James: Looking for the “wisdom store”

Excerpt from… How does one acquire wisdom?

Several years ago, I did an in-depth study of the Book of James. I ended up teaching and preaching for a full year on the series! One of the primary concepts that I developed through that study was concerning the acquisition of wisdom.

I do NOT believe that God “sprinkles wisdom dust” on our heads. I believe that there is a PROCESS through which we develop wisdom. Here is my take on that line of intellectual development:

1. Knowledge is the accumulation of “facts” (or presumed facts)
2. Understanding is the comprehension of those facts
3. Wisdom is the application (in life) of our understanding of the facts that we have accumulated

Most of the education today (up to and often throughout undergraduate studies) is simply sharing “facts” from a book (or from a teacher’s brain) to a student. Then a test is given where the student is expected to repeat the “facts” that he/she has been “taught.”

With such a program, there generally is no understanding involved and WISDOM is not acquired in this way.  So, how does one get wisdom?

To read the rest of the article, click on the title of this post to go directly to the original article or – click here to go to the “James” website.

(Last update on September 23, 2008)

If I am right & we disagree, then you must be WRONG! That is a pretty consistent approach that most of us follow, isn’t it?

In a recent post on Leadershipjournal.net, Author Phyllis Tickle (wrote the series of books on prayer titled, “The Divine Hours”) made some startling statements. One of the most startling was this:

I don’t think uniformity of understanding is in any way desirable. I think that part of the ethos we’ve built as Protestants is that we have to have only one understanding. We try to understand what it says to us, and then force it to convey that message to everybody who’s listening. But it won’t, and it shouldn’t. To me, trying to force uniformity of understanding of Scripture is something close to heresy itself. Let God Speak for Himself | LeadershipJournal.net

Wow! Most of us have the concept built into us that the very REASON we exist as ministers is to figure out what God is saying in the Word and then translate it into the ears (& hopefully the minds and hearts) of our congregations.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is a follow-up post to the article, “Jesus – right on time.”

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2Pet 3:18)

Several years ago, I did an in-depth study of the Book of James. I ended up teaching and preaching for a full year on the series! (If you would like the outlines, I can make them available later.) One of the primary concepts that I developed through that study was concerning the acquisition of wisdom.

I do NOT believe that God “sprinkles wisdom dust” on our heads. I believe that there is a PROCESS through which we develop wisdom. Here is my take on that line of intellectual development:

1. Knowledge is the accumulation of “facts” (or presumed facts)
2. Understanding is the comprehension of those facts
3. Wisdom is the application (in life) of our understanding of the facts that we have accumulated

Read the rest of this entry »