Samuel has learned to nod his head. Of course, he never does it on command or to answer a question affirmatively. Last week he learned the ASL sign for "more" though he has not yet used it in the proper context. In fact, he often signs "more" when he does NOT want any more to eat.
I was just thinking about this today. We teach our children just about everything from walking to talking, what is OK to touch and what will hurt you. I was reminded that we must go beyond just teaching certain actions, and teach them why we do the things we do.
I have been reading "Already Gone" by Ken Ham. This book deals with the issue of losing our childen in the faith and the impact of generational church loss. Ham deals with the statistics that were found by Brit Beemer when they surveyed 1,000 "twenty somethings" who grew up faithfully attending church meetings and have now left the church. Some still hold the truths in their hearts, others are turned off from religion entirely, and most doubt the facts of creation, miracles, and even Jesus' resurrection. The study did not ask those who are still in church why they stayed, but focused on why we are losing so many in high school and college years.
One of the major factors is the disconnect that often exists in "telling Bible stories" and relating these to real life. I have often heard people read historical accounts from God's Word in such a way that the child files it in their brain right next to Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Not that the stories are not to be told, but that we have to share that these are more than stories, but actual accounts of God's power in action. To believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, and after his death came back to life can be portrayed as a fairy tale if portrayed the wrong way. There is real science and evidence to these facts, along with many other of the Biblical accounts.
Some great resources in regards to teaching children include many books and videos by Answers in Genesis and Creation Science Evangelism, Ray Comfort's book "Scientific facts in the Bible" and Warren Henderson's "Bible: Myth or Divine Truth?" along with other titles by the same author. I urge anyone who teaches children to be sure that we don't just tell the children what to do and expect their immature minds to make the connections, but to present the truth of God's Word for what it is, evident and factual history. The compromises that have been made due to ignorance of Biblical factual authority include gap theory, theistic evolution, and many more lies that have crept into the church. These deny the infallibility of the Bible and undermine everything we ever tell our children about God. They must know that our faith is not some ignorant emotional thing, but factual history that can and must be defended.
A father who cares,
Mark Cowperthwaite
