Dr. Danny's Teacher-to-Teacher Podcast

By Dr. Danny R. Bowen @ TeachersOfTheBible

In these short episodes, Dr. Danny shares biblically-based insights on teaching the Bible. Published weekly, you can get a boost before teaching each week.... more

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FAQs about Dr. Danny's Teacher-to-Teacher Podcast:

How many episodes does Dr. Danny's Teacher-to-Teacher Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 57 episodes available.

Dr. Danny's Teacher-to-Teacher Podcast episodes:

October 28, 2022What can you do if carrying out the Great Commission seems overwhelming?
Why?: What can you do if carrying out the Great Commission seems overwhelming?

What?: While leaders can equip the church body for ministry in carrying out the Great Commission, in the end, the work is the Lord’s and we are merely called to serve under Him. It is the Lord who calls; the Lord who redeems; the Lord who matures disciples of Jesus Christ; and, in the last day, the Lord who will make perfect those He has called. Our charge is to be good stewards over what He has entrusted to us — believers, resources, and a mission field from which He will gather a harvest.

So What?: It is easy to feel overwhelmed when we realize that the Lord has called the church to make disciples of every nation, tongue, and tribe on the earth. We can talk to our neighbors and co-workers. We can even go on mission trips. But billions of people to reach is out of the reach of any individual, church, or even cooperating organization. Feeling overwhelmed tempts us to just give up—we can’t reach them all; why even try?

So What Now?: Will you commit to relying on the Lord? After all, it is His work beginning to end. He has given each of us a small part to play in that work. Will you commit to living out your part as a teacher of the Bible?
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2min
October 21, 2022Jesus has given the Great Commission to make disciples to the entire church. Why can’t we all disciple the same?
Why?: Jesus has given the Great Commission to make disciples to the entire church. Why can’t we all disciple the same?

What?: Although God has formed the local body of believers, in His infinite creativity, no two bodies are identical. While the principles of discipleship are universal, the practice must be localized and even individualized.   Universally, while acknowledging and perhaps meeting felt needs, believers can help people meet their ultimate need of being conformed into the likeness of Christ. We can do that individually, as in one-on-one discipleship. We can do that collectively, as in the various ministries of the local church. We can do that informally, as in intentional relationships. We can do that formally, as in a scope-and-sequence of Christian education. However it is done, the work of the church is helping ourselves and others to be conformed by God to the image of Christ. With limited resources in any ministry context, every activity in and by the church needs to be assessed as to its effectiveness in making maturing, reproducing disciples of Jesus. Efforts that prove ineffective need to be culled; efforts that are effective need to be improved so that they are more effective; efforts that have not been tried may need to be explored.   Locally, the size and location of a church determines the forms of discipleship. The larger the church, the larger the variety of forms discipleship may take. Potential variety is both an asset and a liability. It is an asset in that it allows for customization of approaches to a diverse population. It is a liability in that variety requires oversight of many more relationships and activities. The location determines the neighbors available to disciple. The culture of those neighbors informs the methods that may be used to reach and teach disciples.

So What?: Individually, the personality, passions, talents, and gifts of the members of a church help the church discern the ministry opportunities the Lord has given the local body. No church can do everything and no individual can be involved in everything the church is doing. The key is allowing God to use people in the way He has designed them for the purpose He has called them. Regardless of church size, there is a tendency to overtask some and undertask others. By calling every member to live out his or her own calling and gifting, the body can function as a unified whole as the church carries out the Great Commission.

So What Now?: Will you commit to understanding how God has formed your church body as you strive to disciple those God has entrusted to your teaching ministry?
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4min
October 14, 2022Through the centuries there has been confusion over who is considered a minister in the church. As a teacher, are you a minister?
Why?: Through the centuries there has been confusion over who is considered a minister in the church. As a teacher, are you a minister?

What?: If you’re a teacher, you are, by definition, a church leader. And, church leaders are called and gifted to equip every member to be a minister. So, you are a minister and you are equipping other church members to be ministers. That equipping begins with individuals and families.   Individuals can be used in ways and in places that the larger body of believers cannot. Individuals form the relationships that are vital to making disciples. Church leaders strengthen individuals by helping them find their place within the body, by helping them grow to Christian maturity, and by helping them relate to those within their sphere of influence so that other disciples are born and matured.   Families are a primary means God uses to disciple. In each relationship in the home, disciples are matured. Church leaders strengthen families by equipping each member to function well within the family and then by helping each family to minister to the world around them.   Equipping extends to other groupings of believers in the various ministries within the church. Leaders equip the individuals in these ministries by knowing what they are doing, learning what they need in training and resources, and then finding a means to provide what they need.

So What?: Are you trying to do all the ministry in the church? Do you depend on the pastors or deacons to do ministry? Every member of the church is a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So What Now?: Will you fulfill your God-given role as a teacher to equip others for ministry?
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3min
October 07, 2022There are many books available today to help you, as a teacher, become a better discipler. Where’s a good place to start?
Why?: There are many books available today to help you, as a teacher, become a better discipler. Where’s a good place to start?

What?: God has created the church by calling His people out of a fallen world. He forms each local congregation as an expression of that church. God has given gifts to the church such as pastors and teachers, as we read in Eph. 4. These gifts are to equip her for ministry and her ministry is discipling. Making disciples is the one command in the Great Commission, but the supporting statements of Jesus inform our discipling ministry.   “Go(ing)” in Mt 28:19 is the mission of believers. It is the heart set on making reproducing disciples of Jesus wherever we find ourselves. As image-bearers of God, we are built for relationships, for community. So, we build relationships with those we encounter and continue in relationship as the church when they come to faith in Christ.  “Baptizing” in Mt 28:19 requires helping move people from being enemies of God to being willing to hear the truth of God. Apologetics equips the church for this task. When people are willing to hear the truth about God, they must also hear the truth about themselves. Understanding the gap between God and His rebellious image-bearers should prompt a response to the greatest need of humanity — reconciliation to God — by believing on the only way to God — Jesus Christ. Evangelism equips the church for this task.   “Teaching” in Mt 28:20 involves both the content of truth and application of that content in life. Right application of truth is wisdom and results in right relationship to God, others, self, and all of creation. The primary teaching of the church comes from the pulpit in the corporate gathering. This teaching needs to be applied to every life in the church as they live together as a community. Other teaching exists to supplement this primary teaching. Teachers, guides, facilitators, etc. are used by God to supplement. Wisdom is obedience to God as the only way to rightly live in God’s creation. Equipping the saints by first equipping teachers and leaders equips the church for this task.

So What?: While there are many books available to help with the practice of discipling, none of them lays a better foundation than Jesus’ Great Commission at the end of Matthew’s Gospel.

So What Now?: Will you commit to understanding that commission as the starting point of your discipling ministry?
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4min
September 30, 2022As a teacher, where does your discipling of others begin and end?
Why?: As a teacher, where does your discipling of others begin and end?

What?: To display His glory, God created humanity in His own image (Gen 1:26–30).  Through pride, our first parents marred that image with sin as they rebelled against God’s created order (Gen 3). Their sin passes to each of their descendants and, when we reach the point we know right from wrong, we sin by choosing wrong (Rom 3:23).
 God’s plan from before the foundation of the world was to save a people to Himself through the atoning work of Jesus, the Christ (Eph 1:3–10). Jesus came as the perfect image of God (Heb 1:1–4), fully human and yet still fully God. After His resurrection, Jesus gave the embryonic church a commission to make disciples of Himself (Mt 28:16–20) so that we might be conformed to His image (Rom 8:29). When the Holy Spirit came to dwell within Christ’s followers, the church was born and began carrying out the Great Commission to make additional disciples of Jesus (Acts 2). Through a direct line of succession, Jesus’ commission to that early church has come down to us, the church alive today (2 Tim 2:1–2).
 As the church carries out the Great Commission, we anticipate our resurrection when we will be completely conformed to Christ’s image even as we seek to be transformed by God to be more Christlike now (1 Cor 15). Part of our transformation is being made coworkers with God (1 Cor 16:15) in seeing new children adopted by God, the Father, and grown by God, the Holy Spirit, to be like God, the Son. As coworkers we are tasked with baptizing those who place their faith in Jesus (Mt 28:19) and teaching them to obey all that God has commanded (Mt 28:20). We do that under His authority (Mt 28:18) and with His presence (Mt 28:20) so that discipleship begins and ends with God.

So What?: When you think of discipling others, do you dismiss the idea because you don’t want to be responsible? Or maybe you just don’t feel adequate to make disciples of Jesus. If you are a teacher, you are a discipler—one who makes disciples of Jesus.

So What Now?: In the show notes is a list of Bible passages that can help you understand better. Will you commit to studying in God’s Word how He is the beginning and end of discipleship?
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3min
September 23, 2022What creative methods might you use to help your learners answer the So What Now? of the Effective Four?
Why?: What creative methods might you use to help your learners answer the So What Now? of The Effective Four?

What?: Why? What? So What? So What Now? are The Effective Four questions. If you can help your learners answer these four from a Bible passage, you'll find that the Holy Spirit uses the truth of the passage to transform them, to make them wise. If you're teaching for transformation, you've helped them answer the So What? question that finds potential application for their lives. Now, you need to get them to commit to that transformation. Here you help them answer the So What Now? When they commit, they change their world, if only in a small way. To be wise, they'll need to follow through on their new commitment. This call could be as impersonal as a challenge such as, "Will you commit…?" It could be as personal as connecting them with an accountability partner who will hold them to their commitment while asking the same from them. It could be a simple reminder during the week by way of a postcard, an email, or a text message. It could be a promise to ask for a progress report the next time the class is together.

So What?: However you do it, don't fill their heads with new information without asking their hearts to be changed. Commitment makes the transformation more likely.

So What Now?: Will you commit to asking them to commit to being transformed? This is why God has given you as a gift to the church—to help each disciple to be more like the Master.
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2min
September 16, 2022Most of us have a favorite Bible translation. Which one is best for studying and teaching?
Why?: Most of us have a favorite Bible translation. Which one is best for studying and teaching?

What?: With all the English translations available, which should you use for study and for teaching? That's really two questions so let me address teaching first. This is actually the harder of the two questions. Let me say that, with the assumption that you teach in a church that teaches and preaches the Bible faithfully and that understands that the Bible is the very word of God, you should choose a translation that is consistent with your church's theological leanings. The translation you teach from should be understandable by most or all of your learners. If they can't understand the words, they can't be transformed by reading or hearing them. The easier question is which translation to use in your study. The answer starts with your favorite translation. Know where it falls on the spectrum that ranges from word-for-word or "formal equivalence" to thought-for-thought or "dynamic equivalence." Then, pick another translation that comes from the same place on the spectrum and at least two translations that are from other places on the spectrum. I do not recommend using paraphrased Bibles such as the Message or the Living Bible except as devotional reading. For study, use actual translations from the original languages. With those caveats, here's my method: These days I teach from the English Standard Version, which is balanced, but tends toward the word-for-word end of the spectrum. Then, for study, I add the Christian Standard Bible, which is balanced between the two extremes. Then, I use the New American Standard, which is one of the most reliable word-for-word translations and the New Living Translation, which is one of the most reliable thought-for-thought translations.

So What?: Looking at multiple translations from across the spectrum, the similarities in translation can give you confidence that you understand what the original writers meant for you to understand. When you see differences between translations, you know to be a bit more cautious in your interpretation. Try to understand why translation choices were made and what differences in the original languages those translators were addressing.

So What Now?: Before you study anything else for your lesson, you need to study the Bible. If you are reading English translations, use more than one and use translations from across the spectrum of word-for-word to thought-for-thought. Then you can know what other study aids might be helpful in preparing your lesson so that your learners may hear and be transformed by the Word of God.
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4min
September 09, 2022What are the three hardest words a teacher can say?
Why?: What are the three hardest words a teacher can say?

What?: . As a teacher, you probably know the content of the Bible passage you're teaching better than anyone in the room. You know how the truth may teach, reprove, correct, or train in righteousness as Paul describes in 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verses 16 &17. You probably know your students well enough to know when what you're teaching is going to convict them most. So, what are the hardest words you can say to them? For most teachers, it's… "I don't know." "I don't know the answer to your question." "I don't know what the author meant by that" "I don't know how these two things that seem to contradict one another can both be true." "I don't know."

So What?: After hours of preparation, it may be embarrassing to say, "I don't know." GET OVER IT! Learn to be okay not having all the answers. You don't want to make up answers just to save face because you can lead people away from the truth. That's much risker than an "I don't know." In fact, an honest, "I don't know" models for everyone the humility that we should all have when we approach God's Word.

So What Now?: So, practice saying, "I don't know." Then, as soon as you can, try it in the classroom. The earth will not stop spinning. Your church won't throw you out. Boldly say, "I don't know" and then model finding the answer with them.
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2min
September 02, 2022As a teacher, you want to see transformation in your learners. What, exactly, are you looking for?
Why?: As a teacher, you want to see transformation in your learners. What, exactly, are you looking for?

What?: The Holy Spirit uses you, as a teacher, as He transforms your learners into Christlikeness. What does it look like when He does that? Well, Paul gives us one picture in Galatians, chapter 5, where he contrasts the non-believer and the believer. The heart of the non-believer seeks after the world. In verses 19–21, he says, "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." In the very next verses, Paul describes the new heart of the believer: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Is this the fruit you see in your learners? Are they growing as the Holy Spirit changes their desires? Are they self-centered, like non-believers, or are they other-centered, loving God and loving others?

So What?: It is difficult to know what is really in anyone's heart, so we look for evidences like these. Specifically, we can listen to the things they prioritize in their lives. What do they talk about? Sports or God's glory? What do they pray about? As important as these things are, if their prayer never goes beyond the organ recital (my heart, my lungs, my kidneys), the financial audit (should I buy this house, this car, etc) and the travel itinerary (traveling mercies for my upcoming trip), then they are more self-centered than other-centered as they pray about the effects of sin. If they are being transformed, matured, they become more concerned that there is sin—sin in the world, sin in the lives of lost, sin in their own lives—and they plead for God to intervene and to use them as He does intervene. They want to read God's Word, to talk with God regularly, to be around God's people, and to reach the lost with the good news of Jesus Christ.

So What Now?: Are you willing to be involved in your learners' lives so that you can see transformation when it occurs and care enough about them that you will do something if transformation does not seem to be occurring?
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3min
August 26, 2022As a teacher, you teach, but what do your learners need to learn?
Why?: As a teacher, you need to teach, but what do your learners need to learn?

What?: If you've been with a group of learners for a while, you get a sense of where they are in their Christian walk. From that, you can have some idea of what they need. But, even if you're walking into a new group, people you've never taught before, you know what kinds of things they need because, as image-bearers of God, we share similar basic needs with every person who's ever walked the earth. We also share the same ultimate needs of every person—ultimately, we need to be conformed to the image of Christ. Our hearts need to be conformed to His so that we want the things Christ wants. Our minds need to be conformed to His so that, as Paul says in Romans chapter 12, verse 2, we "may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God." And, our behavior needs to be conformed to Christ's so that we're obedient to God. These three—hearts, minds, and actions—are ways of describing wisdom. What we as teachers and they as learners need, ultimately, is wisdom so that in every relationship in every sphere of our lives—that is, in our personal life, in our family, church, job, community, and even in our recreation—we are wise because we are more conformed to the image of Christ.

So What?: Consider how the lesson you're preparing could be used by the Holy Spirit. He can superintend the lesson preparation if you are obediently and humbly preparing it. He can prepare your learners for the lesson. Then, as you teach and they learn, the Holy Spirit can use that moment to conform each of you to be more Christlike, to be more wise.

So What Now?: Will you commit every lesson to the will of the Father? Submit every lesson and every learner to the work of the Holy Spirit? And then see your learners conformed to the image of Christ? God knows what your learners need and can you use to meet those needs.
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3min

FAQs about Dr. Danny's Teacher-to-Teacher Podcast:

How many episodes does Dr. Danny's Teacher-to-Teacher Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 57 episodes available.