(Judges 2:10 ESV)

This verse illustrates what often causes a generation to turn away from God–an education gap.  In this passage, the first generation saw mighty wonders from God as He delivered them victoriously into the Promised Land.  However, they failed to adequately pass these great works of God to their children, as it states that they did not “know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.”  This failure to teach their children and grandchildren thrust Israel into a downward spiral of disobedience, illustrating for us today that great importance of properly educating the next generation. Therefore, careful attention must be given to proper Biblical education–in manner, methods, and content.

Since the time of creation, God has chosen to reveal knowledge of the world and of Himself through two venues:  general revelation (those things inherent in nature) and special revelation (those things revealed in by His Word). However, sin has “darkened the mind” and “suppressed the truth” (Rom 1:18 & 21), thusly distorting man’s ability to understand fully either form of revelation. Therefore redemption is needed, which begins the process of “renewing the mind” (Rom 12:1-2) and possessing a clear, enlightened understanding of God, the world, and others.  It is only with a renewed mind that true education can take place, for without it, the mind remains unable to fully understand either special or general revelation.

Scripture teaches the following concerning education:

The Role of God and the Holy Spirit

• God and the Holy Spirit are both described in Scripture as having a teaching function (See: Dt. 4:1, 14 & 14; Ps 32:8; Ps 94:10-12; Is 48:17; Is 54:13; Jn 14:26; Jn 16:8; 1 Cor 2:10 & 13)
• The Holy Spirit is described as the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord (Is 11:2-3, Eph 1:17).
• The fear of the Lord is described as “the beginning of all wisdom” (Pr 1:7), and God is source of all wisdom, knowledge and understanding (Pr 2:6; For an example of this see: Ex 28:3 & Dan 1:17 & 20).
• Rejecting God leads to futile thinking and darkened hearts (Ro 1:21).
• Proper instruction can lead to this fear of the Lord (2 Chr 26:5)

–>Therefore, educators (parents and the church), must recognize and pray for the Holy Spirit to be the teacher.

—> Educators must also seek to teach their students in a manner that will lead to the “fear of the Lord.”

Role of Scripture

• Everything written in the OT was for instructional purposes (Ro 15:14)
• Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:6)
• Scripture equips man of God for every good work (2 Tim 3:17)
• God has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pe 1:5-9)
• God’s statutes bring more insight than possessed by the Psalmist’s teachers (Ps 119:99)

Need for Integration in Education

• Education is not to be separated from the rest of life:
  • God’s commands are to be taught as you “sit at home and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down and when you get up,” thusly encompassing all of life (Dt 6:6-9, 11:18-19)
  • Much of education occurs through modeling (Pr 23:26; 1 Ki 9:4; Lk 6:40; 1 Cor 4:16; 1 Cor 11:1; Phil 3:17; Phil 4:9; 2 Thes 3:7, 3:9; Ti 2:7; 1 Pe 5:3)
  • “Spiritual” education is not to be separate from “secular” education:
    • “Every thought” is to be captive to obey Christ (2 Cor 10:5). Phil 4:8 provided criterion for proper thoughts.
    • As stated above, the fear of the Lord (which can be taught) leads to “ALL wisdom.”
    • The skill, ability, knowledge and wisdom all all kinds of crafts comes from the Spirit of God (Ex 28:3; Ex 31:2-6)
    • “Intelligence” and scholars and philosophers of this world will be shown to be foolishness (1 Cor 1:19-20); The wisdom of the world does not lead to knowledge of God (1 Cor 1:21); God’s “foolishness” is wiser than man’s “wisdom.” (1 Cor 1:25); There is a sharp distinction between God’s wisdom and man’s wisdom (1 Cor 2:6)
    • All things were created and sustained by Him and all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Him (Col 1:16-17, 2:3).
  
  
• Commands for education of God’s people to be distinct from that of the World’s
  • Jeremiah 10:1-3: God’s command to not “learn the ways of the nations.”
  • Romans 12:1-2 Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
  • Colossians 2:8 Hollow and deceptive philosophies depending on human tradition and “basic principles of this world” can take you captive.
  • 2 Thessalonians 3:6 Command to stay away from brothers who do not live according to the teaching from Paul, Silas & Timothy
  • 1 Timothy 6:3-5 “turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing hae wandered from the faith.”

Additional Aspects of God’s Design for Education

• Formal times of instruction (Dt 4:1, 5:1, Joshua 8:35, Ro 10:17).
• Use of traditions, holidays, and symbols (Ex 12:26, 13:8; Dt 6:6-9, 11:18-19; Joshua 4:6-7)
• Recalling history and past experiences (Ex 10:1-2; Joshua 4:6-7; Is 48:19; Joel 1:3).
• Differentiated instruction for ages and life positions (Neh 8:1-8, 1 Cor 3:1, Tit 2:1-10).
• The teacher must be of solid character & godliness (2 Tim 3:14; Tit 2:7-10; 2 Thes 3:6; 1 Tim 6:3-5; 2 Pe 2:3).

God’s Institutes for Education

• The Family (Dt 4:1-14; 6:5-9; Eph 6:4; Col 3:21)
• The Community of Believers (Today, this would be the Church) (Josh 8:35; 1 Ki 12:2; Mat 18:5; Mark 16:25)

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More on A Biblical Look At Children, Families and Education

An appropriate thing for me to ponder today–two years after moving to Canada! In many ways this is one of the last places I would have ever thought about living. But now I look forward to the coziness of sweaters and scarves and reading by the fire. I’ve come to greatly enjoy sipping hot tea before a meal with a good friend. Down-hill skiing was a disaster, but I look forward to another go at cross-country skiing. I love the team I serve with and Bridge Church have become my family and my best friends. Experiencing a few weeks of bitter cold has brought its humourous stories (such as my back door being frozen shut or moisture in my nose freezing as I go from my house to car!), but God shows His faithfulness through the seasons of weather, just as the seasons of life. The Winter makes Spring and Summer even more enjoyable, and knowing that Fall and Winter are just around the corner makes those scorching hot July days bearable.

I’ve learned that this is the funny thing about most of my heart’s desires–I may think I know exactly what it is that I want, but like a kid in a candy store asking to eat gumdrops and licorice for lunch, the Lord knows far better than myself!! It is in the thinking of our own wishes that praying, “not my will, but Your will be done,” becomes imperative.  Surrendering to Him results in joy of deep fellowship with Him and great gratitude for His wisdom playing out in your life. Oh, that I may come to know this more in the years ahead!

From Ryan:

Hello! I was asked to write a bit about myself by way of introduction, in order to help you to get to know me a bit.

My name is Ryan Levi, and I was born November 24, 1991, in Temple, Texas, to parents Jeff and Tanya Levi. I have two older sisters, Christina and Mandy. I lived in Belton, Texas for my entire childhood and attended Miller Heights Baptist Church from age 4 until I moved away from Belton when I was 15. When I was six years old, during the Sunday service on February 24, 1997, I went forward and gave my life to Christ. It’s always tricky to know how much you understand or remember about things when you are so young. All I can say is that at that time, I gave everything I knew about myself to everything I knew about Christ.

As I got older and older, I continued in church, and I continued to be a leader in my Sunday School classes and then my youth group. However, the Ryan that was seen on Sundays and Wednesdays at church wasn’t exactly like the Ryan seen during the week at school and around my friends. I never doubted who Christ was or what He had to offer. I simply chose to keep the ‘church’ aspect of my life separate from the ‘school’ and ‘friend’ aspect of my life. The summer before I entered high school, I attended two camps with my youth group and God convicted me of the way I was living my life. He revealed to me that if I was to live my life for Him, then it had to be entirely for Him. I could no longer split my life into different sections and choose which “face” to wear depending on what situation I found myself in. When my first year of High School came along, I was brought to a fork in my life. I could either continue living my life the way I had been, or change and live it solely for Christ. The latter, which I chose, led to the majority of my supposed friends ditching me.  I was forced to make new friends and to re-evaluate what I was striving for to do with my life.

Everything took a huge turn when, during the middle of that school year, my dad quit his job and got another one three hours away in The Woodlands, near Houston. This completely rocked my world. At first, I didn’t understand why God would force me away from everything I had ever known. The move came, and I found myself in a place that I never even imagined I would be. This was a point in my life that I had to make a choice. I had a fresh start… I could portray myself any way that I wanted to… I could be anyone I wanted. I got really involved in the marching band and in activities at my new school. I decided to keep my faith extremely visible before others, always staying vocal about doing the right thing and not compromising my morals. This was a huge step for me. Little did I know, but this was just the beginning of the journey that would lead me to where I am today.

About halfway through my second year of high school, in a new town, away from all of my extended family, away from all my childhood friends, I began to have horrible double vision, and I began to get debilitating headaches. Unsure of what was going on, I went and saw an eye doctor and began eye therapy. Because I was getting headaches along with the double vision, they suggested I go see my primary doctor. When I went into my doctor’s office, I had no clue what to expect. After talking with me and about my symptoms, he ordered a CAT scan, explaining that the symptoms I had coincided with possibly a brain tumor or Multiple Sclerosis. This was terrifying to me. I might possibly die. I did more praying in those next few days then I had done in a long time. I began to think about how precious every second in life was, and I began really thinking about what I was doing with my life. The tests all came back negative, and it turned out the headaches were due to allergies coincidentally coming at the same time as my double vision. I went through eight months of eye therapy and my eyes were fixed. Despite the relatively calm turn of events, I was left with another choice: I could take this experience and continue my lifestyle of “bystander” Christian, simply living my life with my morals and faith, or I could give God my all and give every aspect of my life to Christ.

That next summer, I quit band, freeing up many hours of time, and I began praying and searching for what God wanted to do with me. Over the next two years I took on an active leadership role in my youth group, interned with my Youth Minister during the summer of 2009, and I took on a leadership position in the Christian Club at my school. Through it all, God continued to reveal to me that my purpose in life was full time ministry; nothing else I could do would come to anything successful. As a result of this, I enrolled at Ouachita Baptist University as a Christian Ministry major, expecting to go to college for four years and then see where God would lead me after that.

However, this summer I got the opportunity to spend six weeks in Canada as a part of an Exploration Team with the Canadian National Baptist Convention. Our team traveled over 8,000 miles throughout British Columbia, the Yukon Territory, and the Northwest Territories. We visited a few churches, but mostly we went into “uncharted” territory looking for needs, what Christian work was already being done, and we scouted for places that would be most fertile for church plants in order to proclaim the Gospel. We started our journey in Kamloops, BC where we were scheduled to have a few days of orientation at Bridge Baptist Church with Pastor Josh Claycamp. I began to immediately see the need there in Kamloops and the surrounding areas, and this is when God began speaking to me about working in Kamloops. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” (Matthew 9:37) We left Kamloops for 4 1/2 weeks on the road. We traveled as far north as we could drive, then my fellow teammate Dwight Payne and I boarded a small, four passenger plane and flew to the northernmost community in North America, Tuktoyaktuk. Throughout the 8,000 miles of travel, I could not get Youth Ministry and the Bridge Baptist Church in Kamloops off of my mind. I had never really considered doing youth ministry feeling that I wasn’t cut out for that sort of work. God confirmed that I could not do it, but rather, He could do it through me. After returning to Kamloops, I talked with Josh about further opportunities that might be available for me and told him where my heart was. After quite a deal of discussion over lunch at Boston Pizza, Josh told me that he would look into the possibility of me coming up in order to serve. He promised he would try to help me, and make some phone calls and would get back to me. While there were many things running through my mind, I felt a peace about what was taking place. I truly felt that God was leading me to serve in Youth Ministry in Kamloops with Bridge Baptist Church.

When I got home a million questions were asked of me regarding the trip, my plans for college in the next month, future plans, etc. I had to carfully word my responses in order to not lie, but not let on to the fact that I was looking into going back up to Canada. I didn’t want a lot of people to know before I knew for certain that it was going to happen and I had the chance to talk to my family about it. Long story short, I talked with my parents, sisters, and grandma, who all supported me 100%. With Josh’s much appreciated and needed help, I got approved to be a Semster Missionary through the North American Mission Board from September to May of 2011. I have felt such love and support from those close to me and God has continued to encourage me and confirm to me that this is where He wants me.

So this is where I am. I’m not sure what these next couple of years hold exactly, but I have faith that God has a plan for my life and that He will take care of what needs to happen. I have given Him control and I am excited to see what He does with and through me. My goals for the future are simple: I want to grow in my walk with Christ, allowing God to use me in reaching others for Him and helping others grow closer to Him. I don’t view myself doing anything other than full-time ministry in my future, and I feel a strong pull to Youth Ministry with teenagers. I know what it’s like to be a teenager in some really difficult situations and I have a passion and drive to tell teens about the love, mercy and strength that are found in Christ. So here I go…I’m not exactly sure what this next year will hold…all I know is that I’m going and that God already has everything planned out, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28)!!!

A few quotes to get you interested:

We live in a world full of males who have prolonged their adolescence. They are neither boys nor men. They live suspended between childhood and adulthood, between growing up and being a grown-up. Let’s call this kind of male Ban, a hybrid of both man and boy.

Here’s another really good comment:

Ban is a frightening reality in the church, but he is the best thing that ever happened to the video game and porn industries.

Understanding God’s design for education would be impossible without first studying His design and intent for the family.  Therefore, this is where our Biblical look at children and education will begin. After studying the Scriptures pertaining to the family, it is clear that the family is a purposeful institution with a key role to play in the redemptive history and daily discipleship.

On the sixth day of creation, God created man and woman, as husband and wife, and gave them the command to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28).  Thusly, the family is the first institution created by God and the central means of carrying out His purposes for mankind. This high purpose for the family did not change after the introduction of sin, as evidenced throughout God’s redemptive history (such as the selection of a family as His chosen people), the Law, the structuring of His chosen people, the provision He gives to those without a family, and finally the promises He gives regarding families.

Scriptural evidences of God’s high purpose for the family are seen:

• In creation
  • The institution of marriage (Genesis 2:21-24)
  • The first command given to mankind was to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28)
    • NOTE: This was repeated to Noah (Genesis 9:1) and while the Israelites were in exile (Jer 29:6); therefore God’s desire for reproduction in the context of marriage remains despite the introduction of sin into the world or hardships upon the people.

• In the Law
  • Two explicitly stated purposes of the Law are that:
    • the people and their children may know and fear God, and that they may consequently live long (Dt. 6:1-9, Psalm 78:5-8); and
    • Each generation would teach future generations (Dt. 6:1-9; Psalm 78:5-8)
  • God’s design for the important Passover celebration included the key component of children asking questions (Exodus 12:26, 13:8 & 14)
  • The Law required obedience to parents:
    • Within “The Ten Commandments,” the fifth commandment (and the first commandment with a promise) is to honour your parents (Exodus 20:12, Repeated: Dt 5:16, Dt 14:18).
    • In list of “various laws,” respecting parents is listed first (Exodus 19:3)
    • Contempt and disobedience towards parents is listed with other grievous sins such as bloodshed and eagerness to do evil (Micah 7:6)
    • Anyone who dishonours parents is cursed (Exodus 27:16; Dt 27:16)
    • The law included severe consequences for disobedience to the commands to honour/respect parents, as follows:
      • attacking father or mother = death (Exodus 21:15)
      • cursing father or mother = death (Exodus 21:17)
      • being a rebellious son = death, specifically stoning (Dt. 21:18-21)
  • The Shema, considered one of the most significant of the OT laws includes the purpose of deliberate education of children  (Dt 6:6-9, near repeat in Dt. 11:18-19)
  • Command to meet the physical needs of the fatherless and widow (Dt 24:20-21)
  • The command to obey the commandments yourself, and the command to teach children & grandchildren is woven intricately together (Dt 4:1-14; 6:1-9)
  • Command to not marry children off to foreigners (Ez 9:12)

• In Redemptive History
  • The woman’s “seed” would crush Satan (Genesis 3:15)
  • Abraham was called by God for the explicit purpose of commanding his children and household after him to follow the Lord (Genesis 18:19)
  • Pharaoh’s heart was hardened for the explicit purpose of showing God’s signs & that they could tell their children about it (Ex 10:1-2)
  • Recording of God’s word was for the benefit of next generation (Ps 102:18)
  • Jesus came as a baby to a family (Is 7:14)
  • The New Testament provides numerous examples of entire households receiving Christ together (Cornelius-Acts 11:14; Lydia-Acts 16:15, Jailer-Acts16:31-34; Ruler of the Synagogue-Acts 18:8; the household of Stephanas 1 Cor 1:16)

• In God’s structure of Israel for land, battle & worship
  • (see entire book of Numbers!)

• In the analogy of God as Father and His people as a family
  • God calls Himself “Father” to His people (Ex 4:22; Dt 32:6; 2 Sam 7:14; Is 1:2; Jer 3:19; Jer 31:9; Rom 8:14; Rom 9:4; 2 Cor 6:18).

• In God’s provisions for those without a family
  • Through the command to meet the physical needs of the fatherless and widow (Dt 24:20-21)
  • God promises that He
    • “sets the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:6);
    • defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow (Dt 10:18); and
    • is a helper to the fatherless (Ps 10:14) (see also: Ps 27:10-11)
    • “Settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children” (Psalm 113:9)

• In God’s Promises
  • If you curse parents, your lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness (Pr 20:20)
  • Descendants of one who follows the Lord:
    • Will inherit the land (Ps 25:12-13, 37:28-29)
    • Will have great inheritance (Ps 69:36)
    • Will be mighty in the land (Ps 112:2)
    • Will be blessed (Ps 112:2, Pr 20:7, Is 44:3)
    • God will save the children of the needy (Ps 72:4)

• The above evidence is reaffirmed in New Testament:
  • Fifth commandment is repeated, with additional exhortation to fathers to bring children up in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord,” thusly summarizing and reaffirming previous commands of the OT (Eph 6:2-3, Col 3:20)
  • Command to care for fatherless and widow also repeated (James 1:27; 1 Tim 5:4-16)
  • Provision for own house is to be a priority (Lk 8:39; 1 Tim 5:4, 8 )
  • Disobeying parents remains listed among other grievous sins (Rom 10:30-31; 2 tim 3:2-5)
  • Requirements for Elders includes their children being believers and not wild or disobedient (Tit 1:6)

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Part 2: Value, Nature & Responsibility of Children

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!

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Part 1: God’s High Purpose for the Family

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!

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!

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.

For 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!

Part 5: Email Parenting Tips