I first read the book Kingdom Education in 2000. I read it after interviewing for a teaching and coaching position at The First Academy in Orlando, FL. One of my mentors, Mr. Ed Gamble handed my wife and I the very first Kingdom Education book, the red book. Who remembers the red book? We read the book, and it forever changed the trajectory of our parenting and our lives.
Growing up in a Christian home, I understood the need for discipleship, but it was not at the level we read in Dr. Schultz’s book. After several years in Orlando, we interviewed and took jobs in Dallas at Prestonwood Christian Academy. It was there that we would meet another mentor, Dr. Larry Taylor. I remember our first Fall at PCA, we sat through Dr. Taylor’s parenting class. At that time, Dr. Taylor had 3 boys, and we had 2, with God blessing us with a third son years later. I remember watching Dr. Taylor and Mrs. Delinda raise their boys, Diana and I were in awe of their intentionality and commitment to discipleship.
Dr. Taylor is a coach at heart. The way he taught parenting, was that we had 6,540 practices from birth to 18. As parents we chose how intentional those practices should be. It would be forever imprinted on my mind, that with our three boys, we must be intentional in their discipleship.
Someone is disciplining your children. It is either you or the culture.
Jeremiah 12:5 gives us a reminder of what we are practicing for. “If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trusteth, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of the Jordan?”
The concept is that our home, the practice arena, is the safe place of life, but if we do not present practices that are intentional and deliberate, the arena of life will destroy them. Our responsibility as parents is to create practices that prepare them for the game of life. They cannot be practices that only protect them but prepare them. The principle of preparation does not mean we place them in a bubble and hide them until maturity. In fact, if we place our children in a bubble, maturity will never be reached.
We are to choose the practice arenas. We are to place our children in places that we trust but arenas we know that they will be faced with real life challenges. When we delegate a portion of our responsibility of discipleship, we must delegate carefully and intentionally. Our children are given to us as a gift, a heritage. They are our generational linkage to future generations. The practices we design must be intense, intentional, and preparing them for real life culture. We must create a practice plan that addresses all areas of life. Our responsibility is to raise children to advance the message of the Kingdom in a world that is in complete opposition to that message. They must learn how to run with horses, in the swelling of the Jordan. That is determined by the design and intensity of our practices.
Sherwood Baptist Church for years had a sign hanging in their lobby. It said the following,
Whoever wants the next generation the most, will get them!
Are we creating practices in our homes, THE discipleship training center, that are preparing them for life and eternity? Are dedicated to the point of understanding that our 6,540 must have an intentional design? We will get what we plan for. We will get what we practice for.
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