Date Change! Logan Lake Kid’s Club will now be held July 5-9…more details: http://thebridgekamloops.com/kids-clubs/logan-lake

From here, I developed “A Biblical Look at Children and Education,” which I would like to share with you over the next few weeks. This includes the important role that families play in the Bible, the value, nature & responsibilities of children, and the means and methods of education described in education.

As I set out on this study,  I was unable to find “education” as a topic in any leading systematic theology. Books that I did find that included a “theology of education” were sadly full of at least as much secular psychology as Scripture.  I am surprised by the lack of discussion on God’s design for education, particularly considering the importance placed upon this within His word, seen in the well known closing words of the SHEMA: “… And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”  Dt 6:6-7

Join me here over the next few weeks as we overview these verses to discover God’s plan for families, children & education!

Last fall while surfing the net, I stumbled upon a video from a recent Google conference introducing their new product: Google Wave.  Having long joked that Google was going to “take over the world,” I’m always curious about their new developments.  As I watched the developers describe the new communication website, I was intrigued.  The design seemed awesome: user-friendly, incorporating of many different elements, and overcoming several problems I’ve experienced in email.  I was glued to my computer screen, eagerly watching the presentation of what this new communication platform had to offer. But I think the thing that most captivated me about this was the creators’ statement of its development: The question that sparked this project was simple: “what might email look like if it was invented today?” From there, these developers threw out all prior knowledge, history, and traditions of email and started from scratch, utilizing today’s technology and addressing today’s communication needs.

My Recognition

I’ve come to recognize that many areas in my own life–be it attitudes, opinions, ways of doing things, responses, or philosophy of ministry–have been greatly shaped by experiences and traditions of key influencers.  Maybe some of these have been good, and some not so good.  But the fact is that I, much like the developers working for Google, recognize the need for a fresh start, the need for my thoughts, attitudes, and ways of life to be made new.

Several months ago I began to intentionally re-examine things, asking myself self-reflecting questions like, “If all I had to go on was God’s Word in this matter, what would my viewpoint be?”  As I did so, I began to recognize the far-reaching extent to which my worldview is not based on Scripture, but rather my own cleverly devised schemes or philosophies of man.  I began to pray for renewal!

To the Word and To the Testimony!

I respect the centuries of Church fathers and theologians who have laid a foundation of understanding Scripture and fought (and even died) for key Biblical doctrines.  My endeavor to return to the drawing board, so to speak, in my own understanding is not to throw these out, but rather to evaluate everything under the careful scrutiny of Scripture, to accept nothing just because “that’s the way its always been,” but rather to seek to develop a comprehensive Biblical Worldview.  My desire is to avoid becoming guilty of the sin of the Pharisees and scribes that Jesus talks about in Matthew 15:6 when He says, “For the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.”  I desire everything from my knee-jerk reactions to circumstances, to my overarching approaches to life, ministry, and education, to have their firm foundation in the word of the Lord.

Additional Scriptures also indicate that we are to be on guard against simply accepting the teachings of others, or traditions handed down to us, or even our own immediate opinions on issues:

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” Colossians 2:8

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…” 2 Corinthians 10:5

A Fresh Start

Taking this approach creates a true fresh start with joyful possibilities.  The Psalmist writes “I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts.” (Psalm 119:45).  God’s Word teaches us how to live as He created us to, and His spirit enables us to do so.  This is great freedom and has become my personal goal.

What about you? What areas of your viewpoints have you allowed to be shaped by traditions of man rather than Gods’ Word?  Will you join me in this endeavor and allow our minds to be renewed by His Truth?

Volunteering on Canada Day is a long-standing tradition for Bridge Church! Although we won’t be passing out water bottles this year, we will still be volunteering in a variety of capacities in Kamloops, and potentially in Logan Lake too.  This will include both the evening before Canada Day, June 30, and Canada Day itself.  We will be partnering with other community organizations.  This is a fantastic way to connect with people, serve our community, and demonstrate the love of Christ to those outside the walls of our church.  Talk to your Life Group leaders for more details about these opportunities, and let us know if you’ll be able to give a few hours of your time during this holiday!

I need your help!  Decorations, name tags, signs, crafts, class rosters & schedules, and probably more items, all need to be prepared before our two July Kid’s Clubs! Will you join me Monday, June 28 at 10:00 to work on these? As we learned from last summer’s water bottle label mix-up, the more hands we have, the quicker it will all go-and the more fun we’ll have as we work on it together!!  We’ll meet in the fellowship hall at 10:00 and break for pizza around noon, then press on to wrap it all up early afternoon. Even if you won’t be able to be around to help with Kid’s Club, this will be a fantastic way to contribute to these two events!

The Ganton Life Group would like to invite you to join them on June 12 for their Car Care Clinic.  This will be held on our back parking lot from 11-3 and include free car care advice, hot dogs, and bounce houses. Tell your friends! More volunteers are also needed.  Speak to Clay or Carolyn for more information, or to volunteer today!

Mark your calendars today!  Our Logan Lake Kid’s Club will be July 12-16.  This year, our annual VBS-style kid’s day camp will be held in the Vandean home again at 144 Jasper.  Sign-up today!!

For complete information, click here!

I’m not sure when I first developed my passion for teaching; its seems to have just always been a part of who I am. Playing “school” was my favorite make-believe activity as a little girl. My chalkboard easel got much more use than my Little Tikes kitchen or dollhouse combined. Oddly though, a “teacher” was never even on my list of “what I want to be when I grow up.” Instead, spaces on that list were reserved for the more adventurous careers of a missionary, a church pianist, a baker, or a juggler.

In high school, I bounced between dreams of careers in the medical field or communications/media.  Then, being the academic overachiever that I was, I was invited to a summer camp entitled “Economic for Leaders.”  The teachers of the economic classes throughout the week made what is often a boring or difficult subject come alive!  I previously had no interest in economic concepts, but while under the teaching at this camp, I found myself more engaged in learning than any other point in my previous eleven years of education.

I think the idea was to inspire us to pursue careers in economics or business, and while I certainly considered this briefly in the months following my attendance at the camp, its lasting impact had quite a different effect. Instead, the giftedness of the teachers at this camp awakened my childhood interest in teaching with renewed fervor and  increased depth.  It’s still been quite the journey to bring me to where I am now, as obviously I did not pursue the typical route to a typical teaching profession, and I imagine that I’ve still got quite the journey ahead fulfilling my dream of teaching.  And perhaps elements of this journey are topics for a future post.  But for now, I say all of this to make one point: I recognize that I have what is probably an abnormal interest in and passion for teaching, and really for education in general.

God’s Design

Seeking to determine how to properly “do” school, how to best educate the next generation, and understanding God’s heart for teaching has been the driving force of my studies and ministry for the last five years.  Recently, this lead me to eagerly search the Scriptures to arrive at a Biblical model for education (elements of this too will perhaps be expanded upon in a future post!).  And I thought I had come near to exhausting all the clear verses which discuss teaching, but this morning in my time with the Lord, my devotional book said to read Ezra 7:10 “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statues and rules in Israel.”

This is a wonderful example of how we should approach our teaching! It should always be in this order: STUDY, DO, TEACH.  Other Scriptures affirm this foundational method (such as Dt 6:4-7; Mt 7:3-5); we cannot appropriately teach another something that we ourselves do not know or are not following.

A Call For Us All?

The concept of “study, do, teach” is certainly not new to me, but then it struck me that the particular discipleship book I was reading from was not written only for those interested in teaching, but was actually indicating that all believers should follow Ezra’s example.  I was a bit confused.  Then the Lord brought some more passages to my mind, and I’m becoming increasingly convinced from the Scriptures that God calls each of us to particular teaching assignments.

As I said, I recognize that I have an unusual interest in teaching and I’ve come to the (somewhat sad) realization that things relating to education often don’t interest others as much as me. But, even if you don’t share my intense enthusiasm for teaching, I hope that you can see from the passages below that you share this responsibility in the Body of Christ.

Parental Teaching

If you’re a dad, mom, or grandparent, then your job as teacher is explicitly commanded throughout Scripture.  Deuteronomy 6:7 makes this clear: “You shall teach them diligently to your children.” Pretty clear and straightforward. (Dt 4:9 extends this command to teaching grandchildren as well.) This is to be done through modeling, deliberate times of instruction, and simply weaving God’s truth into everyday life circumstances.  YOU bear ultimate responsibility before the Lord for your child’s upbringing and YOU are called to take the lead in their education.

Great Commission Discipleship

Jesus’ parting words to His disciples was a command to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…”  (Matthew 28:19-20).

The Great Commission is God’s task to the Church, which every believer bears responsibility in fulfilling. We indeed all have a call to teach new believers the ways of the Lord.

Life in the Body

If any doubt remains that as a Christian you are in fact called to teach, here’s a final command from the Lord: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom…” Colossians 3:16

Do not misunderstand what I am saying: Scripture makes a very clear distinction between the form of teaching that we are all to engage in with one another and the office of pastor/teacher, which carries with it authority and is reserved for godly men (see, for example, 1 Timothy 2:12 & 3:1-7).  It is this office that James warns not many to enter into and which promises to bring greater judgement (James 3:1).

But, understanding the harmony of these Scriptures, we see that God desires us each to take an active role in the growth of our fellow believers.  This edification process is to be deliberate and occur as a vital part of our fellowship.  Titus 2 describes one example of an informal teaching relationship in the church: older women teaching younger ones to “love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands.”  This follows the command for older women to behave in a particular way, and thusly demonstrates the same “study, do, teach” model as employed elsewhere in Scripture.

A Shared Passion

Whether it’s with your children, or with new believers, or with fellow brothers and sisters, I see that Scripture desires us all to take seriously our responsibility to teach.  Sure, I may be wired with a unique passion for the subject, but I hope that you can join me in pondering how to be an active part of the life-long education of those whom Christ has placed in your life.

Celebrity is, in effect, based on an inflated brilliance, accomplishment, or spirituality generated and perpetuated by publicity.  It is an artifice and, therefore, a type of fraud. Where it once served power and patrons, in our own day it mainly serves itself and its pecuniary interests.  Celebrity must, of necessity, draw attention to itself. In American Christianity, the relentless pressure to raise funds within churches and para-church organization reinforces the pressure toward celebrity, with an endless flow of direct mail, advertising, and ghostwritten sermons, speeches, articles, editorials, and so on. These pressures are difficult to resist even for those who, by instinct, might find celebrity either tasteless or problematic. The reason is that celebrity is not just a certain kind of status one achieves but it is also a powerful institution the entire structure of which is oriented toward burnishing a leader’s image and projecting his or her visibility (pg. 260).

My tiny hometown of Dripping Springs, Texas experienced the tragedy of watching First Baptist Church burn to the ground, and at the end of the day it was determined that one of the members of the church had deliberately set fire to the church, and burned it to the ground. The building was set on fire on September 5, 2007 -but the congregation had been heating up for several years before the flames broke out. What had happened was that a group of men sought to take what was a Godly church and shove it in the direction of the Purpose Driven/Seeker Sensitive model. The end of this situation was a congregation destroyed and a building left in ashes.

I have had a lot of time to reflect deeply on what I’ve seen from Rick Warren’s ministry, and I think most of the Purpose Driven model is hateful both to God and man. With this personal conviction, I agree with Tim Challies assessment of the situation and gladly link to his thoughts here.