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.

October 14, 2009

How to Train Your Children to Worship

By Brian Abshire

Being the brand new pastor of the most prestigious church in town, I was trying hard to watch my P’s & Q’s. I had made my mind up BEFORE taking this job that I would adopt a low profile at first and try to change as little as possible. Sure the weekly “special” music was not to my taste, the organist was a bit of a pain, and there were lots of little things that needed attending to (like praying that God would convert half the congregation!). But since I was the new kid on the block (and my congregation was largely composed of people over seventy!), I decided that I would spend most of my time preaching, teaching, and visiting the “saints,” while seeing how things developed in other areas.

However, there were some things that needed immediate attention. Like most broad evangelical churches, toddlers were automatically placed in the nursery. Slightly older children were dismissed immediately before the sermon for “Primary Praise.” For those between the ages of 10-12 there was “Junior Church.” The teens (there were only a handful) were allowed to sit in the balcony together.

But each week, I noticed an interesting phenomenon. A few minutes after the sermon began, one by the one the teens would start leaving the balcony. OK, nature WILL call on occasion, but EVERY WEEK? And why should it affect the ENTIRE youth group (all five of them)? And how come NO ONE ever came back until just before the closing hymn?

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