Just as a toddler learns language by listening to what they don’t yet understand, so with Christian truth. We’re giving them a framework for life and biblical concepts that they won’t fully grasp, but that they will increasingly grasp as they grow. Their level of understanding will catch up with what they’re hearing.... continue reading
Family Bible times don’t always go where we expect them to. To be honest, sometimes they don’t even start how we intend! Someone is shoving their brother, another child only seems capable of being upside down… Their attention span is suddenly so short! And yet the Bible is full of gripping true stories, entertaining illustrations, and of course is God’s life-changing word.... continue reading
The words we use in our gospel explanations can feel so far removed from everyday conversation. Concepts like sin and punishment are understood less and less, since our postmodern culture has lost the concept of God. These words can be associated with a kind of angry, personal vengeance and a negative self-image.... continue reading
Fires on mountains. Warriors and battles. Lions not eating people and bears actually eating people. Queens and slave-girls speaking truth to power. The kids’ fiction shelves of your local bookstore (if it’s open) contain no stories more exciting than Old Testament narratives offer. Of course, these are not “just stories”—they’re true, they are part of the great overarching story of salvation, and they display God’s character—but they are also stories, and exciting ones.... continue reading
In an ideal world, I would be really-good-dad-Carl who answers his kids’ questions about Christian faith with seven things in mind. In the real world, I’m flawed-but-trying-Carl and I score about 2 out of 7 most times I answer my kids’ questions about faith. That’s ok, because if my children (and yours) are to be saved, it will be by the grace of God through the work of his Spirit, not by the godliness of their parents through the brilliance of their answers.... continue reading
