Two Vacations With a Purpose

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If you are looking for an idea for a future family vacation, why not do something that is fun and purposeful at the same time? There are lots of options, but this post is going to highlight two ideas that are impactful and enjoyable. 

Creation Museum Guide

We have been to the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter a couple of times as a family. You will need a couple days, ideally one day for the Ark and one for the Creation Museum. A half a day was perfect for our children, but all families are different. The movies, music, displays, and book store are all fantastic. The apologetic material that we purchased for our children have been read again and again. The staff at the Creation Museum created an educational guide that is worth purchasing and will help you bring some intentionality and talking points to the different displays. They have created different guides for several grade levels, K-2nd, 3rd-6th, and 7th-adult.  There are both student guides and leader guides. Individual copies cost $1.99. We have added one extra element that has really hammered home the truth that our children experience at the Creation Museum. On our drive home we also stop at a natural history museum and discuss the naturalistic, evolutionary beliefs in the displays. On our last trip, my children had a wonderful discussion with the tour guide at the natural history museum about the fallacies behind evolution. We’ve done this trip twice with our children and they recently requested that we do it again. I guess they enjoyed it!

Washington D.C.

We have family that lives in Washington D.C. so visit every few years. There is no shortage of museums and sites to see in Washington D.C. Stephen McDowell, the founder of the Providence Foundation, created a helpful tool that can be used on a self-guided tour of many of the most popular sites in Washington D.C. including the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, the Capitol Building, the National Archives, the Washington Monument, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial. For a brief overview, click on this link. For $16.99, you can purchase this book. This unique book will guide you through famous historical sites, recounting important providential events, and tell the Christian history of the people who founded this nation and who are honored with monuments, memorials, and statues. Includes: Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Mt. Vernon, Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown, Monticello, and more. Presents biographical sketches of many Founders, highlighting their personal faith: Washington, Jefferson, William Penn, Madison, Patrick Henry, and more. From the paintings in the Capitol to the story of the Liberty Bell, learn how our national buildings, monuments, and heroes declare that America was a nation birthed with a firm reliance on Almighty God. 

30 Day Prayer Challenge for Grandparents

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Like it or not, we are in a spiritual battle for the hearts, souls and minds of our children, grandchildren and future generations. It’s time we battle with the strongest weapon in our arsenal; it’s time we battle with PRAYER.

In preparation for Grandparents Day (Nationally recognized day to honor and celebrate grandparents on September 12, 2021), the Christian Grandparenting Network is inviting grandparents everywhere to join a 30 Day Prayer Challenge.

What is the 30 Day Prayer Challenge?

The 30 Day Prayer Challenge is an opportunity for grandparents to:

  • COMMIT to praying for their grandchildren for 30 consecutive days.
  • ENGAGE in purposeful, intentional, and specific prayers for their grandchildren.
  • RECEIVE SUPPORT and ENCOURAGEMENT from others as they make an immense investment into the lives of their grandchildren.

When Does the 30 Day Prayer Challenge take Place?

The challenge begins on August 14th. (Please note that if this timeframe doesn’t fit you schedule, you commit to a 30 Day Prayer Challenge anytime during the year.)

To download the prayer challenge, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Biblical Worldview is Available as an Audiobook

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A few months ago I was contacted by Charles Markert, who had just finished reading my book Biblical Worldview. He was impacted by the message of the book and convinced that it needed to become an audiobook so it could be listened to as well as read. Charles believed this so deeply that he offered to record and master the audio. The 6 hours and 29 minute audiobook is now available at Amazon, Audible and iTunes. Thank you Charles for your excellent work on this audiobook!

George Barna’s research suggests that extremely low numbers of children have a biblical worldview. His research suggests that less than 10% of children think, act, and live according to biblical principles. If true, that is a troubling statistic that should concern all parents, grandparents, and pastors. This book was written to help children develop a biblical worldview through the influence of family, church, and school. Here is a summary of the book.

In this brief book, you’ll discover what a biblical worldview is, why it matters, and how to establish this foundation in the life of a child. Filled with practical tools and ideas, Biblical Worldview will help you lead children to lifelong faith in Jesus and a fruitful ministry serving him in the world. It’s a helpful resource for parents, grandparents, teachers, and church leaders – anyone that leads children in their spiritual development. 

There is a battle being fought for the hearts and minds of children, and much is at stake. The world is working diligently to assimilate young people to its way of thinking. The beliefs our children develop inevitably shape their decisions and determine their eternal destiny. In a word, worldview is about beliefs. This book will equip you to help young people develop a strong biblical foundation and doctrinal framework for a biblical worldview. Biblical worldview is built on the foundation of the authority, inerrancy, and sufficiency of the bible. This book will help you establish this foundation in the hearts and minds of young people so that they trust the bible, think about life from a Christian perspective, and live according to biblical principles. 

Our worldview is developed as we establish beliefs about four critical topics: 

  1. Creation: How did I get here? What is my purpose? 
  2. Rebellion: What went wrong? Why is there evil and suffering? 
  3. Salvation: What is the solution? Where do I find hope? 
  4. Restoration: What happens in the future? How do we transform lives and change the world? 

These four pillars create the framework for a person’s worldview. It is critical that all four pillars of faith are firmly established and that deep-down convictions are developed around these biblical truths. Biblical Worldview is a serious call to shape the next generation’s beliefs with the bible. The aim of Biblical Worldview is embracing gospel truth for godly living. This book is a short introduction to biblical worldview and will equip you to help children develop a biblically-based view of life that will transform their homes, communities, and nations.

Philosophy of Homeschooling, Emptiness of the Modern Home, and Countries With Slavery

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I ran across a handful of resources that I wanted to let you know about as I found each of them helpful in different ways. 

5 Flavors of Home Educating

Home educating has grown considerably over the past year and many couples are thinking about homeschooling in the future. If you are currently home educating or considering it, then this 25 minute video may be valuable to watch. My wife and I are veteran homeschool parents of five. One of the questions we get regularly is regarding what approach to take and the differences in homeschool philosophy. This is one of the most concise, clear explanations I’ve found. If you are thinking about taking the dive into homeschool this fall, then this would be a great video to watch. Jen and I are predominately a hybrid of Charlotte Mason (we use a literature based approach) with a classical leaning. We have many friends who utilize a different philosophy than us and are thriving as well. Listen to this video and identify which approach may fit your family. 

Making the Home a Place of Purpose and Production

I found the article A Place to Eat, Sleep, and Watch: Emptiness in the Modern Household by Desiring God very encouraging and insightful. The author notes how changes in the industrial era impacted the home by causing a majority of valuable endeavors to be outsourced, which has greatly reduced the impact and value of home. Education, care of elderly, recreation, grandparents, discipleship, and business have all been outsourced emptying the home of people (extended family, school aged children, singe, and sick), productivity (home industry, education of children, involvement in community), and with all this, the purpose of the home as decreased. As a result, the home has become a place to eat, sleep, and watch shows. Being intentional to make the home a hub for people and a place of production will help to restore a sense of purpose.  

Countries that Still Have Slavery

I found this website sobering and helpful in creating perspective regarding the current cultural conversations happening in America. Today, over 167 countries enslave people, which impacts over 46 million individuals. The top countries include India (18.4 million), China (3.4 million), Pakistan (2.1 million), Bangladesh (1.5 million) Uzbekistan (1.2 million). These are real people in modern slavery. The current discourse in America about racial issues pale in comparison to the reality of what is happening in these other countries. While America is not perfect, we have made great progress that has not occurred in other parts of the world and the reason for this success in America is Christianity. If you would like to learn more about what countries have modern slavery and the numbers, click on the link above. 

4 Characteristics of a Disciple-Making Grandparent Podcast

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Are you a grandparent or do you know a grandparent who wants to leave an eternal impact on one’s children and grandchildren? If so, tune in to hear Dr. Josh Mulvihill discuss four characteristics of a disciple-making grandparent. This talk was first given as a main session seminar at the Legacy Grandparenting Summit and is now being made available on the Legacy Coalition’s podcast to listen to on demand. Be encouraged as you listen and capture a biblical vision for grandparenting!

Two Curriculum Resources for Your Family, Church, or School

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Here are two resources that may be helpful for your family, children’s ministry, homeschool co-op, or Christian school.

The first resource is brand new from Elizabeth Urbanowicz of Foundation Worldview called Careful Thinking Curriculum. This curriculum was developed to equip 10-14 year olds with the basic skills they need to evaluate the truthfulness of ideas and set the stage for critical thinking in every area of life. As children learn basic skills in careful thinking, they quickly begin to recognize faulty ideas in the world around them. As parents, caregivers and educators, equipping our children to think well is a foundational part of discipleship. If you want to learn more about this curriculum you can click here.

The second resource is from Kids4Truth that focuses on teaching apologetics, biblical doctrine, and systematic theology to children. Available for pre-school aged children through 6th grade and comes with workbooks, teacher books, song books and other resources. These resources help children memorize God’s Word, understand what it means, and understand what they believe and why they believe it. If you would like to learn more about this curriculum you can click here.

Helping Children Develop Lifelong Faith in Christ Podcast

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How do we help children develop a lifelong faith in Christ? That is no easy task in the world today. There is a battle for the heart and mind of our children, but God has given us the tools and many godly influences to help us parent our children to know, love, and serve Christ for all their days. 

I was invited by Eric Rutherford, host of Entrusting the Faith podcast, to discuss how we can help our children pursue Christ long-term. In this episode we discuss the importance of numerous biblical influences in a child’s life and how this increases the chance of lifelong biblical pursuit, how to learn to disciple your children, and a big problem in our culture that keeps us from pursuing Christ. Tune in to learn more about these topics and more!

How a Broken Tooth Taught Our Children Personal Responsibility

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My wife and I decided that our children were getting old enough to leave them home alone for short periods of time, so we thought that a fifteen-minute walk down our country gravel road would be a good place to start. We told our children, “You have one job—safety! Make sure everyone is safe.” It seemed simple enough, and we thought, “What can go wrong in fifteen minutes when we are only a couple blocks away?” Turns out, a lot can go wrong. When we turned into the driveway at the conclusion of the walk, our son came bursting out the back door, screaming at the top of his lungs, holding a rag over his mouth. When he removed the rag, tooth chunks fell to the ground.

After we left for the walk, the children decided to play baseball. In the house. With a full-sized bat and ball. Our son was hit in the mouth with the bat when he was rounding third, headed for home, and his sister had a major league-worthy bat flip after a solid single. Our children didn’t do so well with the small responsibility they were given. It was a teachable moment for our children. We talked about how freedom comes with responsibility and those who are responsible with little are often entrusted with more responsibility. We spent thousands of dollars to repair our son’s tooth, but the repair always breaks off, leaving him with half of a front tooth. It is a visual reminder to our children that irresponsible decisions are costly and can be lifelong. God has used that experience, and our children have grown in personal responsibility.

Responsibility is learned through the combination of age-appropriate opportunity plus accountability. It is an art for parents to determine how much responsibility a child is ready to handle. We’ve tried to avoid two opposite ends of the spectrum, giving a child too much responsibility too early or not enough responsibility for their age or maturity level. Responsibility is the fruit of accepting ownership for something and is displayed through initiative, dependability, and quality effort. Children are by nature irresponsible, so parents need to be prepared to provide unconditional love and see failure as an opportunity for growth. We’ve also learned to celebrate small successes when a child is responsible, as this builds confidence, encourages the child to take good risks and believe they are capable of accomplishing difficult tasks. When a child is young, the parent does everything for the child. Over time, responsibility needs to be transferred to the child so that by the time the child leaves home, he or she is responsible with time, tasks, money, and the demands of an adult life. The ultimate goal is self-government, the ability to exercise all functions without the intervention from an external authority.

We have taught our children responsibility by giving them age appropriate chores at home, by serving at church, and caring for animals on our small hobby farm. Our oldest son is sixteen and often leads worship for the children’s ministry, which teaches him responsibility through planning songs, coordinating volunteers, and going to bed on Saturday evening at a reasonable hour so he is rested in the morning.

We do not shelter our children from the consequences of failure, as this is a powerful teacher. If a child is irresponsible and breaks something, then the child needs to pay for it. Recently, one of our children broke a plastic shelf inside the door of our refrigerator. The replacement part cost $48, which we could have purchased. Instead, our son had to earn the money and replace the item. In the process, he learned responsibility.

We purposefully provide opportunities for our children to be responsible for tasks that stretch them. Our ten year old is reading to our six year old to help our youngest child learn to read. Our twelve year old played taps on his bugle for his great grandfather’s funeral and is often tasked with cooking desert for a family celebration. We have found that children meet, and often exceed, high expectations and feel honored to be entrusted with a big responsibility.

The opportunities to teach children responsibility are endless—every task, whether small or large, is a building block to teach a child responsibility. Helping your child learn personal responsibility is an essential aspect of discipleship that will bear fruit in your child’s life and be a blessing to others. How can you help your child learn personal responsibility starting today?

Education Matters: Why Education Needs to be Part of Your Churches Ministry to the Next Generation

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Education matters. That’s a phrase that just about every Christian agrees with. Education matters because it influences what children believe, who they become, the choices they make, the friends they choose, and demands thirty-five hours a week of a child’s time for eight months of the year.

Yet, you wouldn’t know this at most churches. Education is overlooked, under-valued and the topic is ignored with a fervor so as not to offend parents. To speak about education is equivalent to blasphemy in many churches. An elder from a church I pastored told me, “You are not allowed to talk about education.” The common sentiment is to respect all educational choice as there is no one right decision for all parents.

Nicole Fulgham, author of Schools in Crisis, embraces the idea that there is no Christian view on education. She states, “There is certainly not a monolithic viewpoint that represents the ‘Christian’ point of view on public education.”[1] Tim Challies shares a similar perspective, “I find myself grappling with this thought: What if God doesn’t care a whole lot about how we educate our children?…One thing I’ve never heard anyone suggest is that maybe it’s just not that big of a deal. And, honestly, I am beginning to learn that way.”[2]

What if Fulgham and Challies are wrong? What if God does care about how we educate our children? What if there is a biblical perspective on education? Wouldn’t it be good for parents to know this and for churches to address the topic?

What does the Bible say about education?

Many people believe the Bible has little or nothing to say about education because the term never appears in Scripture. We only find a single reference to the word school in Scripture, Samuel’s school of the prophets.[3] Despite this reality, the Bible has a lot to say about education. The Bible has many other ways of referring to education such as knowledge, teach, learn, instruct, think, and mind. Here is a sample of what Scripture says about education:

  • Knowledge: The core task of education is to lead a child from ignorance to knowledge. The Bible’s chief concern in education is the knowledge of God, which is contrasted with foolishness (Prov. 1:7). Apart from God, knowledge cannot be properly understood and foolishness abounds. The Bible provides guidance regarding how to navigate godless knowledge. We are told, “Have nothing to do with godless myths” (1 Tim. 4:7). “Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge,’ for by professing it some have swerved from the faith” (1 Tim. 6:20-21). Knowledge is never neutral; it is for or against God. “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:4-5).

  • Teach: The Hebrew language is rich in words that have to do with instruction; at least thirty-four root words imply the idea of teaching, and the words teach and teacher are used in the Bible over 350 times. Biblical education is focused on the task of teaching the knowledge of God and obedience to His law to the next generation. The Bible is prescriptive regarding what children are to be taught. Here is a sampling of what God commands:

    • God’s law. “Teach them [God’s laws] to your children and children’s children” (Deut. 4:9). “Teach them diligently to your children” (Deut. 6:7). “You shall teach them [God’s laws] to your children” (Deut. 11:9).

    • God’s work and character. “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts” (Ps. 145:4) “Tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done…which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children…so that they set their hope in God and not forget the works of God” (Ps. 78:5-6).

    • God’s Word. “How from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings [the Bible], which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching…” (2 Tim. 3:15-16). “Command and teach them these things” (2 Tim. 4:11).

    • The fear of God. “Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Ps. 34:11).

      • Learn: The words learn, learned, and learning appears in the Bible over 100 times. The Bible is concerned with what we learn. Christians are to learn to revere God (Duet. 14:23), to fear God (Deut. 31:12), to serve God (2 Chron. 12:8), what is good (Job 34:4; Titus 3:14), God’s righteous laws (Ps. 119:7), His decrees and commands (Ps. 119:71-73), prudence (Prov. 19:25), to do right (Is. 1:17), to control ones body (1 Thess. 4:4), to praise God (Ps. 89:15), wisdom (Prov. 30:3), the meaning and purpose of life (Eccl. 1:17), contentment (Phil. 4:11), and to learn the Gospel (2 Tim. 3:14-16). If God commands his followers to learn these things, doesn’t it make sense to choose to educate our children so that they learn these very truths?

      • Instruct: The Bible provides guidance about who is to instruct a child. Jesus states, “A student [disciple] when he is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). The biblical principle to recognize is that teachers reproduce themselves in their students. Children absorb the beliefs, values, and views of the teacher. Biblically, parents are given the role of educating a child (Eph. 6:4).

      • Think: The Bible teaches “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). What a child thinks about, he or she becomes. What does the Bible want us to think about? Here is how the Bible answers that question, “Meditate on God’s Word day and night” (Joshua 1:8). “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4:8). Lastly, “Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:1-2).

      The biblical vision for a child’s education is centered on and saturated with God’s Word, God’s laws, God’s works, God’s character, the fear of God, and godly living. Many parents believe the fallacy that they can obey these passages of Scripture by teaching their children at home on the evenings and weekends, despite sending their children to a school that teaches God is irrelevant, even non-existent, and instructs children in secular morality and unbiblical ideas. Individuals who do this, compartmentalize education in a way the Bible never does and fail to understand there is no distinction between faith and learning. When education is viewed as reading, writing, and math while discipleship is seen as character formation, spiritual disciplines, and sharing faith—we create a false dichotomy the Bible never does and provide our children with an education that is foreign to Scripture.

      Why Include Education in Your Ministry to the Next Generation?

      More than ever, Christians need to know what the Bible teaches about the education of children and put it into practice. Unfortunately, many Christians have adopted a cultural perspective for the purpose and practice of education. The Christian community needs a renewed biblical vision for the education of the next generation. The Bible reminds us that “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov. 29:18). It is critical that Christians capture a biblical vision for a child’s education. Parents need guidance from church leaders how to think biblically about education. Here are five reasons to include education in your ministry to children and youth:

      1. A Biblical Mandate: We must begin with Scripture and ask what are the biblical principles about education. God has given clear guidance in the Bible what, who, why, and how to teach children. God commands us to teach children His laws, His character, and His Word (Deut. 4:9; Ps. 78:4-8; Eph. 6:4). According to the Bible, God did not give the government the role of educating children. Education is a parent’s responsibility, with the support of grandparents and the church. Parents are to instruct children in the Lord, teach them God’s laws, and train a child to apply God’s truth to life. Parents have the freedom to partner with others to educate a child, but must do so in accordance with the principles given in the Bible.

      2. The Incredible Impact: Education is a powerful influence in the life of children. Children will spend 16,000 hours at school between K-12, considerably more time than in church. If pastors are serious about shepherding a child’s heart, then education is a non-negotiable aspect of ministry to the next generation. Modern day public education has scores of secular presuppositions underneath it, which are not understood or recognized by the majority of Christian parents. The approach of trying to overlay Christian beliefs to humanistic education is not successful for the majority of parents, nor is it biblical. Pastors are shepherds called to not only feed the flock entrusted to their care, but also protect the flock from false doctrine and wolves that would destroy faith in Christ. 

      1. A Means of Evangelism and Discipleship: Biblically, education is discipleship. It shapes what a child believes and who a child becomes. Christian education plays a critical role proclaiming the gospel to children, immersing children in gospel truth, training children for gospel living, and sending out children to transform culture through the power of the gospel. Paul reminds us of the critical importance of the centrality of Scripture in the education of children, “From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15). When the church separated itself from the education of the next generation, it forfeited its position of influence in a child’s life and have steadily lost our children to the world in increasing numbers.

      2. Christ-Centered Relationships. Godly relationships with teachers and friends encourage wise choices, holy living, and obedience to God. God reminds us, “Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Cor. 15:33) and “The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher” (Luke 6:40).
      1. A Priority in Church History: There is a long list of Christian leaders in church history who have emphasized the importance of Christian education and believed it was a critical component of their mission and ministry. They believed the church and Christian school were united in ministry and mutually dependent upon one another. For example, “The great church reformers—Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, Ulrich Zwingli, and others—gave as much energy to establishing Christian schools as they gave to reforming the church. To them Christian school education and church reform were inseparable allies. Neither, they believed, could succeed without the other.”[4] Martin Luther was a champion of Christian education. He states, “When schools prosper, the church remains righteous and her doctrine pure…Young pupils and students are the seed and source of the church. If we were dead, whence would come our successors. If not from the schools? For the sake of the church we must have and maintain Christian schools.”[5]

      Many Christians are uncertain why we educate a child, the purpose and goal of education, who is given the responsibility in Scripture, and how we are to accomplish the task. As a result, many Christians have unintentionally adopted an unbiblical view of education and take their educational cues from culture rather than Scripture. Pastors have an incredible opportunity to cast a biblical vision for the education of the next generation and help parent think biblically about a topic that is critically important to the evangelism and discipleship of the next generation. If you believe education matters, then it is time to prioritize it in your ministry to the next generation.

       

      [1] Nicole Baker Fulgham, Schools in Crisis: They Need Your Help (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013), 27.

      [2] Tim Challies, https://www.challies.com/articles/what-if-god-doesnt-care-a-whole-lot-about-how-you-educate-your-children/

      [3] Samuel G. Kahn, A Short History of Christian Education (Jerusalem: Yesodot Publishers, 1960), 116.

      [4] Paul A. Kienel, A History of Christian School Education vol. 1 (Colorado Springs, CO: Purposeful Design Publications, 1998), xvi.

      [5] F.V.N. Painter, Luther on Education (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1889), 132-133.

How to Help a Child Understand and Defend Their Faith

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You have helped train your children or grandchildren in the Christian faith. They are familiar with key Bible characters and stories, even memorized Scripture passages. You’ve explained the Gospel. They know that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and rose again. They have even had some significant experiences that have profoundly shaped them. They should be safe, right?

What will they do when someone makes a claim and provide “evidence” that the resurrection never happened? Or that the Bible is full of errors? Or that Christianity is guilty of horrible evils in history? Suddenly, “because mom or dad, grandma or grandpa said so” doesn’t work. Even as early as grade school, children are hearing other voices that seek to undermine everything that you and other spiritual authorities taught them.

Young people will not remain faithful to a faith they do not understand and cannot defend. In a post-Christian culture, it is more critical than ever for young people to know what they believe, why they believe it, and are prepared to defend themselves from attacks to their faith. Throughout church history this has been known as apologetics. Apologetics is the defense of the Christian faith. Peter states that Christians are to be prepared, “to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). A portion of Paul’s ministry included a defense of the Gospel, “I am appointed for a defense of the gospel” (Phil. 1:16). Apologists are individuals who defend Christian beliefs and practices against attacks, provide arguments for the truthfulness of Christianity over other worldviews, and refute unbiblical ideas or theories. The goal of apologetics is to persuade belief by presenting a rational basis for Christianity, to defend the truth by answering questions or the objections of unbelief, and to reveal the foolishness of false ideas so they do not capture the heart and mind of our children. Apologetics is an important aspect of your discipleship ministry to your children or grandchildren and can be divided into the following four categories:

  • Prove. Develop a case for Christianity utilizing biblical, scientific, historical, archeological, and personal testimony to establish the truthfulness of the Christian worldview. Show that Christianity is true, credible, reliable, and aligns with the real world. 

  • Defend. In every generation there are many attacks against Christianity and children need to be introduced to these distorted ideas, learn to test them against God’s Word, and be able to identify truth from error. The two primary areas of attack: The Son of God and the Word of God. 

  • Refute. Compare and contrast with other religions and belief systems to verify the Christian faith and dismantle false and erroneous views. Refute arguments made in support of different beliefs by showing they are unreliable, irrational, unverifiable, or simply do not make sense with what we see in real life.

  • Persuade. Work to clarify biblical truths, answer objections, address criticisms, provide answers and eliminate any intellectual difficulties that stand in the way of coming to faith in Christ. The goal is to encourage alignment with God’s Word, apply the truth of God’s Word to life, and establish a lifelong commitment to the Gospel. Apologetics is a partner of evangelism where we seek to convince children to accept truth claims about Christianity and trust Christ. Give your child every reason possible to embrace the Christian faith and reject counterfeit beliefs. 

7 Tips to help children understand and defend their faith:

  • Utilize questions to grow the faith of future generations. Your goal is twofold: become an askable parent or grandparent and become skilled at the art of asking good questions. Use questions to create serious spiritual dialogue, to encourage critical thinking, and discover what children believe.

  • Take objections from a child seriously. Do not mock an objection or dismiss a question. Spend as much time and energy as needed to fully explore a topic with a child. 

  • Anticipate attacks and arguments that a child will face in the teen and adult years. After teaching a biblical truth to a child or grandchild, present the faulty argument, prove why it is false, give reading material that establishes the truth, and continue to point out in conversation over the years the erroneous arguments. 

  • Built an apologetics library for each child. These make great gifts. Suggested books include Cold-Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace, Tactics by Gregory Koukl, Answers Vol. 1-4 by Answers in Genesis, Quick Answers to Social Questions by Bryan Osborne, Demolishing Supposed Bible Contradictions by Ken Ham, Debunking Evolution by Daniel Biddle, True For You But Not For Me by Paul Copan, and The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel

  • Expose children to the truth in real life experiences. Allow older children to see a live ultrasound so they learn the horrors of abortion, or visit the creation museum to teach the truth of creation and then visit a natural history museum to show the error of evolution.

  • Look for examples of false beliefs or erroneous messages in movies, music, books, and television. Point them out, ask questions, and discuss why something is problematic. Always point back to Scripture so that it is not your opinion, but based on the authority of God’s Word.

  • Utilize the Truth Method. The truth method is intended to teach a biblical truth, identify a message from the world, and analyze it to determine the good and reject the bad using five steps.
    1. Teach a biblical truth through instruction and discussion. What biblical truths do your grandchildren need to be taught to stand strong in their faith?
    2. Recognize the idea or concept the world is communicating. What lies or half truths threaten their faith today?
    3. Understand the claim by analyzing it. What is actually being said?
    4. Test the idea according to the Bible. What does the Bible say about the topic?
    5. Hold fast to what is good and reject what is bad. What should be rejected and why?

Rise up parents and grandparents. The battle of ideas is real and it’s taking no prisoners. We are in a battle for the hearts and minds of our children and grandchildren. Helping a child detect errors and discern truth in the age of fake news, social media, and conspiracy theories is critical and you are uniquely positioned for such a time as this.