BJU Press Blog

Shaping Worldview

You homeschool because your child’s faith is important to you. We want to support you in training up your child. These blog posts show how to give your child a biblical worldview of each subject.
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Family Devotions (Part 1)

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The Most Important Subject to Teach in Your Homeschool—Family Devotions

image of a family sitting around having devotions

As we begin this new year of 2015, let’s make a resolution that can bring eternal dividends: commit to regular family devotions with our children. My children’s ACT® scores and future career opportunities matter little in comparison with the condition of their hearts and the place they will spend eternity. We tend to get so focused on the “three Rs” that we only have leftover time for instruction from God’s Word.

Of all the great books and classical works to introduce our children to, one book will endure forever—the Bible. It has been burned, confiscated, criticized, and disbelieved, yet its prophecies have never failed to come to pass, and its testimonies have proven true. Do we treasure it? Do we attentively sit under the preaching of it? Do we regularly read it?

Scot Chadwick defines family worship as “the regular practice of devotion to God in Scripture reading, praying, and singing, for the purpose of glorifying God and growing in His grace.” The time together as a family, worshiping God and learning from His Word, can go by many names, such as family devotions, Bible time, or family worship.

God has given parents the responsibility of raising their children “in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4 NKJV). The MacArthur Study Bible interprets this passage as calling for “systematic discipline and instruction, which brings children to respect the commands of the Lord as the foundation of all of life, godliness, and blessing.” It requires day-in-and-day-out teaching, correcting, and modeling.

Most of this diligent teaching will probably happen during the day-to-day activities of life: “when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deuteronomy 6:7 NKJV). And while we should seize these opportune moments, it is helpful to schedule a regular daily time to open God’s Word and systematically teach our children “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27 NKJV). Before they leave our home, my husband and I want our children to know God’s Word, particularly the redemptive storyline that runs throughout Scripture.

So how can we as parents implement family devotions? My local church recently held a workshop about how to have family devotions, and I look forward to sharing in Part 2 what we learned.

Works Cited

Scot Chadwick, “Family Worship: Teaching Our Children God’s Word,” Answers in Genesis, September 24, 2013, https://answersingenesis.org/train-up-a-child/family-worship-teaching-our-children-gods-word/.

John MacArthur. The MacArthur Study Bible, note on 1 Peter 3:6. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007.

Little House and the Big Omission (Part 2)

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black and white drawing of Hiram Bell Farmstead in the 19th century
Hiram Bell Farmstead/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

In Part 1, we made the case for how the Little House series portrays a cultural Christianity that contains moral teaching, positive character traits, a good work ethic, and traditional family values yet is bankrupt of the saving gospel of Christ. It portrays a religion of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. We must train our children to be discerning, always doubting man’s word and comparing it to God’s inspired, perfect Word. Now we will continue our survey of relevant Little House passages that give us the opportunity to teach our children how to recognize cultural Christianity—which still exists in America, though weaker and more secular than ever—and combat it with biblical truth.

Response to Trials

In By the Shores of Silver Lake (217–19), Ma recounted the illness that took Mary’s sight and how she patiently endured the trial. Reverend Alden responded, “We must remember that whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and a brave spirit will turn all our afflictions to good.” Later he prayed, beseeching God, “Who knew their hearts and their secret thoughts, to look down on them there, and to forgive their sins and help them to do right.” After the pastor prayed, Laura felt a peace and resolve about giving up her own desires so that Mary could go to the college for the blind.

Discussion Questions

  • Do we know for certain that Mary’s blindness was a result of God’s chastening? (Luke 13:1–5; John 9:3; Hebrews 12:5–11)
  • For whom does God work all things together for good? (Romans 8:28)
  • Whose likeness are Christians to be conformed to? (Romans 8:29)
  • When the reverend prayed for forgiveness, how was it disconnected from the gospel? (Acts 4:12; Ephesians 1:7)

Mary and the Goodness of God

In Little Town on the Prairie (11–13), Laura was relishing her friendship with her sister now that they were grown up. But she confided that when they were little, she’d often want to slap Mary for being so good all the time. Mary explained that a lot of her “goodness” was showing off, and she referred to the Bible’s teaching about people’s wicked hearts. Then Mary said, “I don’t believe we ought to think so much about ourselves, about whether we are bad or good. . . . It isn’t so much thinking, as—as just knowing. Just being sure of the goodness of God.”

Discussion Questions

  • Is being sure of the goodness of God enough to save a person? (Romans 2:4; Titus 3:4–7)
  • When the rich young man called Jesus “good,” how did Christ respond to demonstrate He was God in the flesh? (Mark 10:17–18)
  • What did Jesus tell the religious leader Nicodemus must happen to a person before he can see the kingdom of God (John 3:1–8)?

Raucous Revival Meeting

In Little Town on the Prairie (276–79), the Ingalls family listened quietly while fiery Reverend Brown worked up the rest of the crowd into an emotional frenzy, crying, “Repent ye, repent ye while yet there is time, time to be saved from damnation!”

Discussion Questions

  • How can emotional altar calls manipulate an audience to short-lived responses? (Joel 2:13; Luke 8:11–15; 14:25–33)
  • What was missing from Laura’s description of Reverend Brown’s altar call? (Acts 20:21; 1 Corinthians 2:2)
  • How can a person know that he has eternal life? (1 John 5:13)

Removing “Obey” from Wedding Vows

In These Happy Golden Years (269–70), Laura discussed wedding vows with her fiancé and said, “I am not going to say I will obey you.” She explained, “I do not think I could obey anybody against my better judgment.”

Discussion Questions

  • Whose judgment are we to trust? (Proverbs 3:5–7; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 8:7; 1 Corinthians 1:25; 2 Timothy 3:16)
  • Can you think of a Bible passage that speaks of a wife obeying her husband as an example for other wives to follow? (1 Peter 3:6; 1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:22–24)
  • If a husband were to ask his wife to do something that involved disobeying God’s Word, whom should she obey? (Acts 5:29)
  • What “great mystery” is shown when a husband loves his wife as Christ loved the church and when a wife submits to her husband “just as the church is subject to Christ”? (Ephesians 5:22–33 )

Works Cited

Laura Ingalls Wilder. By the Shores of Silver Lake. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.

———. Little Town on the Prairie. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.

———. These Happy Golden Years. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.

My Gifts

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When we consider the greatness of the gifts God has given us in Christ, any offering we could make in return seems rather paltry. But in looking at the men and women of the Christmas story, we find models of gift-giving that any believer can imitate. Though simple, their gifts were given out of hearts of love, gratitude, and joy.

Little House and the Big Omission (Part 1)

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The wolves howl hungrily in the Big Woods, but inside the little log cabin a cozy fire projects the lively shadows of Pa’s fiddle playing while Mary and Laura sing along. Scenes like this one from the Little House series are still etched in my mind. My mother read each of the Little House books to us children, and I recently began reading them with my daughter.

This beloved series captures the essence of pioneer life. We experience the nineteenth-century American frontier with the Ingalls family on long journeys plodding across the prairie in a covered wagon, through relentless Dakota blizzards that nearly brought a town to starvation, and against harsh farming realities such as grasshopper plagues and hailstorms. We learn perseverance, discipline, family harmony, and courage.

Yet as I’m reading through this series as an adult, I’ve noticed a big omission in the Little House series. We take for granted that Little House is a wholesome Christian series. After all, the Ingalls family prays, goes to church, and lives morally. However, the Christianity portrayed in the Little House series is merely cultural, from dull Sabbath-keeping and moral judgments to religious platitudes, such as “The Lord helps them that help themselves.”

The gospel is conspicuously absent from the Little House series and so the shell of Christianity that remains implies a works righteousness that cannot save.

So as I read the Little House series with my children, I want to point out the instances of cultural Christianity and contrast it with biblical truth. This may help them recognize cultural Christianity today, such as when we hear politicians say “God bless America” with never a mention of Christ or our need for repentance, or when we interact with that likable neighbor who believes his moral life and good deeds and occasional church attendance earn him a title deed to heaven. As we enjoy the story of American frontier life, here are some discussion questions you can use to help children distinguish between the shell of religion and real life in Christ.

Naughty Cousin Charley

In Little House in the Big Woods (210–11), Laura was astonished at how Charley disobeyed and distracted his father. She couldn’t imagine being so naughty, and she thought he got what he deserved in being stung by the yellow jackets.

Discussion Questions

  • Do you think you are better than Charley (Luke 5:32)?
  • When we compare ourselves with other people, we often think we’re relatively good and that God will accept us into heaven. But what does the Bible teach us about comparison and our true state before God (2 Corinthians 10:12; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10–24)?

Clichés

The Little House series is full of practical proverbs and optimistic sayings, such as “All’s well that ends well” and “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” In Farmer Boy (146), Mother is frightened at the possibility of being robbed, but Father reminds her, “The Lord will take care of us.” She responds, “The Lord helps them that help themselves.”

Discussion Questions

  • Is “The Lord helps them that help themselves” a biblical proverb?
  • When it comes to salvation, is this proverb applicable (Romans 5:6-11; Ephesians 2:8-9)?

Getting Even with Snooty Nellie Olsen

In On the Banks of Plum Creek (168–76), Laura shows the normal human response of loving her friends and hating her enemies, seeking to get even with haughty Nellie Olsen by chasing her into the muddy creek area infested with bloodsucking leeches. Laura’s friend thought Nellie got what she deserved, and “deep down inside her Laura felt satisfied when she thought of Nellie dancing on the creek bank” (176).

Discussion Questions

  • How does Jesus say we should respond to our enemies (Matthew 5:43–48)?
  • What did Jesus do for those who were God’s enemies (Colossians 1:21–22)?

Ma and the Indians

Several times in the Little House series, the Ingalls family encounters Indians, much to Ma’s displeasure. In By the Shores of Silver Lake (82), she declares, “I always heard you can’t trust a half-breed.” The author observes, “Ma did not like Indians; she did not like even half-Indians.”

Discussion Questions

  • What are some reasons why Ma disliked Indians? Are there any people groups that you naturally fear or dislike?
  • Are there really different races of people or only one human race descended from Adam and Eve (Acts 17:26)?
  • How does faith in Christ break down ethnic barriers and give us a love for enemies (John 3:16; Colossians 3:11; Revelation 5:9)?
  • Contrast Ma’s attitude with the love and sacrifice of David Brainerd, who sought to bring the gospel to the Indians.

Stay tuned for Part 2  with more discussion questions to help us see the Little House series through a biblical worldview and gospel lens.

Works Cited

Laura Ingalls Wilder. Little House in the Big Woods. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.

———. Farmer Boy. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.

———. On the Banks of Plum Creek. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.

———. By the Shores of Silver Lake. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.

External Compliance vs. Heart-Engaged Obedience?

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Christian education is facing a crucial and unsettling time. It has sought for years to lay a thoroughly biblical foundation for students and to impart truth on every hand. But many Christian school students are cold, and even resentful, toward that teaching. As Christian educators, we should try to bring students back to Christianity’s foundation—the truth of the gospel—so that when we address students’ behavior it is motivated by and grows out of our dedication to the gospel.

Since young people sometimes try to define truth by their own subjective perceptions, perhaps we should ask ourselves some questions about what we are teaching them. Are we teaching them the whole truth? Could we actually be dumbing down our presentation of the truth? Amid calls of “Don’t give them doctrine, make it practical!” and an obsession with “principles to live by,” have we maybe lost sight of the basics and unintentionally obscured the person of the gospel, Jesus Christ?

We often respond with more and more behavior-focused instruction when our students’ behavior seems to indicate that they do not understand Christianity. There’s a need to balance our teaching of practical do’s and don’ts with teaching Christ’s perfect sacrifice for us on the cross. Perhaps one reason the gospel has lost its wonder and richness for young people is because of our presentation of the wonderful central figure—Jesus Christ. He is sometimes overshadowed by lesser goals when He should be the focus as well as the motivator behind practical Christian living.

In 1 Corinthians 1:23 Paul also states that there were those (the Jews and Greeks) who found his preaching of Christ unacceptable. Even though the impact of Paul’s ministry on both his own generation and on every generation since is astounding, even Paul’s faithful preaching of the gospel was not welcomed by every person who heard it. The same holds true when we admonish our students. Some will accept it while others may reject the truth.

When faced with such animosity or dismissal of the truth, we may mourn our own lack of power and the great limitations of our flesh that we think make us inadequate to share the gospel that we love. We must remember that God is never frustrated or limited. His promise in Isaiah 55:11 shows that His Word is never “void.” He holds the key to our hearts and has the power to accomplish whatever He intends to—in spite of our sinful nature and wandering hearts.

God alone is able to reach our hearts and those of our students. Whatever work He intends to do in our students’ lives is not impossible. And we can help by trusting in His power, not our own, to guide us as we share His truth through our words and actions.

How do you share the Truth with your students?