"We want our children, by the time they've been through our home, to know the Word of God. Inside and out, better than they know algebra, and geography, and history. We want them to know the ethical system of the Scriptures all the way through the civil law codes. Inside and out. Old Testament and New Testament.

We want them to know the Psalms, which is God's book on worshipping Him. The Psalms also provide an emotional shepherding, a comfort to God's people. We want them to memorize many of the Psalms, and know them, and be able to categorize them, and know the emotional fiber of the Psalms.

We want them to know the Proverbs, God's book of life. Our children, I think, should know every single Proverb, or at least the concept expressed in every single Proverb. We've been through the Proverbs about 6 or 7 times with our children and we're getting close, but we want them to know them better than they know their multiplication tables.

Seventy-five percent of the world's history is contained in the Old Testament. We want them to know the history of the world throughout the entire Old Testament. They should know the stories of Jonadab the Rechabite. We're not talking about Jonah and the whale. We're talking about a little bit more obscure stories like Eglon the fat king, Ezekiel's fort. They need to know this stuff. They should know these stories. They should know the 65 parables of Christ and of course grapple with some of difficult doctrinal paradoxes of the Trinity, of responsibility and Sovereignty of God, faith and works, grace and law."

-Kevin Swanson

Generations Radio

Raising a Modern Day Joseph

7/26/09