“Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68

God’s word is our Source for life. It is a love story, written to us, His beloved. In His word, God explains how we came to this state of sinfulness and describes His plan to rescue us. As we read the love story, we can see the utter depth’s of His love for us and the great length’s He went to in securing our redemption from sin.

It is God’s word, the Bible, that shows us our need for a Savior and shows us the way to eternal life. As our children grow, we want them to have an ever-increasing understanding of God’s love for them. We want them to see their sin and their need for a Savior. We want them to be so overcome with gratitude for their rescue from death to life that their heart swells with love and faith in Christ.

But as Paul says, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” Romans 10:14

How do you share God’s words of eternal life with your children? In our house, we read and memorize Scripture. I quote it in daily conversation. With my oldest, I also have him read it by himself. When he first began to read, I highlighted a few of his favorite stories and put a tag on the page so he could find it. I also highlighted the passages we had memorized and tagged those as well.

I recently learned about a child bible training system that goes a few steps further than merely highlighting a few passages in the Bible: The Child Training Bible. This system helps parents easily locate the passages we want to read to teach our children about a particular behavioral or character issue. The kit comes with a bible, all the needed tags, highlighters and the code with accompanying bible verses. The code lists all the behavioral issues a parent might want to work on with their child and the coordinating passages to read and discuss. A few example topics include fear, anger, lying, and pride. The system is color coded so that each topic is organized by color. When you want to talk with your child about anger for example, you go to the colored tab for anger and read the passages that you’ve previously highlighted.

The kit provides not only the passages for each topic but also discussion questions, Glory in the Gospel questions, and Scripture prayer. We don’t want to simply show our children how they have disobeyed God’s word, we also want to show them how Jesus has freed them from their sins. In addition to using Scripture to point out a behavior in our children, this kit also includes tabs to highlight the Gospel. The law was designed to point us to our need for Christ. We can first show our children what the Bible has to say on various topics/behaviors and then lead them from the law to the grace of the gospel and to Christ’s death for their sins.

Once completed, the Bible will then look like this:

One reader will win their very own The Child Training Bible kit. Simply leave a comment below and you will be automatically entered. Random.org will randomly select the winner August 22 at 8:00pm EST. Update: Random.org selected Natalie as the winner of this giveaway. Congratulations, Natalie!

Disclaimer: I received my own training kit for free in exchange for this review.

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“Mom, is the prince in this story supposed to be Jesus?” asked my four-year-old.

“Yes, he is. What makes you think that?”

“Because he dies for the people.”

The most important job we have as parents is to share the gospel of grace with our children. Pointing them to the cross of Christ and what He did for them there is the greatest gift we can give them.

“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7

One of the ways I teach my children about the gospel is through books. (I know, obvious, right?) Some books are better than others at helping children understand God’s story of redemption. Today I’ve compiled a list of some of our favorites and I have one to give away.

1. The Jesus Storybook Bible, Read-Aloud Edition: Every Story Whispers His Name: I know I’ve written about this book over and over but it is truly excellent at showing children how Jesus is part of every story in Scripture. He is the promised Rescuer, sent to save us from sin. It provides a retelling of the story of redemption in a simple way that children can understand. This last year, we’ve used this book in Sunday School as well and the kids there loved hearing the stories and the lessons we taught from it.

2. The Prince’s Poison Cup: Allegories are an excellent way to help children (and adults) understand Biblical concepts. This story is about a King and his people. They sinned by drinking water from a well that they were told not to drink from. The water turned their hearts to stone. The King asks the Prince to drink a cup of poison to rescue His people. This book is an allegory about why Jesus had to die. At the end of the story, there are questions for parents to ask their children to help ensure they understand it.

3. The Lightlings: Another allegory, this book explains how The King of Light made a race of tiny beings called Lightlings. They sinned against the King and ran away to live in the dark woods where there was no light. It’s the story about the Fall, the effects of the Fall, and about the promised Savior born to set them free. It too contains questions at the end for discussion.

And a new one that I found, The Magnificent Amazing Time Machine: A Journey back to the Cross by Sinclair B. Ferguson, is what I am giving away today. We have many of his children’s devotionals but this is the first picture book I’ve found. In this story, the characters go in a time machine back to the even before the beginning of time. They hear the members of the Trinity discuss their plan to save the world from sin. As they continue forward in time, the story of redemption is carried out in front of them. This book focuses on God’s plan to give His only Son to save sinners. It encourages children to share that plan with others.

To enter the drawing, leave a comment below, become a new blog subscriber, or become a new Facebook follower. Just leave me a comment, letting me know that you just became a subscriber or follower. Random.org will select the winner on August 8th at 8:00pm EST. Update 8/8/12: Random.org chose Joy as the winner of this drawing. Congrats, Joy:)

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My friend Chadwick, from Different Parent , is back guest posting today. He and his family are going through a wonderful journey toward adoption. In the process, they are learning as a family what it means to love as Jesus loves.

Over 10 years ago, as my wife and I were dating, I had the privilege of traveling as lead vocalist in a worship band. We were pretty cheesy, looking back, but had some great times. Because we were sponsored by the University, we had financial backing and all the “right” connections. I had the chance to lead thousands of people in worship, and we had recorded alive album. Things were looking great for the future of however God might use me in ministry.

In a moment of honesty, my wife(fiancée at the time) took a step of faith, by asking me through tears, “Would you give it all up?”

I asked what she meant. She shared with me that God had been saying something to her about Africa. wasn’t sure what it was yet, but wanted to know…if God eventually called us to Africa together….would I be willing to “give up”any status I’d gained in ministry? My response was…of course…ifGod was calling us somewhere, we would follow.

As time went on, we were prepared to follow Him anywhere together. God’s direction took an ironic turn as we ended up feeling His call to do ministry in her hometown. As we grew a family, and our ministry continued to beat with the heart of“God’s Family”, we continued to feel a tug toward Africa, and prayed for clarity.

We have 3 daughters, close in age, and are continually looking for ways to shape their identity, and that of our family, to carry the image of God’s Love. We experienced huge waves of joy in moments like watching our daughters deliver baked goods to senior citizens, or pray for our sponsored child together. But even these activities left us wanting something.

Adoption is something we’d talked about here and there, always safely in the background as a possibility. A“someday” type thing, when perhaps we’ve figured life out, plateaued or something. But this past Spring, as plants began to bloom, so did the urgency. So many children are dying young or growing up not knowing family or God’s love. Our children are growing through incredibly formative years quickly. It seemed that actually NOW is the best time for us to reach out to one of God’s children in Love. NOW is the best time for us to wrap our family’s identity around living for something larger than ourselves in a sacrificial way.

Of course, at the ages of 3, 4, and 5,it’s hard to have a deep conversation with our daughters about theology. Our daughters may not grasp the similarities to God’s“adopting” us as His children, or giving us a familial identity that invites us to a new Hope. The “Kingdom Work” of caring for and loving the orphans and widows. But for now, they understand the basics: God has called us to help one of His daughters. They have a sister out there, who needs us to bring her home. They can’t wait to meet her, play with her, and (learn how to) share toys with her.

If you’d like to join in prayer/support, and keep updated on our adoption process from the DRC, check out my blog: www.differentparent.com It’s an expensive process, and if you’d like to give check out the“Adoption Journey” page, or buy a copy of my book“Different”…all funds will go directly toward the cost of bringing home our daughter!!

I wake to the sound of my alarm. Gently, I lift my head from the pillow to turn off the buzzing annoucement that morning has come. My head pounds from a sinus headache but I want to get started on the day before the kids wake up. Just as I’m putting on my shoes so that I can ride my exercise bike, I hear the sound of feet slapping on the tile floor.

The boys are up early.

And my youngest has woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

It’s a rule in our house that they cannot be up before 7am. If they happen to get up before then, I send them back to their room. On this morning, my youngest begins whining and fussing right away. He wants to play a computer game. I remind him of the 7am rule and that they are not allowed to play computer games on the mornings that we have to go somewhere.

“I WANT TO PLAY A COMPUTER GAME! GIVE ME WHAT I WANT RIGHT NOW!”

Children are as real as a person can get. No pretense, no masks, no pretending, they say and do whatever is on their heart. Unlike adults, it’s often easier to get to the core of their problem. There aren’t layers and layers of denial hiding the real problem.

We sit down for breakfast and I talk with the boys about how our hearts want what we want. That’s our heart condition. We talk about what would happen if I let them do and have whatever they wanted everyday. I point out that God restrains sin and that the world would be a lot worse if He let us be as sinful as we could be.

I then look my youngest in the eye and said, “Jesus came to save you and give you a new heart that wants what God wants instead of what you want. He came to save you from that sinful desire to always have what you want.”

Isn’t that my own heart? I want what I want and I want it now. My little one reflects my own heart back to me, reminding me of my own need for the cleansing truth of the gospel of grace.

It is this truth that I rest in: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Ezekiel 36:25-27

Yes Lord, wash me clean! Give me a tender heart of flesh that desires You above all else. Help me to never forget these gospel truths. And continue Your gospel cleansing work in my boy’s hearts. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

~~~~~~~~~

I have a little giveaway today. Does your child like to color? I am giving away a coloring book titled A Bible Alphabet- Activity Book. For each letter of the alphabet, there is a picture to color that begins with that letter. For example, letter “d” is for donkey and there is an image of a donkey to color. Below the image is a sentence about Balam and his donkey. At the back of the book are corresponding passages to read for each coloring page.

To enter, just leave a comment below and/or “like” my Facebook page. If you “like” me on Facebook, tell me so in the comments. Random.org will select the winner next Wednesday. Giveaway update, 7/25/12, Kristin T. is the winner of this giveaway.

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Giveaway update 7/18/12: Dustie is the winner of the beach balls! Congrats Dustie!

We hear the statistics over and over, few families sit down for dinner together anymore. Everyone is running from one activity to another. Family members catch up on each other’s day while in the car going through the drive-thru on the way to the next sport’s practice. Each child has their own separate activity, requiring mom and dad to divide and conquer.

So when do families have meaningful conversations?

When do parents share their faith, the way God has worked in their lives, and the hope He’s given them, with their children?

Real relationships develop and grow around the dinner table. Everyone loves a potluck supper at church because food and fellowship go hand in hand. The same is true at home. Family meal time is best accompanied by conversation and shared hearts.

If you haven’t read my post about our family conversation jar, click here. This jar is used at the dinner table to encourage family members to talk, learn about each other, share thoughts and feelings, and develop deeper relationships. The jar could be any container really. It is filled with strips of paper. Each person pulls out one of the strips of paper and answers the question written on it. Some of the questions are light-hearted and encourage general discussion. Other questions require deeper thought and encourage meaningful dialogue.

To see the questions we use, click here. For your particular family, you may want to add simpler questions for younger family members and deeper questions for adolescents.

I recently came across a similar idea to my conversation jar, using a beach ball. This is a great idea for active, kinesthetic learners. The ball has questions written all around the outside of it. Family members take turns tossing it to each other and wherever your thumb lands when you catch it, that is the question you answer.

I’m giving away one set of these FAMILY MISSION STATEMENT BEACH BALL. To be entered for the drawing, leave a comment below and/or “Like” my Facebook page. If you like my page, let me know in the comments below. Random.org will select the winner next Wednesday, July 18 at 8:00pm EST.

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“I-De-clare-war!”

There’s something about playing a game where the core of our very selves is spilled out for all to see. As a child, I hated playing games. Whenever I lost, it became a further reflection of what I already believed about myself-I’m a failure. For some, losing becomes a challenge to their self-belief that they are always the best at everything.

I’ve found this to be true in psychotherapy and in plain old parenting-you can learn a lot about a person’s ability to handle conflict, problem solve, express feelings, share, and to persevere, all from how they play a game. Every time my children and I play games, there are lessons taught and lessons learned. My oldest learns how to lose graciously, how to win with sportsmanship, and how to improve from practice. My youngest learns how to take turns, how to take on a new challenge, how to express feelings appropriately, and also how to lose.

The other day as we played the card game, War, my youngest was frustrated by his brother’s success. “That’s not fair! You have all the aces! You always get all the good cards!”

I responded by teaching them that there are no accidents in life; nothing happens by chance. I explained, “There are no accidents. If God wants you to have all aces, then you will. If He wants you to win, you will. The very cards that you get in the game are given to you by God for a reason.”

“Is that true even in car racing? God is in control of who wins?” he asked.

“Yes. Even in car racing. In fact, if you find that you are losing a lot, perhaps there is a lesson God wants you to learn.”

We talked about the opportunities for learning and growing in our faith that can occur even in a game. Even in seemingly unimportant circumstances, like playing a game, God is as work in us, teaching, refining, and molding us. Perhaps if we are struggling with losing, He wants us to learn how to accept losses with grace. Perhaps if we are gloating when we win, He wants us to learn how to love others even through those wins.

Life is full of lessons and opportunities to grow in faith and trust in God. It takes an open heart and open mind to be on alert for those opportunities, both for ourselves and for our children.

For more on playing games:

For my post on making your own game, click here.

An old favorite game that helps get the conversation going: The Ungame - Christian Version

There are tons of educational games out there and I love most of them. But for learning how to take turns, lose, be a good sport, handle anger and frustration, the old classics are great for that. Parker Brothers - Sorry, Trouble Board Game, and Uno Card Game are all perfect games that provide opportunities for those kind of lessons.

I’d love to hear about your teaching moments this week. Please share in the comments below. If you’d like to guest post and share a teaching moment, send me a message to gcfox1 at gmail dot com.

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Our oldest has recently made some statements recently that caused us concern. His statements reflected the post modern relativistic view of life and truth. Since we had sent him to public school last year, in some ways we weren’t surprised. But in other ways we were, after all, he’s only seven.

In an effort to arm him with proper defenses for when he is out in the world, I did an activity with him using a strainer and a can of tomatoes. I explained to him that for demonstration purposes, the strainer represents the Word of God and the can of tomatoes represents something he has learned. He poured the can of tomatoes into the strainer. I told him that whatever the strainer caught, it what is true and consistent with Scripture and what came through into the bowl was not true. We used a couple of examples of things he had learned in school last year and “filtered” them through Scripture. I also told my son that he is to use the same method with what anyone says to him, including Sunday school teachers.

Everything we learn or hear has to be filtered through the Bible. Whatever is not consistent with Scripture is false. I used this lesson to teach him that the Bible is our only rule of faith and authority; by it we determine everything else.

This is not the first time, nor the last time that we will talk about the importance of Scripture in our daily lives. This activity is something I can refer back to when I want him to practice evaluating something he has learned.

What about you? Have you had any “teach me Jesus” moments this week?

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When I worked with children in a clinical setting, I would often use board games to help develop rapport, encourage conversation, or teach a new skill. A few times, I made my own board game out of poster board. I made up my own questions on cards that I wanted the child to answer. It was an inexpensive way to individualize a game for each child.

Fast forward a number of years. This past week, my boys and I made our own board game. We decided to name it “The Search for the Treasures of Wisdom.” First, you answer the question on the card. If answered correctly, you then roll the dice and move ahead the number that you rolled. I used 3×5 cards to write the questions on. For the cards, some of them have questions about the Bible (name three books of the Old Testament, how many disciples did Jesus have, define grace, etc.). Some of the cards have the person do something (sing the song “Jesus Loves Me,” hug the person on your right, etc). Some of the cards also have the person fill in the blanks of a Bible verse.

It’s fun for children to make their own board game. The cards can be changed out to fit whatever lesson you want your children to learn. For example, they could be based on learning character lessons. The cards might provide scenarios on use of a particular character trait, such as honesty, sharing, forgiving, etc. The cards could be used in a Sunday School setting to quiz the class on what they’ve learned. They could also be designed to fit a particular lesson in homeschool. The possibilities are endless.

My kids enjoyed decorating the game board and helping me come up with a name for it. The name we chose fits well with the verse, “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:2-3

Do you have any “teach me Jesus” moments to share from this week?

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A child’s drawings can speak volumes. In my former life (before kids) as a child psychotherapist, I often had children draw pictures for me to help me get a better idea of what was going on in their mind and heart. They say that a picture says a thousand words and with a drawing, it can also encourage important conversations.

When it comes to my own children, drawing is a big part of their lives. Drawing is also one of the many ways that I “teach Jesus” to their little hearts. My oldest son is in my Sunday school class at my church (I know, lucky him, right?). This past Sunday I read to the class the story of John’s revelation of heaven from the The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name. I then asked the class to draw what they learned from the story.

This is my son’s drawing. The people on the bottom are cheering that heaven is coming down to earth. On the left side of the page, the sun is being burned up because God has now become all the light that is needed. On the right, there is a little snake being pushed down into a fiery ball that represents hades.

He was really excited to explain what it meant to the class. Once home that afternoon, he explained it to his brother as well. We were able to have some great discussions about heaven as a result.

Do your children draw about the biblical/spiritual concepts they are learning? I’d love for you to share!
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Todays post is written by a blogging friend of mine, Desiré, from When You Rise. Please make her feel welcome!

Legalism has been a stronghold in my life that, until recently, has choked my understanding of the gospel. One of the greatest desires of my heart is for my boys to understand the gospel for the beautiful, undeserved gift that it truly is. And that they will not only know in their heads, but believe with all their hearts that they can do nothing to earn it. Salvation is a gift in its purest form… no strings attached.

One of the most explicit portions of Scripture that portrays this is Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works so that no one can boast.”

But my oldest is only 3 1/2 years old. So that’s a conversation that should wait for later, right? How in the world could I bring a verse with the words and concepts like grace, faith, saved and “not by works” down to a level he could understand? I tell myself it’s better for him to learn the basic “stories” and save the “theology” for when he’s older. But the Bible says to have “faith like a child” so he must be able to get it on some level… I decided that even if it went right over his head, speaking the truths of the gospel to him certainly couldn’t hurt anything.

But wouldn’t you know, God surprised me with the spiritual sensitivity of a child who has yet to tie a shoe, ride a bike or bathe himself. If you’re interested in what a “deep conversation” with a 3 year old might look like, here’s a peek into what happened:

One day recently while he was playing, he brought out two wooden blocks and fashioned them into a cross shape. He had a small stuffed toy and he said, “Look, Mom! I made a cross and I’m pretending this is Jesus who died on it.” (In case you’re wondering if my kids walk around with halos and turning all their toys into biblical scenes and teachable opportunities, I assure you this was a rare moment and I seized it knowing that there might not be another like it for a while.

We had been listening to the SEEDS of Faith version of Ephesians 2:8 and had a pretty good grasp on the words to the verse so I began to talk to him about what it meant. He understands that sin is when he does something wrong, so I asked him,

“Hey, when you don’t eat your vegetables and throw a fit, who gets in trouble?”

He pointed to himself.

“What about when you don’t clean up your toys? Does Mommy get in trouble?”

He giggled a little and said, “No.”

Then I said, “But Jesus loved you so much that he said, ‘Isaac, I’ll get in trouble for you.’ Because here’s the deal: Since you sin and since Mommy sins, we can’t go to heaven and live with God someday. That’s not good, is it?”

He shook his head, “No.”

But Jesus said that he would take our punishment and sin away. He did that when he died on the cross. Should he have gotten in trouble for what you did?”

“Uh-uh.”

“You’re right, but he did! And that’s…”

“GRACE!”

My jaw might have dropped a little. I had talked to him several times over the past few days about what grace meant but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought he was getting it. I could have laughed and cried all at the same time!

“Yes!!” I beamed. ”We get something we don’t deserve!”

I had planned a list of activities to do when we did a lesson on this verse, and though I hadn’t expected to do it at this moment, now seemed like the perfect time to talk more about it. So I had him climb up on our coffee table. (My boys always oblige when I tell them to climb on the furniture! ;)

I told him to lean forward and fall on me. He did it once and laughed and I told him to do it again. I moved back a little and this time he was nervous. Too nervous. I had to move forward a little to get him to do it again. I told him to fall on me and that I would catch him. He did and I began to ask him, “Did you think Mommy would let you fall? Did you believe that I was strong enough? Did you trust me to catch you?” He confirmed that he trusted me (at least when I was close enough -haha!) and I said, “Do you know what that’s called?”

“FAITH!”

Once again, humbling and exhilarating. I had thought through these activities ahead of time and was waiting for the right opportunity to use them, but I fully expected to have to tell him the answers to all this. Kids can certainly grasp more than we give them credit for… good and bad…

Finally, I wanted to drive home that he couldn’t do any of this on his own. I got him down from the coffee table and told him to get back up on it, but this time he wasn’t allowed to touch it. He couldn’t use his hands, legs or any part of his body to get on top of the table. I asked him,

“Can you think of a way to get up there without using your body?”

He thought for a minute and said,

“I have an idea! You can put me up there!”

Exactly! I explained that just like he couldn’t get on the table on his own, we can’t get to heaven on our own either. Jesus has to make the way for us. This part went TOTALLY over his head, but I was thankful to have made it this far in the conversation!

We also did a quick, fun project to help convey the idea that salvation is a “gift.” We decorated a cross with dot markers and added the words “GRACE” and “FAITH” to it. We placed them in a bag as a “GIFT” and they gave it to their Daddy when he came home. This gave my him an opportunity to explain what the greatest gift we’ve ever been given is and to review some of the things we had talked about a few days earlier.

None of this was elaborate and I would say the combined total for the conversation and the craft took 25 minutes (aside from listening to the cd of the verse over and over and over again). But I wouldn’t trade those 25 minutes for the world. And it’s a 25 minutes I hope to repeat often as I strive to help my boys understand just how incredible salvation is.

I have to preach the gospel to myself daily so I don’t forget to show it to them. Last fall, I found a beautiful reminder that I wear often. This bracelet from DaySpring with the words “by grace alone” adorns my wrist and sometimes helps me regain perspective at just the right time.

They’ve discontinued the bracelet, but we just happened to have snagged one up before they were gone and we’re giving it to one of you! Just leave a comment below, before midnight on Monday, May 21 and you’ll be automatically entered for the giveaway. We’ll pick a winner sometime on Tuesday, May 22. UPDATE 5/22: The winner of the bracelet is Heather H. Please email Desiré at [email protected] with your address so your bracelet can be shipped to you. Congratulations!

P.S. One of our favorite ways to memorize Scripture is using word cards to accompany verses that are put to music. Here’s a link to the cards pictured in the post above if you’d like to print your own! (You can choose to print just Ephesians 2:8 or Ephesians 2:8-9)