Archive for Discipleship
Introduction to A Biblical Look at Children & Education
Posted by: | CommentsAs I shared in my previous post, “Renewal of the Mind,” my desire is to develop a complete Biblical outlook on various aspects of life. This, combined with my passion for effectively educating the next generation, led me to do an inductive study on children and education from God’s word. This was an endeavor that took several months, consisting of word studies and cross-references, searching Scripture for every mention of children, families, and education. In no way do I think that I have found every single one, and am on a constant look out for more. But what I have below is a chart of the ones that I have discovered:
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!
Canada Day Service Projects
Posted by: | Comments| June 30, 2010 | ||
| 5:00 pm | to | 9:00 pm |
| July 1, 2010 | ||
| 7:00 am | to | 5:00 pm |
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!
Car Care Clinic
Posted by: | Comments| June 12, 2010 | ||
| 11:00 am | to | 3:00 pm |
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!
A Call To Teach
Posted by: | CommentsA Personal Passion
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.
Great Parenting Resources (Part 4 of 5)
Posted by: | CommentsFor Instructions in Righteousness: A Topical Reference Guide for Child-Training, by Pam Forster 
I’ve now suggested two books which are really helpful in providing the framework and practical instructions for using Scripture in teaching and training your children. But knowing where to find Biblical examples and specific verses addressing various behaviors may be challenging, even to the person who’s been reading the Bible for years! Well, allow me to introduce you to an excellent resource for just such endeavor, a spiral-bound book called: “For Instruction in Righteousness: A Topical Reference Guide for Biblical Child-Training” by Pam Forster of Doorposts.
This manual divides common sins of children into seven categories: Sins of a Proud Heart; Sins of Discontent; Sins of Unbelief; Sins of an Undisciplined Life; Sins of the Tongue; Sins of an Unloving Heart; and Sins of Relationships. Within each category are three to thirteen specific issues, such as arguing, selfishness, anger, lying, revenge, and poor manners. The book then provides a thorough and categorized list of Scriptures for each sin, including general commandments regarding the sin; what happens or should happen to the person committing this sin (as well as helpful ways to implement these consequences in your family); Biblical examples of people experiencing consequences of this sin; and helpful verses to memorize to avoid this sin. Of particular note is that each section also includes the blessings that come from having the opposite attitude or behavior.
This reference guide is sure to be a great resource for you as you apply the Scriptures in your children’s lives–in fact, you’ll even find these to be helpful in addressing sin in your own life!
“For Instructions in Righteousness” is published by Doorposts. And speaking of Doorposts, let me just say that this company, which was begun by a homeschooling family 20 years ago, has a host of other helpful products! If you’re not familiar with them, take some time to look at their website and see what’s available! However, this is a US company, and I couldn’t fin information about the extra shipping costs for Canada. But I did find that many of their products are also available through the Ontario based website JOY Center of Learning.
I also have a copy of this reference guide that I’m happy to lend out to anyone in the Kamloops and Logan Lake area!