Encouraging Family Reformation

The biblical institutions of church and family in America are in need of reformation. Some say that we are in the period of greatest apostasy in 500 years. Less than one-half of one percent of adults ages 18 to 23 years have a biblical worldview. Only one-third of Christian parents say their religious faith is one of the most important influences on their parenting and only 27% of Protestant parents are very familiar with what the Bible has to say about parenting. It is clear that many Christian parents are no longer discipling their children in the faith. The result---SBC’s Council on Family Life reported that roughly 88 percent of evangelical children are leaving the church shortly after they graduate from high school. The problem is not only with the church and its program-oriented, marketing-driven growth philosophy, but also with parents, who have abdicated their role and responsibility in teaching, discipling, and nurturing their children in multigenerational faithfulness. The result is that the secular post-Christian culture has claimed the children and youth of America. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3). We are encouraged by the fact that God is sovereign, Jesus Christ is Lord and His kingdom is forever. As we believe God's covenantal promise, our opportunity is great in working toward reformation of the family, the church, and the nations.

This blog links to a wide variety of writings on biblical issues regarding the family, biblical roles and relationships in the family, the church, education, and biblical worldview including ethics, apologetics, history, politics, and culture. The blog was created to encourage biblical family reformation through development of a clear family vision of multigenerational faithfulness. Our duties as parents include sharing the gospel with our children, discipling them in the faith (Deut 6:7), raising them in the fear, nuture, and admonition of the Lord (Prov 9:10; Eph 6:4), cultivating in them a biblical worldview (2 Cor 10:5), and providing them with the necessary tools to recognize and engage an increasingly humanistic, post-Christian culture while glorifying God.

May 31, 2009

Keeping the Christian Sabbath

David B. Smith is Pastor of Creek Road Baptist Church in Cincinnati, OH, USA.

Several years ago while living in Jerusalem I noticed how the Jews kept the Sabbath. Around 3 p.m. on Friday afternoons the weekend rush hour traffic would increase as workers made their way home. Most of the working mothers were trying to arrive at the market in time to buy needed supplies. This frenzied pace would crescendo by 5 p.m. By 6 p.m. everything would be shut down. The stores closed and traffic would slow to a trickle. Not everything closed of course, but for the most part Jerusalem was quiet, at rest. It wasn't until Saturday evening around 7 p.m. that the bus lines resumed even limited service.

Contrast that to our nation. Sunday, it seems, is just another day of the week. Most shops are open. People are busy buying and selling, working and making money. Even Christians are getting caught up in the world's relentless pursuit of profit and gain. Just a few years ago a major Christian book dealer announced that they would be opening their doors on Sunday to take advantage of increased sales to the church. Their argument was that Sunday was a prime day to 'minister' to their target market. So they proclaimed that by keeping the doors open on Sunday they were doing a service.As a pastor, this slide away from the practice of keeping the Sabbath disturbs me. It is understandable that the world would turn away from God's law, but it is heart-breaking to see the church do so. The church has either forgotten or ignored the commandments. If it was important to us to keep the Lord's Day, then the retailers in our communities would not find profit on Sunday. The marketplace is simply responding to the consumer.

Read More >>>
Posted by at

Blog Archive