BJU Press Blog

STRENGTHEN

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I realize that physical strength may actually have little or nothing to do with inner strength. But when feeling physically weak, my perception of things can be affected. I can become downcast, but suppose that I am spiritually weak as well. Christ answers that weakness with His strength. All that is required of me is to cling to Him and patiently rest in His promises.

cover image of Wonderful Words

“My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word” (Psalm 119:28). “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16). “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, . . . strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power” (Colossians 1:10–11). “Not withstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known” (II Timothy 4:17). “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (I Peter 5:10).

Golden thought: I can do all things through Christ, Who strengthens me.

[Excerpt adapted from Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer (November 18 reading).]

Education in the New World

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drawing of teacher with young students in a New England school room from the book America's Story for America's Children

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?

STATUTES

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I don’t often hear the word statute beyond the halls where legalese is spoken. But it’s a weighty word. It is law—it is binding. To love a statute and to delight in it, I must be well-acquainted with the heart that declared it and assured of His good will. Like the psalmist, my obedience is inseparable with my confidence in the goodness of God.

cover image of Wonderful Words

“I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly” (Psalm 119:8). “I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word” (Psalm 119:16). “Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes” (Psalm 119:23). “Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end” (Psalm 119:33). “My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes” (Psalm 119:48). “Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage” (Psalm 119:54). “Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes” (Psalm 119:68). “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes” (Psalm 119:71).

Golden thought: I will delight myself in Your statutes.

[Excerpt adapted from Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer (November 11 reading).]

Serving God and Studying Salamanders

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poster with salamander images and factsAfter we finished family worship, my wife asked me to work with our first grader on a science project. The assignment instructed her to make an informative poster about a wild animal. The week before, we’d found a salamander on a camping trip, so my daughter wanted to do a project on salamanders. She’d gotten a couple of books from the library, and we set out to find a few pictures.

I must confess that it was easy for me to fall into the trap of secularism that evening. Instead of remembering that God is relevant in all areas of life, I initially bought into the idea that this activity could be approached without involving Him.

It seems to me that Christians too often buy into this secular approach. We think certain activities are holy service to God, such as our family worship time, church attendance, or personal devotions. Other activities, such as cooking and cleaning, marketing, or finance are things we have to get through. They aren’t service to God. They have to be done, and we should obey God while we do them, but there isn’t a “Christian” way to do them.

church on top of house

The image in this blog post helps me understand this wrong way of thinking. The first story of the “house” is a typical suburban home. The second story is a church. Everything in the top story is “redeemable.”  Everything in the bottom is “unredeemable.” Sometimes we wrongly assume that the people who work on the upper floor in “full-time Christian service” are doing God’s work and the rest of us working down on the lower floor are second-class Christians who only serve the Lord when we participate in spiritual tasks.

But God doesn’t teach this way of thinking, secularism does. God says that everything belongs to Him, and He has something to say about it.

As I helped my daughter with her project, my mind at first fell into the trap of thinking we’d moved from God’s things to earthly things, but thankfully my daughter’s textbook didn’t take that approach. On page 68, the BJU Press Science 1 textbook teaches:

“God gives animals what they need. But He also wants people to care for animals. In Proverbs [12:10] the Bible tells people to take care of animals. A good man takes proper care of his animals. We give glory to God when we take care of the animals He made.”

This kind of teaching helps my daughter understand that everything should be service to God.

So that evening as I helped my daughter with her salamander project after family worship, we were really moving from one service to God to another. My daughter and I learned what salamanders eat and where they live. On a small, first grader level, we were learning how to obey God’s command to take care of the world.

What kind of teaching are your children receiving?

SON OF MAN

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It takes the work of the Spirit in our hearts to see the Lord Jesus as both God and man. To see Him only as one, and not the other, is to be left sadly savior-less. See here how Peter gets it—as we do—when with Peter-like conviction we confess Christ to be Lord of our life.

cover image of Wonderful Words

Jesus asked, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? . . . But whom say ye that I am?” and Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:13, 15–16). “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11). “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14). Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). John wrote, “I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot” (Revelation 1:12–13).

Golden thought: The Son of man is come to seek that which was lost.

[Excerpt adapted from Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer (November 4 reading).]