Bible

Education in the New World

November 17, 2015 by Ben

I remember my parents being criticized by many family members for taking us out of the public schools. But just like thousands of other Christian families today, my parents didn’t want their kids influenced by the agenda of modern society. Today’s exodus of Christian families from the secular public schools is reminiscent of another pilgrimage.

When the Pilgrims came to America, they left Europe so that they could be the primary influence on their own children. It was a difficult first year, but the Lord provided. As they offered up thanksgiving, other deeply committed Christians who wanted the same opportunity for their children started pilgrimages to North America. Soon other communities popped up in the Massachusetts Bay Colony with the intent of establishing “a city on a hill.” These parents wanted to be governed by God’s law and to train their children to live the same way. It was their desire that future townships could be shining examples of communities committed to serving God.

Committed to Education

These Puritan parents and leaders were committed to godly learning. They believed that reading was critical to knowing God through His Word and to following the laws of their townships. So parents took the time to teach their children how to read in spite of the difficulties of frontier life.

However, the commitment to education began to diminish within twenty-five years. Parents were beginning to be negligent in teaching their children reading and Christian doctrine. So in 1642, the Puritan leaders in the Massachusetts Bay Colony gathered to establish a law requiring that parents teach their children to read and “that all masters of families do once a week (at the least) catechize their children . . . in the grounds & principles of Religion.” [text of Massachusetts Act of 1642]

More Challenges

Five years later, the Puritan leaders gathered again and outlined a plan to provide assistance to parents for the education of their children. They believed that “one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, [was] to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures” by preventing children from learning to read. [text of Massachusetts 1647 “Old Deluder, Satan” Act]

So the Puritans provided a teacher for every township with fifty families to help them in teaching their children to read and write. If the township had a hundred families, they made provision for constructing a school building. Parents made a nominal contribution to pay the salaries of the teachers, but they were still responsible for their children’s education. All of this learning was motivated by a desire that children know the Lord through reading His Word.

Startling Changes

Imagine what the Puritans would think if they walked through the halls of today’s schools. How would they respond to the discovery that education has been ripped from its intended purpose—service to God? I think the Puritans would do what many Christian parents are doing today and take their children away from the evil influences. After all, they were willing to take their families into the wilderness of Massachusetts to give their children a thoroughly Christian education.

But even after that arduous journey, Puritan parents still faced challenges in providing education for their children. Yet they were willing to make the sacrifices they believed were necessary to ensure their children received that biblical education.

Providing our children with Bible-based education is vital, and BJU Press supports families like yours and mine in making this kind of commitment to Christian education by creating textbooks that present every academic subject and every aspect of life through the lens of what God has to say about it.

Are you ready to make the commitment?

How to Apply Deuteronomy 6

June 9, 2015 by Karin

In a six-part series, we explored family devotions—the importance of it as well as ways to structure the time, to overcome obstacles, and to keep the gospel central. A regular family devotions time enables us to systematically disciple our children in “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27 NKJV). But God’s Word should so permeate our hearts and minds that we naturally talk about it throughout the day with our children (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

God’s command to the Israelites to teach their children His words is reiterated to believers in the New Testament. After instructing children to obey and honor their parents as taught in the Ten Commandments, the apostle Paul admonished parents, “Do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4 NKJV).

In order to diligently teach God’s Word to our children, we must first treasure it in our own hearts (Deuteronomy 6:6). When we are deepening our love for the Lord and saturating our minds with His Word, talking to our children about the things of the Lord will be a regular overflow. In an effort to be more intentional, for a few months I kept a journal about opportunities I had to point my children to the Lord during normal events of the day.

Here are some entries from my journal. These moments are not intended to be replicated but to be examples of implementing Deuteronomy 6 teaching in day-to-day life. Many of my journal entries include analogies (tying a life event or an item in creation to a spiritual truth). As you share, seek to be gospel-centered.

Journal of Deuteronomy 6 Teachable Moments

Tuesday: My young children got scared and ran to me when there was a loud series of fire alarm tests in our apartment building. When we are afraid, we run to someone stronger, and that should ultimately be the Lord. I reminded the kids that God is in control and that He is with us. We talked about how a fire alarm is good because it warns us of a fire so we can escape. God’s Word has fire alarms, warning us about the lake of fire and how to escape the punishment for our sins through trusting in Jesus.
Wednesday: My child confessed doing something wrong while I wasn’t watching. We talked about how God always sees us, even when Mommy isn’t looking. We can’t get away with secret sin. Through a song, we’ve learned this verse: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3 NKJV).
Thursday: We were playing in a room where the curtains were closed. We talked about how there was a curtain in the temple separating the holy place from the most holy place. When Jesus died, that curtain was torn in two (at that point, we flung open the curtains), symbolizing the access we have to the Father because the flesh of Jesus was torn on the cross for our sins (Matthew 27:51; Hebrews 10:19–22).

I no longer keep a journal of my Deuteronomy 6 opportunities, but perhaps I’ll begin writing them down again if I find myself falling into complacency. Teaching my children diligently must spring from a heart that is captivated with the glory and grace of the Lord and saturated with a personal knowledge of His Word.

May the Lord bless you with wisdom as you seize the opportune, fleeting moments to teach your children along the way. “From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15 NKJV).

From Student to Teacher

April 21, 2015 by Karin

One summer as a young teenager, I begged my parents not to give me a teaching role in our backyard Bible club. My big sister was the one that all the kids adored, and besides, I got stage fright, even in front of a crowd of five-year-olds. Somehow, I still ended up teaching the missions story for the club. At the first meeting, I read the story directly from the book, making little eye contact with the children. To my surprise, they eagerly listened, and I slowly started to engage them more.

Another summer during my high school years, my parents sent me to a Christian youth camp that focused on preparing teens to lead Bible clubs. We learned how to creatively introduce, explain, and review memory verses and songs. We took notes on the components of a Bible lesson and the basics of classroom management. We practiced sharing the gospel. After our training, we spent the rest of the summer going into the neighborhoods of our city and leading week-long Bible clubs. It was during that time that my heart was irreversibly captured with a love for teaching children, especially teaching them biblical truth.

The next few years brought more opportunities to sharpen my newfound desire to educate—from teaching in Sunday school, vacation Bible school, and after-school Bible clubs to teaching English as a second language in China. I eagerly consumed articles, books, and courses on effective teaching. I even took notes while observing my favorite teachers at church, on BJU Press Distance Learning videos, and at college. Now I have the joy of teaching my own children, the most challenging and rewarding teaching role I’ve ever had. I’m thankful my parents gently pushed me into teaching, unlikely candidate though I was.

I’d like to encourage parents to think of ways they can give their teenage students opportunities to develop teaching skills. It may not come naturally, but students can learn through avenues such as mentoring under an experienced Sunday school teacher, taking a teaching class, reading a book on effective teaching, practicing with younger siblings, and volunteering for children’s ministries at their local church.

The benefits your students will receive from improving their speech and communication skills through teaching might initiate a lifelong career. Learning to teach will likely be an asset in their future families (perhaps even through home education), church ministries, and careers. How will you encourage your teenage students to step out from behind the student desk, face the crowd, and teach?

Family Devotions (Part 6)

April 6, 2015 by Karin

As we teach our children the Scripture during family devotions, we must not miss the main point, which is the gospel, the good news of God’s redeeming plan through Christ. The Bible isn’t merely a book of character-building stories to orient a child’s moral compass; rather, it uncovers our spiritual bankruptcy before a holy God and reveals our wonderful Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

While the gospel is central, there’s a reason the Bible isn’t a four-point salvation presentation in tract form. We ought not to ignore any of God-breathed Scripture, all of which is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV). Even the genealogies, long and tedious as they can be, show the authenticity of the Bible’s history and the faithfulness of God in preserving the line of Christ.

Law, history, poetry, and prophecy in the Old Testament also serve a purpose.

Law

Passages on the law of God point our children to God’s perfection, our inability to meet God’s righteous demands, and the Lamb of God, who perfectly fulfilled the law and shed His blood for our sin “that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24 NKJV). God gives new hearts so believers have the power to obey the imperatives given in the New Testament (1 John 2:3–4, 3:9).

History

The historical books in the Bible dramatically tell our children the story line of redemption, as each character and every event bring us closer to the climax of Christ’s coming. The New Testament writers demonstrated how the Old Testament characters showed our need for Jesus and salvation by faith:

Adam and Eve: Romans 5:12–21
Cain and Abel: Hebrews 11:4
Noah: Hebrews 11:7
Abraham: Galatians 3
Moses: Romans 10:5–10
David: Acts 2:25–36

Poetry

The Bible’s unsurpassed poetry reveals God’s character and works. The worshipful psalms and instructive proverbs teach our children the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10). Such reverence should drive them to be reconciled with God through the cross. On the cross, the sinless Christ bore our sin and then rose from the dead in victory over sin and death, granting eternal life to all who turn to Him in repentance and faith.

Prophecy

Reading the books of prophecy with our children reveals man’s stony heart and need for God to give a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). This regeneration was made possible through the perfect life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah. Detailed prophecies pinpointed the person and work of Christ, hundreds of years before He fulfilled them.

As we engage our children in family devotions, we must remember that our children aren’t born with neutral hard drives that simply need to be programmed with the right software. They’re born with the deadly virus of a sin nature passed on from our first father Adam. That’s why Jesus said we must be born again (John 3:3–8).

We can’t cause this change of heart in our children, so that they repent and believe in the Lord Jesus. But we can be faithful to pray for them and teach them through family devotions, so that they when they’re grown, we can remind them of their biblical heritage (2 Timothy 3:14–15).

May the Lord grant us grace in the task of family discipleship. What a privilege we parents have to lead our little ones to the Savior!

Read the previous family devotions posts.

Family Devotions (Part 5)

March 24, 2015 by Karin

Here are my previous posts in this series on family devotions:

Let’s look at some additional obstacles to having regular family worship and consider ways to overcome them.

Bad Attitudes

Set an example of a thankful attitude—we get to worship God; it’s not something we have to do. As parents, we must quickly recognize when we have a bad attitude ourselves and repent of it before the family. Perhaps my bad attitude is even a reaction to my child’s bad attitude, but that doesn’t absolve me of my responsibility to walk in the Spirit and bear His fruit (Galatians 5:16–26).

When dealing with a bad attitude, ask yourself questions like the following, and encourage your children to do the same.

“Do I have a right to be upset?” (Genesis 4:6–7; Jonah 4:9).
“If God were here (and He is), would I want to be acting this way in front of Him?”
“Am I trusting the sovereignty of God, knowing that He is in control of how things are going today?”
“Is there a sin in my attitude or response that I need to repent of?”
“How can I rejoice, pray, and give thanks in this situation?” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18).

From the Old Testament stories of complaining Israelites in the wilderness and God’s promise to replace hearts of stone with hearts of flesh to the New Testament epistles with instruction for Christian living, Scripture addresses wrong attitudes head-on. Simply reading through the Bible will give plenty of opportunities to teach about how to receive a new heart through salvation and how to maintain a pleasing attitude toward the Lord.

Disinterest

Have realistic expectations regarding attention spans. A toddler sitting for ten minutes is impressive. If the older children are ready for a twenty-minute family time, perhaps you can give the toddler a book or some toys to play with quietly in the same room.

Be creative in keeping the children interested in devotions, perhaps occasionally livening things up with pictures, puppets, skits, object lessons, or coloring. The Bible communicates truth creatively (think of Christ’s parables), and so can we. Encourage the older children to think of ways to capture the interest of the younger ones. Involve older children in the reading, and challenge them through lively discussions.

Help Needed

The wife can be her husband’s helpmeet as he shepherds the family spiritually by being his cheerleader and giving words or notes of encouragement. She can ask her husband for specific ways she can help. By managing the household well, she can ensure that family devotions aren’t crowded out by the hectic pace of life (Titus 2:4–5).

Since the mother generally spends more time with the children than the father does, she can reinforce the family devotions by Deuteronomy 6 teaching at opportune moments. She can also help the little ones get up to speed for family Bible reading by telling them Bible stories with pictures.

If a godly father isn’t present to lead the family spiritually, God can still use her alone, as He did Timothy’s mother and grandmother, to teach the life-giving Scriptures, which lead to salvation through faith in Christ (Acts 16:1; 2 Timothy 1:5; 3:14–15).

Stay tuned for the final post in this series. We’ll talk about how to not miss the main point in family devotions.