Last night was our WCS graduation. I have been blessed to teach most the now alumni and many of them twice, in both middle school and as juniors. In three months, we start all over again! This is from August 20, 2014.
We had our first quiz of 2014-2015 yesterday in my two eighth grade Bible classes. Our almost-graduated-from-middle-schoolers spend the entire year studying the Gospel of Luke and the assignment on Tuesday was Luke 1:1-25. There were sixteen questions and the grade results were not what I had hoped. I am happy to state that many of the youngsters were also unhappy with their marks, a sign that grades and aptitude matter. It was the first Bible quiz ever for some of our kids as they are new to WCS and they will adapt. If you are not well acquainted with the book of Luke, it is the longest Gospel and was penned by the man it was named after, who was a Gentile doctor. It is written to Theophilus, whose name translated means Friend Of God. That's a pretty good name to have, especially if it's accurate!
As we begin reading Luke chapter 1, we find that Luke addresses Theophilus as most excellent. We talk about how we would address Queen Elizabeth should we meet her as Your Highness. I'll tell them how we as Americans came to address our president simply as Mr. President. I'll tell them how the most excellent is dropped by Luke when he pens the book of Acts, again to Theophilus, and how some scholars believe Theophilus must have become a Christian between the two discourses. We'll get to all that. But we still have the issue of a low grade in the meantime. So, I came up with a possible solution. I might be persuaded to add a point to their test grades next week if for the next five days they refer to me in speech as ''MOST EXCELLENT COACH HAWLEY!'' Not surprisingly, the response has been overwhelming! Today, I heard it in the hallways, in the cafeteria, in the gym, and in my classroom. It even showed up on a number of memory verses this afternoon, as in "Nice tie, Most Excellent Coach Hawley!" This too will pass, albeit in five or so days.
This is what I like. The kids are laughing and smiling when they say it. They know it's silly but they can kid me with no repercussions and they want to improve their grades. I think anybody can respect that. We know in Christ we are equal and that no one is more excellent than anyone else. We are a royal priesthood and we don't require a title to prove it. Ten chapters ahead of where we are now, Jesus told His disciples they should rejoice because their names are written in heaven. I can only hope that our names are listed alphabetically in the sacred Book of Life; Theophilus would come right after Steve! And there would be only one possible response to that good news: excellent!
Applicable quote of the day:
"It is not titles that honour men, but men that honour titles.”
Niccolò Machiavelli
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
*The excellent logo is from animaljam.wika.com*
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