Friday, January 23, 2009

Educating Children Pt.3 - Educational Jurisdiction















OK... Part 3.. this time we're looking at the topic of 'Educational Jurisdiction.' In other words, who has God given the responsibility to for the education of His children?

Let's begin with some verses:

Eph. 6:4 4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Deut. 6:4-9 4 ¶ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. {teach: Heb. whet, or, sharpen} 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

Prov. 22:6 6 ¶ Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (This verse is very specific in the meaning of the words for 'train up' and 'the way he should go.' The education he/she receives should help, not hinder, the child to accomplish that which God wants to see happen in the life of that child, namely, that they love him and serve him for their whole lives.)

Psalm 78:1-4 1 ¶ Maschil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. {Maschil…: or, A Psalm for Asaph to give instruction}
2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

So we see that from the beginning, God's desires for the children of His children is that they be brought up in a covenantally faithful household, and a large part of the discipleship process is the how we educate our children.

We see this evidenced by what the Lord said of Abraham being covenantally faithful in the following verse:
(Genesis 18:19 19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.)

Again, I'll repeat what I stated in another post, We as Christians cannot compartmentalize various areas of our lives and separate certain parts of them from the counsel of the Lord. Education is not spiritually neutral. In fact, education is inherently spiritual. Few things are more spiritual than education.

Why do Men who have a desire for ministry go to Bible college or seminary? Why not go to a government college? You know why! Because they wouldn't receive an education that would edify them and help them in their desire to serve the Lord faithfully in their calling. Right?

So is it different with our children? Don't they have a calling on their lives? Doesn't God desire for them to serve him faithfully all their lives, regardless of vocation? Yes He does. And he expects, no, let me rephrase that, He commands parents to help ensure that this happens and holds them directly responsible for how they turn out. For better or for worse!

The state has no jurisdiction over your children outside of keeping the rule of law. God didn't establish state governments to educate the children of His covenant members. In fact, he established it primarily to punish evil doers. So if you've been thinking that the state does have jurisdiction over the education of your children, they don't, You Do. Assume it, and set out on the path of giving your children a thoroughly biblical education. Your children may just thank you with their life for all eternity!

Friday, January 16, 2009

Educating Children

These Posts first appeared on The Male Domain in August of 2007. I am re-posting them now for those who may be new to my blog. Let me know what you think!

Throughout the month of August, I will be presenting a series of posts on the topic of "Educating Children".

With the start of school just a few weeks away, I thought covering this topic might help some Men think through the whole area of how to go about educating their children.

We will look at:
  • The Goal of Education
  • The Pros and Cons of Public Schools, Private Schools, and Home-Schools
  • Education as Discipleship, and
  • Educational Jurisdiction
So be sure and check in throughout the month of August and be ready to share your thoughts with me!

I look forward to the conversation!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Are You Alive?

"The glory of God is in man fully alive."
- St. Irenaeus

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Good Books for the New Year!

With the holidays over, I might be able to get up a few posts now and then. Hope your holidays were pleasant and peaceful like mine were. No drama, that's always a good thing!

Thought I'd share with you a few books that I've been working my way through along with my daily Life Journal which takes me through the bible in a year. If you're not on a daily bible schedule you need to be. Check out the Life Journal, I think you'll enjoy it.

Right now I'm reading through some great books to start the new year with and would recommend them all to you if you haven't read them. None of them are "brand new," but they're really good reads.

They are:
1. Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs by Bill Hybels
2. Launch: Starting a Church from Scratch by Nelson Searcy
3. Wide Awake by Erwin McManus
4. Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll

If you've read any of these let me know what you've thought about them.

Looking forward to the new Year!