The Paideia of the Lord

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

I’d like to take a moment to speak as a father to other fathers. Dads, have you read Ephesians 6:4 lately? As a husband and a father, I am always convicted whenever I read Ephesians 5 and 6. In Ephesians 5:25-31, God commands me to love my wife as Christ loves the church, to lay down my life for her well-being, for her ultimate good. Then, in Ephesians 6:4, God commands me with these words, “do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

As I reflect on this verse as a dad, I think of all the things I do that tend to provoke my children to anger. God isn’t telling me to just give my children everything they ask for as soon as they ask for it so they’ll never be upset. Actually, that kind of spoiling and over-indulging usually leads to kids who are even angrier because the answer cannot always be yes. Children are provoked to anger when their dads are inconsistent, hypocritical or overly controlling. As a sinner prone to all three of these faults, I find great reason to pray for forgiveness and grace when I examine my own behaviors.

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The Bible's Definition Of A Good Education: Part 3 - Wisdom

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

“For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:6, NKJV)

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10, NKJV)

Knowledge, understanding and wisdom.  These are the three words the Bible uses over and over again to describe the development of a mind and life that honor God.  Yet what do these words mean and what picture can we paint from them of the education that God would desire for our children?  We explored knowledge and understanding in previous articles. To summarize, we can define knowledge and understanding in this way:

Knowledge: The facts we know about something.  The information we acquire about God and His world. 

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The Bible's Definition Of A Good Education: Part 2 - Understanding

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

“For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:6, NKJV)

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10, NKJV)

Just a reminder before we begin: God calls parents to the responsibility of educating their children.  Whether you home school or send your children to a school outside your home, you are still responsible before God for how your children are being educated.  Each one of us who is called to be a parent is also called to be an educator.  This series of articles deals with “academic” things, but they are things relevant to every parent and everyone who ever hopes to be a parent-- or anyone who wants to learn anything faithfully.

In Part 1, we explored the first component of a Biblically faithful education: knowledge.  Knowledge must be the first step in learning anything. In order for us to develop understating and wisdom about a subject, we must first know it.  In order for me to understand the causes of the Civil War properly, I must first know that there was a Civil War and the major events leading up to it.  In order for me to understand the major themes and the flow of the argument of Romans, I must first know that the Book of Romans exists and I must know its basic content.  Understanding without knowledge will always be unsound and incomplete. 

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The Bible's Definition Of A Good Education: Part 1 - Knowledge

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

“I have called by name Bezalel… And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.” (Exodus 31:2-3, NKJV)

“For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:6, NKJV)

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10, NKJV)

“Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.” (Proverbs 24:3-4, NKJV)

“The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” (Prophecy of the Messiah in Isaiah 11:2, NKJV)

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Educating The Whole Child, For The Whole Of Life, For The Glory Of God

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

“The truth in its wholeness—for the whole child, for the whole of life, for the glory of God—this is what the curriculum is all about.”  (Norman E. Harper, Making Disciples)

Our lives are filled with different responsibilities and we take on different roles in fulfilling them.  I am a husband, a father, a deacon, a principal, a boss, an employee, a church member, a Sunday School teacher, a student, an American, a Marylander, a University of Maryland alumnus and fan, a friend, a neighbor, a son, a brother, an uncle, etc.  I could go on and on ad infinitum, ad nauseum.  Sometimes I am called to clean dishes, while at other times I run staff meetings.  Within the course of a day, I may go from changing a dirty diaper to writing an article for MAD21, church, or school to counseling an employee to playing with my son and so on.  The question: For which of these roles and responsibilities do I need to be educated in God’s truth?  The answer: ALL of them.

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