- No Men’s Breakfast this Saturday. If you know someone who might be planning on going, but might not read this, please let them know. Thanks.
- Read below for an announcement regarding the youth group Dinner Theater July 9. I encourage you to come. But first a few comments on Deut. 6:4ff and raising kids.
- The well-known “covenantal succession” text — “love the Lord your God with all your heart… these words shall be on your heart… teach them diligently to your children…” — is, strictly speaking, not a pedagogical method, a way of passing certain important precepts on to our children. It’s a way of life. It’s a way of loving that is rooted in your heart (in Hebrew literature, the core of your being), which is why Moses begins by speaking of those two key components: love and the heart.
- The fact is, our children will pay little attention to what we say unless it accords with what our hearts cherish. This is the full extent of what God asked of Israel: that the love, words, and actions of his people would align in passion for Himself. He despises the opposite of this, which he refers to as hypocrisy (English takes the word straight from Greek), or the “double-minded man.”
- This is what Moses is saying in Deuteronomy 6, that a life lived this way is the same as passing the faith on to our kids. Who we are in our hearts is God’s method. The immense expenditures of time and money on homeschooling, co-ops, and worldview seminars are wasted if the hearts of parents do not belong to God exclusively. In God’s economy, schools do not replace homes. It’s true He may choose to intervene and make a child’s heart his home regardless of childhood circumstances (that’s what happened to me), but we don’t want to build on presumption.
- So, who are you? Whoever you are, that’s who your children will become, all things being equal. Therefore, the most important thing you can do as a parent is attend to your soul in Christ. And if you are not sure who you are in Him, ask Him. If you find you must change, ask Him for that also. It is a prayer he delights to answer, though it’s unlikely the answer will be easy.
- Finally, if all this is true, why do we have a church youth group and church summer camps (which funds from the dinner theater July 9 will support)? Our intention is simply to reinforce that singular truth: You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul, and with all your heart, and with all your might. In this way, youth groups are support systems. But they are also outreach. I became a believer through a youth group and our prayer is that others will also. Youth groups often reach into the lives of kids when something between parents and kids is broken, which is frequently the case outside the Church and sometimes inside it. As long as this is done with godly respect for the primacy of home and parents, it can be done well.
- So, please consider joining us at the CPC Saturday, July 9, from 6-8:30p, for dinner and a performance. Proceeds will support Camp Casey (our former associate Luke Morton will be teaching), August 8-11.