Hi everyone!
I'm glad you made it to the blog! It's intended to be an open discussion of Sunday's message so that we can shape each other with God's Word. On Sunday I said that the "elephant" in our homes is that we're not listening to God's advice; to God's Word. This happens for several reasons. First, parents are not fulfilling their role of teaching their children. Second, we live in a culture where youth are supposed to challenge authority (this happens for a number of reasons).
So if you would like to be a part of this discussion here are the points that I mentioned at the end of the message.
Becoming a Family of Purpose.
- 1. How can we be a family of the Word?
- 2. Give an example of how the Bible helps us when we face the choice between God's advice and the world's advice.
- 3. Is my child learning to obey his/her parents in preparation for later obedience to God?
- 4. How is Satan currently challenging us/me to doubt God's wisdom?
- 5. How can we/I encourage others to open up to God's wisdom?
I'll check in this week and interact with you.
Pastor Rick
12 comments:
so I said I would comment on here, and here I am. This is Danielle Engebretson, Dawson, our 7 year old has a nightly thought in bed while he is trying to fall asleep, that he recently shared with me. He thinks to himself, "what if God is not real, what if when I die I either go to hell or I will go to heaven and God won't really be there" Now, Dawson is a very strong willed, willfully defiant young boy, who we have to work with daily to keep this in check. He knows about Satan, He has asked Jesus into his heart. He is a sweet boy who tries really hard to be a good christian and pleasing to God, he goes to Our Saviors Lutheran school, where they teach that you are saved by grace through faith and Jesus is a daily study for him as well as scripture, and teaching of God's word. We daily dose him with God, with every instance we see the opportunity to teach, we teach God's word and with him this happens several times a day with many many reminders, lol. Satan knows he is anxious and where he is weak and attacks these places in his life daily. Nighttime is a time of anxious thoughts for Dawson, we have talked about what he should do when he has has these thoughts I stated up top, at nighttime, I have told him to pray, to rebuke Satan out loud and pray for God's protection and for Him to fill his mind with good thoughts and happy feelings in his heart. How the heck do I make this invisible awesome king of ours more visible to our son??
This is such a great topic to discuss, and I'm very excited to see what else we'll be learning over the next several weeks. I know this is a big concern for Ginny and me, with raising our three little ones. We want them to grow to be Godly men and women. It's often challenging for us to know how to find a balance of discipline and grace.
In answer to the first two questions: Ginny and I have been teaching our kids Bible verses, what they mean, and then applying them to everyday circumstances. One that really comes in handy is Philippians 2:14 "Do everything without complaining or arguing." When they start complaining or arguing (which so often leads to fighting) we can just ask them what does the Bible say. Often times they'll do the same to us.
We've also been trying to have a regular time each night before bedtime to read a story from the Bible. We then have an opportunity to discuss what the story was about so we know that our kids are geting it (or not). The more we read the Bible together as a family and learn together the more respect I'm seeing our kids have for God's Word; it's direction and values.
Thanks Adam, this is great to be able to talk about this. Such a challenge raising Godly women and men, (well eventually, lol)...thanks for that scripture, that comes in handy, now I can apply that one to the rules of the house. No screaming, no complaining, no yelling, no running, no teasing, no hitting, no talking back, any others, lol, I will take any and all scripture you have to share...thanks! I do tell them this one...Colossians 3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. And I often just quote scripture, like this one, reminding Dawson that he has also learned these in school, 2 Corinthians 9:7 7Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. This is usually one I pull out with sharing issues.
Boy I would love more resources, regarding this....more scripture, yes please! lol
The idea of a bible story at bedtime is good, I should do that with Dawson and Ava, we pray and we talk about God our day, etc, we used to read a bible devotional type thing but life being busy I guess, we stopped...if only Ava was a little less whimsy I might catch her attention for a time, after all she thinks we drive to get to heaven....lol it will come!
But, I did recently purchase a book, that Dawson can read with me...it is called we did start that book and I need to be consistent to every night together as a family getting this done or at least with him and something age appropriate with Ava..the book it is called...hmmmm, let me look, oh....The Bare Bones Bible Bios...it is like a ten min study of all the different men and women of the bible starting with Adam..th first man, I hope this give him insight, it seems like a good resource and takes us into the Word too with scripture refereneces. Alright, so there is my diddy, did you realize you invited Chatty Kathy to the board??
Thanks Danielle
Danielle,
In regard to teaching your kids scripture, Jim Redekopp lead an ABF last fall on parenting. The whole idea of the class was to use scripture to teach your children right and wrong, so that they would learn about God's commandments. The book he used was called Teach Them Diligently. It was really helpful for us. There is a table at the back of the book with scriptures for almost any situation. You can borrow our copy, or the Church Library might have one.
Ginny
Thanks Ginny awesome! Ok, I will check the library and maybe hit you up if need be, so cool! Hugs and thanks Danielle
Parenting is hard work. Some days I feel I'm doing pretty good about telling my kids about God and teaching them Scripture; but like most things, I blow it. It's nice to know God still gives me grace and that tomorrow is another day and another chance to do better. It's also good to know I'm not alone and I have a great church family to help us out. Thanks for your encouragement and the ABF classes that have been taught in the last couple of years. They have been helpful in living this Christian life.
Hi everyone,
I've enjoyed reading your blogs. I was thinking about sharing truth with our kids (and everyone) and about living truth. Psalm 32:2 talks about "Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit." That last phrase has really caught my attention: "in whose spirit is no deceit." It reminds me of the phrase being "honest to God". Telling our kids and getting the Word of God into our homes is one thing. But how do we get to the level of "no deceit" in our spirits? I'm curious to hear your thoughts.
Hi! Just wanted to say that I think this blog is a great idea!
We strongly ephasize with our children the concept of Truth. All things are either True or a Lie in life, and it takes wisdom to discern the difference. We encourage our children to speak Truth to each other in big and small things. Maybe we are no fun, but we discourage "kidding", or saying things incorretly on purpose even for humor, since these are forms of Lies.
This also requires modelling by the parents. How can we talk about Santa coming with presents, or share cultural falsehoods like "coffee will stunt your growth" and maintain our truthful integrity as parents? If we want our children to speak truth and hold truth in their hearts, we need to set the standard in our daily lives. Consistancy is absolutely vital.
One other thing to share on linking Truth to God's word:
Sometimes the litany of familiar bible stories that our kids hear can become detached from reality. To a small child (and sometimes grown-ups), the line can be blurred between a biblical story like Jonah and the Whale and a make-believe story like Cinderella. In studying such stories with our kids, we pause from time-to-time and ask our kids, "so, do you think this really happened?". Once, we were surprised to hear them say, "no"! This led to a great time to talk about the truthfulness of God's word, and that we have confidence these stories really did happen to real people in history. It was exciting to see the lighbulbs go on in their minds once they had hold of this concept. Make sure that your children have confidence in the Reality and Truth of God's word, and don't let it sink to the level of a series of fairy-tale stories.
I really appreciate Jon and Laura's perspective on the importance of Truth. All of us, children and adults, are inundated with lies from the world every day. This happens through schools, the "news", and entertainment (magazines, radio, and TV). Not only have Bible reading, prayer, and the Ten Commandments been thrown out of these places, but they've been replaced with teachings that are contrary to Truth in many, many ways.
Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis, James MacDonald of Walk in the Word, John MacArther, and David Jeremiah are just a few that have thought this through. They all recognize and realize the importance and simplicity of this battlefront.
I've talked at length with the pastor of First Baptist Church in Cokato about this. He also has thought through this and agrees that the shift in our country's schools and media are at the heart of the church's decline in America. He also believes that countering the misinformation needs to be at the heart of the church's plans for reclaiming the world for Truth.
Pastor Dan (from Cokato) is leading the Truth Project by Focus on the Family at his church right now. It's a 9 week DVD based study of world view and apologetics. He, and the 45 people from his church who've gone through the program, and are going through it, are very enthusiastic about the program. Answers in Genesis has a 9 week DVD based study on world view and apologetics too.
Sue and I are previewing both programs right now. We're seeking the Lord as to which would be best for sharing this message. We watched a DVD last night that showed some insights regarding the pervasiveness of the anti-Truth world view in movies and TV. It's really quite shocking when you stop and carefully consider the power of those media formats. It's no wonder at all after viewing some of these material that the church is unraveling.
Sue teaches release time to the grade school kids from Shalom. A lot of people would probably be shocked at the level of misunderstanding that some church kids have regarding what's true and what's not. (Just as Jon and Laura's kids didn't believe the Bible story was true. Praise God Jon and Laura are teaching Truth to their children!)
I wanted to follow up and say I found what Jon and Laura said to be very revealing. Having small children is so hard, disciplining them in God's Word is even more difficult, and making an invisible God visible, is the first huge challenge, but I agree with Jon and Laura, how do you teach the truths of God's word and our own inner spirit of being truthful and having integrity for Christ. While Dawson is my oldest son, I find I spend more time now, vital time teaching him about God and the Word. Ava is a bit whimsical and right now yes, she is taught constanting too, but she is more just in love with Jesus, which is a vital first step to realizing He is the "real deal". But, with Dawson at age 7, I am finding as a parent that now is the time when we are being faced with the contraversies of moral standards according to God's word that we implement into our daily lives. Being righteous, having integrity and teaching him what integrity means, really means and treating ourselves holy! Which brings me to what Jon and Laura said about the stories of the bible, for along time I found myself calling the "special" stories of the bible and those "special" people wrapped up in those stories, as Characters....what was I thinking, Characters?? Wow, eye opener, if we refer to them as characters, then why wouldn't they be viewed by our babies as total fiction fairytale stories. I have started calling them people! Dawson recently had come to me with the idea that when he died he would go to heaven and God wouldn't really be there, does he even really exist or will I just go to hell when I die. While this might seem a bit over his head, he is a deep thinker and very literal, I decided to read to him the book 90 minutes in Heaven. Boy, did the lightbulb go on for him, he gets it, that it is real, our Great God is real, and that this man Don Piper who was dead for 90 mins and brought back to us, by shear grace and a grand miracle who should have died for the injuries he sustained, was brought back to us by our one and only God and that it couldn't have happened without God, no one else could have done what God did for this man and dawson has also been given the insight to the power of prayer through this story...as I ramble on I realize I have gotten off subject, back to the people and stories of the bible, and truths we gain from the learning lessons of these stories. With this book I also started reading Dawson, The Bare Bones Bible Bios...a great book that touches base with each story and person of the bible and their role in the story and how this can relate to our lives now. He is learning to understand the value of the bible evenmore and is understanding that these people really did exist and the things that happened historically really did happen, it has been a great tool, and I thank God for this book and give Him Praise for the avenues in which He provides us to teach our children!
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