Monthly Archives: January 2016

What Are the Biggest Challenges Facing the Church?

January 29, 2016

What Are the Biggest Challenges Facing the Evangelical Church in 2016?

In a recent Ask Pastor John segment, John Piper shared his thoughts on the biggest challenges facing the evangelical church this year. Here is an excerpt:

...if you start at the beginning, the first and great commandment says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). So I would think, since that is the first commandment, that is the first challenge in every generation. Does the church and does the world love God with all their heart and all their soul and all their mind and all

Teaching Vision Parenting

How Children Learn

January 27, 2016

The confession of a CDG curriculum writer: I was a science major in college and have no formal training in educational philosophy. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have deep convictions about how children learn, and how teachers can best encourage and challenge to them embrace biblical truth. Those convictions—or educational philosophies—underpin every curriculum and resource produced by CDG. How would I summarize our philosophy? Watch this very informative 10-minute video clip by Pastor David and Sally Michael: [embed]https://vimeo.com/153027359[/embed] To watch the entire video, visit this page, and see "A Vision for Encouraging Faith in the Next Generation. And to experience this type of training and encouragement in person, check out our

Devotional Parenting Fighter Verses Theology

Free Fighter Verse Devotional for Your Family

January 26, 2016

In yesterday’s post, I quoted Albert Mohler, who made a passionate plea for Christians to pursue serious Bible knowledge. Parents, here is crucial portion from Dr. Mohler’s words:

Parents are to be the first and most important educators of their own children, diligently teaching them the Word of God. [See Deuteronomy 6:4-9.] Parents cannot franchise their responsibility to the congregation, no matter how faithful and biblical it may be. God assigned parents this non-negotiable responsibility, and children must see their Christian parents as teachers and fellow students of God’s Word.

There are many good resources available to help parents “mine” the Word of God with their children. The new Fighter Verses Study Guide is one of these resources. How does it help in the mining process? Here is an example from

Teaching Vision Encouragement Bible Skills

Getting Serious about Teaching the Bible

January 25, 2016

Suppose an observer came to visit your church’s Sunday school classrooms—specifically first grade through high school. Would they see Bibles in the hands of every student during the lesson time? If so, how long will those Bibles be open? Will the students be actively engaged in looking up texts, reading, and answering questions from the text? (Yes, even first graders can do this, with help, from a short text.) Will they be challenged about how to rightly interpret and apply it? In other words, would the observer see a teacher diligently teaching in a way that expects and encourages his or her students to seriously interact with the Bible—the actual, physical Bible? Now, someone might object and say, “But they are children! They’re too young for this. They will learn best through videos, skits, and other activities. We need to keep the Bible teaching fun and energetic!” Yes, there may be a place in the classroom for all of the above. BUT, these kinds

Vision Encouragement Parenting Fighter Verses

Creative Idea: Fighter Verses Encouragement Cards

January 19, 2016

A while back, I noted how the new Fighter Verses Coloring Book could be used during sermon time for young children (see that post here). Since then, my daughter has come up with an additional idea—using the individual pages for home-made encourage cards. Here is the scenario: We have a family member who is going through some intense and difficult chemotherapy. My grandchildren wanted to cheer up cousin Matt, so my daughter printed out an encouraging FV coloring page for each child to color. The children then mailed the finished pages to cousin Matt—and yes, he was thrilled and encouraged to receive them! So, along with getting a Fighter Verses Coloring Book for your children, consider getting an

Encouragement Parenting

A Must-Have Conversation

January 18, 2016

I wish that Tim Challies didn’t need to write the article, “Before the Birds and Bees,” but I’m so thankful he did. Every parent should read it. Here is his main point:

I want to say this as clearly as I know how: If you neglect to train your children in their use of the Internet, you are failing in your parental responsibility. If you neglect to monitor what your children are doing online, you are neglecting your duty. If you are going to allow them to use the Internet—and I think you should so they can learn to use it under your care—you absolutely need to train them to use it well. To train them well you simply need to engage them in the tech talk.

Please read the entire article as he discusses three categories of

Vision Parenting

Parents: Biblical Worldview Starts at Home

January 13, 2016

Yesterday’s post presented some thoughts by Nancy Pearcey on the necessity to train our students and children to have a biblical worldview. What is meant by “biblical worldview”? Here is a simple definition:

Biblical worldview is seeing and interpreting all of life through the truth of Scripture.

Parents, we have the primary responsibility to teach our children the truth of Scripture. We are also in the best position to help our children see and interpret life as we experience it together with them. Therefore, biblical worldview training should begin in the home. Here are 8 basics things parents can focus on:

Teach your children…

that God is the source of all truth and that His Word, the Bible, is truth.
a biblical understanding of God’s nature and character.
that biblical truth is relevant to everything in life.
to evaluate

Teaching Vision Parenting Theology

Heart AND Brain Religion

January 12, 2016

I recently came upon these words by Nancy Pearcey. I think she points to what might be a weakness in many of our youth ministries and home discipleship plans:

As Christian parents, pastors, teachers, and youth group leaders, we constantly see young people pulled down by the undertow of powerful cultural trends. If all we give them is a "heart" religion, it will not be strong enough to counter the lure of attractive but dangerous ideas. Young believers also need a "brain" religion—training in worldview and apologetics—to equip them to analyze and critique the competing worldviews they will encounter when they leave home. If forewarned and forearmed, young people at least have a fighting chance when they find themselves a minority of one among their classmates or work colleagues. Training young people to develop a Christian mind is no longer an option; it is part of their necessary survival equipment.

Teaching Vision Theology

Too Much Sin Talk?

January 11, 2016

I do not have a definitive statistical study on this, but my guess is that if you were to do a word search encompassing all of CDG’s curriculum—from preschool to high school—the word “sin” would come up rather often. Probably even too much in the opinion of some. Sounds a little depressing, doesn’t it, especially when teaching children? It isn’t exactly a great promotional tool for encouraging children and youth to come to Sunday school: “Forget about fun and entertainment—We have a lot to tell you about sin instead! Come join us!” But that banner wouldn’t be telling the full story. There is a very good, “hope-filled” reason that we mention sin so often in our resources. Here is a wonderful post from Ligonier Ministries that we at CDG heartily resonate with:

Every preacher knows that people do not like to hear about sin. People regard sin as a dreary, negative topic

Teaching Vision Encouragement

Mid-Year Zeal

January 06, 2016

The month of January: The days are short and the nights are long and cold (for some of us). The busy holiday season is over, and I’m tired and worn. And sometimes this attitude carries over into the classroom. The eagerness and energy of the school year’s beginning has diminished. What’s a teacher to do to fight against the mid-year doldrums? The following is some great advice given to Sunday school teachers by John Angell James in his article “The Most Effectual Means of Keeping Up Zeal.” Although written in 19th century language, it still bears heeding today. Also, I have added [in brackets] a few contemporary practical examples to consider.

Zeal is apt to languish, when it is no longer excited by the stimulus of novelty—and the fervor of first love, without great care, will soon sink into