praying for help. I was amazed at how much easier it was to walk away from the snack. I even thought to myself - perhaps this is what it means to deny yourself and take up your cross daily?

Now have I given in to temptation since those early days? Yessir, I have. Especially when company was over, or my wife wanted to order in. Back to my old habits I went. Why oh why do I continue to fail? I turn to God for forgiveness and try again. I have the belief that while I may always have a weakness to poor food choices, I can be sure that God will help me overcome - provided I seek Him in the process.

In short, I have a long way to go to overcome this sin, but as I persevere, I build character, which results in a hope that things will change, and all the while I grow closer to God.