Teach Them

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:6-7

While visiting a website recently (http://familyreadingbible.com/) I came across some startling facts:
-Less than 10% of Christian families read the Bible together
-Our children are in church 40 hours a year and they are with us about 3000

I am very aware that the Bible clearly gives the responsibility of spiritual formation of children to the parents. We are all pretty familiar with the above verses from Deuteronomy, but the Bible is really filled with similar verses mandating us, as parents, to teach our children the ways of the Lord:

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Deuteronomy 4:9

Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.” Deuteronomy 4:10

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. Deuteronomy 11:18-21

he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 32:46

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. Proverbs 1:8-9

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4

But as for you, hold on to what you have learned and know to be true. Remember where you learned them. You have known the Holy Writings since you were a child. They are able to give you wisdom that leads to being saved from the punishment of sin by putting your trust in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 3:14-15

And the list goes on and on....

Since our return from the United States we felt convicted that perhaps we weren't doing enough to spiritually form the children in our home. I know that might sound crazy I mean, we are missionaries, right?! We are leaders of a church, right?! But, the truth is, we weren't amongst the 10% of families who read the Bible together. Yes, we pray together before meals, or on occasion when there is a problem. We have our daily quiet times and have taught our youth to do the same. We talk about the Lord frequently and try our best to model what it means to live a life for Him, but we weren't actually in the Word on a regular basis with them. We would consult the Word with them when certain situations or questions arose, but we hadn't been setting down regularly and studying it with them. We began thinking and praying for how to begin this new study with our youth. There are tons of resources out there, and lots of ideas. There is even a family Bible that makes it all simple. What we decided, though, based on our youths' current spiritual level and maturity is to give them weekly questions to investigate and study. What we do is each Monday we present B and E with a question to investigate. The question can be theological (From where did Cain take his wife?), to apologetic (Explain how Noah got the dinosaurs on the ark), to life application (Is it okay for Christians to listen to non-Christian music?), to doctrinal (Is it okay for women to wear pants?), to controversial (Should Christians support the death penalty?). Then on Saturday after dinner, we all get together and discuss what we have found. It has been lots of fun discussing these topics with them and watching them dig deeper into the Word and other resources to discover answers. Our prayer is that through this they will learn how to answer some of the hard questions, that sometimes it's okay to say "I don't know," and how to defend their faith. We hope that they will be able to do just as Peter instructs..."Always be ready to tell everyone who asks you why you believe as you do. Be gentle as you speak and show respect." 1 Peter 3:15

If you are interested in studying the Bible with your children, here are some links to some great resources that we have found:

www.gotquestions.org   On this website you can even sign up for the question of the week which they will deliver to your inbox.

ww.answersingenesis.org Amazing resource and organization! Their Creation Museum in Kentucky is an absolute must for every family!

www.dividedthemovie.com Very thought-provoking movie. We can't say that we agree with 100% of what they say, but they certainly left us thinking.

The Law

While checking my Facebook account yesterday I noticed that a young lady from one of my English classes posted that she was sick.  Like most people do, I commented on her status and said that I hoped that she gets to feeling better soon and then I went on with my day as normal. This morning, however, I noticed that she responded back to my comment with something that caught me off guard, "it's not just that I'm physically sick...my heart is sick also." 

I recently came across a verse that stood out to me bodly. It's a verse that I have admittedly read a thousand times over,and understood well; but in this season of my life, the verse spoke to my heart.

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 NIV

You see, the "law of Christ" is something that has been on the forefront of my mind lately.  What is it, exactly?  Religious leaders that surround me would lead me to believe that it is the mosaic law, or at least certain parts of it.  I, however, believe something different.  Christ said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40.  All of the law, all of it, not some of it, but ALL of it, is summarized in these two commandments.  It all boils down to one word...love. 

I recently found myself in an intense discussion with a religious leader over some trivial matters of the law. This leader felt that we were still under these laws, and I felt like we were only under the law of love. Ironically, in my quest to show this religous leader that I was right, I missed the whole point of what I was actually preaching myself. I failed to love him.  A journal that I am reading put it this way..."I know I am often tested when I tell the Lord I want His way - not mine.  Usually, these challenges come through relationships.  Someone else gets the glory for something I've done, or some other trivial event.  If I really think that other guy is better than I am, if I genuinely consider her better than myself, well, wouldn't I want that other person to receive the glory?" 

So, what does all this mean to me as a Christian? What does it mean to me as a missionary and ministry leader? I think that it means that in all my busyness of "ministry" I sometimes forget what real ministry is. I sometimes get so busy with daunting administrative tasks and the pressure of crossing things off my "to-do" list that I don't have time to set down with a hurting soul and talk. I often fail to bear others' burdens because I am too busy working for the Lord!

A couple of weeks ago a lost young man came to visit us early one morning. Normally I would have been bothered by his unannounced early morning visit because it would have slowed me down or interrupted my already too-busy day. This day, however, I happened to be free so I asked this young soul if he would like breakfast and I preceded to take the time to whip him up a great breakfast and even put it all together on a pretty plate and serve it complete with a cloth napkin. I then sat down and talked with him while he ate.  This, I later thought, is ministry. It's not my ability to write a great mission statement or to conduct a church leadership meeting well. It's not the color of the church walls, the type of music we listen to, what version of the Bible we use, or my ability to memorize scripture. These things, of course, aren't bad it's just that I lost perspective. 

We have found ourselves in a very reflective season of our ministry. One where we are asking ourselves to really define what our ministry is and to refocus on eternal things instead of bickering about the trivial. A time where we hope to learn what it truly means to love our enemies and, out of love and humility, give up the need to be right.  A time to learn more about what it means to die to ourselves and how to really carry each others' burdens.  I time where I hope to whip up more breakfasts and respond to more youth just the way I did to the hurting young lady on Facebook this morning..."would you like to talk?"