Parenting Under Attack

4/4     Resurrect Your Family –
“Raising Your Family from the Dead”         Philippians 3:10 ff. (Easter)

4/11    The Workaholic Parent –
“What’s at stake if you don’t slow down”         1 Samuel 2:22-36

4/18    Dealing With Children Who Fall –
“What do I do now that things aren’t perfect”     Genesis 4:1-26

4/25     The Clueless Parent –
“When priorities get all messed up”            Genesis 19

5/2    The Adoption Option –
“Comparing our adoption as God’s children”    Ephesians 5:1-14

5/9     The Favoring Parent –
“When mom’s love goes way wrong”         Genesis 27 (Mother’s Day)

5/23    “Parenting Under Attack” Parenting Workshop    4:30-7:30 @ the Delaplaine

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Font  — Stereofidelic

Blurb: Parents are constantly under attack. They are bombarded by marketers trying to get them to buy the right kind of crib, straighten their kid’s teeth, the trendiest toy, or even feeling guilty about saving for college. The world feels like it is closing in when their kids seem to struggle or even just keeping up with the hectic schedule of events.  Not to mention bills, sicknesses, or family disasters.

There is also a very real spiritual attack against parents.  These forces are trying to keep parents from having an impact on the character development of their kids. They are working against having solid and secure families.
In light of this very real attack, the Bible gives parents truth and tools to fight back.  During this series we will look at biblical parents who didn’t always get it right, and how God can use their example to turn your family around.  You can stand up and succeed while under attack.
It’s tough out there. Let us arm you for the battle.

Scripture Memory:  Philippians 3:13-14

My Next Steps for the Series:
1)    Memorize the Bible Verse – Philippians 3:13-14
2)    Commit to pray for your children 5 times a week for six weeks.
3)    Begin a family devotion time – commit to 3 times a week for six weeks.
4)    To have a special outing alone with each of your children over the six weeks of the series
5)    Attend the free parenting workshop “Parenting Under Attack” on 5/2

Parenting Workshop:
•    May 2nd, 4:30-7:30pm @ the Delaplaine

Cub Scouts from Pack 277 had their annual camping “overnighter” at Mar-Lu-Ridge in Jefferson, MD last night and today. Rain threatened but held off all day, and the cloud cover added much needed relief from the heat. Activities included setting up and breaking down camp, learning about rules for hiking and earning their “hiking” belt loop,” preparing their own dinner and breakfast, a campfire program, learning about maps and compasses, where they earned their “maps and compass” belt loop, “whipping” a rope and knot tying. The boys went to bed around 9:00pm and most were up by 6:30am.

The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:23, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you.”[1] Paul is discussing various practices regarding the Lord’s Supper, but in a broader interpretation he is also sharing something he has learned regarding Jesus and is passing it on in the form of his teaching to another.

What was taught by the apostle Paul has been passed down from one generation to another. This transferring of information has gone on for centuries. The shape that this transfer of knowledge takes is called the curriculum. Brummelen explains, “Curriculum is what is taught, particularly the subject matter contained in a school’s course of study.”[2] This choice of what to teach and what not to teach is a mighty trust, and despite heresies, wars, and false teachers, the Bible has come to this generation without any error. Brummelen goes on to say, “Academic traditionalists plan curriculum by dividing the program of study into subjects. Then they list the content to be taught by topics and subtopics. Implicit in the definition is the belief that the aim of education is to transit a body of knowledge.”[3]

In any teaching environment there must be the determination of what is to be taught to the next generation. What information is to move forward? In the church environment some purchase dated curriculum and are dependent upon the publishing house, to a certain degree, to determine what they will teach their children for a given period of time. So they abdicate the responsibility to choose what to teach to another source. Other churches write their own curriculum and therefore have a high degree of control over what is taught, but these are few and tend to be churches with a larger membership base.[4] Others do little planning or find something to teach on a week-to-week basis. Whatever the scope of the ministry, at some point someone has to choose what will be taught in the classroom.

Barna has argued that the most successful children’s ministries are those who have determined what each age group will be taught and have a plan for a child all the way through their ministry. He argues that those churches that plan for all of a child’s years in a church environment are the ones that have the most successful impact upon their spiritual formation. Barna states, “One of the most startling revelations I encountered on this journey was finding that many of the effective ministries have a long-term plan—in some cases an 18-year developmental plan with specific ideals outlined for each age group from infants through high school seniors. While those churches allow for spontaneity and flexibility despite their long-range planning, they are fully committed to implementing their “big picture” plan.[5]”

The first problem is to determine the foundational doctrines that children should be taught, what Barna refers to as their “big picture” plan. It is a harder task than one may originally think. If one begins with the assumption that the average church teacher has a student for one to two hours on a given Sunday, then the volume of optional teaching material from the Bible far outweighs the available time in the classroom. How then does the teacher, church, or publishing house determine what to teach, and what not to teach? Is there a biblical mandate? Is there a traditional point of reference? What did the people who have chosen to face this question come up with, and what was their rationale for the choices that they made?

These questions can begin to be answered by going back to the beginning of the early church. With the passing of Passover and Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, thousands were saved and then proceeded to go back to their homes in areas other than Jerusalem. Because of this movement of God, new churches were beginning to form by the apostles and unnamed believers who went back to their home towns. Antioch is an example of such a church that formed soon after Pentecost, by someone other than an apostle. The apostles were concerned for the doctrinal integrity of this church since they had not personally been present to teach them the Scriptures, so they sent a group to examine what was happening.[6]

In order for these new churches to grow, and for others to be founded, the apostles felt that there was a need to have a more systematic form of instruction to ensure the “authenticity of faith and consistency in practice.”[7] What developed was a document entitled “Didache.” It is a church manual or handbook for the training of new believers. This document also resulted because of the apostles’ concern that their teachings remain doctrinally pure and that the content survive after the transmission from person to person.[8]

During the early church there also developed the practice of catechism and catechumen. These words are derived from Greek words meaning to “instruct.” This would be a course of instruction that had three levels of instruction and would take from two to three years to complete. It was only after a person had gone through catechism that they would be allowed to be a part of the local fellowship of the church.

There are at least two reasons why this was necessary during the time of the early church, but may not necessarily apply today. First, very few people could read, and so the process of having a teacher give oral instruction and then have the student quote material back was a very effective method of teaching. For the purposes of this discussion, the researcher is only referring to churches in the United States, so literacy does not effect the spiritual formation of most churches.

Second, the church was under great persecution; therefore, this stress could cause the new convert to recant their faith. The early church leadership wanted to give a person enough time to grow in their faith and learning so when they were baptized and became apart of the church they would be doctrinally sound and mature in their faith. The catechism “declined in its effectiveness once it became expected of children to be baptized and when pagans, lacking genuine motivation for joining the faith, were commanded by law to attend church.”[9] Therefore, when following the Christian religion became state mandated, the need to prepare new believers for a persecuting world no longer existed.

Just as in the times of the early church, there is still a need to maintain scriptural integrity and doctrinal purity. Unlike the early church, however, today’s church has the complete canon of Scriptures, which are inerrant. History then does give some foundational thoughts regarding what is essential to a scope of teaching, and it does give an outline for priority. One could study early catechisms to see what the early church found to be of most importance.

Another source of deciding what to teach could be various Christian creeds. The Apostle’s Creed, for example, also gives several foundational Christian beliefs that could be a church’s core teaching to its children.

To answer the question of how these decisions are made today, the researcher contacted three publishers of children’s ministry curriculum. Their responses are given in subsequent articles. Following their responses is overview of the interviews, and remarks will be made at the end of the interview descriptions.

[1] 1 Cor 11:23, NIV

[2] Harro Van Brummelen, Steppingstones to Curriculum (Colorado Springs: Purposeful Design, 2002), 13.

[3] Ibid.

[4] For example, Willow Creek Community Church publishes a children’s ministry curriculum entitled “Promiseland” and can be found at www.willowcreek.org/promiseland. Another example would be Fellowship Church which produces “Elevate” and can be found at www.creativepastors.com/elevate.php. These curriculums are used within their own church and are available for other churches to purchase.

[5] Barna, Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions, 100.

[6] Acts 11:23

[7] Anthony and Benson, Exploring the History and Philosophy of Christian Education, 107.

[8] Ibid., 109.

[9] Ibid.

There once was a religious man who went walking in the woods to escape the feelings of inevitable doom – which one never escapes by running away; but he tried.

Along the trail the religious man felt “called by God” to carve a walking stick. Thinking he would be like Moses of old, or that he would be leading some vast multitudes shortly he began looking for a tree to cut down. Remembering the passage from his holy book where a man choose foolishly by gathering too few arrows, or not pulling the arrows in the bow back far enough – he chose a “tree” that was big and different and then began to carry it – He was to carry the staff at all times, everywhere he went.

So the religious man continued down the path into the “wilderness.” He then felt that “the Lord laid upon his heart” to grow out his beard until God had taken him through the time of inevitable doom – where he would then shave it. Content that he would not actually have to do anything until about 8-14 hours (the next morning). With this revelation he continued on his journey.

Also, as the religious man walked he felt called by God to fast until the moment of inevitable doom passed and he was told to eat once again by God.

Some time and miles past.

The next “calling” from God was that he was to remove his shoes (back to the whole Moses and burning bush thing) and leave them some where along the trail and then walk back and retrieve them at a later date – perhaps when the feelings of inevitable doom had passed. But he was also not to wear shoes any more until told to do so by God.

So at this point the religious man felt called by God to carry a staff, not shave his beard, go without food, and not to wear shoes until told to do so by God. It all seemed to be directly related to his feelings in inevitable doom (the escaping into the wilderness, and the tasks given to him from God).

At the end of his trail he took off his shoes and walked back to his point of beginning. There was much snow and ice on the ground. His feet became bruised and cut.

He decided to leave the staff in the back of his car because is wife would have become angry if he brought it in the house.

He shaved the next morning and ate breakfast and dinner the next day.

The only thing that the religious man followed by the impressions on his heart were the old shoes he left in the woods (that he had intended to replace any way.)

Did the religious man really hear the voice of God?